《Munivit Anima》 Prologue 1 Greed, Destruction and Hope Part 1 Year 3789 A.C. (Age of Changes) The world of Istrus is at war. Humanity has been divided into two nations, those in favor of slavery (Entros) and those who are against it (Resvos). Resvus with the backings of the Beastkins, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves and the Demons fought bravely for the sake of equality and every ounce of human spirit left in their heart, but not every honorable cause can give us the happy end. The Emperor of Entros believed for humanity to gain true peace and reach a new height, they must become superior to other races and make them submit to prevent any disagreement to their future plans. The other reason is something is holding back all of their research that will give humanity one step closer to perfection. They don¡¯t have humanlike test subjects and that¡¯s where slavery comes into play. With the use of slaves they can dissect them, they can research why the Elves has a very long lifespan, they can research why the beastkins are so swift, why the Orcs are so strong, why the Demons can use Powerful magic with ease and why Humans doesn¡¯t have those gifts. Year 3700 Zion the Emperor of Entros march 800,000 soldiers across the continent of Reha to capture every race they encounter. The Elves and the Beastkins fought together to stop the Emperor¡¯s madness but lost due to the overwhelming numbers of the soldiers. The Demons who refuse to cooperate with the other race also lost for the same reason. Their fate is now inevitable, with the great number of races that were captured and became slave, Entros began their research and in three years they discovered new magic, new cure, how they can prolong their lives even just for a little, how to strengthen their physical strength by implanting cells from other race. During those times it seems like nobody can stop the rise of Humanity. Part 2 Humanity became so prosperous and powerful but what they don¡¯t know that despite all these achievements they lost the very essence of their existence, their own Humanity. Driven and drunk by power, humans scattered all around the continent, taking everything they want from the other race. Raping and killing them, enslaving them to build houses, farms and everything. One man tried to change all of this. General Nathan who saw these madness convince some of the council that humanity have gone the wrong way and the must immediately fix their own mistakes by stopping slavery and letting them go back home and to officially apologize and compensate for all the cruelty that the humans have done to them. Some of the council were convince but advised General Nathan that it¡¯s impossible because the Emperor would never allow it and opposing the Emperor is equal to death, nobody thinks it¡¯s a good idea but the General request an audience with the king by using his authority. ¡°The 28th General of the great Empire of Estros, General Nathan is entering the Emperor¡¯s audience chamber¡± Said by the soldier who just came in and told the Emperor. ¡°Hmm.. Let him in.¡± said by the Zion with little care. Nathan who just entered by the permission of the emperor bowed his head and was about to speak. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.¡°Your highness¡­¡± ¡°I already heard it from my advisors. No need to explain¡± ¡°Then do you accept my proposal?¡± By these words the Emperor narrowed his eyes to the General then spoke ¡°Do you think just by returning those slaves, apologizing, and compensating will make them happily forgive us? Especially the Demon race, do you think they¡¯ll be happy and just forget everything? Tell me General, tell me. ¡± At this point Nathan felt a cold sweat ran through his back. He feels like the Emperor is about to kill him just by gazing at him. ¡°But your highness, It will be a step closer for us to fix our own relationship with them and by time they may forgive us and again we can live in harmony with them. Your highness, with all my respect, we have gone the wrong path. I believe now is the time to correct our own mistakes. ¡± The Emperor knows that if he agree with this, all the research will be halted and his dreams to be the most powerful being and reach immortality will be gone. ¡°Naive. General we are already superior to them and little by little we are becoming the perfect race, we can¡¯t stop now. If it means exterminating every race or whoever they are, even if it¡¯s a human so that we can reach perfection, then I will gladly do so.¡± ¡°But-¡± ¡°Leave. NOW.