《Roalacia: FateBreaker》 Prologue: The Greetings [Ridicule] Of The Fool To The King *tak* *tak* *tak* An echoing noise from the shoes of a certain old man could be heard as he stepped along the obsidian black marble floors towards the self-opening glass door. The interior of the place was similar to a luxurious hotel designed with chandeliers and extravagant types of furniture. Upon reaching the glass door of the expensively decorated building, the old man sadly commented while looking upon the small garden in front of it. *Sigh* ¡°Hmm¡­ It feels strange looking at this place as a normal building and no longer my home to stay around. To think that it¡¯s my last time being here as the Stygian Ruler who wielded such immense power. Also, it¡¯s a shame that I can¡¯t see those beautiful ladies walking along these black obsidian marble floors and marvelously crafted walls anymore.¡± An old man clad in a jet black suit and shoulder cape with golden linings came out of the tall building with regretful looks on his wrinkled face. A strong feeling of authority could be felt around him as he walked out of the building while wearing a golden necklace with a small serpent making an S shape made of pure emerald as his Royal Regalia. ¡°Also I¡¯m gonna miss this place. Man really¡­ this place sure looks a 5-star hotel to me rather than a residence for its ruler. Heck, even the garden in the middle of the three buildings is really beautiful for its lush green trees.¡± What lies in front of the old man was three tall jet black skyscrapers that could be seen high above the clear blue skies. These three modernly designed structures were 20 floors in height and arranged in a triangular pattern where each one was located on the corners. Multiple passageways that connected each structure to another could be observed along the body of the big three buildings. Its most distinct characteristic was its gold linings which exude a premium feel. The glass panels were tinted black to blend with the building¡¯s overall color. ¡°But yeah this place¡¯s security is no joke, after that attempted attack some 50 years ago, I really stepped up this building¡¯s security game to the maximum. Those people became too lax back then until to the point that I need to frigging whip their slouching asses into shape.¡± It¡¯s fully made of rare magical materials to defend against any kind of attacks. Magical barriers were also deployed around the whole area without any pause to prevent any opportunities for an attack. Outside security was also heavily fortified, the whole area was a no-flight zone and each vehicle coming in and out of the premise should be inspected thoroughly before giving clearance to go. Not to mention the military soldiers keep on patrolling around to make sure no sneak attack can happen. This heavily guarded place is the Gezire Sia Palace, the place where the ruler must reside. It¡¯s located on the center of the Sanguine city, the capital of Stygia. ¡°Oh?¡± Multiple men dressed in black suits and shades instantly appeared from the sides of Gazire Sia¡¯s Entrance and approached the old man in a very synchronized and snappy fashion. There were about 20 men who formed two lines with 10 on each which created a straight path for him. Other men could be seen guarding the area beyond the entrance. King Roa made an impressed look then followed it with a short praise, ¡°Very snappy as always royal guards. Another one of the things I will miss after I depart from the palace. Anyway, don¡¯t slack off now that I¡¯m no longer the current ruler, you will need to continuously train and be ready anytime to protect the new ruler of Stygia. Understand?¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty!!¡± Very loud and clear voices in unison were heard all around the entrance area near the glass door from all the men lined up in response to Roa¡¯s advice. You could really felt that each one of those men harbored a very deep loyalty to their ruler and would sacrifice their lives just to protect him. As he walked towards the end of the path made by the men, A small smile with a hint of sadness cracked on his old wrinkled face as he seemed to be satisfied based on what he saw but a certain word struck on his mind and said, ¡°King huh¡­ You guys don¡¯t need to call me a king or ruler, you will have a new ruler now as of today.¡± ¡°We know that your majesty but until they made it official on the ascension ceremony that sir Jin is the new King, you are still the ruler of Stygia technically.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Roa casually looks into his right to see who was the one talking. A woman on the front steps which by walking through it would elevate you to the obsidian black floor that leads to the main entrance of the building appeared in front of King Roa. Similar to the other black-suited men that lined up, she was also wearing the same black suits and slacks but unlike the others, she was carrying with her right hand a wooden scepter with a huge emerald placed on the top. The woman positioned herself to the right side of king Roa as to not block his way and continued what he said earlier. ¡°So until then, We are obliged to serve and call you the king, King Roa.¡± ¡°I know that Hazelrink, the Obsidian royal guards are really strict with these things and will serve its ruler until his/her very last second of the rule. By the way, you are still looking sharp as ever since you joined the Royal Guards 10 years ago.¡± ¡°I¡¯m very pleased to hear that your majesty. I just hope this sharpness of mine lasts a very long time.¡± The woman talking to the old king was Hazelrink Quatra, The captain of the Obsidian Royal Guards, the king¡¯s personal security. Her silky black hair was flowing up to her hips while her bangs were clipped sideways to the right. She was also a beauty with her porcelain-like skin and with eyelashes taken care off perfectly. Her gorgeous body shapes especially her above average size bosom was really eye-catching that can give those beauty models a run for their money since she always makes sure her body was in healthy condition. After she responded to King Roa¡¯s compliment to her looks, she also looked into the king¡¯s appearance and examined him, ¡°You, my majesty sure the same. A very enigmatic individual with a strong aura of superiority. An old wizard in his workshop image maybe? That beard of yours sure gives that vibe.¡± ¡°Hahaha, I translated that as a shady oddball who locks himself in the palace doing nothing but watching anime and reading light novels. Surely that¡¯s what you want to say to me. C¡¯mon admit it already Hazelrink.¡± ¡°Oh no!!, It seems that I¡¯m busted again with the help of the old king¡¯s great wisdom. Guilty as charged once more this time, I can also say that YOU are still looking as ever my majesty.¡± The laughing old king just made fun of Hazelrink¡¯s examination of him by interpreting it the other way. A fake shocked Hazelrink, on the other hand, has sarcastically pleaded guilty on hiding her real impression of the old king. It¡¯s incredible of her to casually talk to the king while her subordinates are dead serious safeguarding the area and not showing some emotions to her sarcastic remarks. Perhaps it¡¯s one of the perks of being the captain of the royal guards.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°But Hazelrink, I¡¯m still curious on what you are using to maintain that youthful looks despite your old age, I need some of tha¡­ oh cra-¡± ¡°Hmmmmm??? Are you saying something about my age, your majesty???¡± King Roa with his ¡°Oh crap!!¡± face felt a very bad feeling about that smile Hazelrink put up after she heard something about ¡°old age¡±. Her smile was really emitting deadly vibes as Roa needed to do something or else he gonna receive the wrath of the beautiful lady, with an awkward smile on his face, Roa smoothly diverted the topic. ¡°Oh! hahaha¡­ N-nevermind that one Hazelrink, you are just imagining things. I never said anything about age and just waiting for my car to arrive! Yep! Nothing at all.¡± ¡°Hoooo¡­ I see them! I thought I¡¯m hearing something earlier about OLD AGE. Gosh, I must be imagining things then.¡± ¡°100% Imagination indeed!¡± As if he was wiping his sweat from his forehead even no sweat was there, he gracefully managed to defuse the Hazelrink wrath bomb and made sure that everything is fine. Looking relieved now, Roa started to wonder about the car he talked about earlier and asked Hazelrink about it, ¡°Jokes aside, Isn¡¯t my car taking longer than usual? It should have been a few minutes ago.¡± ¡°Strange¡­ I know that the car¡¯s travel route going here is completely sealed off from the civilian traffic, I shall contact the driver and check the reason why the car is getting behind the schedule.¡± ¡°Please do Hazelrink.¡± Roa looked sideways towards the large steel gate where the car should make its entry while Hazelrink approached some security on the corner to discuss what was currently happening. It was a short moment of discussion between the security men and her with some confused look on their face as it was interrupted by the King himself. ¡°There it is! I can see the car now, no need to contact them Hazelrink.¡± ¡°Your right your majesty seems there¡¯s no need for an inquiry as it¡¯s already here. Wonder what took them longer?¡± ¡°Must be a flat tire or something Hazelrink. In any case, It¡¯s already here to fetch me and go to Borquier city.¡± ¡°If you say so, your majesty. Security! Prepare for the car¡¯s arrival.¡± ¡°Yes, commander!¡± All the security personnel salute to her after she issued an order to receive the incoming car with full focus. The security started to move and tighten the surveillance around the mouth of the entrance as the car approached the front steps. The two powerful figures looked the same car as they wondered why it took longer to arrive here but in the end they also both disregarded it as the car was already in their sight. ¡°Here comes my ride and really? That number of armored vehicles that I¡¯m seeing from here is just too many if you ask me. I can protect myself you know.¡± ¡°I know that you can protect yourself and look at the number of the escorts, it seems fine to me. It¡¯s always better to be fully secure than to be in danger just because we settled with ¡±good enough¡± mindset..¡± Hazelrink¡¯s reasoning to this large number was really a good one as she was protecting the head of the country therefore heavy security was a no-brainer. The old king knew this but since he was withdrawing from power, he thought that his importance and value to the country has dropped to the point where he was no longer a person needed to be protected up to this extent. Perhaps it¡¯s a nice gesture of showing respect and thanks for what he did for Stygia last 108 years. ¡°At last, My car finally arrived in front of me. Goodness, gracious! what took you so long to arrive here?¡± Loud engine noises could be heard from those multiple heavily armored vehicles as they lined up from the entrance gate up to the exit gate with the exquisite looking limousine was on the middle part of the line. After they managed to park properly, Multiple soldiers in military camouflage fatigue came out of those vehicles as they immediately made contact with the royal guards for identification purposes. The whole area was now filled with both the military guarding the area around the gates and the royal guards protecting the old king. During all these movements from both sides, another man came out directly from the limousine where King Roa must travel with and walked to him. Unlike the others¡¯ attire, he was only wearing a plain black polo shirt and pants together with a pair of light brown driving shoes. ¡°Greetings your majesty. Good to see you¡¯re in good health and looking just fine.¡± ¡°Good to see you also Woss and if look at that, What interesting clothes you wearing right there, are you going to a golf session after this? Or are you gonna have a celebration of sorts? I also love parties if you are not aware.¡± After King Roa saw Woss'' casual attire that does not fit the occasion, his atmosphere took a quick turn from being a goofy guy who handles jokes just fine to a serious one. Woss just shrugged off the old king¡¯s reaction to him and cheerfully replied while putting up a normal attitude and smile. ¡°Yes! yes! I appreciate that you noticed my attire. Looks goods to me aren¡¯t? We will be celebrating something later and that¡¯s Sir Jin¡¯s being the head of our country! Oh and I don¡¯t mean any ill intentions or anything! It just that after I transported you, your majesty, I will quickly drive to the ascension ceremony party.¡± ¡°Oh my! I see that you¡¯re really excited that you already wearing your clothes for the party rather than wearing the formal attire for your driving work. I can¡¯t blame you for that since everyone is looking forward to that event.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really grateful for your understanding.¡± Woss bowed his head as a sign of respect to the king¡¯s understanding but not wearing his formal attire just because he was so eager to attend the party didn¡¯t express the same intention and was just straight disrespect to King Roa. He even dares to speak and boast in front of the old king about his attendance to the reception party as if he was implying that this departure of King Roa was not that of importance compared to the party. All the obsidian royal guards noticed this arrogant act of him and started to keep an eye to his movements, ¡°This guy¡­¡± ¡°Such arrogance¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s in front of the king¡­¡± The longer they see the man, the stronger the displeasure and hate they harbored to the man flaunting his casual attire while speaking highly of the other important event. The atmosphere was starting to tense up. If King Roa ordered them to subdue the man, without hesitation they would comply immediately and brought the man down to his knees but until now no such orders were given therefore they were forced to stand aside except for one person, *tap* Everyone¡¯s attention was shifted from Woss to a single woman who struck her beautifully designed emerald scepter down into the black marble floor as a sign that she had enough of Woss¡¯ disrespectful attitude towards the king. This woman is the chieftess of Obsidian royal guards Hazelrink. After she got Woss'' attention, She gracefully approached Woss with a very dangerous glance in her eyes, ¡°Wossenheim Lond! You are in front of the king and you dare to appear in unsightly attire just because you put the party before the king¡¯s departure as your first priority? I strongly advise you to change your attire right now.¡± ¡°What will you do if I don¡¯t comply? King Roa already understood it and let me wear my current clothes, therefore, there is no problem right? If there¡¯s none then we should stop wasting time and go already.¡± ¡°Tsk¡­ Just because you¡¯re one of the trusted officials of Jin does not mean you can do whatever you want. King Roa still have the throne until he departs so show some respect.¡± ¡°I know that commander but as I said before, King Roa does not mind it so it¡¯s all good. Oh! just in case you forgot, It¡¯s president Jin for your information commander so you better start getting used to it hahaha.¡± ¡°You arrogant...¡± Woss'' irritating laugh was heard all around the area as Hazelrink was strongly irked by his correction to what she said in a very taunting manner. Amidst all of this disrespectful speaking from Woss. Hazelrink kept her composure as she talked back to him yet the tension between the two just keep rising and killing intent started to surface for her side. King Roa knew that it¡¯s time to intervene or else a confrontation between the two will surely happen. Before the two knew it, the king was already in the middle of them both. ¡°Enough both you! You both dare to argue in front of me? Can you just let me depart in a peaceful manner?¡± A very powerful voice from the king suddenly overwhelmed the two as they immediately stop arguing with each other. Both of their faces changed from being angry to someone who was scared of being punished in a blink of an eye. All the chattering between the royal guards and the military quickly came into a stop as they focused their attention on King Roa with fear. Now, all of them here now was in the mercy of the old king and awaited what would happen next. Chapter 1: Interpretation Of Every Action With everyone froze in their place, Hazelrink used this time to cool off for the moment and step back while Woss also did the same but his irritating grin was still on his face. ¡°My deepest apologies, your majesty. I didn¡¯t mean to cause such commotion here at the entrance and argue with Woss for his inappropriate attitude but I just need to do something to him.¡± ¡°I understand your concerns but there¡¯s no need for confrontation. Just give a gentle reminder to him then after everything is done, You both can talk privately about his behavior. What about you Woss?¡± ¡°The same goes to me, your majesty. I also beg for your pardon earlier for arguing with commander Hazelrink but I¡¯m just stating the truth to her that there is a new ruler in the country. It¡¯s just that the truth really hurts just like they say so it¡¯s not my fault for it.¡± ¡°I said enough with the arguing Woss, Stop with the provokes and be quiet over here or else I¡¯m gonna throw you into the detention facility for you to reflect your actions. Rather than focusing your attention to Hazelrink, I suggest you stick to your driving job assigned to you by the military and just enjoy the ride.¡± ¡°Y-yes your majesty. I will absolutely take care note of that and focus on what was assigned to me. I shall wait for you near the limousine until you give me the signal to go.¡± ¡°Then go now there and wait for me there." Woss spent no time in idling a hurriedly approached the limousine for him to wait for the king there. "...and as for you Hazelrink, Don''t think you''re off the hook. How many times did I say to you back then to control your emotions? This flaw of yours will absolutely get you in trouble if you continue being like that although I¡¯m still wondering on how you managed to avoid conflicts for 10 years as the commander.¡± ¡°Well¡­ Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s due to your continuous help and advice whenever you had a chance to talk to me. Anyway back to the topic, I will swear that this will never happen again, your majesty.¡± ¡°You better be Hazelrink or else I will get angry. Hearing apologies from you two means everything tied up right? Then I should be really going now and enjoy my last ride from here.¡± With the argument finally concluded with the apologies, Woss¡¯ irritating disrespectful attitude was put down without any fight by the old king¡¯s crushing superiority as he issued the order to move forward. ¡°You¡¯re right your majesty, then I also believe we should wrap this up and depart now since someone is so damn eager to attend a celebration party.¡± "..." The short peace abruptly came to an end when another shade was thrown to Woss by Hazelrink as she glanced into his direction with disgust. Woss surprisingly never said a word as he stayed quiet and was waiting beside the jet black limousine. Of course, this didn¡¯t escape the king¡¯s notice and reminded her about what he said earlier. *sigh* ¡°Really Hazelrink?? You just swear to me earlier that you will behave, right? I will give you one last warning to stop provoking him and focus on your job too. You don¡¯t want to see a raging oddball just because of this and put you too in the detention cell for some punishment...¡± ¡°Punishment¡­ Right, I remember those sleepless nights in the detention cell with you. You are non stop with those barrages that I could barely keep up.¡± Memories flashed through her mind as she remembered the days on the cold and lonely cell for disobeying a certain someone¡¯s orders that put her on arrest for a whole year with a demotion from the royal guards. Although after spending only a month in there she was released with the help of the King. ¡°Stop saying things that will misunderstand people! Those are questions that I barraged you with and I¡¯m trying to interrogate you the whole night on why you did it! I still remember that hopeless face of yours back then, you really looked like a lost puppy who lost her mother.¡± ¡°That''s absolutely not true! I don¡¯t look like a lost puppy back then and definitely, it''s not hopelessness you saw back there your majesty. It''s a face of someone who was tired of the world.¡± ¡°Well then if you say so Hazelrink, I¡¯ll stop teasing you since it''s not appropriate to talk about these kinds of topics over here. What we need to talk for now is me getting ready to depart.