The Divine Finalisation [Complete]

Chapter 28 Hilda Muller Meets Melchior Dorevitch

An hour later, Hilda Muller accompanied by Melanie Weber and a few other bodyguards docked with Melchior’s command ship. As Hilda entered the lobby of the command ship, she was shocked at what she saw. In the centre of the lobby, there was a large fountain that was pumping out blood. It was ornamented by a series of human hearts, which were still pumping, as there were hidden electrodes that gave them the electrical shocks that kept them alive.

At the edges of the room, Melchior’s imperial guard was stationed, and they looked genuinely terrifying, covered in black armour, filled with blood-stained spikes. Hilda reflected that while the breastplates of Melchior’s imperial guards weren’t very practical, they served no other purpose but to instil fear into anyone seeing them. She could feel how the fear of facing the Xeno-Martian mutant looking guards was getting its grip over her body, but she decided to pull herself together and stay strong.  To regain control, she shouted out:

-          I am Hilda Muller from the Terran Council. Where is Melchior Dorevitch? What kind of man invites people to his command ship without being there to greet them?

A gigantic beastly looking guard, almost three meters tall, clad in heavily stacked sharp metals, topped with a rustic iron facemask and fearsome-looking armour, with an appearance that of something Hilda has never seen before, approached her and spoke:

-          I am Peter Belovic, the chancellor of the Martian Dominion and Melchior’s right-hand-man on this expedition.

-          I require you to surrender your weapons before you are granted an audience with Melchior.

Hilda Muller:

-          This is an outrage. I am the chairwoman of the Terran Council, not some low-rank officer of planet Earth. I require you to at least have the courtesy to show your real face before coming with demands like these.

Peter Belovic:

-          Not showing you my face is doing you a favour. You’d be terrified if you saw the terror that lurks behind this rustic iron facade!

Hilda Muller:

-          Nonetheless, it is customary to see the face of the one you negotiate with. Show your face, or I’ll just leave, and you have wasted mine and your master’s time!

Peter Belovic:

-          As you wish, Madame Muller. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Peter Belovic took off his helmet, and what was revealed was so terrifying, Hilda Muller suddenly flinched and almost fell over, but fortunately, Melanie Weber grabbed her arm and helped her regain her balance.   

Hilda studied the man, or rather, a ghastly and horrifying monster in front of her. His petrifying eyes were blood-sprained, and the optical nerves were glowing red. His skin was ashen, extremely thick and lizard-like, with large jagged cracks and crusts on the skin clearly showing his muscle tissues and veins, which were looking like they were about to explode. Most of his front teeth were missing and the ones that remained where sharp predator fangs, and he was drooling and panting like a deadly hungry creature.

Eventually, Hilda spoke:

-          You better put that helmet back on! What happened to you? You do not look like what a Martian should be!

Peter Belovic

-          My master tried to help me to become stronger by injecting his own blood and Xeno’s DNA into me. As it turned out my genes were not strong enough to conquer the foreign DNA. The pain is so unbearable, and I only have a very short time to live. As I die my flesh shall be consumed by my Master and his inner circle, and I will make them stronger.

Hilda Muller:

-          Oh. Forget that I asked.

-          Guards! Surrender your weapons to our hosts. It is time to meet Melchior Dorevitch, leader of the Martian Dominion.

After Hilda and her bodyguards had surrendered their weapons, Peter called Melchior over the radio, and soon afterwards he entered the room. Hilda studied Melchior as he entered the room. He had the same ash-grey thick lizard-like skin that Peter had, but unlike Peter, Melchior’s skin was nicely fused together, and he was covered in healed scars instead of open wounds. Melchior’s eyes were also glowing purple vividly and energetically, unlike the sickly blood-sprained eye colour that Peter had. Melchior’s eyes gave Hilda a déjà vu. She had seen the same eyes a few years back when witnessing Keila Eisenstein killed the previous Terran Council leadership at the city of Rashidium.

Melchior approached Hilda and spoke:

-          Thank you for accepting my invitation. I am sorry for not shaking your hands, but unfortunately, my sharp claws make handshakes difficult.

Hilda studied Melchior’s hands. Large claws were extending from the top of them, and the palms were filled with small sharp thorns. She nodded in acknowledgement but said nothing. Melchior continued to speak:

-          How do you find our centrepiece, the blood-fountain over there?

Hilda Muller:

-          Uggh! I am sorry, but it’s not really my taste. What is it anyway?

