Priscilla ran, her steps flying as she moved toward the centermost part of the city and the palaces that overlooked it. All around her, the decayed sand of the people''s bodies swirled, and the columns shook, the scenes depicted on them gradually shifting into scenes of carnage and evil. Priscilla had no time to pay attention to the depictions in her haste; if she did, it would have chilled her to the bone. The people pursued evil vindictively and righteously. They chased after it, but that, in turn, became their sin as evil set its sights on them. Death was a river that drowned everything in its path; they persevered through countless conquests, but no matter how blessed they were, they could not stop his approach.


    Misery and strife etched themselves into the depths of the columns, plagues struck them uncontrollably, and their villages desecrated by ravenous insects that came in like wildfire. Demons flew through the sky, bringing a rain of fiery brimstone down on the land. Priscilla passed the final column— and scene.


    The last thing the people saw was tyranny! He stepped toward the city, quaking the earth beneath his colossal steps. He towered at twelve feet, overshadowing the burning wastelands before him. The title ''Tyrant King'' was no understatement; his three heads were rife with indulgent arrogance and inescapable tyranny that existed purely to harm.


    Priscilla crossed a thin bridge that passed beyond the nearest canal, stumbling upon more people staring blindly at her, their mouths gaped open and gushing blood. "Azzi-Dahka! AZZI-DAHKA! FOR THE KING''S GLORY!" They roared as their bodies shriveled, the final dregs of vitality fading from their crumbling form.


    It was a terrible sight, but Priscilla had to push past it as she reached the end of the paved path, which turned into a staircase stretching out toward the peak; well-lit luminescent gems adorned every stone, illuminating the intricate designs of the craftsmanship that built the city. Priscilla walked up the sizeable steps, her knees buckling and sweat coating her back. Azzi-Dahka''s presence and pressure weighed on the steps. Every step she took grasped at her feet, pulling them into a heavy embrace like quicksand. She struggled and grimaced, but she broke free of that strained hold that had her at its mercy; as she finally reached the peak and took her final step, an eerie wind blew, slapping her across the face. Fog roiled angrily, consuming the palace grounds under its might, a haunting display of sinister intentions and a pitiful attempt at frightening Priscilla.


    "Invader. You are not one of mine." Azzi-Dahka''s hoarse voice sounded from the inner palace, like the scrape of steel against stone; it trilled angrily in Priscilla''s ears.


    "Worship this king! Kneel before him and submit!" Azzi-Dahka continued, deeming it pointless to give the intruder a chance to retort.


    "KNEEL." One of Azzi-Dahka''s heads roared, "SUBMIT." The second echoed, "OBEY!" The third added. The egoism of his existence was prevalent; he truly believed everything to be inferior.


    "You inferior creature, you dare disobey! This king shall lop your head off and have it roll down the cliffs!"


    A thundering quake sent the land into a frenzied struggle, lifting dust and crumbling buildings. Azzi-Dahka''s footsteps weighed on the earth like a black star erupting with force. He emerged from the palace with three heads rife with wrathful indignation, his six arms bulged with strength, two arms prayed by his chest, two wielded halberds of steel that towered over even him, and two dragged maces covered in lacquered spikes that dripped venom behind them. He bared his serrated fangs, snarling at Priscilla with his beastly grimace.


    "Will you kneel now, intruder? Or will you face your punishment?" Azzi-Dahka spat.


    "You talk too much!" Priscilla chimed, her ears ringing from the beast''s endless prater.


    "Why''s a beast acting all haughty for even?" She added, questioning the arrogant demeanor that surpassed even the Emperor.


    "Insolence! Intruder, you dare?" Azzi-Dahka snarled with one of his heads.


    "KNAVE! PEASANT! ANT!" His three heads berated before one of them howled, "THIS KING OFFERS YOU AMNESTY, AND YOU DARED REJECT HIS KINDNESS!"


    Azzi-Dahka gazed at Priscilla as if she were a mongrel on the side of the street. He took his halberds and slammed them down, hitting the butt of them against the solid ground. The force of his thrust cracked the ground, forming a crater beneath the weapons. His palpable fury changed the color of the sky as the viscous bloodthirst filled the air.


    The Tyrant snarled, lunging toward Priscilla with his halberd, slicing a clear arc aimed at her neck. Priscilla twisted her body, avoiding the strike narrowly as she pressed her hand against the ground, kicking off it and striking the halberd with her foot. Priscilla had not expected the creature''s halberd to weigh as much as a building as her strike barely nudged it. Priscilla''s thoughts stirred as she spun, redirecting her other leg toward Azzi-Dahka''s nearest face.


