radicalducati TUChapter 8. Jailor Kampe
TUChapter 8. Jailor Kampe
TU8. Jailor Kampe
Arriving at the top of the stairs knocked the wind out of Tachyon. Her heart thumped wildly as she gazed upon the grand tribunal. She had never been this close to the dreaded seat of judgment before.
Craning her neck, she strained to take in its sheer height. Rows of colossal columns supported the stern, obsidian pediment. The triangular-shaped roof rested in perfect symmetry. Molten silver and gold filled its cracks and seams, catching the ambient light and showering the steps in a lustrous glitter.
A detailed frieze along the facade told the stories of mortal souls. It depicted merchants bargaining, warriors locked in glorious battle, and finally, the high court’s absolute trial of justice — where a soul was weighed against its ultimate destiny.
This grand tribunal truly befitted a place of supreme authority, reverence, and unyielding judgement.
"Umm..." Tachyon grunted softly, rubbing the goosebumps erupting along her arms.
"Let me take it from here," Aurora stated sternly. Her gaze intensified, locking onto the twin prong-like structures ahead as if harnessing the power of the levitating red sun itself.
Their footsteps echoed distantly as they marched into the cavernous interior of the tribunal. Dim blue torches flickered along the high walls, casting eerie shadows over ancient paintings. The stone floor seeped a biting frigidness straight through the soles of their boots.
This appeared to be the court’s antechamber. At the centre of the room, a burning pyre roared inside a massive copper censer, suspended by thick iron chains from the ceiling. The strong, herbal, and woody incense of rosemary choked the chamber air. They proceeded through an imposing arched entrance, flanked by two ten-metre-high statues of medieval knights.
"No sign of hostiles thus far," Aurora whispered, continuing her steady advance.
The long corridor eventually opened up to a blinding red light, so bright it washed out all surrounding details. Then, a resounding voice of judgement boomed, accompanied by the heavy clanking of metal.
Aurora shielded her eyes and strode toward the light. The rest of the party followed closely behind the swaying silver hair that cascaded over her dark Ventiff cloak.
"I, Minos, as the Final Arbiter, condemn you to Tartarus for your crimes!" the voice roared.
Minos sat upon a towering high throne, a tall crown adorning his head. He was a stern, bearded man with a sharp hook nose.
"But my lord, I have not committed any atrocity in my life! Plainly, a petty crime of picking up dropped coins!" a man pleaded, sobbing as he knelt on the dark, circular metal platform below.
"The verdict is final!" Minos yelled, hammering the butt of his long, golden staff against the podium.
The very ground shook. The terrified mortal snapped his head toward the source of the tremor.
A towering monstrosity, a horrifying dragon-human hybrid, emerged from the shadows of the far walls, slithering through the rows of massive columns.
"Do not waste the effort of the high court, you insolent mortal!" Kampe spat, her voice eclipsing the man's wails.
Her piercing eyes burned with a purple glow, exuding pure malice through the veil of her unkempt, dark hair. She possessed a humanoid female torso that fused seamlessly into the thick neck of a four-legged dragon frame, both halves covered in impenetrable crimson scales. Two slithering, twisted horns crowned her terrifying beauty, though her human upper half was wildly disproportionate to her colossal draconian bulk.
A pan-like armour piece wrapped around her waist, serving as a belt where she hoisted two sheaths for her vicious kopis blades, alongside a heavy iron ring of jailor's keys.
When she stretched her two massive wings, they spread so wide they almost scraped the opposite walls of the high court. The feathers gleamed like a carapace of thin, razor-sharp blades, tipped with cruel, hook-like claws. Even her dragon tail ended in a thick, crude, and unforgiving blade. Every inch of her anatomy was forged to dominate the deepest, darkest pits of Tartarus.
For eons, Kampe had been the jailor of that abyssal realm. Now, the she-dragon had surfaced to serve as the chief enforcer of the tribunals.
While the misjudged soul was dragged off to meet his miserable end, crying and wailing, it was Aurora’s turn to step forward. She walked onto the platform, standing on the exact spot where judgment had just been delivered.
Above her hung a massive balance beam, linking two circular plates together. The plate she stood on dwarfed the smaller one on the opposite side.
"Huh?" Minos grumbled, thudding his staff once more. "State your name!"
"My name is Aurora Vere Borealis, the Astral Empress of Osten," Aurora announced, her voice ringing with unshakeable firmness.
"Intriguing," Minos smirked, stroking his white beard. "Very well. I shall weigh you against your destiny, mortal empress."
With a sharp clank of his staff, the platform began to shift violently. A spiralling gust of wind formed above the smaller plate to Aurora’s side, swirling until it condensed into a glowing orb of iridescent light.