¡± "I can agree on that one, Youneed to go to Woss now since he''s been waiting there for quite some time." "Yeah right, Woss start the car we are going now!" ¡°Y-yes! Your Majesty!¡± ¡°I will also prepare the royal guards to move out now. Everyone! Prepare our armored vans to assist the military in escorting the king. We will coordinate with the military to properly place ourselves in the convoy.¡± With a refreshed look on her beautiful face after King Roa stop teasing her, she started to organize everybody after she heard the old king¡¯s desire to depart but Roa raised his mechanical left arm and said, ¡°Halt. There is no need for you royal guards to accompany me until Borquier and you will all remain here until the new head of the country arrive and give you orders to move.¡± ¡°W-what do you mean your majesty?! What¡¯s with the sudden order? We can¡¯t just leave you without any presence of the royal guards even if you are with the military.¡± ¡°I know this is abrupt and you¡¯re confused but this is my last and absolute order to the royal guards. If you disobey my command, the royal guards will be apprehended by the military and will be charged for insubordination.¡± ¡°Insubordination? At least provide us with a reason why you gave us that order your majesty, everyone here is concerned about this order of yours.¡± ¡°The reason huh¡­¡± (It seems I need to talk with her about the reason to clear this up very fast, I guess telepathy will do the job for a private conversation since this will be a sensitive topic to discuss. I should move to the limousine slowly to act like I¡¯m thinking while I¡¯m simultaneously talking to her.) With doubts and questions filled the royal guards¡¯ side, they were forced to stand in their place. The same situation could be seen in the military as they were so sure that King Roa would bring them together as additional security. With that order, Hazelrink had no choice but to stop and standby for further instructions. She looked at King Roa in anticipation of his reason for ordering them to stay but she didn¡¯t expect to hear a voice from her mind. ¡°Hello? can you hear me Hazelrink?¡± ¡°Huh?! Why am I hearing you inside my head, your majesty? Are you using like telepathy to talk to me? But there were no any signs of casting earlier, maybe its [Soul arts]?¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°You¡¯re right that it''s [Soul Arts] but for now, don¡¯t mind the trivial stuff of how I manage to do it. Starting now, I¡¯m gonna give you the reason on why I ordered you guys to stay here so listen well Hazelrink as I can¡¯t divulge it to the public as it might cast doubts to others.¡± ¡°Is that really that sensitive to be discussing the reason in public? If so then I will listen, If possible make it precise your majesty as we don¡¯t have time to talk for long. We have many people waiting for you to speak the reason verbally.¡± ¡°I will make it short so here I go, It¡¯s because of your image Hazelrink. The royal guards should be preparing for the arrival of the new ruler not escorting the soon to be former ruler just because of emotions.¡± Image and Action. When you are in power, every movement you do would be always be monitored by someone whether you like it or not and the most dangerous part of being observed was their perception of what you were doing. ¡°My image... So you are telling me that by escorting you instead of waiting for the new ruler was not the correct action to take?¡± ¡°Correct. You don¡¯t give the same amount of importance to the new ruler compared to the amount you showed me. Your actions will imply that you favored me over the new ruler since you are not present when you are needed by the new ruler upon his arrival here which is very dangerous since the observers will interpret it as you¡¯re loyal to me as an individual and not as the ruler of Stygia. He was right. If she continued to follow and escort him to Borquier instead of welcoming the new ruler then this will be interpreted as an act of favoritism and could be used against her by people who hated her. You may be just doing what you think was right but for them, you¡¯re just trying to favor one side from another and Hazelrink was one step into this very dangerous scenario. If they perceived that she was favoring the old ruler to the new ruler, then her image would be cracked by those thoughts. ¡®I see¡­ To think that simple action can complicate your status and interpret your actions very differently, Is this how you see things, your majesty, while you rule our country? To think that every action you take will have an overall effect on your image as the king.¡± ¡°Sadly yes. This is why I¡¯m telling to be careful and be unbiased when doing something. Never show any actions that can be interpreted against you or the royal guards. Don¡¯t become a liability to your country.¡± With every word King Roa said to Hazelrink, the heavier her responsibilities become. The more people looking at you, the harder it moves without being criticized and the more power you have, the more critical your decision is for the future. This is how King Roa looked on things as someone who has so much power to wield. As for Hazelrink, this was the first time for her to experience a change in leadership in 10 years, therefore, she didn¡¯t know that her actions would largely affect her image if wasn¡¯t stopped by him. Starting to doubt herself on what to do, she sought answers by ultimately asking a question to the king. ¡°Then how I can be unbiased on doing something? I only served you for a whole 10 years so it''s impossible for us not to be biased towards the new ruler. We only know how to serve you.¡± ¡°Heh¡­ Remember this Hazelrink since you always said this before, According to the Obsidian Royal Guard Code, You solely pledge yourself to serve and protect the Stygian Ruler even it cost your life.¡± ¡°I definitely know that part your majesty that¡¯s I¡¯m protecting you until now.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s where you are misunderstanding something Hazelrink. There is no Jin and Roa in the Stygian Ruler part, Only a definition of a person who will serve and protect the country with his life.¡± *gasp* As if a great revelation unfolded in front of her, she finally found the answer to her question after she heard those words from King Roa. It might not completely cast away her doubts and uncertainty towards the future with the new ruler but she believed that the path just became clearer than before and she was ready to move forward now. ¡°I believe you found your answer since I have no longer any more time to talk with you. I really need to go now. This telepathic talk ends here and I have high hopes that you can become a great commander for the royal guards, Hazelrink.¡± ¡°Say no more King Roa, I will make sure that the answer I found is good enough to make this country better and stronger. You can confidently go now without any worries and I¡¯ll make sure the royal guards will function properly for the new ruler.¡± ¡°Then I entrust them to you now with a peace of mind, I¡¯ll gladly leave everything to you and make sure nothing bad will happen to this country and its ruler.¡± To be loyal to the country itself and not to the person who wields the power. This was the message he wanted them to know and always remember. Normal people tend to follow their leaders because they admired their charisma and great personality. There is nothing wrong with that, but blindly supporting them will only bring disaster to the country. ¡°It¡¯s time for me to go speak verbally. Get yourself ready as I¡¯m about to give my so-called reason since there is no way I can tell everyone what we talk about here.¡± ¡°Got it, you can speak anytime you want, your majesty. You can count on me to handle the royal guard¡¯s reaction to what will you say and make sure peace and order shall be maintained at the palace entrance.¡± ¡°Very well, then I will start speaking now verbally.¡± Now that the two concluded their telepathic talk, it¡¯s about time for them to go back to reality and speak to each other verbally before it became too suspicious for being silent. King Roa was already at the car¡¯s door looking at it when he turns around and looked into Hazelrink giving her the cue that it¡¯s time to say his made up ¡°reason¡± to her. ¡°Hmmm¡­ I thought deeply about the reason and came up with a good one and that¡¯s because no one will guard the Gezire Sia Palace. I already have the military, therefore, there¡¯s no need to add more escorts.¡± He was careful in choosing words and how he said it. By saying Gezire Sia Palace as the reason was a convenient excuse as no specific person was involved except the staff inside it and also many of the guarded secrets lie beneath the palace. Although some doubts were still there, they couldn¡¯t dare to ask the king about it as they don¡¯t enjoy the same status as the commander of the royal guards. The king knew how powerful he was and used this to put end to this event. ¡°Sounds reasonable to me your majesty, let¡¯s get started then. By the order was given by the King! The whole Obsidian Royal Guards will stand by and protect the palace until the new ruler arrives!¡± Her loud voice echoed throughout the entrance hall and everyone started to move. Her sheer confidence and determination was back as she gave another order, ¡°Everyone! Lineup properly and prepare to bid farewell to the king!¡± The whole royal guards formed rows and columns in a very orderly manner the moment she issued the order. Everyone was finally lineup in front of King Roa to give their farewells, ¡°Salute!¡± Everyone uniformly placed their right into their chest as their salute to King Roa, such a breathtaking performance by them if you were observing from the sidelines. Commander Hazelrink in front of the guards finally said, ¡°Farewell King Roa!¡± ¡°Farewell King Roa!!¡± Even without looking at each other, they all bid their farewells all at the same time as if they were linked by their minds. The awe-inspiring display of discipline and teamwork from them was surely a fitting performance for the old king. King Roa witnessed this show of respect from them and would be a shame not to say something. ¡°Impressive. With that kind of farewell, I can finally take my leave without any regrets so goodbye everyone. May we meet again.¡± King Roa finally stepped inside the limousine and closed it with his right hand. The armored vans started their engines in preparation to move and exit the gate. *whew* ¡°That was really tiring out there for my age. You better drive good Woss as you don¡¯t want to miss the celebration. It will be a shame if you can''t make it because you¡¯re too slow and I almost forgot, you can loosen up now and freely talk to me as there are no more people who will argue against you for your actions¡± ¡°Really?! If so then I¡¯m very grateful for the permission to speak now your majesty! I will make sure we will arrive there in no time! Just leave it to me.¡± ¡°Hahaha, Then I expect us to arrive safely to Borquier then Woss.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± The entire convoy started to move forward and the gates finally opened. With King Roa looking beyond the tinted bulletproof glass, the scenery of the royal guards saluting started to shift into buildings and trees until he could only see the small gates of the Gezire Sia Palace on the distance. With him finally, on his way to Borquier, King Roa finally loosen up from all the people looking at him. The king slouched in his exquisite seat and thought about something. (I should be relaxing here from that tiring act of being an awesome king back then until my grand plan is put into action but nope! I¡¯l kill some time with this disrespectful dumbass who kept mocking me earlier before I put him six feet under the ground.) A devilish smile cracked on his face, For Woss didn¡¯t know that it¡¯sone of the last things hewill ever see before King Roa kills him for his disrespectful behavior. Chapter 2: A Conversation In The Forest Stygia is a huge country located along the northeastern part of the world, with its northern up to eastern part of the land completely exposed to the sea. The modern cities comprising the whole country are highly urbanized and its technology is surely well developed and still progressing forward. Nature, on the other hand, is also well protected as abundant forest and lakes are cleaned and clear from pollution. This is the same scenario even on the country borders where the small city of Borquier is located. Surely, even the wildlife animals are having a great time living here but that¡¯s not the reason why forests and natures are being discussed. It¡¯s because there¡¯s a large number of armed mercenaries hiding in the forest waiting to assassinate someone. Among them is a scout wearing a mask who¡¯s currently observing the road for vehicles above the giant trees and said, ¡°Are sure that the old king¡¯s convoy will pass through here? Looking at my binoculars all day is tiring and boring. I even used a detection the whole day to gather crucial information.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you trained for that kind of task? Based on your resume, you are a trained scout so stop complaining and keep your focus on the scopes for information. A scout complaining about scouting is something I don¡¯t want to see.¡± ¡°Hey, no need for harsh words boss, I¡¯m Just being cautious here since Stygia is such a powerful enemy to clash with. This set up for ambush is just so easy that I¡¯m feeling something¡¯s not right here, As if they just left the door wide open for us to go in and rob everything inside the house while they wait in the dark to subdue us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because we have someone inside the house to open the door for us the moment everyone¡¯s asleep, In short, a spy within the old king¡¯s side that made our task easier and faster.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t say, boss? Of course, it¡¯s our good old spy that made everything like a walk in the park but you know boss, we must not blindly trust a spy.¡± ¡°Care to explain why?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m worried that the spy over there was already been busted and just feeding us false information to save his life while the Stygian military is preparing themselves to finish us here.¡± The skeptical scout has a point about being cautious. They are currently within the borders of the Stygian territory and they are waiting to ambush one of the most powerful individuals in the whole world. If they really got tricked by that spy then only death awaits them as no help will arrive just to rescue them. The mercenary boss is aware of this and as the leader of the pack, he needs to assure his member¡¯s morale and make sure they are in the right condition to fight. ¡°That will absolutely not happen I assure you. I swear on my pride as the mercenary boss.¡± ¡°I see you are really confident about this boss but it''s our lives on the line here so no offense but we need more than your pride to assure us here of success or maybe you know something that we people here don¡¯t? Care to share that information for some assurance boss?¡± ¡°There is no secret of anything, It¡¯s just like what I said, the spy just made everything easy.¡± ¡°Cmon boss, I believe there¡¯s more to that, we are assassinating some powerful person here and I believe this is not just your typical job.¡± He was right again. There must be a great power behind this if the target is the old king himself. The mercenary boss¡¯ confidence in the operation was a giveaway to the scout that he knows something that they don¡¯t. Ultimately, this big number of mercenaries just to ensure the kill of a single man was really suspicious. ¡°Damn this is rare, you are the only guy here to doubt this shady operation and asked me the necessary yet critical questions so I commend you for having a sharp sense right there lad. I will admit, you¡¯re right when you said I know something that you don¡¯t.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Heh, I knew it! It¡¯s because I¡¯m a scout, after all, sniffing through hidden things are my forte.¡± He was still on his binoculars while he was speaking to his boss, Such discipline could be observed from the scout as he chit-chats with the boss. Perhaps that sharp sense of him made his image better in the eyes of his boss up to the point he could trust him. ¡°Ho Ho Ho, Now that''s a scout I''m currently seeing and I want. I¡¯m not supposed to tell anyone about this but since you¡¯re nagging then I will tell you a secret.¡± ¡°Ohhh! I thought you will not say it and shrugged me off but I¡¯m wrong. Rest assured that no one except the two of us is here. I don¡¯t detect any people around or suspicious noise so reveal that secret of yours, boss.¡± ¡°Alright! Alright, just promise me that you stay quiet after this okay?!¡± ¡°How many times I will say it, boss? I will never tell anyone a thing. I also swear on my pride as a professional scout.¡± That promise and swear of pride from the scout might not be that valuable to others when weighing whether they will trust them over this secret information but the mercenary boss knew that this scout would just keep sniffing on his back, therefore, he made a decision to just tell that guy about the secret and be done with it. ¡°It¡¯s because this operation was both coordinated and carefully planned by a certain powerful individual from Stygia and its neighboring magic kingdom Egalor.¡± ¡°What?! Some guy from Stygia have a hand in this assassination attempt? I can understand Egalor pulling this stunt since those two are not on good terms but someone from Stygia trying to assassinate the old king during the ascension ceremony is just gonna create a disaster for the country.¡± ¡°You are correct there, this timing of assassination will surely give the most impact if it¡¯s done on the same day as the ascension ceremony of the new ruler jin but we are mercenaries. We don¡¯t ask for reasons and motives on why we need to execute this. We only do what we are tasked to do.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ to think someone this big is behind this. Now I can understand why we were hired for this job. It¡¯s because they mustn¡¯t provide any clear reason for Stygia to wage war against them. Though I¡¯m still curious about this secret person of Stygia giving us inside information. Why would he/she do it, boss?¡± ¡°I¡¯m also curious and now that I almost forgot, I¡¯m about to ask our employer about it but never had the courage to ask because I feel that it¡¯s too dangerous to get involved any deeper.¡± The mercenary boss remembered the meeting he had with his employer inside an abandoned house somewhere in Egalor kingdom, he was handed with a single letter with a magic seal. The employer never revealed his face and no talking happened either so no voice was heard too. Only written instructions were given to him and some pictures of the targets and strategic places. ¡°Damn boss, our employer must be a very ominous person for you not to ask some questions. I guess your mercenary experience and instinct save your life out there.¡± ¡°Hahaha, it really must be my survival instinct that ultimately saved me but if I¡¯m given a chance to give a reason to his/her actions, I guess he/she don¡¯t like the two factions and want to rule the country for his own agenda.¡± ¡°Now that¡¯s a convincing reason boss, perhaps you¡¯re might be even correct there. Why waste the opportunity if you have a chance of a lifetime to make the two factions fight over themselves while that you sneakily get to the throne and become the hero. Not bad at all.¡± ¡°Enough chit-chat. Are you focusing on your job scout? We¡¯ve been talking here for some time now and I hope you didn¡¯t miss anything because you lost focus.¡± ¡°Relax boss, everything¡¯s fine and I got this. No one will escape my surveillance. I suggest you rest for a moment since I¡¯m in a really good mood to scout after I heard everything from you, boss.¡± ¡°Okay then, just call me here if you find something.¡± ¡°Gotcha.¡± The mercenary boss started to lean on one of the huge trees near him to temporarily relax after he discussed the secret information to the scout. Now, the scout finally figured it out why the boss is really confident on this operation, having a big backer such as the Egalor kingdom and a certain someone from Stygia would really give you the assurance of success. Although the scout still had some question in mind before had a chance, he saw something far away. ¡°Boss! I see the convoy approaching a few kilometers away. Multiple armored vans are escorting a jet black limousine located at the middle part of the line. I will go now and move now to my designated battle position.