Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

By the time Raven arrived, there was no longer a need for his testimony, for the body of the dead automaton Avarice was lying before the council. The king who was allegedly killed by her had been disposed of long ago, and with the only royal alive now forever imprisoned, there was only one thing left to discuss.

'Amelia deserved what she got, but this is just stupid…' Looking around at the concerned faces as Avarice's body was being dragged to the dungeons, Regalia felt the need to mock the council's stupidity for attempting to throw a dead automaton into prison. But holding her sharp words, instead, she stood to the side with Raven and watched Shamisha being urged to take the lead as the new ruler.

"You've done the most for this kingdom. Educated our young, managed the falling infrastructure, and took a dive away from that perverse cesspool of iron-soldier operations," said a man with a crab face and claws, his whiskers and mouth gnarly enough to make anyone wanna vomit.

"He's right, we no longer need a monarch but a competent leader!" Announced the only human woman on the council.

The councilroom soon erupted with many more claims of Shamisha's competency, but laced within them was a threat, and she could sense it all from a mile away. None of them wanted the burden of responsibility on their shoulders. They knew they were incompetent and that's why the cities were in shambles.

And by pushing it all on Shamisha, any mistake in the future could simply be blamed on the bunny-girl.

"Is the council in agreement, then?" Hums and nods were the answer to the demi-crab man.

For some reason, he was the one leading the charge, and he just so happened to be the treasurer for the kingdom.

'Did he bribe them?' Shamisha wondered although she couldn't question them at that very moment.

"Well I refuse to be your scapegoat," instead, she simply thrashed the hoops and got to the root of the issue. Walking down the red carpet her hands held to the sides, she wore a gentle smile and explained to the gasping council. "I'm an educator and an innovator, not a financier or a fighter like the late king, and if I were to stop then who would educate your children?

Or fix the street lamps, the falling infrastructure in dire need of funding? Hmm? Who would do that with her own money to keep this city running?"

Tongues clicked and eyes twitched with guilt, those who knew who she was lashing leaned back into their chair and made no attempt to rebuke her claims for fear of being exposed as part of the corrupt circle.

"Well now that I have made my case, I shall my take my leave and–"

"Wait!" Exclaimed the automaton who'd come with Shamisha as security. With her beaded hair tied in a bob, she appeared extremely uptight, especially with her blue eyes that fashioned a deep frown.

Her coat fluttered through the wind as her dark heels clanked with each step forward, moving past even Shamisha, the automaton adorned with decorative medals and badges, began making her way up the ivory steps.

But only halfway through, the entire council was up on their feet, and even Shamisha rushed over to grab her by the arm.

"Mono, what the fuck are you doing?!" She whispered with gritted teeth to muffle her words.

With but a smirk, Mono glanced back at her apprentice and whispered in response.

"These people let my city, the one I spent my entire life building get turned into a scrap yard full of rusting metal and steam," forcing her smile further instead of letting it settle, she heaved a frustrated sigh. "And so I'm taking what's rightfully mine after their king, I built this, and I won't let them corrupt it to the ground."

"Master, you're not gonna do anything!" Shamisha screamed, and this time everyone heard her clearly.

"Master?!" The word exclaimed through every mouth, all the while the automaton–a beacon of progress, a symbol of her goddess herself, kept on climbing.

And then as she finally rested her body on the Ivory throne, she took a deep breath and announced to her subjects.

"The goddess of progress and the stars, what better chosen for her than one that would never die but is ever evolving?" Glancing across the surprised faces, she decided to tone down her self-talk and instead lay down her plans for the city. "I Mono Aurerelia, the undying spirit, from this day forward, I shall work to turn this scrapyard of a kingdom into the most advanced Technocracy!"

"THAT'S BLASPHEMY!"

"AS IF A HUNK OF METAL WILL FOOL US! YOU'RE NO MONO!"

"WHY WOULD WE SUBMIT OUR KINGDOM TO YOU!"

"GET DOWN FROM THERE YOU WRETCH!"

"And who shall take my place? Who can run this kingdom better? Name a soul and I'll step down this instant!" The council went quiet, none of them dared to be the ruler themselves, and yet they wanted anyone else than an imposter of Mono. However, what happened next set their doubts at rest, and even if they still wished to refute her claims, they were silenced by their very goddess.

"Nobody? Then give me a month's time and I shall show you what our kingdom could be, and if you don't wish for me to be ruler, then I'll gladly walk down these steps mys–"

Cutting Mono's words short, the very ground inside the castle began to shake. The chandeliers began to fall, and before anyone could even realize what was happening, a star the size of a fist tore through the castle walls and smashed into Mono's ribs. Shattered her chest into a crater, and the life in her eyes was snuffed out for a moment.

The councilmen and women took it as a sign from their goddess, the ruler of Stellaris. But then as life returned in Mono's eyes, and the crater in her chest closed up over the star, they looked on in horror as she came back to life after dying just for a moment. Coughing a few times, Mono plucked the coarse star out of her mouth.

And while the others stared at her in shock, she took a moment to look at the runes etched onto the surface of that rock.

At first, she had no clue what it meant, but scanning her internal achievers, she managed to decipher it in a moment.

"You have my blessing if you can stand my test," reading those words still oozing with the goddess's blessing as well as her contempt, a wide smirk took over Mono as she realized that even a god's attempted assassination towards her had utterly failed.

"No way it says that!" Screamed the crab demi-human, and to appease his doubts, Mono passed the star around until none of them could do anything but accept her as Elenaris's new ruler.

"Wipe those frowns, utopia awaits us," making far too much use of her monarchical vocabulary, she had already begun playing the part.

And to cleanse all remaining doubt, the very voice of the goddess echoed through Mono's lips next.

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