The great scales chimed divinely before yoking violently up and down.
"What’s taking so long...?" Minos groaned, his fingers tapping impatiently on his armrest. His dark eyes darted subconsciously toward his jailor. Kampe merely nodded in return, her clawed hands resting on her dual kopis, ready to draw.
Suddenly, a deafening crumble reverberated from the centre of the scales. The vertical pillar buckled under immense pressure. Thick chains snapped like brittle twigs and thrashed wildly through the air.
As the dust settled, Aurora drifted down to the solid ground with absolute grace. Her Ventiff cloak billowed outward, transforming into striking black wings.
"Im... Impossible," Minos stammered, entirely stunned. His jaw hung wide open.
In that split second, Aurora tilted her head. Her silver eyes glowed with an immense, terrifying power.
Her condescending glare completely ticked him off.
"By the power of the high court, I, Minos, the Final Arbiter, overrule this and condemn this insolent woman to the damnation of Tartarus!" he spat, a spray of saliva flying from his lips as his four fingers pointed accusingly at her.
A single flutter of Aurora's wings shattered the remnants of his authority.
"There are a few things I hate in this universe," a frigid voice resonated. Thanatos emerged from the enveloping darkness, wearing a devious smile. "Prejudice and injustice are among them, for death is equal. Even the Allfather couldn’t escape such a thing. Wouldn’t you agree?"
His final sentence twisted into a dark, mocking melody.
"Thanatos..." Minos gritted his teeth, shooting to his feet. Cold sweat beaded on his pale face.
"Minos, abdicate yourself and stop this nonsense now!" Aeacus bellowed as he stepped out to join Thanatos’s side. Tachyon tailed cautiously behind them, keeping a safe distance.
"Aeacus?" Minos frowned, his panic shifting to rage. "Hades’s hell! It was your plan all along! If your foolishness precedes you and you're willing to court death, then I shall grant you the same fate as Rhadamanthus!"
He flicked his eyes frantically toward the she-dragon.
The massive dragon already knew her assignment. Her hulking figure blurred into a flurry of motion.
The air cleaved apart as Kampe whipped her bladed tail with devastating force.
A thunderous clank rang through the chamber. The obsidian ground shattered, and a shockwave of dust exploded into the air.
Minos smirked in triumph, but his cruel laughter choked in his throat at the unbelievable sight before him.
Aurora's parry had sheared straight through the beast's attack, cleanly severing Kampe’s tail and sending it clattering onto the floor with a heavy, meaty thud.
"Whoa!" Tachyon exclaimed in shock, staring at the dark blood oozing from the severed appendage.
"How dare you!" Kampe growled through bared teeth. She drew her twin kopis, the vicious blades glinting and glowing with dark arcane energy.
The elven empress stood calmly before her monstrous attacker. Her silver hair drifted majestically, framing a perfectly stoic visage. A greatsword wreathed in purple flames was held loosely in her hands. For this specific endeavour, she had chosen the brutal Greatsword of Oblivion.
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"You good, Aeacus?" she asked without turning her head.
"Yes, Empress. But be careful. Kampe is known for the deadly toxin coating her blades," Aeacus nodded, eyeing the still-jerking severed tail. "And I mean those two kopis as well."
"Understood. I just simply don’t get hit. Got it. Stay clear," Aurora commanded.
The old man knew the drill. He grabbed Tachyon by the shoulder and scrambled out of the danger zone.
Anger reddened his face, "Kill that damn woman!" Minos yelled, pointing a trembling finger. Simultaneously, his legs were already moving, beating a hasty retreat toward the archway.
Kampe let out a guttural roar and charged. She swooped low, slamming her massive wing into the ground and sending shockwaves through the floor.
Aurora rolled effortlessly, leading her towering attacker toward the far wall.
Giving chase, Kampe swiped wildly with her massive claws, but to no avail. Aurora was simply too quick and far too small a target to pin down.
Relentless, Kampe swung a kopis directly at Aurora’s torso, aiming to cleave the empress in two with a single blow.
A sharp metallic shriek ruptured the air as Aurora parried the heavy strike with her greatsword. A violent shower of sparks rained down onto the obsidian floor.
"Perish, mortal!" Kampe roared her battle cry, rolling her wing-blades forward like a deadly thresher.
Aurora shifted seamlessly into an overhand stance, blocking the row of serrated feathers as they tried to saw through her guard. Through the gap between Kampe’s legs, Aurora caught sight of Minos slinking his way through the arch.
I have to finish this quickly, Aurora thought, heightening her focus.
Kampe swept her right wing horizontally. Aurora ducked, letting the displaced air whistle fiercely against her hair. She spun on her heel and sprinted straight for the wall.