¡± ¡°Understood, I will inform everyone to get ready and stay alert.¡± He brought out his communication device and started to inform everyone. ¡°Everyone go to your battle positions. I repeat once more, Everyone please go to your battle positions. The target has been spotted and will go through this point after around¡­¡± ¡°Twenty minutes boss.¡± ¡°Alright, twenty minutes. Prepare for the operation and make sure this goes without a hitch.¡± ¡°Yes, boss!¡± Multiple responses were heard after the mercenary boss gave out the order. You would expect that rustling of leaves or breaking of twigs on the ground would be heard all around the forest but not a single noise was made. These are not your typical hired muscles that you can get anywhere. These people are professional assassins. Chapter 3: The Grand Plan Commence While all of these mercenaries prepare for their most awaited moment to ambush and kill the old king, The convoy was unaware of their impending doom and just drive along the roads while heavily guarding the old king inside the limousine. Their defense and firepower is no joke, with those numbers. they could absolutely fend off an ambush if done correctly. So how on earth will those mercenaries actually pull this off? Only they know the answer to that and a certain someone inside the limousine. ¡°Woss, Can I ask a favor?¡± ¡°What is it, your majesty? Shall I speed up so we can reach Borquier faster?¡± ¡°No, No Woss what I¡¯m gonna ask you is the opposite, slow down for a brief moment until we pass that forest. I¡¯ve been in the capital for too long and barely seen the forest here at the outskirts. I just want to appreciate the beauty of nature if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Well.. we can slow down your majesty but if we do that, It will take longer for us to reach Borquier city and by slowing down we might become susceptible to enemy attacks.¡± Woss responded with a valid counter to the king¡¯s wish while keeping an eye on the road. It¡¯s an out of the blue request from the king so Woss is against it but not due to the reason he stated earlier but for other reasons that he couldn¡¯t say in front of him. The king already knew this because of Woss kept disrespecting earlier. ¡°That¡¯s a good excuse Woss if you said that to others but not to me. Don¡¯t treat me like fool Woss, I know you have other reasons why you don¡¯t want to slow down.¡± ¡°Y-You¡¯re right there your majesty. I don¡¯t mean to fool you or anything but saying my personal reasons is not an appropriate reason to counter your wish. Your words bear so much power that a mere personal reason of mine will appear as a disrespect to you.¡± ¡°Interesting, you really look different earlier when you keep flaunting that casual attire of yours in front of my old face. I was expecting you to say that you¡¯re gonna be late in the ascension celebration or something WOSS.¡± A slight jerk in the movements of the limousine happened after King Roa said those words. Woss suddenly became nervous for a second that he lost focus on his driving but immediately gain control of the steering wheel. Woss knew it, King Roa never forgave him for his mocking attitude earlier and was trapped inside with him. The military escorts noticed this and inquired what happened via radio. ¡°Is there a problem over there your majesty? Shall we stop for the moment?¡± ¡°No need to stop or anything soldier, just move along and drive if you please, no scratch that off. Will the escort slow down for a moment until we pass through the forest? I just want to see the scenery.¡± ¡°Affirmative, your majesty. We shall slow down for a moment. If anything happens please contact immediately.¡± The soldiers didn¡¯t have any choice but to follow as the orders made by the king were absolute. After he heard the soldier¡¯s response, King Roa turned off the radio beside him then slouched again from his sea as the inside space of the limousine was quite large that it could hold a party inside it. *Chuckles* ¡°Woss relax, I¡¯m not gonna kill you or anything just slow down for a while and enjoy the drive.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that for you, your majesty. I will slow down now even if it means I¡¯ll be late for the celebration.¡± ¡°Nice, Thank you for hearing my request.¡± (Sorry but that¡¯s a lie Woss, I will definitely kill you here for your arrogance earlier. But still... I wonder why did he pull that attitude before? Is it because I looked weak to him? Well, that doesn¡¯t matter now why did he do it, You invoke my wrath and you will pay for it soon as my grand plan commences.) The entire convoy started to slow down after the old king¡¯s request. Each armored van matched the pace of each other until it became the same speed. You could compare the entire convoy¡¯s movement to a tour where the tourists are enjoying the scenery. (At this speed, it will take about twenty minutes until my grand plan starts, Let¡¯s see¡­ lemme talk about the beauty of nature for a change.) ¡°At last some good nature to watch upon on before I finally rest peacefully in Borquier.¡± ¡°You will absolutely love the nature here in our country your majesty, it¡¯s really blooming and properly cultivated, I¡¯m amazed that even with modernization you manage to maintain the healthy status of wildlife. Truly magnificent¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Enough with the flattery, That won¡¯t work on me anymore. I heard so many praises in the past that I became numb to it.¡± ¡°N-no your majesty. I¡¯m not saying this just to get to your good side or boost my image on you. All of I had said was true!¡± ¡°If you say so. Oh and don¡¯t worry Woss, If you¡¯re running late to the party then I will just teleport you there.¡± ¡°Ah?!!¡± Woss¡¯ mind froze for a moment after he heard the word. Naturally, in a world where magic or as they call it exists today, things like teleportation and other dimension manipulation spells are widely used worldwide but that is not the case here. Of course, a normal mage can invoke a teleportation spell in he/she wishes to but the main problem here is the stability and accuracy of the spell. Magical disasters like being transported below the land or body being torn apart during the process is a common occurrence when doing the teleportation magic. There are just a few mages who can safely and accurately transport people around the world and King Roa is one of them. ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised now Woss, you know that I¡¯m capable of using it right? That¡¯s one of the reasons why Stygia became a very powerful country.¡± ¡°Y-yes your majesty but¡­¡± ¡°But what?¡± ¡°But there¡¯s a limit on how many times you can use it right?¡± ¡°Yeah, about 3 times a day but I can push it beyond the limits if I want to but my mechanical left arm will start to overheat and burn out.¡± A limit of 3 uses. King Roa¡¯s dimension has a very few numbers of uses and yet he¡¯s willing to help Woss to get in the ascension celebration in time. This was the reason why Woss¡¯ sudden shocked reaction. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m worthy of the King¡¯s grace, therefore, I must...¡± ¡°Stop. Don¡¯t too think much about complex things and just accept it Woss. I¡¯ll be embarrassed if you decline my offer in front of many people out there at Borquier.¡± *sigh* ¡°I humbly give up, your majesty, I will accept your help if I think I¡¯ll be late for the celebration. Let¡¯s just hope that we don¡¯t come to that point.¡± (You damn sly king, using the people to force what you want to me. Hell knows if you will throw me in the middle of nowhere.) What he¡¯s thinking right now is possible, since he felt that the old king will surely do something to him as a payback to what he did earlier but what he didn¡¯t know was King Roa already gave him a death sentence and he¡¯s just a few minutes away from it. ¡°A wise decision, It¡¯s a given that you must take advantage of any help and opportunity that comes to your way.¡± ¡°Such a practical advice you have there, your majesty, Than you for that and rest assured that I will keep it in my mind. ¡± ¡°Your welcome Woss.¡± ¡°By the way your majesty, how¡¯s the scenery here? Is it to your liking?¡± ¡°Absolutely! Just seeing the marvel of nature even looking beyond the tinted glass is magnificent.¡± ¡°Indeed your majesty, as if these forests are untouched by humans.¡± Both of them seeing this marvel from the cliff as they drive through the mountain road. At that moment, King Roa thought of something interesting. ¡°You know Woss, this might be out of the blue but I just got a great idea from just watching this entire scenery!¡± ¡°An idea?¡± ¡°Yeah, A very good one I say.¡± ¡°Stop putting me on the edge of my seat here your majesty, I¡¯m dying of curiosity on what it is.¡± ¡°It¡¯s about writing a novel.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Novel! Writing a story for people to read Woss.¡± ¡°Errr..¡± He was just speechless. He didn¡¯t expect that from King Roa as he was anticipating something like him going back to the palace to do some outrageous actions but he was dumbfounded by the idea of simply writing a novel. He gripped the steering wheel once more and focus driving. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Didn¡¯t like the idea?¡± ¡°NO NO NO! Not at all, I just didn¡¯t expect that one I based it from my impression of you, your majesty.¡± ¡°Ohhh, an Interesting impression of me you got there Woss. I¡¯ll take that as a compliment.¡± ¡°Going back to the topic, What will be the content of your story? Your life or something?¡± ¡°Yes Woss, It will be my life story. I will tell the entire world about how I will single-handedly destroy it.¡± ¡°What did you say?!¡± This time it¡¯s an outrageous statement that the king blurted out. This time, he is not curious but concerned. He felt a chill ran down to his spine after he heard that statement. ¡°You deaf Woss? I just said it¡¯s my story of how I will destroy the world.¡± ¡°I hope you''re joking your majesty because if people heard you speaking like that, it will surely damage your image.¡± ¡°Sadly I¡¯m not joking and I already choose the part where you displayed your arrogant attitude earlier as my prologue to my story.¡± King Roa¡¯s tone had changed. It¡¯s no longer had that nice tone but each word he said contained a deadly chill that made Woss couldn¡¯t move an inch. ¡°W-wait your majesty, you should really calm down and think properly.¡± ¡°Huh? I¡¯m calm Woss. Stop interrupting me and let me continue from where I left from, oh right, after the prologue, we went to the Borquier city but then we got ambushed by unknown assailants and-¡± ¡°Stop joking around!! this is not funny anymore. If you don¡¯t stop then I will inform the military of what you said.¡± ¡°For god¡¯s sake stop interrupting me and listen!¡± Woss suddenly choke after he heard the oppressive voice of the king. A very suffocating aura drowned Woss up to the point he forgot to breathe. He¡¯s gonna die if he doesn¡¯t do something, as he grasped his neck looking for air, he looked to the old king and suddenly the suffocating feeling disappeared. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for that Woss, but the next time you interrupt me I¡¯m gonna choke you to death¡± ¡°Kughh¡­¡± ¡°Alright, where did I stop?? Oh right, then my grand plan will finally commence.¡± ¡°What plan?!!¡± ¡°My plan of faking my death while all of you here die for real to make things realistic and not suspicious. Mind-blowing isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯re insane!! I¡¯m stopping the convoy-¡± *Boom* He couldn¡¯t finish his sentence as multiple explosions were heard from all sides. Torrents of gunshots were fired and painful screams could be heard just outside the limousine. Everything that King Roa said earlier came true and Woss¡¯ panicking on what he needs to do to escape this deadly event. ¡°Hahaha. Sorry about this Woss but there¡¯s no way out and it¡¯s time for you to die.¡± Chapter 4: Chaotic Ambush ¡°No way! I can¡¯t just die here!¡± *Smash* The sound of breaking glass and metal hitting the ground was heard from the limousine. It was from the door beside Woss was sent crashing to the ground with his punch enhanced with a spell then he wasted no time there and started running in the middle of the chaos. The old king just casually watched his great escaped while slouching in his seat. ¡°Run all you want Woss, I will still find and crush you like a damn bug you are then put you inside a coffin.¡± After the swift escape of Woss, King Roa also did the same, he blasted the other door beside him with only his fist. He slowly stepped outside of the car to see what was currently happening. He looked around the area and saw a lot of dead bodies rained with bullets on the ground. ¡°Not bad, these mercenaries are sure experienced when it comes to this kind of thing. With me rigging some of those armored vans with bombs before escorting me surely helped them with the ambush.¡± This explained why the armored vans suddenly exploded upon the start of the ambush. The king really planned this ambush himself and trying to fake his death to disappear from the face of everyone. Those poor soldiers being sacrifice just for the sake of making his death look genuine is just too cruel for a king to do. ¡°Your majesty! You need to get away from here! We can¡¯t establish communication through radio as signals are jammed. They even managed to set a barrier to let no one out.¡± ¡°Woah! Did you hear what was I saying before?¡± ¡°No your majesty, what was it?¡± ¡°Oh right¡­ I was telling you guys to regroup as the enemies managed to breach our defense, we need to form a barricade with the remaining soldiers to bolster our forces.¡± ¡°Affirmative! Are there any other orders your majesty? ¡°No, there is nothing left for me to say, go now and help the others.¡± ¡°Understood, I apologize for not hearing you earlier, your majesty. We will quickly regroup and re-strategize! So please escape now as we will hold the line here.¡± ¡°Right.¡± (Whew¡­ Another lie for you soldier, damn I will get rich for every lie I said for my whole life. Now then where is Woss? I need to finish him off myself.) At that moment, In the midst of continuous gunfires and explosions from each side, A single bullet aimed at the King¡¯s head was traversing through the blood-soaked battlefield and about to hit him but... *Clang* ¡°Not too shabby but at the same time, that¡¯s not nice you know, I¡¯m still thinking where Woss ran off and need to have a nice talk with him. I¡¯ll deal with you guys later but for now, I need to find that guy.¡± He raised his mechanical left arm to deflect the incoming bullet. No one knows how he did it but definitely, he has something that detected the bullet as it came from his blindspot. Perhaps Sixth sense, or [Soul Arts]? Whatever it was, he was just proving them why he was the ruler of Stygia for a whole damn 108 years. Another soldier approached him and said,Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Your majesty, this place is no longer safe please escape now before we are surrounded.¡± ¡°Your right, don¡¯t worry I can take care of myself. I¡¯m already leaving right now so please stay on guard for any attacks from the rear.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Amidst this, the fierce battle between the two sides as explosions intensified. Almost all of the armored vans were now burned down to ashes along with those dead bodies. ¡°Aaaarrghhh¡± ¡°Die!!!¡± ¡°Over here help us¡± More screams pleading for help and cursing their enemies continue to echo all around the battlefield, Obviously, the military was losing this fight but they couldn¡¯t retreat as long as King Roa was not safe but they didn¡¯t know, The king has no intention of surviving at all via fake death. ¡°Hey you there, did you saw where Woss ran off?¡± ¡°Sir Woss? I believed he ran southwest from here into the woods.¡± ¡°Southwest woods? Got it I will head to that direction too and run.¡± ¡°Very well, We will hold the line here to make sure you will escape safely. It¡¯s an honor for me to give up my life serving you until the end your majesty! I will fight with everything I got.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really grateful for that and I will never forget what you soldiers bravely have done here. I will make sure your deeds will be known to the whole country but never lose hope, fight and survive. This is an absolute order from me so don¡¯t die so easily!¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty!¡± (Man¡­ This is just sad when you know they are bound to die and yet you keep lying to them to protect me. All of their efforts and life sacrifices will be in vain because I really plan to disappear from Stygia. I just hope the new ruler will compensate to families of these soldiers properly but enough of that, time to get serious.) King Roa¡¯s eyes started to shine and the aura surrounding him also started to distort. The soldiers around him know what this means and moved back while they fend off the enemy attacks. The enemies also noticed this and became more cautious. *Inhale* *Exhale* ¡°After all of this mess, I¡¯m gonna go on a grand journey just to flirt with women all around the world and maybe, I¡¯ll also pay a visit to that stupid goddess too.¡± A very fancy idea coming from the king even in the middle of bloody chaos. He even said about meeting a goddess since finding a Godkin these days is really rare as they almost driven to extinction last 1000 years ago. Nevertheless, King Roa started his preparation for battle. He removed his upper clothes only leaving his tank top and his necklace. You would expect a scrawny old body from him since he¡¯s very old but that¡¯s not the case here. His entire body maintained a fairly muscled build with multiple scars around his body then he used a very different kind of technique. ¡°[Internal Soul Arts - Body Manipulation].¡± This technique is very different from as it utilizes your [soul] instead of a foreign energy called but for now, let¡¯s focus on this technique. This technique allows you to control how your muscles and other parts of your body behave. Be it your looks or the functions of your body. In King Roa¡¯s case, it¡¯s his looks that slowly changed. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯m in my original form. Heck, I even matched my body¡¯s capabilities to my looks to be an old man who looked weak. Now I can move better and faster.¡± Steam came out of his body. His face was slowly turned younger as those wrinkles disappeared. His ash gray hair remained but this time, A very fresh King Roa appeared, with no beard and just smooth skin. After his transformation, He looked into the southwest to look for his prey and kill him. ¡°There you are. It¡¯s hunting time!¡± *step* The young king made a giant leap with a single step into the woods without any kind of effort. Soldiers around him saw this and intensify their defense against the enemy forces. Now, the entire battlefield is nearing its climax and nobody knows what will happen next except for one thing, and that¡¯s the death toll will just keep rising up. Chapter 5: The Fall of Soldiers ¡°Hyaaa!¡± *stab* ¡°Kugghh!¡± A certain mercenary boss managed to deal a death blow to one of the soldiers in the chest with his enchanted sword. He didn¡¯t even give the soldier a chance to fire his trusty assault rifle as he swiftly dashed his way in front of the soldier. After finishing off the soldier, he pulled off his sword from the chest of the dead soldier and cleaned it by wiping it. *swish* ¡°...and that¡¯s the tenth body I got there, it seems that the military side here finally got obliterated by me and my men. Wonder about the others...¡± ¡°There you are, boss!¡± ¡°Oh, lad! How¡¯s your side there?¡± ¡°We are also done over here and finished all the military scums. I swear this is one of the easiest jobs we accepted for a while now. That spy¡¯s information sure is the real deal huh...¡± ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right there lad, that spy really made our job way easier than we expected. Providing us with a signal jammer and rigging some of the escorts with bombs, Sure, I¡¯d like that guy to be in our group if an opportunity comes.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget that spy of ours even gave us specialized communication device to be not affected by the signal jamming.¡± The whole mercenary group was fully equipped when they commence the ambush. They have the signal jammer that specifically jammed their signal waves. Unlike traditional communication device, those things were powered by , therefore, they use specific waves made by magic spells to make it harder for enemies to intercept. There lies its weakness, A person who knows how those waves work can render them useless. In short, The spy knows everything from the military and used it against them. (That spy surely knows military secrets of Stygia but simply giving random mercenary this technology can be very dangerous if it falls to their enemy. Just what is that guy thinking? Or maybe...) ¡°Boss? What¡¯s the problem? You seemed troubled there?