    Azzi-Dahka sneered as he lifted his free hand and caught Priscilla''s uplifted foot. He lifted her coldly, dangling her in front of him. "Got you, little rat."


    "Bastard," Priscilla muttered, her gaze blazing. Her eyes oozed a crimson fury as a spear of flame manifested in her palm, stabbing at Azzi-Dahka''s solar plexus. "Put me down, beast. Or the next one will go through your throat." She threatened as the flames drilled into his stomach.


    Azzi-Dahka grimaced, grasping his stomach with pained fury. "VERMINOUS WRETCH, I''LL DESTROY YOU!" He threw Priscilla down angrily against the paved stones of the palace ground. His stomach churned with pain as his hand grasped it firmly.


    Priscilla rolled, the wind gliding around her to soften the impact as she lifted her gaze toward Azzi-Dahka. The beast roared as he charged at Priscilla, his halberds rapidly moving as they arced downward. Priscilla lunged, pushing herself to the side; his attack kicked up a frenzy of dust as the blades ripped into the earth where she previously was. The Tyrant slowed down; he could still feel the searing pain in his midsection. His six eyes indiscriminately flared with anger as he whipped his halberds down continuously.


    "Audacious, audacious, utterly audacious!" Azzi-Dahka bared his fangs, whipping his mace with a flick and hurling it toward Priscilla. Again, again, and again. The ground became peppered with craters and puddles that wafted toxic smoke into the air. Priscilla weaved through his attacks gracefully; her body slid as her hand caressed the earth, a mark forming along her upper arm as she ripped out an earthen blade from the ground. She huffed, the energy radiating from her as flames consumed the blade in a deluge of crimson. It was the time for Priscilla to strike; she hung low, using Azzi-Dahka''s towering stature against him as she chopped at his legs relentlessly.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "For a beast, you sure are persistent." Priscilla mocked as she pulled her hand down, condensing water in the air that sprayed into Azzi-Dahka''s eyes. She had a simple strategy— wear him out and stoke the flame of his agitation. "How did a mindless brute like you even conquer this brave nation?" She questioned, with another slash to Azzi-Dahka''s thigh.


    "Wretch, this king has ruled for centuries! How dare you blaspheme him!" Azzi-Dahka growled in his hoarse voice, scraping against the stone like steel. He struck with his halberd and mace in unison, slicing and smashing the ground. Malice gleamed in his eyes as he monitored Priscilla''s movements.


    When Priscilla dodged the flailing mace, Azzi-Dahka clapped his two praying hands before thrusting them outward; a deluge of blackened smoke burst out from them, striking Priscilla and pushing her back into a coughing fit.


    "What was that?" She said through pained coughs. There was a lethal venom coursing through her lungs as the smoke entered her airways.


    "Do you know your place now, vermin?" Azzi-Dahka snarled with a gloating grimace on his three faces. "My kingdom has thrived for eons in the Domain of Death; do you truly think some rat will make me kneel?"


    Priscilla''s response was a cold glare aimed at Azzi-Dahka. Her body burned both figuratively and literally as flames erupted from her pores. Her heart thrummed— a drumming thud of liberation that echoed across the landscape. The impurities that coursed through her body burst into flame and vanished.


    "You were saying?" She asked with a bright and innocent smile.


    Azzi-Dahka''s pupils constricted with a mix of shock and anger. He dug his halberds into the ground and let go, dropping his maces behind him as his body contorted, and he kneeled like a beast ready to pounce. His hair bristled as blackened energy swirled around him. "You''ve crossed the line, you wicked witch."


    The Tyrant King howled as the earth quaked beneath his power. His hulking body enlarged as he towered over the small-statured Priscilla many times. He faced Priscilla with focused eyes, his expression gradually calming into a silent and seething fury. Priscilla looked back, a painting of calmed determination. She spread her arms slightly as water condensed and hardened, forming ice blades in her hands. All around them was debris and demolished ruins, but it was only about to worsen.


    The two charged almost simultaneously as they met in the middle; Priscilla''s blades arced to the side, meeting Azzi-Dahka''s gnarled fangs. He bit down, fragments of ice and blood spewing along with it. The woman bounced back with a push of the wind, twirling in the air before recoiling forward again. She glid with the wind, aiming low and striking Azzi-Dahka''s heel with her blade. Priscilla ripped up, sending flesh flying from heel to knee.