"Annoying! Stop running!" Kampe growled, rocking the ground with heavy footfalls as she pursued.
Aurora dodged a vertical sweep of the kopis and parkoured right up the stone wall. The ancient masonry dented and buckled under the sheer force of her kick.
"My turn!" she declared.
She lunged backward off the wall, launching herself high into the air. Both hands gripped the greatsword overhead for a decisive, ruinous strike.
Exasperated, Kampe swept her right wing up to counter the airborne assault.
The Thanatos-spatha engulfed itself in roaring purple flames, cleaving cleanly through the metallic wing.
"ARGH!" The jailor staggered backward. A sharp, phantom pain shot up from the bloody stump. Gritting her teeth, she commanded her left wing to strike.
Shifting the heavy weight of the greatsword mid-air, Aurora manoeuvred with impossible grace. She spun into a devastating flurry of blades.
A stream of pure agony erupted from the beast's throat. Wingless and tailless, Kampe’s jaw gaped open to reveal a grotesque, glowing maw. "I SHALL DESTROY YOU!"
An unfazed, chilling glow ignited in Aurora’s eyes. She shifted the massive sword to her back. Her cloak and silver hair fluttered fiercely as she propelled herself headlong at her enemy.
A sickening cleave echoed through the high court, immediately followed by the heavy, meaty thud of the giant collapsing.
Kampe’s torso erupted into a geyser of dark blood. The dragon body twitched on its final breath before going entirely limp.
“Even… even the Jailor of Tartarus is no match for her?” Aeacus’s breath hitched. He stared at the flaming greatsword, its purple fire instantly cleansing the blade of her enemy's blood. Unlike the swift Rapier of Calamity, this brute greatsword carried an unstoppable, crushing gravity behind every swing. Tachyon and Thanatos joined his side to observe the spectacle.
Aurora watched the pitiful queen of dragons crawl across the floor, leaving a thick, smudged trail of blood in her wake.
“Damnation!” Kampe wailed and hissed, her eyes swirling with a mixture of desperate fury and exasperation.
“So tell me, Queen of Dragons,” Aurora glared down her nose, holding her blade near Kampe's face to study her reflection in its gleaming metal.
Their eyes met intensely. “I’m not going to tell you shit!” Kampe spat, groaning as she dragged herself toward Aurora’s boot.
“Where is your Master? Where is Hades?” Aurora asked flatly.
“DIE!” Kampe launched herself through the air in a desperate final strike, her remaining claws and fangs lunging for Aurora’s throat.
With one blindingly quick swing of her greatsword, Aurora severed Kampe’s neck. The monstrous head rolled across the obsidian floor. Those haunting purple eyes remained locked onto Aurora until the final glimmer of life faded from them. Aurora could only sigh deeply. Her persuasive speech was still in need of development.
“This way,” Aurora turned to her party. “Time to bring Minos to justice.” With that, she glided across the room and into the arched doorway; it was the last known location Minos had disappeared into. In response, the other three exchanged a nod and followed.
The short hallway led to another bright chamber; the scent here was different. It reeked of the arcane. Aurora raised her blade at the ready, her pace slowing with caution.
As she exited the archway, Aurora’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. “Oh!”
Towering before her were two mechanised suits — clear derivatives of the Armatus. Both machines were clad in shining gold, their massive, integrated blades humming with malice. Though their jerking motions suggested the joint design needed considerable work, still she had to admit she was impressed.
“You seem shocked!” Minos’s rasping voice echoed from somewhere within the chamber.
“Surrender now, High Judge,” Aurora said, falling into a high combat stance. “Or you’ll meet the same fate as your companion.”
“Heheh!” Minos laughed wryly. “You are a fool if you think you can match the immortal gold, the greatest steel of the gods!”
Aeacus emerged from the shadows behind the empress. “Not only is your judgment atrociously biased, but your intellect seems to have shrunk as well, old friend. The best steel is Adamantine, forged into the destructive weapon Cronos used to strike down the Skyfather.”
“He’s right, you know!” Tachyon shouted.
“Damn you lots!” Minos growled, his voice rattling like an irritated snake. “I shall prove it to you once and for all!”
Aurora couldn’t keep a straight face, her excitement boiling over at the challenge. An Armatus encased in mythical steel. How intriguing, indeed.
With imperceptible speed, she charged forward, blurring into a ribbon of haze.
Internal mechanisms whirred loudly as the golden giant swung its torso, cleaving its blade wildly through the air.
Aurora purposely blocked the strike with her greatsword, feeling the physical jolt travel up her shoulder. It was miserably weak. The metal arms buckled immediately; plating, gears, and ball joints collapsed into a dishevelled heap of scrap metal.