¡± ¡°Nothing lad, Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Ok boss, We should be going-¡± *Bang* ¡°Arrghh!!¡± A bullet pierced the young lad¡¯s back as he kneeled to the ground bleeding. He crawled to a nearby damaged armored van and gasped for breath as he tries to tend his own wound with some first aid. The bullet pierced through his lower lung and if he does nothing, he will die. The mercenary boss saw this and quickly rushed to his aid. ¡°Lad!!¡± ¡°Noo¡­ Boss¡­ watch out¡­¡± *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* ¡°Tsk!!¡± Multiple bullets rained on his exact location, He quickly covered himself behind the trees and regroup to see where they were attacking from. Remnants of the military forces also hid behind the woods as and took advantage of the forest cover and prepare to strike back.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Pesky soldiers! Using the same tactic as ours. I need to do something quick or else that lad will die.¡± The barrages still continue and he couldn¡¯t engage the soldiers without sustaining any wounds. He looked around his surroundings to see what he could use against them and an idea came to his mind after he saw the trees around him. He quickly brought out his communicator and said, ¡°Everyone! Use and burn those trees where the soldiers and hiding from, Scout! Can you hear me?¡± ¡°Loud and clear boss! What should I do?¡± ¡°You scouted those bastards locations right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I already plotted their coordinates and their remaining numbers.¡± ¡°Good one scout, how many are left from their side?¡± ¡°Around 18 of them and they scattered into three groups, northwest, west and southwest of the forest.¡± ¡°Hmmm so near the cliff¡­¡± The battlefield consists of a huge forest just beside a mountain. This forest is divided into two parts because of the road that the convoy traversing from. The mercenary side was located on the eastern part of the forest inclined to the mountains while the military was positioned on the western side with a declining slope. The mercenaries have the high ground but if the military stall for time, their target might escape therefore they need to do something fast. ¡°And I have some bad news for you, boss. This just happened now.¡± ¡°What is it, scout?¡± ¡°Well¡­ The old king transforms into a young man and started to run southwest from here.¡± ¡°Did you say, transfrom scout?¡± ¡°Yeah, boss and there¡¯s no indication of any disruption of the flow from his surroundings so I can¡¯t say what did he just did there.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Then I shall force my way into the southwest and kill our target. Everyone focus your spells on southwest! Don¡¯t forget to use to contain the smokes and use it against them to save a lad bleeding over here.¡± ¡°Got it, boss!¡± ¡°Then Let¡¯s go! Our target might be contained in the barrier we set up before but it¡¯s only a matter of time til he breaks through it¡± The moment he gave them the go signal, multiple fireballs flew from the forest towards the sky and ultimately hitting the southwest part of the forest. Wildfire and smokes quickly spread throughout the target area and at the same bullets showered the soldiers. ¡°Alright! The fire starting to spread fast, Time to go! ! ¡° By consuming the mana in his surroundings, The mercenary boss started to get envelop with gentle wind and begun to act as his shield from any outside attacks. Now he has the ability to deflect bullets by simply commanding the wind to change the trajectory of the said attack. *Swoosh* He courageously leaped with a strong burst of wind behind his feet into enemy territory and saw them panicking from the spreading wildfire. *Cough* *Cough* ¡°Those scums really burned the forest, without any form of communication with others, it will be hard to regr-¡± ¡°Hyaahh!¡± *Slash* ¡°Wha-¡± *Stab* ¡°Kughh¡­ You how?? I didn¡¯t saw you anywhere...¡± ¡°Ha! You should know how to use the smokes stupid soldier since they are really useful in staging a sneak attack.¡± ¡°You bastard¡­ I won¡¯t let you¡­¡± Before he even manages to complete his sentence, The boss pulled again his trusty sword from the soldier¡¯s abdomen and ultimate delivers the death blow. ¡°Hya!¡± *Swish* The sword gracefully swung towards the soldier¡¯s neck and sliced it clean. The body dropped lifelessly and just spilling its blood to the ground with its head rolling near a tree. Another soldier saw this and out of fear he sprayed bullets towards the mercenary boss. ¡°AAGGGHHHH!!!¡± *Snickers* ¡°Sorry boy but that will not hit me at all.¡± *Clang* *Clang* ¡°If you only maintained composure then you might pose more challenge against me but time to end this¡± ¡°Stay away! Nooooo!¡± *Slash* The same thing happened, he dodged the bullets primarily with the help of the smokes and with his wind spell redirecting some of the bullets to other direction.while mutilating the military soldiers to death. This continued until all the soldiers were finally killed, ¡°Whew¡­ I think this is the last of them. I need to speed up now before that king escapes.¡± Before he continued moving a voice came out of his communication device. ¡°Hey boss! You done over there? ¡°Oh its you scout, yeah I¡¯m done here. How about there?¡± ¡°Just only a few left on the northwestern part but we are almost done here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. Then tell the others who are near my position to follow me since I will now go and finish the fleeing king.¡± ¡°Yes, boss. Be careful there, that guy might have something hidden on his sleeves.¡± ¡°I will scout don¡¯t worry.¡± This signals the end of the battle as the military side was completely obliterated. This only leaves the king and Woss alive. Now, all the mercenaries are converging into one location and end their operation. ¡°It¡¯s time to end this operation.¡± Chapter 6: The Fool Versus The King The whole mercenary force started to converge on the southwest woods as they set up a perimeter around it so no one can escape. The only part that they didn¡¯t cover was the cliff as it¡¯s a dead end for those who want to run away, not to mention, the ambushers even set up a barrier to prevent anyone going in or out of the area. The only way to destroy it was to kill the caster maintaining it. Within this barrier, a certain man was stuck inside it and trying to find a way to bypass this roadblock as soon as possible. He was tired and his casual clothes were dirtied by the ground dirt. ¡°What the hell? There¡¯s a fire in the forest now and this barrier just won¡¯t budge at all!¡± The invisible barrier indeed prevented him from further running away. He kicked the ground out of frustration and keep on using his communication device in a chance of someone picking up his call. ¡°C¡¯mon!!! Anyone answer! I don¡¯t want to die here helplessly and be forgotten. I still have my grand ambition, I still need to become the ruler of Stygia and conquer the whole damn world!!¡± Out of his continuous frustration of being unable to do anything in this situation, he brought out a dark sharp knife that emits magical energy. The enchanted knife has an intricate design and looked more of an ornament made to be displayed rather than a weapon. ¡°I just hope my Shadow Edge do something here like at least denting the damn barrier. I just can¡¯t afford to be caught by any of those ambushers or that insane bastard who planned all of this bloodfest.¡± That sharp knife is called Shadow Edge. It¡¯s a that possess magical attributes and abilities. These so-called was made from magical ores that have been cultivated with mana and rare materials extracted from magical beasts. Woss stabbed this magical knife directly into the barrier in hope of breaking it and finally escape. *Clang* The Shadow Edge started to pierce through the barrier and sparks starting to appear but in the end, the barrier ultimately prevails and pushed back the poor guy to the muddy ground. *bam* ¡°Goddamnit! Why the hell it¡¯s me who got stuck in this godforsaken situation! If I only refused that assignment of being a driver then I wouldn¡¯t be in this screwed situation. Woss immediately got up to his feet while voicing his frustrations and regrets with no one hearing him except the trees surrounding him and maybe... ¡°Woss.¡± ¡°Oh please no¡­¡± It¡¯s the voice he wanted to hear the least. A portal just appeared near him and a man slowly appeared from it. His iconic mechanical left arm and necklace immediately gave away his identity. That¡¯s right, it¡¯s King Roa. ¡°Hey, ther-¡± Before he finished his greetings, multiple knives flew towards him from Woss. He didn¡¯t even give the king some time and started to widen the distance between them. *Clang* *Clang* ¡°This is the second time you interrupted me you disrespectful mutt. Struggle and you want, you will not break that break as ten mages are maintaining that so no one can escape alive.¡± ¡°Tsk!¡± The young king just non chalantly deflected all the knives with his left arm as he tried to look for Woss who already hidden behind the trees and waiting for some opportunity to strike back. ¡°So are we playing hide and seek now you damn bug?¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Shut it you insane king! How the hell you know the numbers of the mages maintaining it?¡± ¡°Wow! You are really not paying attention to what I¡¯m saying huh? I said, I planned all of this so I know exactly how those mercenaries will move and how many they are.¡± ¡°Well screw you and your grand fake death plan! Why the hell you even brought me here? What did I do to deserve this?¡± (This man is really arrogant but I will make sure that he will pay for it and finally die here for sure.) ¡°You want to know? The answer to that is simple, you pissed me off.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°No response? Don¡¯t tell me you ran away again?¡± ¡°Heh.¡± ¡°Did you just laugh on me? Now you really got my attention, I will drag you out and finish you off!¡± King Roa started to dash off towards a certain tree and immediately smash it. The large trunk fell down together with its branches and dust scattered everywhere. ¡°You think I can¡¯t detect where your voice was coming from? Your girly moans gave me your location. Your luck has run out, time for you t-¡± The dust started to settle down, broken branches and cracked rocks were only the things that King Roa saw. ¡°What?! Where are you Woss?¡± No any signs of Woss as he just disappeared into thin air. King Roa immediately looked around in his surroundings to see if there are any traces of him. ¡°Hmm?! Is this a military radio? and It¡¯s currently playing a recording.¡± ¡°Heh.¡± ¡°Heh.¡± ¡°You bastard!! You recorded that question earlier too, I¡¯m gonna mak-¡± He immediately cut off what he was saying when he saw something attached to the military recorder. ¡°FLASHBANG!!¡± *Shing* King Roa was late to react against the hidden flashbang and was consumed by a blinding light that rendered him blind and deaf for a brief moment of time. ¡°Argghh! Crap I can¡¯t see a thing!¡± A window of opportunity. Woss wasted no time and started his counterattacks against King Roa as he was currently defenseless against any attacks. ¡°Shadow Edge!¡± With the help of the blinding light from the flashbang, the young king¡¯s shadow stretched so far that Woss manage to touch it to finally activate the magical knife¡¯s effect. ¡°Hyaaa!!¡± He instantly appeared behind King Roa after he touched his shadow. This is one of the abilities of Shadow Edge as it can easily transport its user directly to the owner of the shadow its touches. King Roa felt that someone was behind him and immediately moved his body. ¡°I can¡¯t move?!¡± ¡°This is the end for you, your majesty. With that knife stabbing your shadow, You¡¯re pinned on your spot and cannot move.¡± This is the other ability of that knife, Woss immediately stabbed his shadow upon getting near him to finally render the king unable to fight. ¡°What a damn elaborate plan you got there, I¡¯m really amazed by your execution. My vision is back already and if I get out of this bind you did, you¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still arrogant even you¡¯re about to die here you bastard.¡± ¡°You chat so much! Just finish me if can you fool!¡± ¡°No need for you to say that!!¡± He brought out another knife from his back and quickly thrust it into the king¡¯s neck for an instant kill but at that moment, ¡°Not this time Woss!!¡± At that instant, A small dimension hole appeared blocking the knife¡¯s trajectory. ¡°Oh damn!!¡± The knife that was approaching the king¡¯s neck has suddenly appeared below Woss¡¯ neck. ¡°I need to dodge!¡± Woss immediately stopped his arm from swinging towards his neck to avoid danger but then he remembered something grim. ¡°Hahahaha!! Say goodbye to your right arm Woss!!¡± ¡°ROA NOOO!! STOP!!!!!¡± The dimension hole suddenly closed while his arm was still inside it. This instantly cuts his arm as he was too late to pull his arm off the dimension hole. ¡°ARRRGGHHH!!! MY RIGHT ARM!!¡± ¡°Man, you really sound like a pussy there, It seems that¡¯s gotta hurt a lot there Woss!¡± A torrent of blood instantly gushed out from his right shoulder as he curled in excruciating pain as he tries to crawl away from King Roa. ¡°You.. monster!!¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, I know that. I guess it¡¯s time from me to end this.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still stuck right there, How are you ex-¡± *cough* *cough* ¡°...exactly gonna end this Roa?¡± ¡°How? By this using this of course, . ¡° That is the name of the very complex that King Roa uses. His body instantly disappeared from the spot and appeared near the knife that binds his shadow. *Pluck* ¡°Time to end this Woss, I already used up all my spells just to kill you, so stay there and die peacefully.¡± He walked towards the struggling Woss as he held the knife to finally put an end to this battle and proceed to the final stage of his plan. ¡°Kughh... Stay away...¡± ¡°Goodbye Wossenheim Lond.¡± He swiftly swung the sharp knife towards Woss¡¯ neck who was crawling from the ground but then, *clang* ¡°Oh?¡± A sword appeared in front of Woss and stopped the deadly knife from reaching him. King Roa stepped back quickly as he looked into the intruder¡¯s face. ¡°You finally arrived huh...¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening here but as my target, I¡¯m here to kill you, King Roa.¡± It¡¯s the mercenary boss who finally arrived to finish the operation he started. He looked into the king¡¯s eyes and went into his battle position ¡°So it¡¯s your turn now. Bring it on mercenary!¡± Chapter 7: True Reason The two men started to measure their distance between each other, the mercenary boss continuously looked for any openings to attack but King Roa didn¡¯t show any. The silence dragged on and the wildfire slowly creeping its way here. Ran out of patience, the made the first move. ¡°I surrender.¡± ¡°Huh? What did you just said?¡± ¡°I said I surrender, Kill me now and end this.¡± ¡°...¡± The mercenary boss was cautious, he didn¡¯t know if the king was playing mind games on him or just realized that it''s futile to resist but this move didn¡¯t make him drop his guard at all. ¡°Why? You¡¯re just on full battle mode earlier, the bloodlust you emitted was the real deal and you easily give up? Something doesn¡¯t add up.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because the guy who pissed me off earlier is going to die anyway due to bleeding.¡± ¡°Bleeding?¡± ¡°Yeah, I cut his arm right there if you don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°...and the reason why you tried to kill this man is because you¡¯re simply pissed on him?¡± ¡°Yeah, simple as that mercenary boss.¡± King Roa looked into Woss who was currently in a perilous state, He tried to apply first aid to his right shoulder but if no professional medical attention was done to him, He would die due to infections and bleeding. ¡°Then, What if I saved this lad, King Roa?¡± ¡°Ehhhh??¡± ¡°This man seemed to hold valuable information if you¡¯re trying to kill him, Maybe you¡¯re afraid that he might leak some very important secrets right? The mercenary boss was a very sharp guy, maybe due to his experience in the underground business that he has this kind of critical thinking but the young king immediately answered him, ¡°You might be right there but I could also just teleported him outside of the battlefield right?.¡± ¡°Perhaps but that¡¯s also the reason why we built up this barrier, your is very convenient spell if left alone so it functions as a blocker of sorts.¡± ¡°Tsk! So you know about my about my tricks.¡± (Of Course, since I¡¯m the one who provided them this barrier to prevent anyone from going anywhere but also me from teleporting. To think it will backfire on me in such a way¡­) Things started to get complicated after that mercenary protected the dying Woss from the king¡¯s wrath. The mercenary boss reaffirms his battle stance and prepares to strike anytime, this started to annoy King Roa, therefore, it¡¯s time for him to act. ¡°Then I can¡¯t just die yet, I will make this fast as possible and kill you Woss before other pesky people comes here and interfere.¡± ¡°Like hell that I will let you, King Roa!¡± ¡°Then bring it you mercenary!¡± ¡°Then you will die here as my target!¡± Clenching the Shadow Edge in his right hand, he immediately dashed towards the mercenary boss. His speed was definitely way faster than a normal person and would be very difficult to follow with normal eyes but the mercenary boss just charged head on too. *Clash!* ¡°Hrrghh!¡± ¡°heh!¡± The two metallic weapons clashed head-on with each other the moment the two men swung it against each other, the ground also started to crack as the aura of the two was too intense. ¡°Not bad! If it¡¯s a normal person, then I already slashed him into two. Time to speed up!¡± ¡°You really are arrogant.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. (But damn, this king¡¯s raw power is too powerful and he just said that he¡¯s getting faster. I already activated my wind spell and yet he¡¯s just charging against it¡­) *slash* *slash* *clang!* After the initial clash between the two, multiple exchanges of slashes were made in just a short period of time. The mercenary boss was put in a disadvantage after the initial clash as King Roa speeds up once more. ¡°Tsk!! *Blast* ¡°!!!¡± Multiple bright sparks flew forward from the mercenary boss¡¯ plain sword as he swung it upward that quickly turns into deadly flames that chased the king. ¡°Not good!¡± *step* *step *step* King Roa hastily back step into a safe area as those deadly flames would surely burn him alive. The area where the flames went through was totally turned into ashes as the distance between the two widened again. ¡°Clever bastard, using a simple flame spell to be amplified by your active wind barrier. Shame it doesn¡¯t catch me.¡± ¡°Give up already! My men are coming here to finish you off.¡± ¡°Not a chance.¡± The king started to dash forward again like what he did the last time, the only difference this time was it was faster and the mercenary boss put up a defensive stance to block the incoming attacks. *snicker* (What is that king smiling about?) At that instant, the king side step to his right. His target was not him but a man who was on his last legs. ¡°Lad watch out!¡± *swish* The mercenary boss quickly commanded the winds to carry him to protect the defenseless Woss but the king was faster as he threw his knife at Woss¡¯ chest. ¡°I won¡¯t let you!¡± ¡°You¡¯re too late mercenary!¡± *clang* The knife that was surely gonna hit Woss was suddenly deflected to the ground by the unexpected plain sword that blocked it. ¡°Whew¡­ I thought it will not get there in time.¡± The plain sword was floating in midair. He commanded the winds to carry the sword and accelerated it to beat the knife. That was another clever move by him but against the dangerous king, it was a foolish move to leave yourself unarmed. ¡°You left yourself defenseless, mercenary. That was a very stupid move especially from you who thinks wisely, your target is me so don¡¯t focus on saving other morons.¡± ¡°When di-¡± *punch* ¡°Kugghh!!¡± *Crack* The king¡¯s speed is no joke, he covered the distance between him and the mercenary in just a blink of an eye. A punch from the king landed cleanly on his left ribs that cracking sounds could be heard. *swish* ¡°Tsk!