Chapter 14: The Assembly

Zarashi (The Eleventh Arcana)

Zarashi walked the halls in the castle above the skies as he head towards the meeting he was originally supposed to have arrived too roughly 15 minutes ago. It was a complete pain in the ass to attend most of these meetings considering nearly nothing would get done besides some pointless jeering and suggestions, which at times could go on for an hour! It was just a complete shitfest. It didn't help that his pesky servants wouldn't stop bothering him about it, and he'd rather not have the heads of servants that couldn't even properly set themselves up within a fight, So he would usually do what they asked even with the constant desire to want to kill them off.

"Master Zarashi. The meeting is beyond these doors. We bid you farewell and will await within your room." The medium blonde-hair girl said as she walked away with the other male servant. However, before she could fully walk off her name was called out.

"Yo! Castella!" The blonde-haired girl turned around after hearing her name called by Zarashi.

"Yes Master Zarashi...how may I assist you?" she asked in a questioning manner.

"Someone within the thirteen's been digging into things they shouldn't be within my room...keep things secure and set up a seal. I'd rather not go on another rampage again..." He said to Castella.

"Understood Master Zarashi." Castella simply said as she went on her way. Zarashi simply stared at her fading back.

"..."

Zarashi turned around as he opened the door into the meeting room. There as he saw was the table being completely rowdy and going nuts as yelling and shouting was being spouted out. So much so that Zarashi simply went to his seat as the commotion continued.

"Seems like all that time didn't go to waste...Leader isn't even here yet." Zarashi quietly said to himself as he began to pay attention to what was going on within his table. It appeared there was an argument going on between a few members regarding the status of the boy that there was interest for.

"I just can't believe this shit!" What does leader even see in that damn brat! I'm a few years older then him and I've proved my worth 10x him at his age! He has nearly 0 value!" A young,short,petite looking girl said. she had purple pigtails to go alongside what appeared to be a cannon on her back as well as a small wand around her pocket area. She was also one of the youngest members, having recently just turned 15 years old as well. To go with said appearance was essentially a white and black dress with fluttery ends as well as somewhat high boots to go along with a chain around her neck that appeared to be...alive?...

"Sazuki-chan...I believe your expectations may be quite...out of this world to say the least...I firmly believe this boy's potential is well over-hyped...especially by someone of leader's status, but that is not to say that this boy doesn't seem to hold at least some value. Leader is not foolish, Not only is he the strongest warrior, he also comes with unparalleled intellect that none of us could even hope to reach even within a million years." A man said firmly. The man had long hair tied back into what was known as a topknot. He also had quite the unkept facial hair,with a rather long moustache. He wore a red robe with dragons imprinted all around alongside some weirdly exotic and unique designs. He also had a rather long sword tied onto the robe. His final defining feature was the kanji for emperor on his hand.

"The boy oozes potential! I honestly believe we have a very interesting prospect on our hands Oberon! one that could very well give me quite the fortune...and in many ways...hehe" the heavy man said. The man was gluttonous and well...quite large to say the least...he had a bowl cut to go alongside a evil-poker face look that looked as if he saw everyone in the room as below him. He wore a basic white shirt to go along with overalls, he also seemed to be eating popcorn while munching furiously with every bite.

"If anything, I think I'd let to get my hands on him first Nobuni...He seems quite juicy and just around my lane...Of course I'll wait for him to get older since i'm not a freak but I believe he does hold...vast...potential." The absolutely gorgeous woman said. She had long pink hair to go with a huge bust size and quite the nice body, most would even refer to her as an incubus with the way her body was built. She wore a spaghetti strap shirt that was made like a bra to go with denim shorts that showed off her legs and hips to their fullest. The interesting thing was her tattoo on her left arm, which was of a heart torn in half with a dagger impaled into it's broken half.

Zarashi couldn't go through further analyzing though as footsteps were heard outside the door as the sounds of the leader approaching silenced everyone. They all got off their chairs, went on one knee and bowed as the door opened with their leader standing in front of them all.