“Wait! Wait! I didn’t even say start yet!” Minos screamed, but Aurora had already launched a devastating kick at the mech's torso.
The metal frame imploded, sending a spiral of debris and dust into the air as the impact brought down an entire section of the surrounding wall.
Red light pouring in from outside illuminated Aurora’s cold visage.
“I’m not in the mood for a chat. Are you in that one, then?” Aurora asked, pointing the tip of her blade at the last standing golden mech.
Raising his hands in panic, “No, no! Wait!” Minos cried out.
His pleas fell on deaf ears. In a flash of steel, his mech's limbs were cleanly severed until only the torso frame remained, thudding against the ground.
“Well, that was quick…” Tachyon chuckled, nervously brushing the back of her head.
With a deafening screech of rending metal, Aurora tore the cockpit latch clean off with her immense, supernatural strength.
“Arrgh!” Minos screamed, shielding his eyes from his reckoning.
Like a goddess of war, Aurora stood atop his wrecked cockpit. Her eyes stared him down intensely. Without a word, her gloved hand yanked him upward by his robes and hurled him onto the hard ground. His body bounced and skittered across the dust and debris.
The old man rolled in pain, squeezing his eyes shut.
“No funny business, you hear!” Tachyon growled at Minos, who was still lying on the ground. Meanwhile, Thanatos floated in the air above, chuckling in his throat, clearly pleased by the thrill display.
Sweeping her eyes across the ruin, Aurora spotted the golden staff hovering near the far wall. “Hmm? I believe this is yours?” She spun the staff on her palms and extended it to the approaching Aeacus.
“It must be.” Aeacus nodded, his eyes glassy with profound gratitude. He took the staff, clanking its base against the ground. He took a deep breath, and a faint smile adorned his lips. “Thank you, Empress.”
“Do what you must, High Judge.” She emphasised the title, returning a smile.
“Minos! I hereby strip you of your title!” Aeacus announced, his voice echoing with absolute, divine authority.
“You are merely jealous of my achievements! Just like your mother was jealous of the Queen of the Gods!” Minos growled through his busted, bleeding lips.
“I wish I hadn't lived to see you stoop so low as to insult a man's mother,” Aeacus replied, standing tall, the golden staff gripped firmly in his hand. “Still, you shall receive true justice—the exact justice you deserve.”
“You conniving—”
“Silence!” Aeacus said softly, yet his tone rang with absolute authority. His golden eyes glowed with raw power. “You have committed crimes against the natural order of this realm. You have unjustly condemned millions of souls to Tartarus. For this, I, as the Judge of the Dead, condemn you to Tartarus!”
He watched the stark terror bloom in Minos’s eyes. “This verdict is final.”
A divine chime rang out like a low, deep gong, resonating within every soul in the Meadows. Evidently, Aeacus's reinstatement as the Judge of the Dead was fulfilled.
“Nooooo!” Minos let out a terrifying scream as a dark portal ripped open beside him, violently sucking the old man inside. Only when the portal snapped shut was his wailing finally muffled.
Aeacus sighed. “Not bad for my first judgment?” He gauged the crowd, side-eying the God of Death. A single, slow nod from Thanatos gave him the reassurance he needed. He was still worthy after all this time.
“Now that that's over with, I must fulfil the end of my bargain to you, Empress,” Aeacus said.
“I need to travel to the temple of Hades in the darkness realm,” Aurora replied, dismissing her blade into thin air.
“Yes, yes. That part is easy. You just go through that ornate hallway, the Crossroads,” he said, pointing the way. “Go in the direction of Tartarus, through the Cave of Hypnos, and the darkness realm of Erebus shall be at your destination.”
“This is goodbye then. Aeacus, Tachyon,” Aurora nodded politely.
“Empress!” Tachyon interrupted her mid-motion.
Aurora spun back, watching the cheetah Wildren with a thoughtful mind and patient eyes.
“High Judge Aeacus…” Tachyon found it hard to articulate. She blew a tense breath from her lips and tried again. “Empress… Would you mind waiting for me? I’d like to come with you.”
“To Erebus?” Aurora tilted her head, genuinely confused.
“To the Crossroads,” Tachyon conceded, her breath catching in her throat.
Aeacus watched her with unblinking eyes. “You want me to judge you, Tachyon? Are you certain?”
Eventually steeling her resolve, she met his gaze. “I am! High Judge Aeacus, I would like to stand trial for my crimes!” Tachyon declared firmly, her words sending a sudden chill across the room.
A single, boisterous laugh broke the silence. Thanatos floated nearby, finding the mortal's sheer audacity very, very amusing.