¡± The mercenary boss withstood his ground against King Roa as he immediately called back his sword to him. King Roa once again step backed to avoid the flying sword but this time he was smiling. (He¡¯s smiling again? Wha-) He noticed it. The reason why he was smiling like he won the fight. It¡¯s because he couldn¡¯t move an inch from his spot. His movements were now sealed and he¡¯s out of the fight. ¡°Shadow Edge surely is convenient when used wisely.¡± ¡°W-when did you stabbed my shadow?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? It¡¯s when I landed a punch to you earlier.¡± ¡°Impossible! I saw you threw that magical knife towards Woss.¡± ¡°Who said it was that magical knife I threw to that moron?¡± ¡°What? Are you saying that it was another knife?¡± ¡°Yeah. Alright, I will show you the magician¡¯s trick.¡± ¡°argh.¡± King Roa stretched his mechanical left arm and something came out from his wrist. ¡°Ta-da! A knife!¡± ¡°A hidden compartment within your left arm¡­¡± ¡°Ding ding ding! You are right! I have some knives inside my left arm.¡± ¡°Tsk¡­¡± He knew that he was tricked so hard by the king that it cost him the battle. Now, with no one stopping him, He once again walked towards Woss to finish him off. ¡°This time you will die. No more games and detours ¡± *Swish* ¡°This trick again!¡± *Shatter* "Damn it!" ¡°Not this time mercenary, I will not allow you to escape this time.¡± The mercenary boss tried to use his floating sword to remove the knife on his shadow but was destroyed with the king¡¯s powerful punch before it reached its target. ¡°Sorry lad, I can¡¯t do anything anymore.¡± ¡°No¡­ Nooo!!!¡± Woss tried to run even he couldn¡¯t stand straight anymore, his movements were wobbly and very slow. King Roa finally caught up to him and grabbed his neck with his right hand. *Cough* *Cough* ¡°P-please¡­ I don¡¯t want¡­ to die.¡± *Sniff* *Sniff* Tears started to fall as he struggled weakly but the king paid no heed to his cries and started to wind up his left arm for the death blow. ¡°Any last words, Woss?¡± ¡°My¡­ daughter¡­ and wife... don¡¯t harm them please.¡± ¡°Very well Woss, I won¡¯t lay a hand on any of them. are there any more you want to add?¡± ¡°Then¡­ last question.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind, ask.¡± King Roa¡¯s vice grip to Woss¡¯ neck was strong as steel just to make sure he couldn¡¯t do a thing while he asks his final question. ¡°Why¡­ kill me? Please¡­ give the re-¡± *cough* ¡°...real reason.¡± ¡°I see you want the truth. Then I shall tell you. It¡¯s not because I was pissed but because you¡¯re a damn traitor. You, being assigned to me was not a damn coincidence. You don¡¯t remember it but you¡¯re a part of a very dangerous organization.¡± ¡°Organization?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I won¡¯t tell you any more about it because it¡¯s a taboo to just speak its name. If you want to learn more then ask the goddess in the afterlife.¡± ¡°I...see.¡± ¡°Yeah, so goodbye traitor. Have a nice trip to the afterlife. I might pay you a visit there time to time.¡± ¡°Heh.¡± ¡°The same damn laugh until the end huh.¡± King Roa finally pierced his left arm into Woss¡¯ chest. ¡°Kahkk!!¡± A beating bloody heart grasped by his left hand was seen along with blood gushing from his chest. After a few seconds, he crushed the heart and pulled out his left arm from the dead body. ¡°Finally you''re dead. That took some time to end.¡± He threw the dead body rolling to the ground and wiped the blood off his left arm. *Clang* He also removed that magical knife that binds the mercenary boss on his spot and continued talking. ¡°So¡­ What are you guys are waiting for? Finish me off now.¡± All of the mercenaries were already surrounding him and just waiting for the right time to finish him off. Chapter 8: Mission Accomplished (?) ¡°What¡¯s the holdup? Your target is in front of you guys, Don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t kill a single man?¡± *Silence* No one dared to answer that question of his as all the mercenary men surrounding him was just looking as they witnessed a bloody scene before them. Mutilated arm and a body with a hole in its center while its blood continued to paint the dirty ground was a bloody situation that you don¡¯t want to deal with. ¡°Now this is gonna be difficult if you guys will not attack me. How the hell are you guys gonna kill me then?¡± ¡°Err..¡± They just looked into each other for signs of what they should do next. Indecisiveness and fear started to spread among their ranks as they don¡¯t want to be the next person to meet the same fate as Woss. The standstill continued for a small amount of time and King Roa was starting to get impatient. *Sigh* ¡°and you call yourselves mercenaries? From what I see, you people are just a bunch of pussies who are just pretending to be tough.¡± ¡°This bastard¡­¡± Those mercenaries started to grip their rifles and weapons tightly as they didn¡¯t like that degrading remark for the king himself. Anger and irritation rose up from their mind but King Roa isn¡¯t done yet with his mockery, ¡°Or maybe you guys just inherit that cowardice from your boss? That¡¯s the impression I¡¯m getting from the walking pile of a disappointment called mercenaries.¡± ¡°What did you just say?! You better take that back you dam-¡± ¡®Nope! If you want me to take it back then make me. If only if you can, morons.¡± ¡°Grrr!¡± His arrogant tone only added fuel to the fire as he continued dropping those rude taunts to the whole mercenary side. A normal person should be already shaking in fear as he/she was completely surrounded by people who''re gonna kill him/her mercilessly but it''s the opposite for the young king as he was even asking for it. ¡°Enough lads!!¡± ¡°?!!¡± All the mercenaries¡¯ attention was immediately caught by a single loud voice that came from the man kneeling on the ground as he recovered himself from the binding. ¡°Stop listening to that guy and be calm! He¡¯s just trying to agitate you people so he disrupts your formation.¡± ¡°hmpf!¡± King Roa didn¡¯t like how did the mercenary boss put back his comrades into their senses before they completely got disorganized by his tauntings. ¡°We still have the number advantage lads! Just move together and surround the damn target!¡± The mercenary boss slowly rose up from his position as he was still recovering from the uncomfortable feeling of being unable to move at all. It¡¯s like you¡¯re being put into sleep paralysis, you know you couldn¡¯t move but still forced your way out of it, so you got tired in the process. ¡°Y-yes!! You heard the boss, slowly surround that guy!!¡± ¡°Yeah!!¡± Mercenaries¡¯ morale came back strongly after their boss rallied them back to their focus. They pointed their rifles and swords properly now against the outnumbered king while keeping a cautious stance. ¡°You guys finished preparing your formation? If yes then pull the trigger and put me down.¡± ¡°Why the rush to get yourself killed? We still have some time for a conversation before finishing you off.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Everyone finally put an arc-like formation that surrounded the king from left up to his right. No gaps nor openings were given by them for King Roa to take advantage of. The mercenary boss took this chance to ask something that bugged him earlier.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Yeah and this is about the organization you spoke earlier before you killed the poor guy, what is it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m not answering that one. Try another question that doesn¡¯t involve what I said earlier.¡± He shooked his head while rejecting to answer that question. ¡°Why so? Is it because it involves you and some illegal dealings?¡± ¡°No, It¡¯s because you will gonna get yourself killed. Don¡¯t poke into things that are outside of your job, mercenary.¡± ¡°Get my myself killed¡­ Sounds like something is happening behind the scenes within Stygia.¡± ¡°I¡¯m warning you. If you love your normal mercenary job and your comrades, you better stay out of that and forget what I said. That was a mistake of mine to slip those dangerous words.¡± This time around, Even with all the weapons pointed at him, King Roa threw a very murderous cold stare to the mercenary boss that gave the most dangerous impression in this situation. His comrades also felt this murderous intent from him but not on the same magnitude as what the boss was currently feeling. ¡°!!!¡± The mercenary boss flinched after he met with the king¡¯s deathly gaze. He immediately checked his chest with his right hand to see if he''s just fine because after he saw that stare, he felt that multiple swords just pierced his body repeatedly. ¡°(What was that?! Is it really that possible for a single stare to be that dangerous? I have seen some gazes and stares that give murderous intent from other people back then but this is the first time I met something at that magnitude.)¡± He was still trying to pull himself together as he called his trusty plain sword to his side and put up a defensive stance after the initial encounter with King Roa¡¯s dangerous gaze. ¡°If you''re already having troubles just trying to keep up with my killing intent then you will die definitely. You might not know this but there are other monsters out there who are stronger than me.¡± ¡°I-impossible! There are other powerful individuals beside you?!¡± He was shocked as he couldn¡¯t believe that there were other monstrosities that lurk far deeper than the underground business he lives with. He was already in this business for long as he remembers and yet, this is the first time he encountered a man who exuded such danger and he was actually telling him that there are far stronger people than him. ¡°Yeah, that''s correct so if you value your life, I suggest you stay away from the dark side of Stygia.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t promise you that I will stop investigating since I need to know the dangers that lurk around me but I will take your warnings as I will take extreme caution when stumbling upon those dark sides you talk about.¡± ¡°Your life, your call mercenary. Just don¡¯t regret it when you find yourself dying, I already gave you a fair warning as Woss is only the tip of the iceberg.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t regret so you don¡¯t worry about me and on the contrary, You better worry about yourself as we will about to kill you off.¡± ¡°Hahaha! You are actually right, well if you have no other questions then finish this now. Your time is running out.¡± The temperature started to rise up and the wildfire finally reached their place as the smokes started to obstruct the mercenaries¡¯ vision. If they continued to do nothing then they would be consumed together along the trees surrounding them. ¡°Alright, lads! Aim at his vital spots!¡± ¡°(There are no any signs of hostilities and he¡¯s not even looking at the surroundings for an escape path but still why does it feel that he¡¯s confident that he will survive this predicament?)¡± ¡°Do it mercenary, Fill my body with magical bullets and call this a day.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need me to tell that, FIRE!¡± *Bang* *Bang* ¡°Kuughk!¡± A simultaneous barrage of bullets pierced through King Roa¡¯s body and blood started to paint his whole body red. Head, neck, lungs, abdomen, arms, and legs were all showered with until it completely filled with holes. The king¡¯s body finally drops down to the ground without any unusual phenomenon. ¡°Cease your fire lads!¡± The mercenaries followed their boss¡¯ order and stand down as their target was already on the ground ¡°dead¡±. A pool of blood was observed together with the king¡¯s ¡°dead¡± body and but everyone never relaxed for a bit and was still in full alert. ¡°I will check if the guy¡¯s dead. Cover me if something happens.¡± ¡°Yes, boss.¡± Tightly gripping his sword, He was in his defensive stance all this time until he slowly reached King Roa¡¯s body to verify if he¡¯s already dead. ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Upon reaching the body, he crouched cautiously as he checked for the pulse and breathing with his left hand while his right hand ready to react in case of something bad happened. ¡°No breaths¡­ No pulse too¡­ I can¡¯t detect any signs of movements from the body but just in case¡­¡± *slice* To be a hundred percent sure, the mercenary boss carefully sliced the throat of the king as blood gushed out. After delivering the finishing blow, he steps back quickly and ordered his comrades. ¡°The mission is finished, everyone will follow me to the escape route, guard the rear for possible attacks.¡± ¡°Yes, boss!¡± ¡°Then move out!¡± *Swish* ¡°(Thank god this mission is finished. I really stepped into something I shouldn¡¯t, I just hope nothing bad happens in the future.)¡± They quickly dispersed that area leaving two dead bodies on the spot. All that left behind was the two dead bodies of Woss and King Roa. The flames finally caught them and started to burn, The smell of burning human bodies and branches snapping could be observed in the process but something odd happened, *Twitch* The king¡¯s fingers started to make a tiny movement., It might be just due to the flames creating an illusion but a more shocking event happened *snickers* The king¡¯s face started to make a devilish smile once more. This was no longer an illusion at all, he was smiling even with his face being burned alive and he started to speak softly, ¡°57th time huh...¡± Chapter 8.5: Visit To The Other Dimension / Entrance Of A Goddess Pt.1 According to how reality works, you will die if you get yourself killed. There are so many ways on how this can be done but it¡¯s forbidden to do it as it¡¯s never been a good thing to kill your own kind. Some ways are dumb like choking on a pretzel or eating things that are not for eating, there are also the normal ones like dying due to old age or getting hit by a stray bullet to your brain, and lastly, there are the brutal ones like burning you alive and etc. Surely, you¡¯re bound to die if someone did this to you but if you have some sort of high-speed healing spell or some elaborate spell that prevents you from dying. But, In the situation where you¡¯re filled with holes from top to bottom, someone slitting your throat just to verify that you¡¯re really dead, and finally throwing your body into the blazing wildfire just to be completely sure but even after all of that you¡¯re still alive then there¡¯s absolutely not right there. Then how? The answer lies during the time Roa¡¯s ¡°dead¡± as his consciousness was sent into another dimension. He was about to wake up in a place different from the burning place where he ¡°died¡± to a far more peaceful place. ---- ¡°nngghh¡­¡± His consciousness slowly starting to get back to him, it seemed that he¡¯s having difficulty opening his eyes. ¡°aghh¡­ where am I now?¡± He slowly opened his eyes which stung him for a bit. His vision was still quite fuzzy as the colors of his surroundings are still blurry. ¡°Oh damn¡­ It¡¯s too bright here, where is this place? Are those trees again?¡± He gently rubbed his eyes to clear up his vision and to avoid further irritating it, things started to become clearer and the colors started to stabilize. What he saw first were trees and grasses again and a road in front of him. ¡°If I remember correctly, I was trying to fake my death the- urghh¡­¡± He felt a sharp pain in his head and massaged it with his right his to provide some sort of relief. He remembered what happened and how he was supposed to fake his death in that gruesome forest battle. ¡°...right, I remember now what happened earlier, I got showered with bullets and after that, It¡¯s a total blackout for me but this isn¡¯t the time for idling around, I better start moving.¡± After remembering some painful memories, King Roa started to get up from his lying position to see where he was right now. He looked left and right to see if there were any hostile enemies. ¡°No signs of anyone... not even animals but this place is sure looks familiar to me. Paradise?!¡± With this kind of soothing environment, one could mistake this place for paradise as it¡¯s so quiet and peaceful, not to mention, it¡¯s warm and fuzzy here that you could sleep all day but King Roa continued to investigate this place for clues. ¡°No¡­ It¡¯s definitely not paradise or afterlife, more like of an isolated dimension from reality. In any case, I will leave a marking on this tree here as a sign that I¡¯ve been here.¡± Still cautious of his surroundings, He stretched his mechanical left forward to activate it and released another hidden knife inside it. He was about to get the knife from his left wrist but he saw something different from its reflection. ¡°What the¡­ Why am I wearing a different set of clothes?!¡± What reflected on his knife was not his black tank top and slacks but a Hawaiian style black polo with golden coconut designs. His shorts were also black and he was wearing straw slippers. ¡°This is really weird but I have no choice but to walk in these funny clothes until I find someone but before that...¡± With a knife on his hand, he walked towards a tree and carved a huge horizontal line on its bark. ¡°There! I hope I don¡¯t get lost here and find a way out since the world still needs me.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Just like a man going to a summer vacation on the beach, King Roa started to walk forward towards that single road that stretches from left to right. ¡°Hmm¡­ there¡¯s only one road here that I can take so that makes things easier but there¡¯s another problem, which direction should I take? The left or right?¡± Both directions looked the same to him as if it¡¯s mirrored, King Roa has no choice but to trust his instincts. ¡°Hmmm¡­ I choose left then. Still, why this place really looks familiar to me? I feel that I¡¯ve been here before.¡± He continued to traverse the left direction of the road while he kept thinking about that sense of familiarity. As if something¡¯s missing that he needed to see a certain thing for him to finally remember this peaceful place. ¡°(I can¡¯t really remember! The more I walk around here, the stronger this feeling of familiarity of mine to this damn place.)¡± It¡¯s been quite some time since he started walking but never saw anyone as the road he was taking has no end in sight until now. ¡°(Maybe I should just use my to get out of here, I just keep seeing the same scenery and feel that I¡¯m inside a loop.)¡± He deeply thought about using it but he has already used it three times which was the number of safe instances that he could use it properly. He took a few more steps before deciding what he would do now. ¡°Hmmm¡­ Fine, I¡¯ve decided that I will teleport out of here. I already scanned the whole area while I walked but never found anything.¡± Without any further ado, King Roa became impatient of wandering and prepared to teleport. This is one of the bad habits of King Roa, he always goes to the easiest way out without trying to figure what¡¯s wrong with this place but he already knows that this place isn¡¯t for humans to dwell with. ¡°Time to go, I don¡¯t want to be here any longer since this place is ver-¡± ¡°?!!¡± He was in the middle of walking when a certain something tripped him down to the ground. *Thump* The king immediately stretched forward his left hand to support him before he finally hit the road. ¡°Hah!!¡± He pushed his entire body away from the ground a made a one hand cartwheel. His vision spun very fast together with his body then stabilized after he found a stable footing. ¡°What the... How did I stumble there when the whole road is perfectly flat?¡± He immediately looked back the spot where he tripped but he saw nothing but thin air. ¡°Impossible, there has to be something there that tripped me, I swear I felt something like a rope hit my legs¡­ I better check it out.¡± He walked nearer to the spot where he mysteriously tripped. At first, you couldn¡¯t anything, therefore, King Roa walked again there to see if he¡¯s gonna hit something as he couldn¡¯t waste any energy doing other spells or [Soul Arts] at this point of time. ¡°This is?!¡± His simple way of investigating really works and he felt something again near his ankles. He crouched down to further analyze the thing that tripped him earlier. ¡°A string?? Very strange, It¡¯s so thin that I can¡¯t see it from far away yet it¡¯s so durable that it managed to trip me down to the ground¡­¡± It was only a single string that lined up horizontally near the ankle level to perfectly trip anyone unfortunate hitting it. It¡¯s really strange that even King Roa who has a very sharp sense didn¡¯t notice it too. ¡°A string?!!