Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

Inian was laying on the ground, staring up at the clear sky. Regular birds were flying overhead, and a faded voice kept calling out to him.

Suddenly, he felt a slap on his cheek, "Inian! Wake up! Tell me what happened."

Inian g.r.o.a.n.e.d as he felt his body wracked with pain. "Wow, that really hurt. I think the punishment for having the power of death just hit me."

Burt shook his head, "you were screaming half-way through the night. I pulled over and tried to move you to a more comfortable spot, but you kept on flailing and thrashing. So I just left you where you are now."

Inian sat up and nodded, "thank you, Burt. Apparently, the time for the punishment to hit me is around one week. So every week, I will feel the pain of every monster that died."

Burt's body shivered, "man, that's pretty horrible. Why did you accept something like that?"

Inian looked up, "I needed to move on to the behemoth level, or else I wouldn't have the power to defeat the descendants."

"Alright then...how do you feel now?"

Inian stood up and massaged his shoulder. He squatted and waved his arms about, "I feel sore and stiff like I just had the hardest workout of my life yesterday."

Burt nodded, "I would believe that. Now, are you ready to travel again?"

Inian cracked his neck, "I guess. We should be able to get to High Rock in a week and a half, so let's get there and finish this before the descendants can do any harm."

They hopped in the vehicle and went driving on the open grounds, heading to what Inian feared might be his defeat.

...............

Off in Irigia, Janae was sitting at one of her work stations. She was observing a monster core and was very close to being able to utilize it to its maximum potential.

A knock came on her door, "I'm coming!" She yelled and walked up to the heavy set door.

She opened it to find Queen Irigia standing outside by herself with a cloak over her.

"Your majesty! Please come in."

The Queen nodded her thanks and stepped inside Janae's home.

Janae went to pour some tea for the Queen.

Inian's black wolf pet was running around, playing with a stick it found outside.

Queen Irigia looked around at the numerous projects and the wolf and asked Janae, " You're keeping his wolf?"

She smiled, "I didn't want it to get lonely, so I am keeping it here with me."

The Queen nodded and asked, "how are you doing? Or I should ask, how are you feeling?"

Janae touched the small bump that was forming in her abdomen. "I'm doing alright, morning sickness really sucks. But I'm still not far enough along to the point where I struggle to get around."

The Queen nodded, "I decided not to tell Inian about the child yet. He still needs to fight the remaining descendants, and I don't want to distract him."

Janae frowned, "he has a right to know. The child is his as well. I should've gone to tell him."

The Queen shook her head, "the journey would've been hard on you. Besides, I didn't want to risk you getting caught up in the fighting between the Trostan Kingdom and us. By the way, how are you feeling about us going to war with your home nation?"

Janae handed the Queen her cup of tea, "my ties to that country are gone now. I have no family there, and I've established my roots here. I am now a proud citizen of Irigia, and I'll stand with Irigia if need be."

Queen Irigia sipped on her tea, "thank you. Although, we shouldn't ever get to the point where we need a pregnant woman to stand up and fight with us."

Janae laughed when the Queen said that. Queen Irigia smiled and continued sipping tea next to Janae.

"Your majesty, do you think Inian will be okay?"

The Queen nodded, "he is the monster king; if anybody can come back in one piece, it'd be him."

Janae's shoulders slumped, "I just don't want to be alone when the baby comes..."

The Queen put a hand on her shoulders, "he'll be okay...he always is."