Melchior:

-          It is the definition of beauty in my eyes. It’s a blood fountain. Underneath it sits synthetic bone marrow that creates human blood. That blood is mixed with an anticoagulant and pumped up in the fountain there. The hearts of my enemies are pumping with the aid of electrical electrodes attached to the bottom of them, out of sight for the spectator of course.

Hilda Muller:

-          The hearts of your enemies? So, the hearts are not artificially grown in the lab but the actual hearts of people that you killed?

Melchior:

-          That is correct. I believe that the soul resides in the heart, so keeping the heart alive is the best way to torment an enemy even after their body has been disposed of.

Hilda was struggling badly with her fear and terror. She had anticipated that meeting the infamous Melchior Dorevitch on his command ship would be bad, but she had never imagined it to be this bad. But Hilda simply had to keep herself together. She was the leader of Terran Council, and if she cracks, there was nothing to stop this evil madman from destroying her beautiful planet Earth. Eventually, she stammered out.

-          Okay, but I am not here to discuss your religious beliefs. You travelled all the way to Earth, and you requested a meeting, so what do you want?

Melchior:

-          Hahaha! I will get to that in a minute. But first, have a drink with and cheer with me to the future. I believe that is Terran tradition, right?

Hilda Muller:

-          Yes. That is correct, but I don’t see any champagne glasses around.

Melchior:

-          Oh, how rude of me. I forgot the glassware! Wait a second.  

Melchior snapped his fingers, and a servant approached him with two baby craniums that were formed into jugs.  Melchior took the skulls, walked to the fountain and filled the craniums with blood. And then he spoke:

-          I am sorry, but in the Martian Dominion, we don’t drink alcohol. But share some blood with me. It’s rich in nutrients, especially iron, perfect for women in their fertile age.

Hilda Muller:

-          I am sorry, but I think I’ll pass on the offer.

Melchior had a sip of blood, stared menacingly into Hilda’s eyes before licking his lips and talking:

-          Oh, but you misunderstand. The drink of blood is not an offer but a rite of passage of my ship. It will be considered very rude if you don’t follow through with it.

Hilda Muller lost and her calm and yelled in panic:

-          I will not be poisoned on this ship! If you harm me, the entire Terran Council army will attack you! 

Melchior shrugged his shoulders and spoke:

-          There is nothing toxic in the blood, as you see I am drinking it myself. And if I wanted to kill you, I’d blown up your fancy tower from orbit before your army had time to react!

-          Now drink the damn blood before I get angry, and trust me, you don’t want that to happen.

Hilda Muller saw no choice but to drink the blood, and after a lot of effort, she managed to finish the bowl without spewing. Melchior studied her for a while and then he spoke again:

-          Good, you have proven your value. Now to the topic I came here to discuss.

-          I have decided to help you with your portal problem. I intend to lead my army to the Divine Dimension and wipe out the aliens that threaten mankind. All I need is your approval and support to the cause.

Hilda stared at Melchior in disbelief and spoke:

-          You are putting me through this, and now you are offering your help. What is going on and why would you want to help us?

Melchior:

-          My motivations are none of your concern. All you need to do is answer this question: Do you prefer to:  A. Give us your blessings and support us with fuel, food and materials, or B. Die here today, with most of your capital levelled in the process, forever being remembered as the foolish leader that caused the end of Terran Council?

 Hilda:

-          That sounds a lot like blackmail.

Melchior:

-          Is that what you call it when the roles are reversed? What did you call it when the Terran Council forced all the Martian nations to pay in Martian sweat and blood to keep Mars electromagnetic field up and running for the sake of your Terran’s developments?

Hilda bit her lip and said nothing. The tables had indeed turned, and she knew from her time in the army what fate had befallen the ones that resisted the evil Dorevitch’s military and power. Eventually, she spoke:

-          I choose A. I will grant you free passage to the portals, and I’ll support your expedition with one million metric tonnes of fuel, food and provisions.

Melchior smiled and spoke:

-          Good choice. I am happy that I made a “friend” today!

-          I will stay here with a large fleet to help you stay true to your promise. The rest of my fleet will gather near the portal and ensure that the supplies arrive safely.

-          And please notify your allies on the Terran Council of your decision. I do not want any confrontations due to unfortunate “misunderstandings.”

Hilda:

-          Understood. I will convene with the others as soon as possible and make sure that everyone follows our agreement.

After saying this, Hilda and her group quickly headed back to their shuttle returning to Hansstadt and escaping the lunatic asylum they had just visited!