Tyrant vs. Tyrant
The Showdown

~Xeroma, OblivionKnight

It was a quiet day in the Netherworld. Laharl had just finished his daily throwing practice (the Prinnies didn't like it, but an Overlord has to stay in shape, you know!), and was sitting on his throne rather bored.

".......... ETNA!" yelled the selfish ruler.

"Yes, Prince?" said the demon that walked in shortly after.

"DON’T CALL ME PRINCE, DAMMIT! I am the Overlord, ruler of the Netherworld, and supreme ruler! Not some lowly title I long since abandoned!"

"Whatever you say, Prince."

"................"

"Anyway, you wanted something?"

"Ah yes," said the unruly one, "I've been a bit bored lately, and I was wondering if you knew where my book of Worlds In the Known Universe was."

"Um... I think you left it in your coff-er, bed."

"Very well!" And with that, the tiny tyrant went and fetched the book.

"Um, what're you going to do with that, anyway, Prince?"

"Why, I’m going to see if there are any ripe worlds out there for taking over!"

"Ooooh, world takeover. So much fun. <3"

Laharl flipped through the pages at a rather awkward pace. He was in a peculiar mood that day, so he mostly focused on the F category.

"Hmm... let's see.... Filgaia... no, there’s that Cecilia person, she’s too much of a bother to deal with..... France? That’s not a WORLD..... stupid book....... Forsena?"

".....Hm..... colorful... diverse.... and the warriors usually aren't much to talk about..."

"..... I LIKE IT! Now to pester the Congress into letting me go to it!"

At which point Etna chimed in. "Prince, remember how the Congress USUALLY treats this sort of thing?"

"BAH! I've defeated the likes of Priere, Marjoly, and the fearsome Baal! They know better than to mess with my infinite power!"

And it was so, as the Congress disagreed to Laharl's proclamation of a gateway to Forsena, but he beat the crap out of them to make them listen to him anyway.

Meanwhile, in Iscalio.....

"Dear, what is he thinking? A country-wide ban on wearing pants for a week? This is insane!"

Ulster the bishop, likely the only sane person in the entire country, paced back and forth across the room. Once again, Dryst, the Super Tyrant of Iscalio, had come up with another insane decree. The theory behind the lack of pants? It would put the "clothing makers that are planning to overthrow me out of business", in the Tyrant's own words.

"Hahahahaha! Come on, real men don't complain about a lack of pants!" the barbarian Bagdemagus yelled out, slapping the poor bishop on the back.

"Ugh..." Ulster said as he was knocked to the ground.

"So a ban on pants...I wonder what else he’ll cook up in his mad mind…" Gallo trailed off.

"Mad mind?" Camden the Druid questioned the group. "King Dryst is a genius! Everything he thinks up is a wonderful and a perfect way to lead the country! I mean, with him in charge, what could possibly go wrong?"

That question was soon answered, for at Asten castle, a peculiar sight appeared…

"What is this?!" Laharl yelled out as he stepped through the dimensional gate from the Netherworld. "You, who is your king?"

Laharl had questioned a young man, who quickly responded: "King? I didn’t vote for a king"

Etna walked up behind Laharl, shaking her head. "No, you don’t vote for a king, silly. Kings aren’t even elected, they’re…"

"STOP!!!" the Overlord yelled. "I just want to know where and who your leader is!"

"Oh, why didn’t you say so? We follow Super Tyrant Dryst, the…"

"Mmm? Super Tyrant did you say?"

"Yes, the craziest and meanest of all…"

"Etna! I changed my plans! We shall meet this "Super Tyrant", and....... "greet" him.". He gave a sly look to Etna, which immediately let her know of his plans.

"Oh boy, here we go again~", said the fledgling Angel, Flonne, who merely followed them out of curiousity.

Over at Caelsent, much was amiss, as was usual in this castle. As Laharl walked around.....

"....... Why is everyone not wearing pants? This is rather.... disturbing... bah."

After much charging, "persuading" the guards, and some rather bothersome annoyances, Laharl and co. made their way to the throne room.

