//------------------------------// // Chapter Four: KingSlayer // Story: Spiders and Magic: The Kesshōkage of The Crystal Empire // by ElementBrigade //------------------------------// Chapter Four KingSlayer (King Sombra’s Throne Room) A door within the walls of the throne room opened up as Umbra, Rusty, Amber, and Nanako exited. From what they could tell, given the doom and gloom atmosphere and iron throne off in the distance, they were inside the throne room of the tyrant king known as Sombra. The group scanned the area they were in before making their way out of the secret pathway that led from Rusty’s room to the throne room, which in turn caused the door to seal back up once they entered. “So this is the throne room of King Sombra,” Nanako said as she stared at the blood-covered crystals and bones scattered around the room. “Take away the whole blood splattered around the room and iron throne, and this would be a nice place to sit upon for conversational purposes.” “It used to be like that nine hundred ninety-nine years ago. But due to father’s constant killings, brutal executions, and maids dying due to exhaustion from his mind control spell. This is the result of it.” Umbra said as she sneered at the sight. “Makes me sick just remembering how much he would laugh and enjoy his entertainment.” “Right…so if this is the throne room, where is the mad king? Shouldn’t he be here if he knows that Umbra escaped so he can wait for the guards to bring her here?” Amber asked as the group moved closer to the center of the room. It was only when the sound of footsteps echoed through the room that she looked over at the throne. The throne room slowly began to light up with green-colored flames from the crystal columns as King Sombra descended from his throne and slowly made his way towards the group with a devilish smile on his face. “Dear daughter, I would think you spending a long time in your cell would let you see the error of your rebellious phase. But it would seem I’ll have to make it even more ingrained in your head about the consequences of your actions.” Sombra said before looking at Amber and Rusty. “I’ll start with gutting the two mares and place their heads on spikes, then I’ll-” He paused upon seeing Nanako as he blinked at the celestial being. “What in the name of the empire is that thing!? It looks like a pale hairless albino monkey with bad fashion sense.” “....Wow, aren’t you just a rude little thing,” Nanako said while moving in front of Amber, Umbra, and Rusty. “First of all, I am not a hairless albino monkey. My name is Nanako Otsutsuki of the Otsutsuki Clan. Princess of the Moon and-” “You, a princess? Don’t make me laugh, monkey.” Sombra said as the celestial being’s left eye twitched. “Run along creatures, otherwise you’ll be killed along with the ones I’m going to kill.” “Heh, you shouldn’t underestimate her father,” Umbra said as she took a step forward. “You think I wouldn’t come up here without so much of a plan? Then you have lost your mind.” She said before gesturing to Nanako. “For you see, with the assistance of Amber and Captain Rusty, I have summoned a being that will deliver this kingdom from your madness!” “....I’m sorry what?” Nanako asked before hearing Umbra whispering. “Follow my lead and just kill the bastard when he’s distracted.” She said before focusing her attention on Sombra who let out a burst of laughter. “You mean to tell me you were able to summon this creature? Oh how priceless this is. You’re sending this creature to its death and thinking it can defeat me? You should know how this will end up, right? I end up injuring them, I send you to prison, and then I kill them in front of you. Slowly and painful-” “Steel style: Steel Projectile!” Before Sombra could finish his sentence, he quickly summoned up a magical barrier around himself to block three Medium-sized steel balls that crashed into the barrier causing him to stagger back slightly from the force behind Nanako’s attack. “Darn, was kind of hoping to at least knock you out while you were focused on the others.” “...Hm, interesting. So this monkey can use magic.” Sombra said before levitating the steel balls thrown at him around himself. He soon focused his attention on Nanako as he fired the steel balls back at her, which in turn caused her to knock them off to the side. The moment she knocked the third ball away, a dark crystal shard was inches from her face. The alien girl casually moved her head to the side as the shard flew past her head and into the wall behind her in the distance. “Quick reflexes too…Monkey, what is your name?” “Nanako Otsutsuki of the Otsutsuki Clan. Normally I wouldn’t repeat myself to a lower life form who would disrespect someone like me.” “Yes, yes, whatever. How would you like to serve me as my right-hand mare?” He said, which took the group