The Sinful Life of The Emperor

Inside an apartment somewhere in the city.

Rufus and his six colleagues were in a panic mode as they hurriedly packed their luggage.

"Quick! We have got no time!" Rufus took the red suitcase in his hand, "The government dogs would be here any minute."

"It is all due to that masked bastard," A woman named Yuizi cursed as she gathered explosives in a bag, "We can't even plan things perfectly."

The government had stepped up security in the city after the attack on police headquarters. Thanks to the attention brought by the masked man, the government was now on a lookout for revolutionaries.

Rufus grudgingly nodded his head while opening an encrypted video conference app on a tablet.

A few seconds later, a man was visible on the tablet screen. If Zed was here, then he would easily identify this man especially by the tattoo of ouroboros on his right wrist.

"You only have five minutes," the man said with a slight hint of panic in his voice, "stay low key otherwise you would definitely be caught."

"I know," Rufus said as he and his team left the room, "What should we do with the plan?"

"I don't know," the man said sounding displeased, "But whatever you do, don't forget my part of the deal when you carry out your task."

"You can rest assured on that," Rufus said as he entered the elevator, "Just make the conditions right and we would handle everything."

"I will," the man said.

----------

Dream Rise House.

Inside a bedroom on the second floor.

Kiba looked at his reflection on the mirror. His expression was unsightly with his eyes being bloodshot.

When Kiba looked at his own reflection, he didn't saw himself but rather a bloodthirsty demon.

His hands were stained with the blood of countless innocents who were killed for no reason other than to satisfy his bloodthirst.

"Damn," Kiba struck his fist on the mirror.

BANG!

The mirror shattered in small fragments which fell on the floor. Kiba glanced down and from the small fragments, he could still see his reflection.

Before there was only one reflection, but with hundreds of mirror fragments, there were a hundred reflections of his bloodthirsty form.

"How could I let myself carry out such an act?" Kiba felt extreme anger at himself to give in to his instincts.

*knock*

Kiba turned around after hearing the sound of the door being knocked.

"Enter."

A droid silently entered the bedroom with a tray consisting of two syringes filled with yellow and red liquids.

"Claudia," Kiba took a deep breath before continuing, "Have you found anything from the scan earlier?"

After leaving Athol's house, he had undergone a detailed medical examination to find out details on why he did what he did.

[[No, sir.]] Claudia's voice came from the micro speakers embedded on the walls.

"As expected," Kiba lied down on the bed.

[[I assume what happened today can be attributed to the attack of Psychic Hunter.]]

"...I wish I could blame that monk," Kiba sighed in frustration, "But sadly the monk isn't responsible."

In the last four years, he had only lost control twice. The first was when he killed the investigators on the wasteland. The other time was today.

He could justify the first loss of control since he had used his full powers. The greater the powers he used, the more was the risk of being affected by his basic instincts.

Then there was the anger inside him against the monk so it wasn't impossible for him to lose his sanity for a few moments.

After all, that time the monk had made his intentions of dissecting Hope. This could explain why he became muddle-headed and lost control temporarily.

But he couldn't justify today's accident. He hasn't even used his full powers nor there was any anger inside him like the previous time.

He has killed thousands of people in the last four years but never had he lost control like today. He dreaded this might repeat in future if he didn't take any action now.

"Claudia."

"Sir?"

"I now understand why you were so insistent on me wearing the bracelet," Kiba said as he glanced at the bracelet on his right hand.

Claudia had reasoned that Zed has to wear the bracelet otherwise Felicity might not wear the one they created for her protection.

Felicity had no interest in jewelry and she would plainly refuse to wear one unless she sees her brother figure wearing one as well.

Zed understood this reasoning so he grudgingly clad a similar bracelet on his wrist. He didn't need protection but for Felicity's sake, he was ready to wear the bracelet for namesake.

When he transformed into Kiba, the bracelet would remain on his body just like clothes.

He would rarely remove the bracelet in his Kiba form since it wasn't enough to connect dots with his other form.

Before today Claudia never activated the bracelet since there was no need. The activation should have resulted in a force field instead of vibrations strong enough to jolt his mind.

The fact that the vibrations brought him back to sanity could only mean Claudia designed the bracelet for him.

[[I apologize but I meant no---]]

"Don't apologize," Kiba interjected in between, "If not for you, I would have killed more innocents."

[[....]]

"Claudia," Kiba closed his eyes as he muttered her name slowly.

He was glad she did what she did, and helped him. He didn't wish to become a monster without any reasons.

[[Yes?]]

"Thank you."

[[I was just carrying out my duty, sir. There is no need to thank me for that.]]

"..."

Kiba just smiled at her response. He knew she only cared for him and would never take any credit for saving him.

---

A few minutes later, Kiba opened his eyes and signaled the droid to come forward. The droid placed the tray on a table and took the syringe filled with red serum.

Kiba put the right sleeve of his shirt to the end of his shoulder. The droid slowly injected the serum on the arm.

"I don't know what would happen to me if you were not there," Kiba said as the serum mixed with his bloodstream.

[[Most likely you would carry out a slaughter until the government and other organizations intervene. Then you might be either killed or used as an experiment specimen.]]

"...." Kiba turned speechless for a minute.

He was just making a statement and wasn't really looking for an answer.

[[Then there is also a possibility of---]]

"...I don't want to hear more possibilities," Kiba was afraid she would make another statement he wouldn't like.

He was sure the other possibilities were related to his womanizing nature and hence he didn't wish to hear about them.

[[Understood.]]

Claudia's feminine voice sounded disappointed which made Kiba sure that he was right in his conjecture.

"I don't know how I will be without you," Kiba shook off his head with a smile, "But I'm glad you would be with me till my final breath."