Notorious Jaw shivered in fright at my command but he never said a word. He was weak after all.
"Are you in?" I simply asked, feeling disappointed. He was hyped to be a notorious thief, but the man before me wasn't the same person.
"Yes," he answered after a minute of silence. "I will bring his soul to you. Just give me the power as you said."
Well, that was a change. I was going to give up on putting my trust in him.
I smirked and stood up. "Very well then. I will give you the power," I answered and glanced at maki who still had a dazed look on his face. I guess I must have done it a different way that left the ghoul shocked.
Notorious jaw vanished, leaving just his smell of sweat behind.
"You are to give and take, my lord, and not ask for favours," Maki said.
"This is my way of giving and taking. He has to avenge his coming death, that way, the power given to him would be worth it."
Maki shifted back and hissed, "You are truly the king of hell. I thought I would have to explain and show you how it is done, but you took me by surprise instead," he admitted.
I nodded and looked around. "Well, if I am to rule this world, I have to prove that I am capable," I answered and averted my gaze back to him.
His eyes were fixed on me and I saw fear in them. He suddenly lowered his gaze, as if trying to hide his fear, and moved back again into the chair were the rest of his body disappeared to, leaving just his face out.
"Maki, why are the ghouls locked up here?" I asked the question I have been curious about for a while. I looked around the eerie place again, taking note of the ghouls who were waiting: waiting for my command.
The other ghouls looked different from Maki. They weren't with horns like him and they were smaller. Maki was the only smart ones and the others, they were just dummies. They only move by command.
"We were locked up by the king of the world, Syel. Our last ruler was killed thousand of years ago. Unfortunately, we can't be set free until our new king defeat Syel."
"Who was your former ruler?" I asked, getting more curious about the ghouls.
"He is Cyril. He was the most feared about the ten sovereigns of the world."
"This king of the world and ten sovereigns, who are they? Are they humans?" I asked again, walking towards him.
"They can never be seen by any ordinary being. They are powerful. Just like the ghouls and you been our ruler, there are other beings been ruled by each sovereigns. Even the humans have their sovereign ruler," he answered and stretched forward, extending the half part of his body. "He is lord Darius."
All my life, I have only known about humans, never were we told about the sovereigns or other creatures existing. I still have a lot to learn.
"So, you said the ghouls were locked up, was it because your past ruler was killed?" I asked again, and sat down on the throne.
"Yes," he answered and came out fully. "Among the ten sovereigns, lord Cyril stands to be the seventh. There is a hierarchy. The first lord been the strongest, and the tenth being the weakest, but powerful enough to destroy the world."
I leaned back, getting fully interested in the tale of the rulers of earth, which I no nothing about their existence.
He went on, "Cyril was defeated in a battle and his rank was taken away from him, making him lose his place among the ten rulers. He was replaced by another sovereign. Because of his defeat, we ghouls were considered useless and for that reason, we were locked up. We lost our strength and was strip of 80% of our powers."
My eyes widened. 80%? The energy I felt, the power they displayed so far, even up to giving the humans more energy, was just 20% of what they can do?
Damn!
If they were that powerful and were still considered the lowest, how powerful are the rest of the sovereigns? How powerful is this king of the world?
There is so much to know.
"The king of the humans, what is his hierarchy?" I asked again.
"He is the eighth lord. He was the tenth when Cyril ruled as the seventh, but after our demotion, he was promoted to the eighth."
I let out a deep breath and fixed my eyes up to the other ghouls. "Were these ghouls all powerful too?"
He looked up and sighed, "Yes, but not as powerful as the twelve ranks."
I drew my brows and looked at him, "twelve ranks?"
"There are twelve ranks and I am their head. They are all scattered around the world, awaiting to be woken up. They are waiting for your call."
"My call? You should have told me about them and I would make the call."
"It's not easy to call them, master. You have to attain certain power and dominance among the ghouls. You have to show them how powerful you are. You have to make them bow," he answered and appeared behind me. "They are proud and stubborn. They will never submit even though you are their king unless you make them."
This is getting interesting.
```
No POV
Ben, Kelly and Stephanie stood around the lifeless bodies of Reggie and Notorious jaw. Kelly realizing an important detail, narrowed his brows and averted his gaze to Ben.
"The way they died, I don't think they died because of your arrow," he pointed out, getting their attention. "I remember you shot your arrow, but it never touched any of them. They both died without getting hit."
Stephanie smirked and folded her arms against her chest. "C'mon, Kelly, Reggie is a weakling. Just the amount of energy Ben asserted into the hit was enough to kill him."
Kelly twisted his mouth and thought for a while. Not getting satisfied with Stephanie's theory, he retorted, "But notorious jaw isn't weak. Infact, he is more powerful than us all. Ben's energy wouldn't do him any harm. Also, Reggie isn't weak. He was announced a Delta and we all are omegas. We are below his level."
"That is enough, Kelly. They both are dead and that is what we want," Ben said, putting an end to the discussion but that got Kelly worried.
"We were told to bring Notorious jaw back alive," he reminded and averted his gaze back to the man on the floor. "What are we going to do now? He is dead!"
Ben smirked and faced Kelly. "The question is, what are you going to do, because I have done my part." He stretched his hand and a blazing arrow emerged from his palm. "My mission is to kill notorious jaw and two of my comrades. I can only spare one," he revealed and pointed the arrow at Stephanie who stepped back frightened.
"Ben?" She called. "What are you doing? Why are you pointing the arrow at us?"
"Didn't you just heard what I said?" He asked, with annoyance slipping from his voice. "I will have to kill one of you."
"But…but we… we are friends?" Stephanie reminded, slowly moving back.
"Well, not anymore. I have to survive and this is the only way," he answered and intensified his blazing arrow. "If any of us fails this mission, our energy and ability would be taken away. We would be like those worthless commoners."
"How dare you?!" Kelly asked, staring at him with widened eyes. "You dare point your arrow at your friends?" He looked at Stephanie who was shivering in fear. "Stephanie, if we both join our abilities together, we will be able to bring him down." He spread his hands open and began to chant, "BLOOM WIND: Surround and consume everything in your path!"
He turned and looked at Stephanie waiting for her to join him, but she quickly went on her kneels and joined her hands together. "Please Ben, let me go. Kill Kelly instead. I promise to be your mistress," she cried.
The world stilled for Kelly as he watched his two friends betray him. Before he could speak and ask her why, Ben's arrow went deep into his heart and he fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"I spare you, Stephanie. Fulfill your promise."
The atmosphere suddenly changed and goosebumps ran over their skin. Without been told, they knew danger was around, targeting them.
Was it one of the students whose mission was to bring Notorious jaw? They wondered. But if it was a student, how could they possess an enormous energy that they could feel so powerfully?
"I must complete my mission," they heard a voice behind them and when they turned, they saw notorious jaw giving them a murderous look. He was like a raging bull, ready to attack. They were both in trouble. "I must please the master and bring your soul to him," he said, as if been controlled by a force.
"Who… who is the master?" Ben gathered the courage to ask even though he was jelly inside.
Notorious jaw lifted his finger and pointed behind them. The air suddenly shifted, and the hairs on their neck rose. They slowly turned and their eyes fell on Reggie who had a smirk playing across his lips.
"I am," he answered.