The King whistled appreciatively when she saw Ghaster. "What do we have here?"
She would have attacked instead of talking if she thinks he is weak but the sight of the tendrils of lightning slithering across his fur and sparkling in his eyes discouraged her from attacking outright. Common sense dictates that someone who has become one with lightning must be very dangerous. So she decided to try some diplomacy.
"You seem to be a wielder of lightning. Those are pretty rare."
Lightning wielders are rare. Lightning is not a natural element. It is more of an invocation of power. It is fast and highly destructive. To get lightning to listen to you and manifest is very difficult. To wield it like a weapon is a sign of true talent because lightning as a weapon can destroy its wielder before it becomes a threat to others.
She walked up to him and stopped about 100 meters away from him. That is pretty close enough.
"I am the stone empress. What is your name?"
Ghaster took a fighting stance instead of answering. He got ready to move at the first sight of an attack. He may look ready to fight but he is planning to run. The mention of her name spooked him and helped him make up his mind about running away. If there is something that lightning is weak to, it is earth and someone that can turn others to stone with a look is not someone you should let lay their eyes on you.
She chuckled despite his silence. "Silence is good too. I am not here for your words. I am here for your weapon. You see, I have been looking for something of that quality. Hand it over and I'll let you go."
Ghaster laughed. "You must think I am stupid."
The fact that they are both talking and not fighting means that both of them are wary of the other. After all, what is needed for a fight is one willing party, not two. So the two of them don't want to fight because they don't like their chances. Giving up his weapon will tip the scale in her favor. Maybe they will fight then. He will surely be doomed when that occurs.
She replied to his question. "I don't think you are stupid. I was hoping that you were stupid. I hear that lightning wielders are rash and stupid."
Ghaster felt insulted. He might be rash but he is not stupid. Or maybe he is stupid. Staying here and listening to her talk is certainly not a smart idea.
She chuckled when she saw his angry face. "It seems that my hopes are to be dashed. I must admit that I do not want to fight you. It will cost me a lot to get that weapon if we fight. But I don't have a choice. I must have that blade. So I must fight you. You don't have a choice either. You will lose. I have this place surrounded. You can either give up the blade easily or go down messily. I am guessing you want to go down messily."
She doesn't want to fight because of her followers. She could have taken an army with her but she didn't because numbers don't matter to some individuals. She is one of those individuals. An army is no different from one person if they can't resist her eyes. That's why she chose talented elites to follow her. Ones that can be really helpful when she needs them. So her followers are actually useful. They are not expendable riff-raffs. She prefers not to lose her elites but she is ready to do anything for the weapon in his hands.
Ghaster didn't reply. He just stared at her. There's no way he will give up his weapon without a fight. The person in the most awkward position is the last guy of the fight group that ambushed Ghaster. The two of them were staring at each other before. Now Ghaster is staring menacingly at another person. He doesn't know if he is allowed to leave or not. He wants to leave but he knows that being the center of attention is bad. So he stayed frozen and motionless. Maybe they will ignore him if he pretends not to exist.
Their awkward staring contest was interrupted by a noise. The loud noise is coming from a place far away from their location. They looked in its direction and saw the after-effects of an explosion. The explosion must be massive because they saw the giant plum of smoke created by it from such a far distance.
Someone snickered audibly. "Someone created a mega explosion again. I pity the person they used it on."
What the person said made the stone Emperess' followers laugh. They are clearly light-hearted enough to laugh. Ghaster would have laughed too if he were not in such an unfavorable situation. It is because the people who were affected by that explosion will be in a much bigger situation than him.
An explosion created from the combination of hundreds of explosive consumables rigged together is very dangerous to be around. Something that large will rip virtually anyone apart. But funny enough, noises that indicate a violent battle didn't end. It continued and increased in tempo sharply.
"It seems the people they used the mega explosion on didn't die completely." Someone else observed.
The sounds of battle died down soon after. But there was still one reoccurring noise. This noise got louder as whatever is creating it got closer to them. The stone empress's minions rushed toward her and surrounded her. They took up positions to guard her. The two sides ceased hostilities to determine the new intruder. Or so Ghaster thought before he lost control of his body.
The stone Emperess smirked and said. "So stupid."
It turns out that he really is stupid. Maybe there is some truth to the rumors that lightning-wielders are rash and stupid. It could be that lightning has fried their brain cells. It is either that or she lucked out in encountering Ghaster who is stupid and rash. Now he will turn into a statue of stone.
