An Eternity of Nihility

Chapter 19: « Oh humm... 2kg of grapes»

To the north of the vampire nation lay another kingdom, not very friendly and rarely visited. Its great stone wall and massive wooden gate didn't make it very welcoming, and its most dreaded prison even less so. Opposite it, a strange lake of acid resided on a small island, isolated by an imposing mountain range. Behind these ramparts, a noisy village stood guard. Their aim to protect their river, but above all the king. Unlike other royalties, the king of this kingdom didn't want to live in a palace. He preferred to be in full view of his enemies. But what would a king be without a throne? From afar, he looked down on his kingdom. Sitting on his seat of skulls, some of them bloody, he picked his giant teeth with a bone carved to perfection. He was lost in thought when someone drew him out.

— Great warrior, I've come to tell you that the soldiers and leader of the third division are dead.

Outraged, he threw down his giant toothpick and leapt from his throne, landing at the feet of his subject.

— What do you mean? How can this be? There were at least thirty of them. When did they die?

— I know, but I heard it was a big red slash that caused their deaths. It annihilated the mountain range, the trees, the rivers, even the sacred lakes. As for the time, it was a week ago.

He gritted his teeth and kicked a pile of skeletons. He was about to throw a tantrum when he realized what he'd just been told.

— Wait, you "heard" it? Does that mean the rumors spread like wildfire? He asked, smiling.

-Affirmative.

He returned to his throne, laughing his head off.

— We'll send back more soldiers, more of them, he ordered. If this person is really after us, he won't hesitate to sacrifice everything to get us, even the lakes.

— But if we use them as bait, our troops will dwindle, he pointed out to the king.

Although his remark was pertinent, the big warrior's smirk seemed to show the opposite.

— Don't worry about that, he reassured him, my project's almost finished. And thanks to it, we'll be able to impose our strength on the whole world. And even the troll killer won't be able to do anything against us.

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The driving rain had made the atmosphere of the last few days dark and foreboding. It had already been a week since she had destroyed the trolls, and even if she had restrained herself, she never thought she'd do so much damage.

— Have you heard the rumor? Apparently, the gold and silver lakes have been destroyed.

— Yes, and I even heard it was because of a huge red scar. You think this person is going to destroy the others?

— How do you know it's a person?

— You don't need an IQ of 300 to know that the shot was fired by a person.

As these two strangers discussed the subject that was on everyone's lips at the moment, a hooded woman next to them couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

— How can I help you?

As she strained her ear to hear them better, the shopkeeper's question snapped her out of her espionage.

— Oh, mhh... 2 kg of white grapes, please, she asked. Thank you, sir.

— Have a nice day, he said, smiling.

— Same to you.

As she made her way to another stall, she again heard people talking about it. This time, it was a shopkeeper talking to another customer.