¡± That single string triggered something in King Roa¡¯s mind. ¡°Now I damn remember this place! Even if the internal structure of this place is the same even if its appearance is different.¡± Just like a man wearing formal clothes then changing into a guy wearing casual clothes with a teddy bear mask, You can still feel some sort of familiarity based on build and body language. The same concept was applied here as the place is on a paradise theme but the formation of the trees and roads are still the same. Now, He was finally released from that torturing sense of familiarity after finding a certain object called string. Certainly, feeling like that the whole time while walking was really taxing for the mind and a bit irritating. ¡°Then I don¡¯t need to get out of this place, after all, I just need to call ou the owner of the isolated dimension space.¡± He stopped his spell before it started then looked up into the sky as if he knew where the owner of this place was watching. *Inhale* *exhale* ¡°HEY GODDESS!!! STOP WITH THE TRICKS AND GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!¡± His voiced echoed so hard throughout the whole area as if he has a megaphone in his hand. He waited for a while but no reply was heard. ¡°No response at all?? Maybe I should just tear this whole dimension down and drag her out.¡± ¡°I suggest you don¡¯t do that, FateBreaker.¡± ¡°?!!¡± He heard a tiny cute voice from his back. King Roa immediately turned around only to see a little girl wearing a one-piece cloth ¡°You finally appeared¡­ You mischevious goddess.¡± ¡°Ho ho ho ho, I just can¡¯t stop teasing you FateBreaker.¡± Her tiny laugh sounds cute when you¡¯re just hearing it but when the laugh was into to make fun of you, It was really irritating. ¡°That¡¯s dangerous you know, I might just destroy this whole place if I wanted to.¡± ¡°I''m aware of that but I just can''t stop the temptation and besides, I''m powerful enough to create another one if I wanted to since I''m a goddess." "Indeed, with a snap of your tiny fingers, you can build another one of these places without a problem because you''re the goddess Clotho, One of the fate sisters. The one who spins the threads of life and decides who''ll be born and die in this world." Chapter 8.5: Visit To The Other Dimension / Entrance Of A Goddess Pt.2 The little girl wearing a white one-piece cloth who¡¯s in front of him was the goddess Clotho. She, along with her other two sisters decide the fates of every living being in the world. Together as three, they are so powerful that they can decide when you will be born, what will happen during you live, and when you will die. For them, life is just a concept that they can play around and crush if they grow bored of it. ¡°I¡¯m glad you still remember me even after all these decades, Roalacia.¡± ¡°Ughh¡­ calling me in my full first sounds really weird.¡± ¡°Why, Roa-Laciaaaa?¡± ¡°You little brat¡­ It¡¯s because people only call me in my full name why something serious happens.¡± ¡°Ohhhhh! So what should I call you?¡± Knowing that he didn¡¯t like being called by his full name, the cheeky little goddess continued her teasing. It¡¯s a miracle that King Roa never lose his patience given the fact that he¡¯s a short-tempered jerk. He was right on one point though, people calling you in your full name means you did something stupid or serious that you¡¯re about to get your ass whooped by your dear mother. ¡°I prefer you to call me FateBreaker as what you said before.¡± ¡°Ehhh¡­ I don¡¯t like that one. It brings back bad memories to me.¡± ¡°Then why did you called me with that moniker in the first place?! You¡¯re not making any sense right now.¡± ¡°Ehehe¡­ It¡¯s just because I want to sound cool during my grand appearance.¡± She kept twirling her silky long golden hair while avoiding eye contact with King Roa. ¡°Grand appearance my ass, that string prank of yours almost caused me to tear this dimension apart.¡± *snickers* ¡°But you didn¡¯t. I¡¯m 100% confident that you will never destroy this place.¡± ¡°And where did you get this confidence to say that I will not do it? ¡± He raised an eyebrow following that question but the little goddess never lost her shining confidence and looked into King Roa¡¯s eyes this time. ¡°I got it based on our lovely sweet relationship for these past few years!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not lovely at all! In my honest opinion, it¡¯s more like having centuries of outsmarting each other to their own benefits.¡± ¡°Tee-hee! Think what you want FateBreaker, We may have a different perception on our relationship but as long we¡¯re not on each other¡¯s bad side then that¡¯s fine to me.¡± Goddess Clotho just put up a cute smile while she defended herself from King Roa¡¯s perception of their relationship. ¡°I totally agree with you on that, to be honest, I don¡¯t really want to clash against you three sisters again without any good reason.¡± ¡°Why? Scared?¡± A damn rare question that no one in Stygia ever dared to ask him has just made its way into his ears. No one knows what runs inside the cheeky goddess¡¯ mind but provoking King Roa will only bring disaster. ¡°Watch your tongue little goddess, I already proved to you and your sisters that you can¡¯t control my fate last 1000 years ago.¡± ¡°I know that FateBreaker. I still remember that epic comeback you did against us like yesterday. We were really shocked that time when you manage to pull that nigh impossible feat to break our grasp.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a proof that not everything can be in your absolute control. Humans will continue to pull absurd miracles against the gods and win.¡± ¡°Muuuu¡­¡± Those piercing facts from him destroyed the petite goddess¡¯ confidence as she remembered the feeling of being defeated by a single human. ¡°Stop sulking now, goddess, your bright beautiful face will disappear if you continue frowning like that.¡± ¡°?!!¡± The little goddess blushed faintly after she heard those words from King Roa. She tried to keep her composure and hide the happy feelings inside her but it just resulted in her movements being rigid.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Don¡¯t tell me you actually happy after hearing those words?¡± ¡°D-don¡¯t carried away you stupid old man!¡± ¡°Hey! You¡¯re way olde-¡± He felt that this scenario already happened before and he knew that if he continued that sentence, only a world of pain awaits him. ¡°What? Finish what you¡¯re saying so I can smack that stupid face of yours!¡± ¡°Nevermind, on the other hand, I have something that¡¯s bugging me for a while now.¡± ¡°Go on, tell me what¡¯s bugging you, If this is something outrageous again then I will really kick you out of my beloved space.¡± ¡°Nah it¡¯s just a trivial thing and that¡¯s about chairs. Can we have something to sit down while we talk?¡± ¡°Ah! I forgot about it, what a minute as I¡¯ll give us something to sit.¡± *snap* With a snap from her delicate white fingers, strings started to appear from the ground and started forming two chairs and a white round table for them to talk with. ¡°That¡¯s more like it, now we can relax while we talk goddess.¡± ¡°Good to hear that. By the way, FateBreaker, Stop calling me little goddess or brat. It sounds like I¡¯m a generic person that you will not remember.¡± ¡°Then should I call you by your real name? That might makes you uncomfortable¡± ¡°It¡¯s just fine. You can call me Clotho, We have known each other for a long time and besides, you¡¯re already in my presence and nothing happens right? That¡¯s very thoughtful of you.¡± She started to sit down on the white chair on the left after she asked that to King Roa. She looked like a beautiful doll now with her white smooth skin while resting on the chair. ¡°Alright, Clotho it is.¡± He also did the same and sit on the opposite side on the table. Now, the two was sitting opposite to each and relaxing like having a tea party. ¡°I just hope nothing bad happens to you whenever I call your name.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really happy when you worry about me FateBreaker but don¡¯t forget, I might look and act like a naughty little girl but don¡¯t underestimate what I¡¯m capable of.¡± ¡°No worries then, so into the main topic, How many times did I die now?¡± He leaned his right elbow to table as he asked a weird question for a normal man to the goddess. ¡°You really don¡¯t count anymore do you?¡± ¡°I stopped counting after 20 times so I don¡¯t really remember.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s your 57th time dying. You should take care of yourself more.¡± ¡°Thank you for your concern Clotho but damn, that''s quite a number of deaths I got there. I remember one time that I got myself sliced into two cleanly.¡± Naturally, You wouldn¡¯t see two people nonchalantly talking about dying and millenniums of living but to these two, It¡¯s just a normal conversation that they talked about when they meet. ¡°Don¡¯t be so proud of getting sliced into two FateBreaker, your body might be immortal by your soul is slowly degrading as time passes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware of that Clotho, this why I¡¯m going all out now for one last time and make sure I¡¯ll succeed this time.¡± King Roa tightly gripped his fist as he said those words with anger. Seeing a very powerful man like him couldn¡¯t finish his plan was something you would not believe as to how cunning King Roa is. ¡°You still going to proceed with that plan of yours?¡± ¡°Of course, I will still destroy this world and create a new one. There''s No one who can stop me from doing it this time around.¡± ¡°That sounds like what a villain would say FateBreaker. If I remember correctly, the people didn¡¯t agree with your plan back then that ultimately went into a grand showdown. ¡± ¡°...and I lost that showdown but enough of this talking about the past Clotho. I think its about time for me to go back to the realm of the living.¡± ¡±Hmm¡­ I still want to play with you but you¡¯re right.¡± King Roa stood up from his chair after they agreed to end this conversation while goddess Clotho remained in her chair pouting and feeling regretful that their time together in this dimension finally came to an end. ¡°Don¡¯t be sad now Clotho, I will still visit you time to time.¡± ¡°Then do it normally! You, dying over and over again doesn¡¯t sit well to me.¡± ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t worry about me dying, I will be careful for now on as people these days know how to deal with immortal beings.¡± ¡°Ohhhh, Living beings never cease to amaze me, they actually progressing on how to defeat people who have an advantage over them.¡± Her eyes now sparkled like shining jewels that erased the gloomy presence she had before. ¡°Heh I¡¯m not so sure about that, I can still beat them no sweat so don¡¯t put your hopes on them. My experience is combat will surely crush those pesky people trying to stop me.¡± ¡°Arrogant as ever, please never change FateBreaker, your attitude and actions are absolute entertainment for us, the three sisters.¡± *sigh* ¡°The gods and goddesses¡¯ view on living beings never change huh, you still treat them as toys for your entertainment. Oh whatever, Open the portal as I need to go back now.¡± ¡°Ehehehe.¡± *Snap* She has that ominous chuckle after hearing King Roa¡¯s comment but continued to snap her fingers as a portal appeared in front of the table. ¡°Oh! Since you went along with my little entertainment, I will tell you something.¡± ¡°Let us hear it then Clotho. I hope this better be good.¡± King Roa turned his head to goddess Clotho as he was intrigued by what she would say to him. ¡°The dark side of your country already caught up to and waiting for you to come out.¡± ¡°Eh¡­ I know that already, here I thought it would be something groundbreaking.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not done talking yet, the Lightning Cherry Blossom Girl will appear before you soon, you better be ready for that one.¡± ¡°?!!¡± He couldn¡¯t believe what he just heard, His aloof facade instantly turned into a concerned look the moment he heard that term. ¡°She will come back? How?!¡± ¡°I will not tell you any more about it. Tee-hee!¡± ¡°Tsk! I will stop asking then, If you say that I will meet her soon then it will happen.¡± He walked towards the portal after giving up asking for more information about what the goddess Clotho said. ¡°Goodbye goddess Clotho, I hope you stop your pranks of babies being born in awkward places and times.¡± ¡°Ehehehe¡­ What a random concern from you. That¡¯s up to me since I¡¯m the one who decides who will be born. ¡± ¡°Heh, alright then, goodbye for real.¡± He finally passed through the portal and his figure slowly disappeared from the eyes of the goddess until there is nothing left. Chapter 9 : The Goddess Thoughts / Ideas ¡°Now that FateBreaker is back to reality, I¡¯ll go somewhere and have fun right now, it¡¯s just a shame that he¡¯s in a hurry to go back and finish his fake death plan.¡± Goddess Clotho gracefully stood up from her seat and walked slowly through the single road. ¡°But something bugged me the whole time we¡¯re talking together¡­¡± She kicked the small pebbles along the road while she thought deeply about that thing bugged her. ¡°Why did he agreed to spend time with me here when he''s in a hurry in the real world. It provided him with nothing but a disadvantage to his situation.¡± The goddess was right, what King Roa did was very puzzling given that he¡¯s a very smart individual who always looks for advantages. The time in this dimension flows at the same speed as in reality, therefore, him staying there really delayed his plan to escape. ¡°I was really surprised when he accepted my invitation to come over here in this dimension without any clue of who¡¯s inviting him.¡± It¡¯s a common precaution by the gods to not let themselves known when inviting someone to their domain as they didn¡¯t want any living beings sniffing around and knowing their moves. ¡°I mean¡­ it became a habit of mine to invite him over here every time he dies just to make fun of him.¡± *sigh* ¡°Maybe he really just want a breather from all those endless bloodsheds before him since there were times he rejected my invitation and times he accepted it just for the sake of voicing out his complaints.¡± For someone who was living for an entire millennium whose goal was to destroy the whole world then recreate it again, getting your hands stained with blood was unavoidable. There would be always a certain someone who would stop and kill him for the sake of what they believe. Perhaps he just needs to talk with someone to let off some of his pent up negative emotions. ¡°Argh, whatever!! Thinking about it will just make my mind spin, What¡¯s important now was that I created this peaceful place and maybe next time, I will try a beach scenery! Fanservice! Lewds!!¡± She puffed her tiny chest as she ¡¯s very proud of her great achievement of being able to provide him a good and nice place to relax but it seemed that her perverted personality finally slipped off this time. ¡°Oops, Must control myself before someone see my lovely side ehehee¡­¡± Goddess Clotho started drooling after she fantasized her ideal beach episode but immediately came back to her sense as she didn¡¯t want anyone to see her with a perverted face. ¡°Enough daydreaming Clotho! I almost forgot about cleaning this dimension, must make everything is tidy and in order.¡± *snap* She snapped again her fingers and this time, the white chairs and tables slowly turned back into strings that quickly merge with her one-piece cloth. Now, The area where they both talked earlier were only grasses and stones now. ¡°And also, I won¡¯t be needing this scenery anymore. I¡¯d only created this place because I want to have an appropriate environment when we talked together.¡± *Swoosh* Gently swaying her right hand around, more and more strings started to appear around and converge near her petite body. ¡°Yah!¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. She, with an ample amount of force, pulled all the strings that were tangled with her right hand. The strings started to fall off and the entire area started to shake. *snap* *Rumble* *Crack* The magical strings that she snapped were the foundation that supported the entire dimension. Without these vital strings, the entire space started to collapse. The clear blue sky was slowly shattered like a glass while the grassland sunk as cracks appeared everywhere. ¡°Better be careful not to trip here while everything is being reconstructed back to its original form.¡± *swoosh* She jumped from the collapsing ground and remained floating above the ground. To be more accurate, she¡¯s stepping on strings that were hanging in mid-air. It¡¯s a big mystery on what were those magical strings were made of since not even King Roa detected them the first time he encountered it. The only thing that¡¯s certain was that it¡¯s durable enough to hold dimensions together. ¡°Now onto the hard part of the reconstruction, I must make this quick as possible since I don¡¯t want to miss the ascension ceremony of Jin.¡± *swoosh* While goddess Clotho continued to hang mid-air above the strings, each movement of her hands made the strings moved to what she desired. ¡°A little bit of adjustment here¡­ Slowly removing some of these¡­ put a support over there¡­ Add more strings for durability...¡± The entire dimension has completely shifted from its forest scenery to an all-black background now with strings moving left and right non stop trying to construct something. *Swish* ¡°I¡¯m almost finished here, just adding some finishing touches for aesthetics and¡­¡± The entire dimension is now a huge empty area with a lot of seats lined up in front of her as she was behind them. She also made sure that each one of those empty seats was clean and comfortable. ¡°...there! We¡¯re done! My personal beautiful movie theater for watching the ascension ceremony is completely done. That took more time than I expected but it¡¯s time for me to sit down and watch.¡± A huge screen appeared in front of her as she looked for a good spot to watch from. This kind of venue just to watch a ceremony is quite overkill as you could just watch it in a normal 40-inch screen TV or even in your smartphone but since she¡¯s a goddess, she¡¯s completely capable of doing everything even the most absurd ones if she wills for it. *poof* ¡°Ohh! So squishy and soft that I can sleep here comfortably.¡± She kept squishing the leather seat like a child and played with the adjacent seats to see if they were also very soft. ¡°Something¡¯s missing here¡­ Of course! Why did I forget about it, the ever delicious popcorn and drinks.¡± *clap* ¡°One salted popcorn please and a large orange juice please.¡± The strings started to move around her and in the blink of an eye, there¡¯s a popcorn and an orange juice near her. She grabbed both of them and placed it nearer to her. ¡°Oh it¡¯s about to start, I¡¯m so excited!¡± There¡¯s a countdown appeared on the huge screen starting from ten. After the countdown was finished, So many people were shown cheering in a loud energetic voice for a certain man. ¡°It¡¯s really jam-packed over there, Now I¡¯m quite jealous of them since they are so lively for their new ruler.¡± *munch* ¡°Mmmn¡­ but this is what I call tasty popcorn, yummy!¡± The goddess just kept eating those salted hot popcorns like it was the best thing in the world, she even licked and sucked those salts on her fingertips for more saltiness. The huge screen was now showing a parade of soldiers marching along the plaza in preparation of the arrival of the new ruler Jin. ¡° What an outstanding display of power, I wish I can go there but-¡± *ding* ¡°Why didn¡¯t I thought about it earlier! I can really go there even if Fatebreaker¡¯s very powerful restriction spell that prevents gods from wandering around the reality freely is active.¡± An idea popped inside of her playful mind as she kept munching those popcorns. She already consumed one large box of it and proceeded to get another one. ¡°I just need the help of my sisters on this idea of mine, I better call them now so I can go to reality sooner. That guy will be surprised to see me playing over there.¡± She created a small mirror from her strings and held it between her hands as it started to glow brightly. ¡°Ehhh¡­ I can¡¯t see anything but a fog.¡± ¡°Hm? Why are you calling me Clotho? I¡¯m in the middle of measuring something.¡± The small mirror projected nothing but fog yet a seductive mature voice of a lady came out of it asking the little goddess. ¡°Hey big sister Lachesis, can you do a favor for this cute little sister of yours and manipulate the fate of a certain someone? I really need a powerful vessel that can handle my immense power as I¡¯m visiting the reality.