by surprise. “....I’m sorry what?” “Must I repeat myself? I want you to be my right-hand mare. You seem to be something new that this kingdom has never seen before, I’m sure you have more magic beside summoning those metal balls, and your reflexes are impressive given how fast my magic is. So it would be a smart move to serve me. I can offer you anything you want. Fame, glory, ponies who will admire you. The sky’s the limit.” He said before looking over at Amber, Rusty, and Umbra. “All you have to do is kill the earth pony and pegasus and punish my daughter for her betrayal of the crown. It would be a simple task for you-” “I’ll pass on that.” She said which caused Sombra to blink in surprise by this. “...Excuse me?” “I said I’ll pass. No offense…well actually all the offense, but given what I’ve been seeing in this short time in this place, you’ve completely lost it and you’ll just kill me the moment I turn my back. So out of the interest of not getting shanked or stabbed in the back or kidneys, I’ll just kill you and be on my way.” “...Pity, I suppose the clan that you’re from will have a funeral. Because you just sealed your fate.” He said as his horn began to glow and fired off a beam of dark magic at the celestial being. Nanako casually tapped the ground with her foot as a wall of steel appeared in front of her and the others to block the beam from hitting them. The moment the beam vanished, she quickly jumped from behind the steel wall, only to be met with another beam of dark magic. Nanako raised her right hand as it gave off a slight glow. The moment his attack hit her hand, she began to absorb the attack into her hand as she aimed at Sombra. “Dark Style: Judgment.” She said before unleashing a torrent of light blue flames at the mad king. The unicorn’s eyes widened upon seeing this as he quickly placed a barrier around himself but was pushed back and sent flying through his throne and into the wall behind him. The moment he fell to the ground, the wall that he slammed into fell on top of the stallion. “Huh…I was not expecting that to work…especially given how magic isn’t chakra…or is it?” “...Okay how is that possible!?” Umbra asked as she and the others stared at her in shock. “What’s possible?” “You just took his spell and sent it right back at him tenfold. How can you do something like that if you don't have magic?” Rusty asked. “I would explain how that’s possible, but that will have to wait until later once I have time to study this world.” She said before hearing an explosion go off she looked over to where Sombra was as the wall that he was under exploded into pieces. An annoyed expression was plastered on his face as he glared daggers at Nanako. “You’ll pay for that monkey.” He said as his horn lit up once again. This time, he fired off pillars of dark crystals from the ground and made them head towards Nanako. Nanako jumped into the air to avoid the oncoming pillars of crystals heading towards her. Once in the air she looked down at Sombra and brought her hands up. “Storm style: Laser Circus!” She yelled as a halo of midnight blue-colored energy spread around her hands. It soon encircled her hands and fired off multiple beams at the unicorn. Sombra quickly summoned up a wall of crystals to protect himself from the barrage of lasers, but to no avail, as pieces of the wall shattered upon making contact with the attack and shot past him as they either missed or grazed his shin. The unicorn quickly lunged himself backward with the assistance of a pillar of crystal he summoned underneath him to get some distance. The moment he had a good distance away from Nanako, he summoned up sickly green and black colored balls of magic around himself before firing them off and appearing around Nanako. “Let's see if you can dodge this!” He yelled as the balls of magic started zooming around the celestial being before firing off small concentrated beams of dark magic in all directions. Nanako reaches into her sleeve to pull out a white scroll. She soon opened it to reveal the word shield on it in Japanese letters and used it as a shield to block the beams while occasionally dodging them. As she was blocking and dodging, Sombra would take the opportunity to turn into his shadow form and sneak into the darkness of the throne room. The moment she revealed her blind spot to the dark king, Sombra grinned as he soon lunged towards her in his solid form in an attempt to attack with shards of crystals forming around him and ready to impale her body. “Nanako, behind you!” Amber yelled as she watched Sombra impale her body with the shards of crystal, though the sound of them cracking before breaking which took the earth pony by surprise. “What the, how are you not impaled by my crystals!?” He asked before noticing her skin being of a different skin color. Instead of it being