Subject #9, codenamed Deku, was just a tool for the facility to use. A genetic hybrid, the perfect super soldier. Unfortunately for them, he had morals, sacrificing his life to free his brethren from the eternal torture of the lab. Now, he finds him...
As Izuku walked the sky bridge to the central building of the city, thousands gathered.
The bridge itself was wider than the golden gate bridge in San Francisco, capable of holding massive lines of guards to protect Izuku along his walk, as well as entire crowds of citizens behind them. Men and women peeked over the shoulders of the guards to catch a glimpse of their newest King and Lord. At the end of the journey was Draxia's most impressive structure, the council.
Onyx architecture was not usually admired all that much, as most of it sat in the flesh of the mountains, hidden beneath the surface where the Onyx felt most comfortable. They may have been creatures of the sky, but they also took after their more monstrous relatives, who preferred to hide away in a cave and slumber with their treasures.
The council was one of the few Onyx buildings that fully exposed itself to the open air, as if inviting the world to challenge them. The massive structure, built like two horns, was the center of all official Onyx activity. Military, government, economics, everything. It was also... Izuku's castle. There were thrones inside, ones that waited for the new NULL and Virtue Lords.
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Izuku kept his face as straight as he could as he strolled down to meet the council, but it was hard not to feel awe at the many Onyx around him, every shape and color aside from black and white. Some had massive leathery wings like Enji, others had thin nimble wings, some had wings that looked more insectoid than reptilian, and the list went on. It was an incredibly diverse species.
They roared and clapped with a joy that Izuku had never seen before. It was as if they were witnessing the second coming of Christ, that was the only comparable fervor. Lords truly were like Gods amongst men, and if the stories were true, the power came from the Gods themselves. It was pretty fitting.
Of course, Izuku was extremely uncomfortable with it. It was just wrong for an assassin to be so observed. But he had no option other than sucking it up and staying focused.
Izuku got his first glimpse of the lack of young or old right then and there. Everyone he saw looked to be a young adult, maybe 20s-30s in appearance. Only two Onyx he saw during that walk looked like they could be considered children, but as he would later learn, those two were actually a few hundred years old, they just had some physical development issues. It was a society entirely filled by what were essentially immortals. Children were so rare just because of the Onyx physiology. Any elderly-looking folks were rare because Onyx looked youthful up until their final few years and many didn't even make it that far. Onyx were strong, but they also tended to overestimate their own power, leading to early deaths. Most Onyx died in battle before the endless flow of time could erode their bodies, which was also just a consequence of how long-lived the species was. Most humans didn't get to die peacefully in their sleep because of accidents or wars, or just from the general threats that life faced you with, and that was when the oldest of the species was maybe 80-90 years old. Onyx had several hundred years, if not thousands, meaning that the chance of not running into some sort of deadly situation they can't get out of increases over time. It was a general rule of probability, the longer you had, the more hardships you'd encounter.