¡± The conversation between the two goddesses continued for a while as arguments and disagreements were heard but in the end, They both came into a certain agreement as goddess Clotho was smiling as if she received was she really wants for Christmas. ¡°Yes big sister, we will make sure that person will accept me as my vessel. It will be a shame if we could only watch from afar while he destroys the whole world. I will also join the fun and play with our toys called Living Beings.¡± A satisfied look was seen on her face as she continued watching the parading soldiers. It might be just entertainment for her to visit the reality and have fun but for many, it will be a disaster for them as her pranks might instantly wipe out an entire country. Chapter 10: Back to Reality / Understanding Techniques It¡¯s been a busy day in the country of Stygia as many events started to make their way into reality such as King Roa¡¯s fake death plan and goddess Clotho¡¯s vessel search. Among those events, the Ascension ceremony of Jin is the most important for Stygia which is currently happening now in its main capital, Sanguine city. Many townspeople gathered around the capital city¡¯s town square just to witness the historic ceremony that is about to take place first time in the country¡¯s history since King Roa founded Stygia. ¡°Long live the new ruler Jin!¡± ¡°Congratulations to our new ruler Jin!¡± Many people among the town square repeated cheered these lines as they waved the flag of Stygia zealously. The capital¡¯s town square is a spacious circular area that can handle about 10,000 people easily with a spare space for other activities. *step* *step* *step* Countless synchronous steps could be heard along the main road near the town square entrance. They were soldiers parading in their jet black military suits forward the wide road where the convoy of the new ruler Jin would pass through. *Applause* Showers of clap from the townspeople accompanied the magnificent march of soldiers that made it more outstanding. This grand display of military might will send chills down to your spine as more weapons are shown and being showcased in front of everyone. In the middle of all this, there are two soldiers located at the entrance of the town square chatting about the current situation. ¡°So they started the parade, the convoy must be almost here.¡± Similar to those soldiers parading in the main road, he was also wearing the same attire. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right Redi, we better start going to our positions before we get scolded for idling here at the entrance.¡± ¡°Then off we go, Flonee. Make sure your sword is ready for the entrance ceremony.¡± ¡°I will Redi and please fix your belt, it¡¯s loose and doesn''t look good in the eyes of others.¡± ¡°Ahaha¡­ I shall fix it now. Wait a minute there.¡± The two soldiers talking casually are known as Redi Gravehelt and Flonee Sonnet. Redi, as Flonee described, has a disorganized look that needed fixing. His hair is curly with a light brown color that looked fluffy enough to be a pillow. ¡°I¡¯m done here, What you think now Flonee? Do I look more presentable now?¡± ¡°Hmmmm¡­ Passable.¡± She adjusted the red-framed glasses she¡¯s wearing that matched the color of her double roped braided hair. She¡¯s also carrying a magical red book slung to her shoulders like a sling bag. ¡°Oh, I see¡­ I will try to do better next time Flonee.¡± ¡°Here we go again Redi, please have some confidence in yourself and don¡¯t be down by what I say.¡± ¡°...¡± Redi quickly became gloomy after just a single comment of his attire fix from Flonee. His shoulders slumped down together with his head which just added to his already sad atmosphere.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Why are you always like this? You must have more confidence in yourself and ignore those negativities around you.¡± ¡°I know that Flonee but I can¡¯t just help it and be overly conscious to the impression of others towards me¡­¡± He was really has a low self-esteem and continue to speak as if he did something wrong. He¡¯s just like that boy in the class that¡¯s always silent and thinks of his actions before doing it since he doesn¡¯t want the others to have a bad impression of him. *Sigh* ¡°Redi, Listen to me, you¡¯re already good and strong. I mean you¡¯re a practitioner of the rare and forgotten fighting technique called that former ruler Roa and yet to become ruler Jin.¡± ¡°But those guys are insanely powerful compared to me Flonee¡­¡± ¡°Then be like them! You already have access to those fighting techniques unlike us who choose the path of since it¡¯s way easier to attain than . In this world, there are two different set of fighting techniques that you can pursue in your life, The first one is . Just like what Flonee said, is easier to learn because is everywhere and you can have a mentor to teach you how to interact with easily, ¡°Why is it easier to obtain over Flonee? I¡¯ve asked some people but they can¡¯t say why because they never had the chance to try it. As for me it just naturally came to me so I don¡¯t know why it¡¯s harder to learn.¡± He scratched his fluffy hair as he wondered why. ¡°You¡¯re an exception Redi, you have a natural talent for that but if you¡¯re asking me why it¡¯s hard to learn it, I had a chance to see our former general and now to be new ruler Jin and asked the same question during the annual war games back then.¡± ¡°Ehh?! What did the former general say?¡± ¡°He said that it¡¯s because you need to learn about your true self.¡± ¡°Huh?? What is that suppose to mean?¡± Once again, The confused Redi was left scratching his head again out of not understanding what just Flonee said. ¡° ¡°Identifying the true nature of your soul¡±, This is what the former general said when starting to pursue the path of . It means to make sure you have a full understanding of your personality.¡± ¡°That is surely very hard to understand but that kind of concept never occurred to me when I learned . ¡°We will get there why Redi but for now let me discuss what the former general Jin said to me.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Flonee was in her teacher mode as she reminded Redi to listen to her. That red glasses she¡¯s wearing really added more charm to her as a mature responsible lady. ¡°Ok, where did I stop? Right in understanding personality. This also means that you can¡¯t ask others for help as you¡¯re the only one who knows how your soul works and not to mention, the time you spend knowing your true self might take a day or up to years.¡± ¡°Really?! That¡¯s really long.¡± ¡°Yeah, so in a world where wars are currently happening, learning is not feasible as it will take too much time and effort to train soldiers since each one has their unique personality unlike with , it¡¯s user-friendly and you can have others to teach you as you just need to connect your soul with . ¡°I understand now¡­ to put it simply is more simple and accessible where is a more complex and difficult technique to learn.¡± Chapter 11: Jins Arrival And Bunny Girls?! It¡¯s just like when you¡¯re teaching a man to fight, giving him a sword to fight would require time and effort to make that man proficient in handling it and not everybody has that talent to wield a sword but in the case of , it¡¯s like handling a man a rifle. Just teach him to pull the trigger and that¡¯s it, the man just needs to aim then shoot at their enemies. ¡°That¡¯s the main reason why is way popular than . It¡¯s simply accessible even to the untalented ones.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a pretty harsh way of telling it Flonee. Those guys didn¡¯t choose to be weak and useless.¡± ¡°but that¡¯s the truth Redi, not everyone was born equally in this world. There will be always someone getting the short stick, I¡¯m even grateful for for making untalented people like me useful on occasions.¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯re not untalented Flonee! The way you used your spells are simply amazing.¡± ¡°Ahahaha, thank you for those words Redi.¡± She put a beautiful smile after she heard those relieving words for Redi but what Flonee just said earlier was the cold harsh truth. Blessed people will always have that advantage over those misfortunate people and it¡¯s up to you on how you¡¯ll crawl your way up and beat those blessed people. ¡°Oh and I almost forgot Redi, the reason you naturally learned was because you already knew your true nature.¡± ¡°Huh?! How¡¯s that possible when I never did any training related to it?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know it but you unconsciously keep learning about your soul by repeatedly questioning yourself.¡± ¡°?!!¡± She¡¯s right. Redi always conscious of everything he does up to the point that he finally fully understand his weakness and personality. He accepted the fact that he¡¯s very shy and awkward when having a conversation with other people that hinders his growth. ¡°To think it¡¯s like that Flonee¡­ I¡¯m already aware of my soul nature from the start due to my constant doubting and seeking answers on how to improve myself.¡± ¡°Although Redi, Surpassing your fears and problems are a different story. It¡¯s only you who can solve that one.¡± ¡°Your right there, I will try to improve bit by bit then. I don¡¯t need to rush it and break myself in the process. He might be shy and silent but he¡¯s a reasonable man who knows his limits due to his skepticism to his own self. ¡°Oh! Before we know it we are already near the town square¡¯s entrance Redi, Hey! look at those beautiful huge cannons and artilleries!¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Over there at the last portion of the marching parade.¡± ¡°Wow, your right! these weapons sure are capable of leveling an entire area with a single order especially those large warheads.¡± Slowly moving from the furthest part of the parade is the gigantic tanks and artilleries imbued with so they are not your typical moving pile of metal. Of course, these weapons are harmless as they are only for showcasing purposes but the number of weapons being paraded is way above for a normal country to have.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I think the parade is about to end Redi, let¡¯s prepare ourselves for the new ruler¡¯s arrival before someone scolds us for not being alert.¡± ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Standing firmly now to their designated positions together with the other soldiers near the entrance at the main road, A single voice was heard echoing all the way around the main road. ¡°HALT!¡± *step* ¡°Standing at position!¡± All the soldiers parading immediately stop moving and did a straight standing posture while the soldiers assigned near the entrance remained on guard as they need to provide a security presence around the town square. ¡°Here it comes Redi, be on guard.¡± ¡°Same to you Flonee, I can really feel the emotions of everyone here.¡± There was a single lane on the main road which was empty for the arriving convoy. A long line of limousines and armored vans started to be visible and they bear the flag of Stygia. ¡°Here he comes!!¡± ¡°Long live our new ruler!!¡± ¡°Bless you our lord!¡± The cheering and emotions of the crowd intensified as they saw the incoming convoy of Jin. More flags were raised and waved in celebration of his ascension. Media and reporters prepared their cameras for the historic event that was about to unfold today. *Screech* The entire convoy finally arrived at the main entrance. Soldiers stationed near maintained a perimeter as no one was further allowed to go nearer to the limousines. *Clank* *step* Multiple figures started to come out from the numerous limousine and it¡¯s definitely not what you see every day especially in a formal event like this. ¡°B-bunny suit girls?!!!¡± *Sigh* ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the new ruler actually pulled this bizarre stunt in front of the masses.¡± Indeed, it¡¯s girls in sexy bunny costumes who were coming out of the limousine. Wearing a red bunny hair band and tie together with black stockings. The most exciting part here was the sexy body curves and large chests of each girl that made the guys hard to remove their stare from. ¡°I know that the former general loves bunny suits but isn¡¯t this too much Flonee? This is the ascension ceremony, to begin with.¡± ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s already a common knowledge to people of Stygia that our former general is a very unusual person who has an obsession with the ¡°Otaku¡± culture.¡± ¡°I already know that based on his past interviews and stuff but doing this is absolutely ridiculous.¡± The bunny girls started to form two lines, left and right while waving their hands to the crowd to greet the new ruler who¡¯s about to go out of his limousine. ¡°I¡¯m also thinking that this is quite ridiculous Redi but since the new ruler managed to capture the hearts of the masses, we can¡¯t do anything but to accept it too.¡± ¡°Accept it huh¡­ I guess this is the best scenario since we managed to avoid the civil war between the two factions by the former king¡¯s surrender of power.¡± ¡°You know what Redi?¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just focus on serving the new ruler, the country needs us to be united now and protect it. I firmly believe that former general Jin will do a fine job leading us.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± The two shared their thoughts about the current situation of Stygia while those bunny girls continued to give the viewers the fanservice they wanted via those bountiful chests and thick thighs. *Clank* *Step* The limousine¡¯s bulletproof door has started to open and a single man wearing white and red formal clothes which were very different compared to the default color scheme of Stygia¡¯s black and gold. ¡°He¡¯s coming out!!¡± ¡°It¡¯s our new ruler!!¡± ¡°May he bring prosperity to our country!¡± The masses became more zealous and more cheers were heard the moment he stepped out from the limousine to start the ascension ceremony. Cameras flashed continuously from all sides and angles that would make your eyes blinded by it. ¡°There he is Redi, our former general, the Crimson Bringer, the strongest user in Stygia, and our new ruler, Jinnada Sei Bergamo or in short Jin.¡± ¡°The strongest¡­ Now that I look at him, he¡¯s quite young for his position. He just a few years older than us Flonee.¡± ¡°That only means that he¡¯s really talented and powerful among his peers.¡± After he got out of the limousine, Jin finally stood in front of all of his supporters above a red carpet that matched his crimson red hair. Basing on his looks, he¡¯s around in his late twenties. For that age, he¡¯s really young considering that he¡¯s a former general and now ascending as the new ruler of Stygia. He looked around the bunny girls lined up and admired their beauty. ¡°Bunny girls are really the best!! Those sexy curves totally brought out the hidden seductiveness of every woman who wears it. If that stupid Roa¡¯s here, I bet he¡¯ll instantly ditch that maid girl concept that he¡¯s been pushing in my mind every now and then.¡± In one of the most important in the history of Stygia, Jin took his fascination with bunny girls into a whole new level by showing them live in the ascension ceremony. Many of his peers are confused yet laughing right now in their seats while some are bewildered on what the hell is happening but one thing¡¯s for sure, bunny girl¡¯s popularity skyrocketed in the whole country leaving the maid girl concept in the dust. Chapter 12: Not Your Normal Bunny Girls ¡®Alright! My dear bunny girls, follow me slowly from behind and be as beautiful as ever. Show them the power of the bunny girls!¡± ¡°Yes, master Jin!¡± ¡°And Solesia, stay on my right side as I walk. I need to discuss something with you.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± She matched the pace of Jin¡¯s walking speed while those seductive bunny girls continued to provide delicious eye-candies for everyone behind him. ¡°So what is it that you want to talk with me? Don¡¯t tell me you just want to take a closer look at my breast?¡± Solesia¡¯s huge arsenal called breasts came close to Jin as she wanted to tease the guy more. You couldn¡¯t deny that her breast was quite bigger than the average size, as many men would surely be happy upon seeing those. ¡°Hey, we are in public! If we are in a private place then I will look at them the whole day as long as you want to.¡± ¡°And yet, you filled the entire ceremony with bunny girls? What¡¯s the point of showing the bunny girls for the public if you¡¯re not gonna look into them?¡± ¡°Errr¡­ I just want the whole nation of Stygia to be aware of the beauty of bunny girls and I still have an image to uphold here Solesia.¡± ¡°Your reasoning is quite weird but if you say so, master.¡± Jin averted his gaze from the ever seductive Solesia as he turned his attention to the soldiers lined up side by side. Those soldiers held up their weapons high as a sign of loyalty and respect to the new leader Jin. ¡°But more importantly, I also wanted to ask if every sexy bunny girl here is a part of the Opaque Squad? They all seemed to be trained to not make any useless movements.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Yes, they are part of that squad. Every single bunny girl here is your highly trained assassin to fight and destroy your enemies if you give them an order.¡± ¡°I knew it! These bunny girls are not your normal sexy ladies. Even I didn¡¯t manage to see through their solid disguise the whole time I¡¯m with them..¡± ¡°Also master Jin, They disguise their appearance according to what your preference as what I ordered them, so if you look at the bunny girls, you will surely enjoy those big bouncing chest of theirs.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Interesting. So that¡¯s why everywhere I look I absolutely see what I like. These ladies sure know their stuff, hope to see more fanservice with them.¡± Jin didn¡¯t even hide his preference anymore to Solesia. He openly admits to her that he has a fascination with big breast bunny girls and would continue to look and admire them. One would wonder how on Stygia this guy managed to rise up as a general if he¡¯s always behaving this way but people love him, therefore, he might just not your typical pervert who ogles to big breasts. ¡°With those comments about the Opaque Squad, I can confidently say now that they are effective and powerful when it comes to stealth missions.¡± ¡®I also hate to admit it but since they manage to sneak through my observation, I can also say that they are strong enough to carry such dangerous missions.¡± ¡°And By the way, What you see now is not their actual looks, They disguise themselves to hide their true identities.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s common sense Solesia, no assassin wants their true identity to be known worldwide.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just trying to see if you¡¯re still in focused or your whole mind was filled now with nothing but huge breast.¡± ¡°Hah! Bad for you since I managed to keep my dignity intact in the middle of the ceremony.¡± Jin with a very confident smile said those words to Solesia while they continue to walk. And as for bunny girls, They shouldn¡¯t be underestimated as every single one of those ladies walking behind him was strong enough to kill a person and their looks are just a way of dropping their target¡¯s guard. Their backgrounds are unknown and no one knows where they come from but Solesia as their leader and mentor trained them well enough to take care of themselves. ¡°But knowing now what they are capable of, I just hope that I don¡¯t become a target by them in the future since those concealment abilities of these sexy ladies are sure terrifying to clash against with.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry master Jin, since every single of them are deeply loyal to you and will do everything to make sure you¡¯re safe.¡± ¡°Really? Then that¡¯s assuring to hear from you, Solesia.¡± ¡°Yes, I will personally make sure no one from the squad will try to assassinate you. After all, I don¡¯t want any of them waste their life and dies quickly by your mercilessly grasp.¡± She said that statement while they finally reach the podium where the ascension ceremony will take place. Of course, she¡¯s confident in her fellow assassins¡¯ ability but she¡¯s absolutely sure that they don¡¯t stand a chance against Jin when he starts to take things seriously. ¡°You are flattering me, I¡¯m not that strong you know. Those bunny girls will surely have a chance to kill me if they all work together as one.