a pale white, it was grayish-black. “Steel Style: Impervious Armor.” She answered before performing a quick spin as she backhanded the stallion in the face with a steel-covered hand and sent him tumbling off to the side. In doing so, the balls of magic disappear as the celestial being quickly closes the gap between herself and the king. Once Nanako was within striking range of the stallion, she soon delivered a quick jab to his face to stagger him followed by a right hook to his rib cage. The force behind her right hook caused him to slide backward as the celestial pivot of footing proceeded to follow after him. The moment she was close to him again, she began to deliver three quick jabs to his face, followed by a high kick to his head, a punch to his throat, and a pair of steel-covered fists to his chest. The mad king staggered back with his hooves covering his chest as he gasped for air. He soon felt himself hitting a column made out of crystal followed by the girl delivering an earth-shattering punch to his liver, which in turn caused him to vomit out blood as he felt Nanako delivering punch after punch to his body. Off to the side, Umbra, Amber, and Rusty were staring in shock at what was being displayed in front of him. King Sombra, the mad king, the most powerful unicorn in the Crystal Empire, the one who was able to out-match Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, was being used like a ragdoll by an outworlder like this was nothing but a sparring match. Mixed emotions swelled up inside of them, though it would be noticed that Umbra was slowly cracking a smile at seeing her father being taken down a peg or two. “This girl…she is a faust sent from the heavens.” Umbra thought as she noticed that each punch that Nanako delivered would cause the ground to shake and the crystal column to crack more and more. “She could win this…so long as she doesn’t get overconfident and lower her guard.” Just as Nanako was about to deliver a left hook to his face, she quickly jumped backward to avoid a pair of spikes made out of crystals shooting from the floor before forming a dome around himself. Once the dome was made, the mad king fell to the ground before letting out a coughing fit followed by vomiting blood onto the floor. “How long has it been since I had felt pain before?” Sombra thought before looking down at the blood below him. “Not since my battle with the princesses or the previous rule have I felt like I was on the verge of defeat…Finally, I challenge worthy of a king such as myself!” Looking up, he could see Nanako punching her way through to him as the sense of fear started to creep up his spine. “I have to kill this beast of a creature. Much as I would like for this fight to continue for all eternity, I can’t allow my kingdom to fall by this invader summoned by my daughter. This is my Kingdom, no one else!” The mad king gritted his teeth in excitement as he quickly turned into his shadow form and burst out of his dome. Once he was freed, she started to spread his body out as darkness consumed part of the area they were in. Upon seeing this, Umbra casts a barrier around herself along with Amber and Rusty as they watch Sombra glaring down at Nanako. “I must admit, you took me by surprise. Never have I ever met someone that could hurt me. It’s been a long time since I had this much fun with an opponent who wouldn’t cower in fear upon seeing me. It's exhilarating to the point where I want it to last forever, but even I know nothing lasts forever. I can not, and will not allow my kingdom to be taken away from me. Not by you or anypony for that matter.” “You have gone off the deep end if this is how you run your so-called kingdom,” Nanako said before taking up a fighting stance. “What kind of king treats their subjects like they're nothing more than pawns or tools for their own needs?” “The kind where he would kill to prevent treason. The previous ruler ran the kingdom like a fool, always forgiving, and always trusting fools that would betray her later on. I had enough of it. To see that this kingdom would stand the test of time, I had to kill her and seize the throne for myself. This kingdom has become a better place for everypony to live in.” “I…think your definition of a better place might be misleading. Especially seeing how almost half the population in this place are on death's door or dead already.” “You’re a princess, right? Surely you know what it’s like to be betrayed or watching a ruler being a fool.” “Not really, I mean I can see what you mean by that. But I’ve never ruled a kingdom or watched someone rule a kingdom…Unless a small village counts?” She said, which took the king by surprise. “You're joking…right?” he asked as Nanako shook her head. “You mean to tell me you’re a princess who never ruled a kingdom in her life? How in the name of