"So YOU are the supposed Super Tyrant Dryst! ..... wait, why are you the only one here wearing pants, aside from that clergyman in the corner?"

"Aah, so you're the little kid running around and causing havoc in this castle! And why might a little scamp like you be here, then~?", inquired the Monarch.

"I am Laharl, ruler of the Netherworld, and Supreme Overlord! I have come to take this land of Forsena as my own.... BUT! I have heard you are the most ruthless tyrant of the land, insane beyond reason, and truly a monster on the battlefield! I want to see for myself if you are fit for the title!"

"Hmhmhm! Very well then, boy! We shall test our might against each other! Our strongest troops, our greatest strategies, our evilest laughs! It shall be decided at Borceliande, just north of here! Now go, prepare to face the greatest of all Forsena!"

"Hm, very well then. Dimensional Gatekeeper, bring me to Borceliande, north of Caelsent Castle!", and with that, Laharl and co. disappeared in a flash of electricity.

"Hmhmhmhm, the fool. Camden! Iria! Prepare an assault on Borceliande from the south. I'll attack from the north and send a messenger when the time is right. Now go!"

And with that, the ever insane Tyrant cackled and brought his Bahamut and other monsters with him and charged straight for Asten to prepare his assault.

Ulster sighed. "Is this really the time to be doing something like this?"

"Let’s go," said Iria.

The next day....

"Damnit, where is he?!" cried Laharl. "I've waited here for a day now and he still hasn't shown up!"

"Calm down Prince, he'll be here eventually..."

"Everyone, look!" cried Flonne. "I see soldiers approaching from the south!"

"Dood, there's a strange group coming from the north, too!"

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" went Laharl. "I should have known he'd pull a stunt like this! Admirable of a true Tyrant, I must say! Everyone, prepare for battle!"

And now, who shall win this epic clash? On one side, we have Laharl and the forces of the Netherworld. On the other end, we have Dryst, the Mad King of Iscalio, his faithful Iria and Camden at his side. Who will win in a battle of Tyrants fit for the gods?
  • Laharl proves the true power of the Netherworld and takes down Dryst, and eventually Forsena
  • Dryst uses the real power of a Super Tyrant to strike down Laharl and retain his title

SageAcrin
You know, these two are pretty similar, even beyond the obviousness of insanity.

Both are very talented fighters.

Both have defeated both angelic beings and demons.

Both summon meteors with their best attacks for some reason.

Both work through others, largely.

The only real problem is this.

The others Dryst works through are his vassals, a fair amount of Rune Knights and a lot of various monsters. And a Bahamut, one of the most feared monsters in Forsena.

Laharl? He works through a bunch of vassals capable of shredding a massively powerful Alternate Overlord without a sweat. Lazy ones, but hey.

So much for Dryst.

Laharl: 37
Dryst: 18

Draco Ignifer
Ah, matters of scale... be it managing to bungee jump straight into the dirt by converting meters and feet on a one-to-one basis, or missing the moon because of improper rounding, disaster always strikes when one is imprudent about measurement.

And, of course, this little debacle will be no exception... Laharl's battles exist on a tactical scale, after all, whereas Dryst's are designed for a strategic one. In plainer terms, one of Laharl's entire battlefields is probably the equivelant of one, perhaps two, of Dryst's hexes.

Thus, the Supreme Overlord of the Neatherworld is soundly and humiliatingly defeated by the long ranged capabilities of a single Bahamut.

It could have been worse, though... the last tragic miscalculation of this magnitude caused two empires just as mighty as his to end up serving to provide a small dog with a light snack.

superaielman
The best way to compare these two tyrants is in skillset, or what they share.. an ability to drop meteors on a target. Laharl's Meteor ability is a modestly powerful move that caps off his skillset. Dryst's Meteor Doom is an incredible attack that's best known for wiping out armies with a few simple castings.

On top of which, Dryst has the hat. You can't go wrong with the hat.

Reaven
Laharl will pwn him, he can beat ancient demons and archangels!