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re really humble or just hiding your true strength but I call huge lies on those word of yours because, under some certain circumstances, you can beat the former king Roa is a one on one duel today.¡± ¡°Really? How can you say that I can already beat him? What are these certain circumstances you speak off? I¡¯m really curious since Roa is just a pure monstrosity in the battlefield¡± He skeptically asked her about that statement she did. The situation right now is like a customer (Jin) inquiring for more details about the product (Her statement) that the sales agent (Solesia) was trying to advertise to him. ¡°It¡¯s because the former king soul is slowly degrading away based on what I observed these past few years. It¡¯s no longer that bright as before.¡± ¡°HA?! You can see that guy¡¯s current soul status?!¡± ¡°Yes, Is there a problem seeing it?¡± ¡°Yeah! I¡¯m shocked to see you still alive and breathing properly Solesia!! Thank god you¡¯re still in one piece after all this time.¡± Chapter 13 : Search For The Unwanted Listeners Jin was really surprised upon hearing those observations from Solesia. He frantically looked left and right just like a guy who was hiding something to see if there are others who heard the same. *Whew* ¡°Thank god no one¡¯s here yet. This will be a very sticky situation if someone hears it.¡± ¡°Is what I said earlier really that dangerous?¡± ¡°Of course, The fact that no one, not even me talks about it means it a well-guarded secret of Roa. So I was really alarmed when you just brought that out here in a public area.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Then I will remember this mistake of mine and be careful next time. I shall talk about certain things with you now in a more secure area. I apologize for such blunder on my part¡± Solesia bowed her head as she regretfully apologized for her carelessness as she never knew that saying those secrets would get her killed if Roa discovered that she was capable of seeing through his real condition. ¡°Apology accepted as we all make mistakes in our lives but I don¡¯t take chances so I¡¯ll use a life detecting just to be sure, You will help me too, Solesia, search around the surroundings for hidden objects with your .¡± ¡°Affirmative. I will search for unwanted individuals at once and immediately apprehend them.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s start.¡± The two quickly focused their concentration and started invoking different kinds of techniques to detect hidden objects around them. ¡°< Internal Soul Arts - Extreme Sensitivity >.¡± His started to flow very fast from his body up to his brain as he maintained his standing posture. Then, he felt a burning sensation all around his head, especially in his eyes, ears, and nose until he slowly becomes aware of every tiny detail in his surroundings such as the moving tiny ants and the flow of the wind. ¡°Trees, roads, and the podium?¡± With the help of his enhanced sight, he carefully observed his surroundings for signs of any odd movements coming from the trees. All he saw was bird¡¯s nest and sparrow birds that were protecting their newborn babies. (Negative, There¡¯s no unusual rustling nor hiding people on the podium which is strange, Beneath the ground perhaps?) Jin took a deep breath and started to cancel out other noises except what¡¯s below him then he carefully listened to the activities such as crawling or shaking that was happening beneath him to detect any kind of unusual movements or signs of devices planted underground to record the conversation they had. (Also the same results as before¡­ No signs of any life except for worms, Maybe above?)Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He looked above the skies to see if there are any signs of hidden entities or devices but what appeared in his sight was only a clear blue sky with clouds and a bright blinding sun the warms his body. ¡°No signs there too, the wind flow is normal, I can¡¯t feel any other breathing near us, and there is nothing unusual in the flow of anywhere. I don¡¯t know if we are lucky or this place is just a very good blind spot but I can say that there¡¯s no one here except us.¡± Jin declared the area cleared of any suspicious activity but what was bugging him was the lack of people roaming around, he¡¯s on an occasion where thousands of people were attending yet this area was void of such individuals. ¡°I¡¯m also done here, master Jin. I scanned the area by pulsing my around to see if there are reactions and the result was negative too.¡± *Whew* ¡°That¡¯s a damn relief to know that nobody is here yet or else I will be forced to render them unconscious.¡± Just like a large block of boulder weighing on his shoulder on heavily, It was instantly removed upon hearing that the whole area was cleared on wiretapping, eavesdropping, and recording on what was currently happening here. ¡°Master Jin, I have to tell you something before we continue discussing his secret condition.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you actually found one?!¡± His moment of relief instantly turned into panic time once more. He heightened his senses once more via and started to look around the whole area again to see if there¡¯s something that he missed. ¡°No, There¡¯s no one we missed and the whole area is clear. What am I about to say is about the reason why there are no people in this area yet.¡± ¡°Ha?¡± His together with his panic quickly dispersed and returned to normal after he heard Solesia speaking about other things. ¡°Then why is it empty here? I noticed it during my scanning but I deemed it as a coincidence as I never felt any disturbance in the flow.¡± *Snicker* ¡°You might be capable of sensing the flow of but never looked inside the flow master Jin.¡± An interesting answer from Solesia. Naturally, normal mages only observed the behavior . This includes that external appearance, speed, intensity, and the direction of the flow. If there¡¯s something different on one of those categories then there¡¯s a high possibility that is being used for a spell. ¡°Explain Solesia.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because I used a spell that never disturbed the flow of mana. I made sure that the execution of this spell would be hidden as possible to prevent any suspicion from anybody.¡± ¡°I understand it now, A very complex spell that coexists with the flow. I believe that it will take a very advanced mage to detect this kind of hidden spell.¡± ¡°Correct, and this spell is to ensure no one is supposed to wander around this place as I want to tell you something important.¡± ¡°A spell that wards off people¡­ Then what I did earlier was for nothing.¡± Since Jin didn¡¯t know that he¡¯s inside a barrier spell that warded off unwanted beings, he used for nothing at all. It just like a person looking at an empty room for people without reading the warning sign that the room was already empty. ¡°Yes, master but since you were so eager to scan the entire area then I had no choice but to scan the entire area too. It¡¯s just what you said, we can¡¯t take any chances therefore I abide. I apologize if I didn¡¯t tell you about this earlier.¡± ¡°No need to apologize Solesia, the blame goes to me who immediately panic and looked around.¡± ¡°If you say so then I think we can now continue with our discussion earlier right? We only have a few minutes left before people notice that there¡¯s something wrong here.¡± ¡°Yeah ¡± -Intermission 1 : Beyond Reality / Imaginary Realm- -Intermission: Beyond Reality / Imaginary Realm- While Solesia and Jin chatting together about Roa''s condition inside the warding spell, They didn''t have any idea that there are actually hidden entities watching every move they take or hearing every word they said, as no any kind of detection can find them since they are located outside of the realm of reality. These entities are called gods and they find entertainment in living being''s daily struggles. These gods are the same beings that Roa almost drove to extinction due to their insane ideas for living beings. Some of those so-called gods could be found now in a very dark dimension similar to the outer space with a circular white platform designed with numbers from 1-13 arranged like a clock with the exception of number 13 which lies on the middle part of the white circle. There are also 13 chairs corresponding to each number and also arranged in the similar fashion as the clock, No other characteristics can be found on the chair except for its really made of white porcelain-like materials. Initially, the whole area was empty for a while until something appeared without any disturbance nor any signs of entry in the area. This entity just appeared on the middle chair with the roman numeral 13 sitting on it. It has a Human-like figure while it was completely wrapped up in a piece of cloth that exhibits a universe like illusion design. One could observe that if that entity walks into the vast universe then it will blend with it. The only feature that is noticeable on its face was its rainbow lights that shine like crystal eyes. Then it started to speak with its voice distorted, "Let us see if you can succeed this time and bring Apocalypse once more like 2000 years ago, like what that wretched guy did." Then another figure appears on the circular platform sitting on the chair inscribed with Roman numeral 11. The figure is more like a black mist with multiple jewels that can be seen floating around its body. It also assumed a human figure in order to do a sitting position although the mist still scatters around. The black mist also started talking right after that entity finished talking, "Rarely to appear here "A". Him doing major movements in the reality realm must really catch your attention there." The Entity clad in a universe like illusion robe was called "A" by the black mist. Its tone was not distorted unlike "A" and it''s more like a deep one coming down from earth. The swirling jewels around his mist like body change color every time he speaks, It''s unknown what were the abilities of each one but it''s safe to assume they are dangerous enough to not carelessly touch it as an immense amount of mana radiated from it.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The Black mist is more serious in terms of personality than "A" as that entity is more emotionless and mechanical in terms of speaking. Nevertheless, "A" responded to the black mist, "Correct "H". He is doing the same thing he failed to do so last 500 years but him doing that again, he is still such a very selfish person until now." The black mist was named as "H", The two mysterious entity was named from the alphabets. Then H proceeds to ask A a question, "Then I ask you of this A, will he succeed? Will he be able to defy fate once more and destroy the world?" "No. As long as I exist, I will not allow him to succeed." "A quick reply, I hope you are wrong, I''m actually betting on him on this one, we may have a common interest but our end goals are all different." "Hrm?" At that instant, the whole dimension started to distort and feel extremely heavy, At the center of it was an insane dense amount of radiating from the two started to clash against each other. The floating jewels around H started to glow red and A''s eyes started to glow purple but then in anticipation of a deadly clash but A reach out to his logical reasoning and said, "Alright, this is enough for now, there is no point in arguing H." "I agree, I don''t want to collapse this dimension just because of tiny conflict. This isolated area was painstakingly created to hide from him since he can operate and manipulate dimensions. Just simply saying his name will notify him of our hideout." The tension finally defused between the two, This is also the reason why they never say Roa''s name as it would serve as an invitation for him to actually appear here and they do not want that to happen. As the area stabilize, They left a vague statement to conclude the brief event, "Remember, When the Millennium Traitor meets his Fated Nemesis once more, The Twilight Apocalypse will come and end everything." "I know and by that time, We must be ready to progress." "Indeed." Before you know it, The two entities are no longer there and The entire area was already left empty with those lasting words serving as a grim reminder to everyone that everything will end in due time. -Intermission End- Chapter 14: Continuation Of Discussion ¡°Then let me continue with talk with another question if I may.¡± ¡°Go on, If I can answer it then I¡¯ll give you what you want to know.¡± ¡°This might be hard but it¡¯s about the origin of that degradation.¡± ¡°The origin?¡± Jin was now looking at Solesia seriously as their conversation was starting to dig into more serious matters that couldn¡¯t be talked openly. ¡°Yes master, to be specific, my question is how did the former king develop such condition?¡± She tilted her head slightly as she was wondering about his rare soul condition. It was a sight to behold since the more you look at her wearing that sexy bunny suit, the more her beauty shines and her curves became more enticing yet Jin was so serious that he paid no mind to it and straightly answered her question. ¡°Oh yeah about that, it''s more of a side effect of a certain phenomenon rather than him developing it like a disease.¡± ¡°Side effect? I don¡¯t understand master Jin, please make it easier to understand.¡± ¡°Sorry for being vague, then let me make it clearer to you, It¡¯s because Roa is living for so long that his soul starting to wear down and show signs of instability that leads to degradation that you¡¯re seeing on Roa.¡± ¡°Him living for too long? Isn¡¯t just living for about 128 years? That sounds normal for someone who can use to extend their life.¡± Certainly, by using specific could enhance your body to operate more efficiently and longer up to the point where you could live around 150 years just fine. The continuous reinforcement of your organs and muscles to delay the deterioration is the most frequent use of after you acquired it. ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong kiddo!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°W-what¡¯s wrong Solesia? Is the bunny suit too tight for you that makes you uncomfortable?¡± ¡°No, but...¡± The bunny girl Solesia looked so damn disappointed after Jin dropped that lame line with the finger pointing action. Her eyes were so dead that you could see the abyss of disappointment staring back at him. ¡°Geez! Stop looking at me like I¡¯m a pile of embarrassment here, I just want to liven up the serious atmosphere.¡± *Chuckles* ¡°S-sorry about it, it took me a while to recover after you said that very lame line. I mean that random action you did just now doesn¡¯t really suit your serious look.¡± ¡°Damn I¡¯ll never do that embarrassing line again, I sound like stupid back there.¡± He¡¯s feeling so down that If there¡¯s a shovel on his side then he already has dug a deep hole to hide from the embarrassment he was currently receiving from the laughing bunny girl. ¡°Oh please, I¡¯m just caught off guard when you said that. It¡¯s actually refreshing to see that side of your time to time.¡± ¡°Meh¡­ Whatever, going back to what we are talking about, you are misunderstanding something.¡± ¡°And that is?¡± ¡°That Roa doesn¡¯t use to prolong his life.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°What? Maybe master?¡± ¡°No, You might call me insane but the reason is simply that he¡¯s immortal. No other reason involved.¡± ¡°You¡¯re insane!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry master.¡± This time around, Solesia realized what she did after raising her voice in response and in return, she got hit by the disappointment stare from Jin as he couldn''t say anything in response to her reply. ¡°But according to the records, even the secret Stygian archives, it was recorded that he was born 128 years ago and helped the country to grow into its current state.¡± ¡°and you seriously believed that?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t totally trust it but since I have no any other sources for his background except the Stygian history, therefore, I believed that he¡¯s actually 128 years old.¡± ¡°You shouldn''t trust it then since all of it was fabricated by Roa himself to hide his immortality from everyone.¡± ¡°No way¡­¡± Solesia continued to be in disbelief after she heard about the word ¡°immortal¡±. Of course, there are beings living in this world that lives for more than centuries like the magical elves or mighty dragons but a human being an immortal is a very rare case. ¡°I know it¡¯s hard to for you to believe it because there are people who claim to be immortal by using or yet died after being hit by a world breaking spell or move.¡± ¡°Then how old is he?¡± ¡°Even I don¡¯t know, but I believed he¡¯s very old because he mentioned fighting against a god before.¡± ¡°A-a god?!!¡± She broke her carefully maintained a stern image with a loud shout as she couldn¡¯t believe what Jin actually said to her about a human fight against off a god. ¡°Yes, it is exactly what you think, a god. Those powerful beings that can only be found in legends.¡± ¡°Wait! Wait for a minute master Jin.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter Solesia? Did some people breached your warding spell?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that. I just need to reorganize my thoughts first then we can continue talking. These sudden revelations are making mind dizzy, I thought that his condition is just some kind of inborn characteristic.¡± Solesia weary replied as her thoughts and ideas of the former king were starting to get jumbled together. She never anticipated that her single remark of Roa¡¯s condition would come into this. ¡°I understand Solesia, But I need conclude this secret conversation now.¡± ¡°Why master Jin?¡± ¡°Eh? Take a look around the roads Solesia, people are starting to appear there, it looks to me that the split second confusion on your mind briefly weakens the spell.¡± Jin pointed his finger to the road that leads toward the podium and spotted some people who were dressed to handle the sound system for the event. This means that the spell was losing its effect. ¡°You are right, why didn¡¯t I noticed it earli-¡± Her voice trailed off after she saw those people walking towards them since she remembered something important. ¡°Be careful, My squad should have notified me if there are any signs of a breach in the warding spell, master Jin.¡± ¡°What? So these guys are not normal civilians? ¡± ¡°Yes, these guys might be assassins too. I don¡¯t know why there are doing this but we can¡¯t let them do what they want.¡± ¡°Then they are doing it poorly, an assassin strikes from the shadows, not head on. In any case, let me ask them what are they doing here.¡± ¡°Just stay alert master as they might launch a surprise attack.¡± ¡°I know that and I¡¯m not a fool.¡± Jin casually walked towards the suspicious people to inquire on who they are and what are they doing here. ¡°Hey there, Can I ask you guys on what are you doing here? This place is restricted to civilians in case you¡¯re not aware.¡± ¡°...¡± No answer. Those suspicious people just stood in front of Jin and looked upon him from head to toe to verify who was talking in front of them. ¡°Err¡­ Can I have some response? It¡¯s hard when you guys don¡¯t give me a proper answer.¡± ¡°Target acquired. Preparing to dispose of the target.¡± ¡°?!!¡± A robotic voice just responded to him as their eyes glow unnaturally red. Jin saw this and reacted instantly by making a step back from those hostile entities. ¡°Master, Watch out!¡± *Clink* *Clank* ¡°Tsk!¡± Mechanical sounds were emitted from the suspicious individual¡¯s hands as it transformed into a huge magical cannon that was capable of blasting bodies into pieces. ¡° infused automatons! Solesia! Notify the Opaque Squad and search for other enemies!¡± (Where the hell did they come from? Disguise and went along the crowd? Damn it I don¡¯t know! I¡¯m starting to overthink again!) ¡°Already done master! They are now moving to search the area, Master?¡± ¡°Ah! No time to think where they come from! Solesia cover me, I will subdue those automatons.¡± Jin immediately brushed of those thoughts as he prepared himself for combat but the automatons were already ready due to his overthinking for a moment. A very deadly weakness of Jin that he develop all over these years of fighting against stronger enemies. ¡°Cannons ready for combat. Fire at will.¡± ¡°Like hell, I will let you do whatever you want.¡± Without any kind of preparatory invocations, sparks and flares instantly appeared from his right hand as he thrust it forward against those automatons. ¡°Burn!¡± *Spark* *Boom* Loud explosions were heard inside the warding spell that signaled the start of a fierce battle between the automatons and Jin.