Tartarus are you this strong!? No commoner can ever achieve combat skills that you have.” “Well, I’m a traveling scholar who has been studying, experiencing, and practicing ninjutsu and taijutsu.” She said as Sombra fell silent for a moment before letting out a fit of laughter. “You’re an oddity that I’ve never seen. It would be nice to see more creatures like yourself in this place.” He said before returning to his original form, though Nanako would notice shadow-like tendrils appearing from his shadows. “It would make this dull place more lively~” “Perhaps, but I think this place would be much better if you were gone,” Nanako said before getting back into a fighting stance. “You need to retire. Let the next generation of ponies lead your kingdom to a better future.” “It will be a cold day in Tartarus before I let that happen!” Sombra said as the tips of the tendrils formed into spears as they began to launch themselves at Nanako. The Celestial quickly deflected the oncoming assault with her fist before closing the distance between them. The moment she was about to deliver a right hook to his face, Sombra’s horn lit up as a jet-black sword appeared from his shadow and blocked the punch. Once it was blocked, he soon parried her fist off to the side, countered with a kick to her stomach, and sent her sliding backward. The moment she stopped herself from sliding, she quickly bolted toward the stallion as she tried to deliver a haymaker to his horn. Sombra moved his head back to avoid the strike as he countered with a barrage of quick thrusts from his sword and tendrils. Nanako would deflect or dodge most of the attacks as some would graze her clothes, leaving behind either holes and slashes but no damage to her skin due to it being covered in iron. Upon deflecting a strike from his sword, the celestial being jumped backward as she took in a deep breath. “Fire style: Great Fire Annihilation!” She yelled before firing off a giant wave of fire at Sombra. The stallion’s eyes widened upon seeing this as he quickly summoned up a wall of crystals in front of himself. Within a matter of seconds, the wave of fire started to settle down as the mad king used his magic to send the wall of crystals to Nanako at an alarming rate. The alien girl cracked her knuckle before bringing her fist back and delivering an earth-shattering punch and shattered the wall into pieces. As pieces of the crystal wall shattered around the area, Sombra appeared from behind the one that fell behind her as he thrust his sword into Nanako’s back. “Skilled as you are, you’re not that skilled to fall for something like this.” He said before noticing something odd. It felt like he was hitting something hard, but it wasn’t the girl. He looked up to see Nanako’s reaction, only for the girl to explode in a puff of smoke to reveal that he impaled a piece of crystal. “Lava style: Ash Stone Sealing.” Before he could react, Sombra felt something wrap around his body. Looking down he noticed a thick cloud of black ash wrap around his body. He was about to use his magic to teleport out of his bindings but soon felt the cloud of ash wrap around his horn as it temporarily stopped him from teleporting. Sombra soon looked behind himself to see Nanako spewing out a black cloud of ash from her mouth before wiping it once she was done. “How did you do that?” “Substitution jutsu. Comes in handy when you need to avoid being attacked from behind or something along the lines of that.” She said before launching herself as Sombra, grabbed his horn from within the cloud of ashes, and snapped it off with little to no effort. The stallion let out a low grunt from feeling his horn ripped off as Nanako crushed it into pieces. “And with that, it’s checkmate.” “Of course, she would tell you how to disable my magic. I should’ve killed you when I got the chance instead of keeping you in the dungeon and molding you into the next ruler.” “Yeah, because I would become the next ruler of a somewhat dead kingdom,” Umbra said in a sarcastic tone as she walked up to him and Nanako. “I never would’ve imagined I would see the day when you were brought down like this…it would be sad if it weren’t for the fact that I have no love for you anymore.” “Well, congratulations welp. You finally took your old man down. Shame that you had to get outside help. But if I have to ask, what are you planning to do now? You can’t take over the Crystal Empire given how the ponies would never follow you given how you’re the daughter of the evil king, you can’t pick any of the royals seeing how I killed them all, and you can’t kill me otherwise the spell I have on my subjects will kill them. Can you bear the weight of their lives on your shoulders dear daughter?” “You think I want to rule over this place? You kept me a prisoner here throughout my entire life. Why would