Zarashi looked up as he the saw leader stare at them all. The leader looked as vicious as usual, with black hair that stretched to his eyes, but enough to cover those red,viper looking eyes. His ears had gold hoop looking piercings that seemed to make noise every time he moved. He wore an abundant amount of jewelry which was diamonds and or gold, and around his neck was 5 gold chains that looked quite thick. This went along with Golden armour that seemed to be quite loud and sturdy as he walked within it to his main seat at the front. He slowly sat down as he stared at the table for a few moments. Thinking of it as a queue to stand up, the gluttonous man; Nobuni stood up. This proved to be...well...a mistake.

"Heya Leader! How's it-" Nobuni couldn't finish his sentence as Gigas formed a chain around his index finger and began to choke Nobuni while Gigas remained seated. Nobuni struggled with the chain attempting to take it off with the enormous pain it was causing.

"I don't believe I asked you to speak before I did Nobuni." Gigas stated.

"I was just...I was just!-" Nobuni couldn't finish as the chain tightened even harder as began to feel the effects of possibly passing out.

"Talk out of line again Nobuni...and I'll have your head on one of my pikes...and trust me...The pike would be a bigger loss to my storage then you ever could be...Realize the position you are in at the moment and be grateful. You are of the 13 Sorrows. You are not a mongrel. Don't begin acting like one.

"Yes..." Nobuni gasped out as the chains were ousted and sent back to Gigas, Nobuni collapsed on the floor catching his breath.

"Now then. On to today's subject for this meeting. It has come to my awareness that some of you have been asking quite a bit about the brat I've showed interest in." Gigas said in a calm tone

Heads around the meeting table began to nod to Gigas's question.

To be quite straight forward with you...this brat is already beginning to wield the power and potential of the chains at such a young age. Not to mention his hidden capabilities alongside the fact that he holds the nine-tails within him." Gigas explained

"It's even possible that this boy might be the "One" but even then...a demonic mongrel is still a mongrel...And if the dog's infection spreads...I'll put him down myself..." Gigas said with a smile

"Do you think he will pose a problem anytime soon?" I asked

"As of now...no. The boy is a fool. A fool with many possibilities and opportunities that await him depending on how his development goes. Regardless, he will never hold a candle to me...he will merely go from Trash...to mongrel." Gigas stated

"Hmph. I just hope this brat can even make me bleed! I haven had a lot of fun lately and a good fight is always fun." I said with a huge grin.

"There he goes...talking of a fight with bloodshed and leaving no honor bound...what a filthy animal" Oberon said while harshly staring at Zarashi.

"You really wanna go on about this shit again huh Oberon? I've already told you to cease ur talk about honor this and honor that! That shit means nothing!" I shouted out

"Honor is everything! To not live by your honor and blade is to be a disgrace to your existence! It's quite easy to tell why you're a savage!" Oberon shouted back

I stood up as I began to hover my hand around my sword.

"Keep talking Oberon...and I'll have more then just your head..." I said threateningly

"You can't take nothing! If you could take remotely anything you would saved your village you!-"

Oberon didn't finish as Zarashi launched out of his seat with his sword in hand. Right when his blade could cut through Oberon. Chains suddenly erupted from the ceiling, meeting table, and the hand of the person who sent them out...Gigas

"A challenge is always nice...A challenge with this much hatred thrown out...even better...A challenge that will lead to blood on this table and cause trouble for me...And we probably won't have an open casket funeral..." Gigas said with a deep, menacing frown.

Both Retreated to their seats, fearful of their leader.

However...I'll let this challenge continue. Continue this within the arena...I'm always excited for a challenge that will bring me joy to watch" Gigas said while walking out the room.

Right before Gigas left though, he said-

"The winner of this challenge will be granted full permissions to scout and assess the talents of the brat...

May the best win...