A Story of Evil

Chapter 79: The Cards

"Oh, you're also here?" Jubilee walked into the room where Sol was. In it was the boy and Alice.

"My liege." The girl bowed.

Her body was full of bandages that covered her skin. Although the crystals healed her, the black flames had a weird property to it. Making it difficult for a full recovery to happen at once. Even her hair was burnt short, making her look a bit like a beautiful young boy.

"At ease." Jubilee said, making the girl go back to watching over Sol.

King Jubilee thought of visiting Sol for that day. He had various things that he worked on throughout the week so he has locked himself up in Pentagon. He knew that a lot of things would disturb him after all. So he left these to Lilia while he focused on his work.

"Any signs?" Jubilee asked, referring to Sol's condition.

"He's still sleeping my liege."

"Well, that's a given I guess." The king said, remembering the events that lead to Sol's current condition.

As soon as the announcement was made and, every remaining titan was transported to Mercury, Solomon finally fainted. Jubilee used analysis and saw the problem right away. Moving him to Pentagon so Pandora could heal him. Due to the fact that Solomon skipped the natural process of obtaining mana veins and, having a mana core, his body went into a state of shock.

The suddenness could be likened to a child suddenly gaining thicker muscles. Or a thin layer of bricks suddenly getting a whole building's weight on top of it. It was too much pressure all at once. Too much stress on a body.

What made this worse was the fact that Sol even exhausted this very same function. Thus resulting to the deadly recoil that occurred. Making all his mana veins leak out to his body. Entering his blood stream which was lethal.

Undiluted and pure mana was only supposed to stay within the veins. When this leaks to other body parts, where it is not supposed to be, it corrodes the organs and slowly destroys them.

That was the state Sol was in.

"He should be awake a few more days from now so there's no need to worry. The only problem is that I need to give him a good lecture as soon as he does." The king said, satisfied of Solomon's condition continually getting better.

"Well, I'll be leaving him in your care Alice. Don't let him use his powers unless I say otherwise." The king said, going for the door.

"Understood my liege. But, are you going anywhere?"

"Yeah. The other rulers and I are finally holding the meeting."

Aqua sat on the cold tiled floor. Mercury, just like Sanctuary, was a not a place that should be tampered with. They weren't allowed to leave things there and, everything always needed to go. Hence, she, along with the other rulers, sat on the floor. Waiting for Jubilee who went back to his habit of arriving last.

"Hey guys." The Void King said. Finally arriving.

"Jubilee, your timing is as impeccable as always I see." Queen Aqua commented.

"Well, at least I'm having a good sleep every night. Look at you guys." Jubilee mentioned, referring to the fact that all the monarchs had dark lines under their eyes. Probably from lack of sleep. They also looked a bit more unkempt than normal. All except from him.

"Are you trying to pick up a fight Jubilee?" Nova asked, irritated by how lax the Void king was.

"I don't know Nova. But even if I did, who do you think would win?" The fire king bit his lips and stopped speaking at that point.

Without any of them openly acknowledging it, they knew who was truly the strongest in the group. It was Jubilee. And quite frankly, they didn't want to get on the bad side of the same person who could create a hole of darkness that could suck up their domain.

"Okay break it up. We have a lot of things on our plate." Aqua was the one to ease the tension.

"Oh you said it." Jubilee sat down; with the meeting finally commencing.

"The first thing we need to talk about is how we'll finish the Culling. As we all know, apart from it being political and, economical, the Culling is also a large part of the religious belief system of the people. With all of the titans who mutated during the Culling, the church is beginning to believe that the gods are displeased. Claiming that the earth and fire domain needs to bewellcleansed."

Nobody said it upfront but, doubts on Nova's loyalty was circulating among them. After returning to their respective domains and, watching the clips, they couldn't help but feel that he was also an enemy. All because of his son who transformed into a seemingly higher level of monster.

Ironically, it was only Jubilee who believed in him at that point. The same king also wanted to prove this to everyone.

"First of all, I want everyone to know that Nova is innocent."

"Jubilee what are you saying?" Frost asked.

"Well it's obvious from the atmosphere that you're doubting him right? So I'm giving you the fact to calm you down."

"Fact? Jubilee, you can't just claim that without evidence." Queen Electra said.

"Why? Are you doubting me loser?" Nova intercepted and, just before the queen could say more, Jubilee continued speaking.

"Well, I know he's innocent just as much as I know that King Frost slept with a maid last night. I also know that Queen Electra wore a fierce velvet lingerie to seduce his man. Queen Aqua kissed her children on the cheek before coming here. Nova actually cried last night."

Every person he mentioned had their faces flushing red. Entailing that Jubilee told the truth.

"Need I say more?" Jubilee teased.

"No. I think that's enough." Was Electra's response.

"I have an ability called [Analysis]. It allows me to freely look at all of your data, including the things you did for the past 24 hours. More than anyone else, it is my words that you should believe in. We can drag these conversations much shorter if you listen to me."

"Jubilee, I know that all you have said is true but what keeps us from believing that you won't lie?"

"Does it matter?"

"What?"

"Even if I do lie, it will be for the interest of all the domains. You are all alive because of me. I didn't save your sorry asses for free you know. The least you could do is to take my words at face value."

Jubilee was finally bringing all his cards to the table. He was cornering the monarchs, ensuring that everything will flow in his favor.

"It's not like I'm taking the seat of the council. All I'm saying is, we can deal with all these problems faster if there is a single, undeniable, fact checker in this group. In fact, I doubt any of you would attempt lying to my face now."

He was right. As much as everyone hated to admit it, Jubilee made sense. With him present, all the other monarchs needed to be truthful. This is itself was valuable to their current condition. Thus they casted their votes and, as the Void King predicted, everyone agreed to his terms.

"Good. Now, as for the problem at hand."

"Do you have a solution Jubilee?" Reoul asked.

"I do actually. I suggest we abolish the Culling altogether."

"Abolish it?" Leon repeated in a doubtful tone.

"Are you out of your mind Jubilee?" Nova furthered.

"I'm not. The activity itself is obsolete as well as the belief systems established together with it. We can simply say that evil has entered into the Culling and that it is not a scared battle anymore. Of course those in the church won't buy it at first but, I believe all of you can keep their mouths shut if you tried."

"Jubilee, isn't that too much?"

"Too much? Like it or not you have to admit that you're walking on the edge of the cliff. Most of you are. How long do you think will the people remain silent huh?" Nobody raised their voice. They all knew deep inside that Jubilee was right.

"It's only a matter of time before they begin their move. And believe me when I say that a coup is waiting for all of you."

"But your method won't solve the whole problem. What of the plantations? DO you think that the people would be satisfied with the number of harvest they have?" Aqua asked, something which the Void king anticipated. Curving his lips to a smile as he continued speaking.

"That won't be a problem if there is enough supply, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if I can provide the same amount of harvest to everyone? The same amount that the champions enjoy?"

"That's a pipe dream Jubilee. We all know that it's impossible."

"Is it? Come with me then."

Even without the monarchs agreeing to it, they all glowed and were covered by runes. Jubilee then snapped his fingers and, soon enough, they were teleported.

The scenery was unfamiliar to the group. It was filled with burnt trees and the smell of the dead. But it didn't take them that long to finally piece things together and understand where they were. It was the location of the last Culling. The very same place which started all of the chaos.