¡± General Nathan by this moment already realized that this person has lost his mind and also delusional to the point that it¡¯s impossible to reason with him so he decided to leave. Part 3 Few years later General Nathan has gathered a lot of people who believed and joined his cause and still keep on recruiting people willing to overthrow the mad Emperor. Nathan has also talked secretly to the Elves, Beastkins, Orcs, Dwarves and even the Demons in which they all agreed to join their forces to overthrow Emperor Zion. After years of preparations General Nathan believed the time has come. So he launched an attack to the eastern continent of Reha and by the combined force of different race they easily defeat the Emperors army that was stationed there. Emperor Zion who received the news was enraged not because they lost but because humans betrayed him , but he knows he can¡¯t act rash because the enemy is the combined forces of races that holds a very deep grudge towards him and his Empire . So he seek the aid of the Dragons At first the Dragons flatly refused him, but they were convinced after Emperor Zion offered the riches of Resvos in the east that were recently invaded by General Nathan and the black diamonds of the demons that can only be found in the demon continent. General Nathan who were overwhelmed by the respect and praises of the other race he saved, He decided to be a king and promised them that all beings will be equal and slavery will be no more after they overthrow the emperor. Thus the continent of Reha has been divided The Empire of Entros in the west and the kingdom of Resvos in the east. Prologue 2 Struggle and Defeat Four years during the war, General Nathan is winning but what he didn¡¯t know that in those four years Emperor Zion has gathered almost all of the Dragons to fight for him and by the year 3789, the Age of Changes has begun. The Dragons launched an attack to all bases of Resvos and by the heat of their flames no single being has survived. King Nathan and the other races were surprised, he never thought the Emperor would find a way and outsmart them. King Nathan fought back with all his might but lost, they never wound even a single Dragon. In just seven days, his kingdom has fallen. After king Nathan was captured, the Emperor was the one who gave him punishment and beheaded him in front of his people and declared that the continent of Reha will never be again divided. All the years of war and effort for freedom of slaves and equality had been put to waste. The elves together with the Beastkins secluded themselves into the deep forest, the Dwarves hid their selves in the volcanoes, The Orcs ran away into the wastelands of the east and the Demons retreated back to the Demon Continent Now that the dragons fulfilled their promise, it¡¯s time for Emperor Zion to fulfill his own. He gave them all the Riches of Resvos, but he had to march his army into the Demon Continent to get black diamonds. Part 4 300,000 of the Human army together with the Dragons marched towards the Demon Continent. After they reached the shore, blood bath has immediately begun, the Dragons devouring the Demon army and the Human army collecting the black diamonds. This will continue for a 120 years. The Demon King Agara was angry and sad. He lost ? of the Demon continent and the Humans doesn¡¯t take prisoners which led the Demons to face extinction, the Demon king has no choice but to use his last resort, The power that might save them. Demon King Agara called all his wisest mages to help summon a soul, give it a body and fight for them to avoid the extinction of the Demon race. During the process Demon King Agara used 70% of his power and now picking a soul that is currently flowing in the dimension of life and death, it is the place where all souls of different world gather before they go to afterlife. Agara noticed something in the soul that currently flowing slowly that looks like it doesn¡¯t want to go, a certain soul full of great pain, regret and anger but at the same time full of conviction, and fortitude. It This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.seems like fortitude is the essence of that soul. ¡°I¡­ never saw something like this before¡­.¡± Compare to the other souls which only contains anger, regret, love, lust or kindness this soul is very unique. ¡°A soul of resilience huh, seems like this person died for what he believe is right. I see, I will take you. ¡± The Demon King took the soul in his palm. ¡°Now, time to make a body.¡± The Demon king was about to create a body, but suddenly his stumbled and fell down. ¡°W¡­what?¡± ¡°Your Highness!¡± The mages tried to help him then Agara said in a low voice. ¡°I used all my power¡­ this is..¡± The soul that was on his palm is now slowly fading as ever second passes by, the dimension of life and death is pulling the soul back. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for me to give it a body in my current state¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± the mages mumbled with the sound of defeat. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll use my remaining power to give instruction to the soul so it will automatically find a host instead of going back to that damn dimension.¡± He poured power into his hand then transfer it to the soul. ¡°Now go¡­ Find a host¡­ Find a mother that will give birth to you.¡± The soul as if listening to his words soar towards the sky then immediately travel at very high speed ¡°I guess we have to hold on for several years for our little soul to grow and come to save us¡­ Quickly follow it!¡± ¡°Yes, your Highness!