    Azzi-Dahka screeched, blood gushing from his mouth and down his leg. The beast slammed upward, sending a kick flying at Priscilla, who was mid-attack, her body coiled as it flew back, tumbling against the earth. She lifted herself, her hair messy and covered in dust.


    "Now, you''re the one pissing me off!" She muttered resolutely, her body launching forward as the wind swirled around her like a torrential tempest. Azzi-Dahka charged at her, slamming his fist down forcefully; she ducked past it, manifesting a small dagger of ice in her palm as she thrust it, stabbing into Azzi-Dahka''s eye with abandon.


    Azzi-Dahka''s other two heads turned, clasping their teeth down at her, but Priscilla turned, shuffling her body behind the beast, as she stabbed again into another eye. He flailed his arms violently, swatting the woman away like a fly and creating distance between them. Priscilla snorted, moving her body agilely as she bridged the gap. She toyed with Azzi-Dahka, using her size and speed to her advantage. With a flick of her wrist, Priscilla slashed down a third time, stabbing into another eye. She sliced up, ripping the entire eyeball out in the wake of her fury.


    The man''s eyes bulged, and in that moment— he snapped. His palpable desire for Priscilla''s death seethed the air around him as the hairs on his body stood firm. His aura surged— intensifying and transforming. His neck snapped— detached from his torso. It was absurd; Azzi-Dahka''s three heads began to rotate and gyrate around his torso as the blood flowed around him from his wounded eyes.


    "I. AM. AZZI. DAHKA." The beast''s heads roared unanimously. "I HAVE RULED THE ELEVENTH KINGDOM FOR EONS. I RULED THE DAMNED. AND I HAVE WIELDED DEATH. I WILL NOT BOW TO MORTALITY."


    His torso contorted, bones cracked, and ligaments snapped. He squirmed like some soft-bodied creature. Azzi-Dahka''s limbs swelled with pustulant growths, and his once man-like figure became monstrous and bestial. He stood in his quadrupedal glory; atop it, a growth of flesh formed his torso, connected to a singular spinal bone that ran tall as his neck rotated violently around it.


    "YOU TOO SHALL KNOW THE MEANING OF DEATH." The creature spat, its voice grating to the ears. "NONE SHALL DEFY KING AZZI-DAHKA."


    Priscilla scoffed. "Death? I''ve stared into the face of death before— it will not frighten me again." She uttered resolutely as her eyes glowed. "If you''re the ruler of the Eleventh Kingdom, then I''m the woman who slayed you. Remember my name— Priscilla Valentine!" She added with a sinister reverb in her voice. The markings on her body glowed with fanatical vibrancy as they resonated with her emotions and beliefs.


    Across Priscilla''s back, a winged pattern stretched as she jumped into the air, seemingly hovering in the skies above. Storm clouds brewed, billowing overhead as the land and sky flipped in contrast. Lightning crackled, and thunder roared, electrifying the air with violent intent.


    Azzi-Dahka''s instincts screamed for action; crimson mist poured from his wounded eyes, causing pillars of blood to twist from the earth— frenzied cyclones that brought devastation to the already ruined landscape.


    Priscilla waved her hand down, causing thunderbolts to rain onto Azzi-Dahka. She had to use everything she could— her resonance, emotions, even energy. If Priscilla fell here, the trial would end in failure, but the woman had to resist. Her breaths became ragged and forced, but she continued badgering the beast. Azzi-Dahka fumed, sending the pillars of blood twisting in Priscilla''s direction. She burst into flames, encasing and protecting herself with the fire, offering them redemption for the pain they once caused her.


    The woman''s body shimmered and dulled the glow around her flickering, like a firefly at the end of its path. Her energy was running out quickly, but Azzi-Dahka still fought back. Her emotions flared. ''I will not fail.'' She thought as the flames erupted into an all-encompassing sea that spread out.


    "NO! YOU DARE!" Azzi-Dahka roared as he felt his soul ablaze. The cyclones of blood were formed from his essence— the blood of his creation. The burning flames latched onto the cyclones, an impossibility to rid oneself of. He charged toward Priscilla, his mind in a muddled, berserk state; he made it halfway before his body burst into flame.


    Priscilla plunged to the ground, a candle at the end of its wick. She kneeled on the earth, grasping at the grains of sand beneath her. She raised her head, her eyes glowing and an enormous smile spreading. "Yes! I did it! I did it, Rin!" She cried ecstatically as the world around her burst into a pristine white glow that blanketed the landscape.