Arpious of the Planes

"Apologize to Mother right now!" Flora shouted, the sweat from her chest slowly wetting my face as she pulled me even closer to her.

Seems she inherited the good genes from Treyni…

"And why the hell should I apologize to some woman who practically abandoned us… Did you think having some party and then leaving would make us forget all about you? Do you know how long some of us have been waiting to see you again? YEARS!"

Tears flowed down his face, but he still had an angry expression as he stormed past me, making sure to clip my shoulder as the servant attending to him followed right after.

I should apologize.

…

"So, how have you been?" I asked Flora while we sat at the table with a cup of coffee, and I noticed her posture and manners were absolutely perfect.

It seemed she had been trained in etiquette while I was slumped in the chair like a bum, but thankfully my beautiful daughter didn't care in the slightest.

"I've been alright… I don't usually come here… well, most don't usually come here since they're always busy, but I'm sure you really want to know what has been happening lately…."

"I'm guessing the curse of war hasn't been lifted yet, right?"

"Yep, and it's stronger than ever, but please don't blame this on yourself. Hades was just a bit caught up and let a few things slip through his fingers. He didn't have complete control over the empresses you had enslaved and even more so their spouses: the emperors,"

"Tch… I thought this would happen… so are those empresses dead? Well, I presume not since it still shows on my status, but they must be way past their ripe age, right?"

"Um, actually… they haven't aged in the slightest since the day you left… in fact, most of the emperors were the ones who died, even when they prolonged their life with mana, potions, and skills…."

"Did they ever remarry?"

"Of course, but this was just a small step that led to the inside of each empire slowly dwindling and falling apart,"

"So you're saying the empires were being corrupted?"

"Yes, and Hades attempted to stop this corruption but managing all of these empires at once without having your systematical power… was completely impossible…."

"So it is your fucking fault!" A voice cried out from the end of the dining hall.

We both turned to the entrance and saw Zehar just standing there with his arms crossed and eyes ready to pierce through a metal sheet like a bullet.

…

(Flora POV)

As I saw Zehar angrily storm into the room, I turned back toward Mother, who was unphased and almost uncaring about the situation with her son.

"Mother, please don't mind him-"

I quickly shut my mouth as a dark aura radiated off of her, and a chilling sensation shot down my spine.

According to Hades, my Mother was the strongest being to ever exist on this plane, and just from seeing her get a bit agitated, I could now truly believe his words.

I only remembered the nice and kind version of my mother and never really saw her when she led us against the empires and kingdoms and fought and fought until she ruled over the entire plane with an iron fist.

"You wanna fight me, right? That's what all this provocation is for, right?" Mother asked and the pressure she exerted nearly made the walls around us crumble.

I could only lower my head before her powerful existence, and Zehar, who was read like a book, took a knee, attempting to resist his mother's pressure.

"That's… right, you old bag… fight me, and we'll see who's the strongest now,"

What an idiot… does he really think he's gonna win?

"Sure, we'll fight, but after I finish my coffee," Mother released her pressure before returning to sit on her coffee.

Zehar didn't like this and began to grumble under his breath, taking massive offense to this almost humiliation.

He couldn't force her to have a fight with him right here and now- well, maybe not.

Zehar suddenly flew through the air, and a stench of rotting corpses flooded through the air, forcing me to cover my nose and take a few steps back.

"Mother! Don't let him touch you!" I shouted.

"Shut up, you wad of grass!" Zehar shouted back while reaching out, his hand covered in purple goo.

Mother just sat still, sipping on her coffee and reaching out her hand to catch his arm in order to block the attack, but that wasn't enough.

Zehar didn't stop smiling even as our mother caught him, and eventually, his rot spread to her hand and then to her forearm, where she then decided to let go.

"Oh, that's good," She muttered as her flesh bubbled and rotted right on her very body.

Slowly, she stood up and looked slightly up to stare at Zehar in his face before throwing out a lightning-fast kick that Zehar was just barely able to block.

But the force still sent him flying and left a massive bruise on both of his arms.

"KICK ME ALL YOU LIKE! THAT ROT IS GONNA TEAR YOU UP!" He shouted sadistically, but our mother just looked down at her arm.

Her hand grabbed it and then… tore it off.

The sight was horrifying, and even Zehar didn't expect this to happen, causing him to freeze in place as our mother stood there unphased.

But the next series of events were so unpredictable that we were left speechless by the end of it.

She chomped through her own flesh, swallowing and digesting it until nothing was left, causing the rot that had spread to her other hand after ripping the arm off to disappear in an instant.

On top of that, her arm regrew upon laying a layer of golden flames across the open wound.

The sight was so horrifying that some of the maids excused themselves all while our mother still just stood there, emotionless.

"Okay… if you want to fight that badly then continue,"