The Rise to Godhood

Thorax Zelinkom inspected his newborn Xeno babies as their mothers brought them to him. He was powerful for the first time, and he felt immensely proud of himself. He would become the patriarch of the Xenos in the Milky Way Galaxy. He planned for the Xenos to become the most potent species by spreading his half Zetan gene to all future generations of Xenos.

At present, Thorax’s goal was unachievable as his tribe consisted of only 100 Xeno females, where he was the only male. They needed to prepare their defences, and time was of the essence. He had been unable to kill all the males of his tribe, and rumours would spread about the many Xeno women available for the taking. This would bring roving bands of males to his settlement. This process would be never-ending until all hope of overthrowing him was gone.

“Faster! You need to work faster!” Thorax shouted to a group of sickly and older Xeno women that he had enslaved. When he gained control of Grichuk’s tribe, Thorax had decided to only impregnate the beautiful and healthy Xeno women while keeping the sick and old as slaves.

“Faster, I said!” Thorax roared, squeezed his hand, and made a pulling movement that caused one of his slaves to fall off the ramparts and plunge to her death.

Thorax bit his lip. It was irrational to murder his slaves because of perceived laziness. Slaves were a finite resource, and he needed to manage his resources to become the God-King of Xenora. Yet, his insomnia was driving him insane. He hadn’t slept for six months, and the only thing that kept him alive was the malevolent powers of the corrupted dark Zeto Crystal.

Thorax looked at the last baby presented to him, and he sensed that the baby would grow up to look like Dijana.

“Dijana! Why did you betray me? You were my one true love.” Thorax exclaimed, and he blacked out as blind rage took control of his body. As he got back to his senses, he had torn the baby into shreds. What had he done?

Thorax knew that he couldn’t show weakness to his subordinates. Regardless of if he was right or wrong, he needed to be in control.

“Don’t ever dare to present such an imperfect baby again. This is what happens.” Thorax roared at the slain baby’s mother. After this, he rushed off to the inner sanctum of the Zeto Crystal temple, and he locked the door behind him.

Once he was alone, he wailed in agony. Despite being powerful, he was lonelier and more miserable than ever. He thought of his Zetan mother whose abandonment had turned him bitter and full of resentment. He swore that he would get his revenge. He would find Areela Kheeran and make her pay for what she did, even if it was the last thing he would ever do.

***

“Master Thorax, enemies are approaching the fortress.”

Thorax woke up as he heard Gulbatira’s voice from the other side of the heavy gate that separated his bedroom from the outside world. After the infanticide, he had collapsed from his insomnia. It was ironic that the mother of the slain infant had come to warn him. Such was the nature of tyranny; some individuals would continue serving their master no matter what suffering he put them through.

Thorax grabbed his dark crystal, hurried to leave the bedroom, and spoke, “Thank you. I’ll remember your loyalty. Now come with me to the city walls. It is time to put on a show.”

As Thorax arrived at the city walls, he realised that he had come in the 11th hour as the attackers were already scaling the walls. It was just as well, as this allowed him to test one of his inventions.

Inside the walls, there was a mesh of metal wiring. Could the power from the Zeto Crystal be enough to repel his attackers? There was only one way to find out. Thorax inserted the crystal into a slot between the metal wiring, flipped a switch, and laughed hysterically as the walls electrified, which caused the attackers to plunge.

*slash*

Thorax stopped laughing as Gulbatira slashed him with her sharp claws and buried them deep into his torso.

“Arrggh!! Gulbatira, why did you betray me?” Thorax shouted.

“You murdered my baby in cold blood. You are a monster not worthy of being a Xeno leader.” Gulbatira exclaimed.

Thorax looked at Gulbatira for a few seconds, smiled wickedly, and spoke, “You should have aimed for the head.” Having said this, Thorax grabbed the crystal from the slot and allowed himself to plummet backwards from the wall.

Once he was on the ground, he used the dark crystal’s powers to heal his wounds. Then, he jumped back onto the wall and lifted Gulbatira up telekinetically, utilising the power of the dark crystal. With her body under control, he used her body like a raging hammer to vanquish his enemies outside the fortress.

After defeating his enemies, Thorax exclaimed, “Bring their bodies to me. It is time for a feast.”

His servants didn’t dare object to their evil master, and shortly afterwards, Thorax’s tribe reached a new level of villainy by embracing cannibalism.