I want anything to do with something like this? I can handle the fact that I brought a lot of death on my end due to my reckless rebellions and poor planning, what’s another couple of more deaths under my belt? Not like I’ll be staying here anytime soon anyway.” She said before turning her back away from Sombra. “You watch how this kingdom turns out from the afterlife, for now, I have nothing else to say. Nanako, kill him.” “Alright,” Nanako said before focusing her attention on Sombra. “Any last words you want to say before I kill? No, saying that you’re sorry about what you did? No trying to plead for mercy?” “As if a king would plead for his life. I lived my life as I see fit and I have no regrets about it. Though I suppose being killed by your hands rather than imprisoned by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna is a mercy within itself.” “Anyone else have anything to say before I kill him?” She asked before looking over at Amber and Rusty who were in shock at what was displayed in front of them. “I’ll take that as a no then.” “Just hurry up and get it over with. Unless you’re planning to spare my life, which I would recommend that you don’t,” he said before noticing a white cube with a ball of energy in the center of it slowly appearing in her hand. “Particle style: Atomic Dismantling jutsu.” She said before firing off the cube at Sombra and quickly engulfing his torso before making it vanish. The stallion’s eyes widened upon feeling this as his legs, part of his tail, and head fell to the ground. His head would move a bit due to trying to gasp for air while still trying to process what had happened to him. Within a matter of a minute, his head would slowly stop moving as the life within his eyes vanished. “Why did you leave his head and legs alone?” Umbra asks as she notices Nanako walking over to Sombra’s remains. “Just to show that King Sombra is dead to the remaining ponies of the empire. While I’m sure your world would show value to some, having proof that your father is dead would cement it for everyone to see.” She said before looking at Amber and Rusty. “I believe this would be enough to gain your trust more…right?” “Um…y-yeah…that will do…I-I’m sorry I’m just…still in shock at what I just saw,” Rusty said before heading towards the throne room’s doors. “I’m…gonna take a leave of absence for a while…Amber, you’re in charge until I return.” “W-Wait what!? But I can’t be in charge! I don’t even know the first thing about being a leader!” Amber yelled as she watched the pegasus leave. “Aw, horse apples! This is not going to end well for me. What am I supposed to do now?” “Well if my knowledge about the whole hierarchy is accurate, Umbra would be in charge because Sombra is dead. So you would be getting your orders from her.” Nanako said as the foxtail earth pony looked over at her. “...Go around the castle and bring those that are still standing and order them to take any injured pony to Northstar,” Umbra said as a shiver ran down Amber’s spine. “You sure? I mean, we could get somepony other than her to treat the ponies.” “Much as I would love to, she’s the only pony with a medical degree under her belt…plus all the other doctors are dead, so she’ll have to do it.” “Alright…I dislike going to her.” Amber said before running off. The moment the earth pony left, Umbra motioned for Nanako to follow her. “While they’re busy, I need to speak with you in private.” “...Does it involve something related to the Crystal Empire?” She asked while the dark unicorn nodded as the Celestial being began to follow after Umbra. “Mind telling me what that is?” “I have a request for you if you’re willing to accept it. Sombra wasn’t wrong in what he said, but not because everypony in the kingdom would distrust me. If anything they trust me more due to my acts of rebellion against my father. But due to him corrupting me with dark magic, I’m no longer suited to rule over the Crystal Empire.” “Seems a bit far-fetched if you ask me. I mean just because your body is corrupted, doesn’t mean you can’t rule a kingdom.” “It does when the crystal heart is involved. What they don’t know is that Father will return within a matter of days due to his connection with the crystal heart. Should he return, then the whole cycle of death and terror will begin again. But if someone else were to touch the crystal heart.” “Then the cycle will break and the empire will be free…but there’s a catch isn’t there?” “I’ll explain more once we reach the crystal heart,” Umbra said as the two appeared in front of a wall. The unicorn’s horn lit up for a second as it revealed a secret passageway for them to walk through. “Come, it’s not a long walk. So we’ll be able to return within an hour or so depending.” She said as the two made their way into the passageway as the wall closed up behind them.