¡± Then several mages started tracking the soul while the others follow the path it took. What the demon king didn¡¯t know, the Humans together with the Dragons has started to retreat because the Dragons are now finally satisfied with the black diamonds they have and the Humans doesn¡¯t want to lose more lives in their ranks so they decided to retreat. Several months later, going back to the Empire of Entros who still ruled by Emperor Zion, who is now semi-immortal thanks to the years of research of magic and the implantation of cells of the different races that maintains his power and physical strength, He can still live for more than 70 years or so. Right now one of his new wives whom they believe infertile is currently pregnant and now giving birth to the 38th Prince of the Empire of Entros. Chapter 1 The Destruction of Earth part 1 "I''m so tired of everything...." There are two man standing on top of the rubble while surrounded by a great number of corpse of both soldiers and civilians. "How many people did i kill in these seven years of war.... I no longer have an idea." "Lieutenant..." A young private beside him whispered. "Hey.." "Yes lieutenant?" The lieutenant look the young private in the eye and said. "I''m willing, perfectly willing to lay down my life for the sake of this country..." "That''s the greatest honor a man can give to it''s country Sir Heins." "Yes... But i want to know what we''re really fighting for." said by Lieutenant Heins in saddened by voice while looking down at the corpse of a young girl. Seven years ago before the war started on Earth, a certain group of terrorist was able to produce their own Nuclear weapons. The UN started to suspect other countries and while UN is busy arguing with their allies, the terrorist was able to sneak a nuke in the deep part of Europe and as a result countless people has lost their lives that day. The European leaders enraged and clouded by their emotions, started to blame Russia. What they didn''t know, the terrorist was able to create Nuclear weapons because they were able to recruit scientist who were willing to fight in the name of Jihad and Russia who is completely innocent about the bombing of Europe, prepared to defend themselves in case of any attacks. The UN decided to break the status quo and decided to deal with Russia and the terrorist, They dispatch aircraft carriers, ground troops and positioned their nuclear arsenal around the Russian border, with this kind of unfair treatment, Russia called to it''s own allies for aid and with the help of it''s allied countries like North Korea and China (Who decided to take the side of the Russians) started to create weapons that will shake the foundation of the earth and will bring humanity into the door of extinction. 3 Months of stand off from both sides which gave them time to prepare everything that they need. Russia started to break it. They started to drop six 100 megaton of Hydrogen bomb which is 2800 times stronger than the atomic bombing of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They drop one bomb per country, Finland was almost destroyed, Turkey,Ukraine,Kazakhstan, Sweden and Poland are all struggling to survive and with death toll of almost four million lives. The bombing will keep on going until half of Europe is destroyed. During those times the UN is struggling to keep with consecutive bombings of their enemies, they can''t sneak an air attack because the moment they reach Russian or Chinese air space they''ll immediately get shut down by the revised and improved weapon of S 400, 3-m 55 Yakhont and Tor m2 . A fresh graduate in the army, Heins Cross due to his superb performance and intellect he was immediately picked to train as Special irregular unit , The job of this unit is usually infiltrate deep into the enemy territory to rescue or kill a certain target but this time it''s special. Heins didn''t know he was being train to transport the new weapon called the [Cobalt Bomb]. the Cobalt bomb is a bomb that can produce a very large radio active fallout and can contaminate a very large area, when the bomb explodes the cobalt would then condense and fall back to Earth with the dust and debris from the explosion, contaminating the ground. the neutrons produced by the explosion would transmute the cobalt to the radioactive isotope cobalt-60 (60Co), which would be vaporized by the explosion. Basically it was designed for radio active contamination to last for a very long time. They intend to make Russia, China and all of the enemy territory to become lifeless and Heins doesn''t have a singe idea about this. Heins a person with such discipline and fortitude, he always thought he''s in the side of the right cause, to save his country and the earth from total destruction he will not a fail any mission, but he''ll be the one to cause a total destruction that will wipe out almost all life on earth. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. After his training, he and his team of five is now ready to enter the enemy territory. Their mission is to make a way for the truck''s cargo to reach the borders between Kazakhstan ,Russia and China and kill all enemy that will ambush them, they were told that this might be a one way ticket but instead of being sad, his team were actually happy because if they succeed this mission, the tides of war will change and their life is a small price to pay if it means victory against the enemy. During the mission they were able to sneak in without being detected thanks to the help of new technologies that are keeping them from being detected, they were able to leave the cargo between the borders of Kazakhstan and China, now all that''s left is to leave the remaining cargo in the border of Russia. After they reach the Russian border something unexpected happened, they were suddenly attack by drones that are patrolling the area, Heins commanded his team to prepare to attack he sent 2 of his men to hide and snipe from a distance while he and his remaining men will lure the enemy away from the cargo. When his men started to move, Heins took his Barret REC7 and started firing at the drones to give cover his team, then after he thinks they''re clear he started a retreat and cover until he reach the back of the tree. There are currently 7 drones flying in the air they have to finish them before Enemy reinforcement arrive. Heins was able to lure them now all they need to do is finish the enemy. He noticed 2 drones coming near him, He decided to wait until the enemy enter into his range, one of the drone fired a missile towards the nearby tree where Heins is hiding and the explosion almost pushed him back but he was able to get a hold of himself. "Shit.. they''re still far.. I can''t shoot them in this distance." While he is currently thinking hard, a third drone appeared from the top of the tree and currently aiming at him Heins who heard something immediately look above and saw drone who started to fire at him, at his surprise he jumped to the side and quickly aimed his Barret to the drone and started firing it, the drone was hit then explodes, Heins felt relieved he survived that but now he is totally expose to the other two drones. Heins decided to fire up his smoke grenade hoping to cover himself while he thinks of a way to deal with them. He double checked what kind of weapons he currently have, tight now he have three M67 grenades and one smoke grenade left, he must use those weapons wisely. Heins threw one grenade to cause diversion then after the explosion he quickly dash below the enemy drone, the drone failed to see him because of the smoke and the explosion so Heins took that chance to attack, aiming with his Barret he kept shooting the drone until it explodes, looking at the defeated drone he grinned because now it will be much easier he locked his eye to the remaining drone then took his two M67 grenades, pulled the pin of the two grenades and he holds it for two seconds then threw it upward toward the remaining drone then he started running with all his might. [BOOOOM!!] An explosion can be heard behind him, Heins didn''t bother looking back and just keep on running until he feels safe. Chapter 2 The Destruction of Earth part 2 Pretty long chapter this time, that contains almost 2700 characters. Enjoy guys! :D -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After he reached a safe area, he quickly tried to look for his team mates. He confirmed through the radio that his two sniper were able to take down two drones and his three other team mates were able to shot down the remaining drones. Heins began to issue a command. "Let''s regroup. It''s time for us to position the cargo." "Yes sir!" Even Heins didn''t know what''s inside the cargo and it''s impossible to take peek since it was protected by layers of different armor, but to Heins that didn''t matter because right now they have to finish the mission that was given to them. After Heins and his team meet up with each other they began to carry the cargo outside of the truck. "This is so heavy, i wonder what''s inside?" One of the soldiers asked. "It might be some kind of new bomb but even if it''s a bomb it''s impossible to reach Moscow and Beijing, unless it''s stronger than the Tsar bomb." Heins answered with a wry smile. But the UN will never allow this kind of bomb, a bomb stronger than the Tsar bomb would be very hard to imagine and i doubt democratic countries would allow something like this. Heins remembered when the UN dropped their first Nuclear bomb in Europe, It made quite a fuss from countries administered by UN and sparks some political argument. "But whatever is inside this cargo, i believe this will help us win the war i mean they wouldn''t let us infiltrate this deep if this cargo wouldn''t help us to change the tide of war." Heins added in the end. After a few minutes all preparation are complete one of his team mates called to Heins. "Sir, the code" "Ah! Yes." Another part of the security is a code that only one person knows in this operation and that is Heins. This layer of security was added just in case Heins fail their mission and the cargo would fall into the hands of the enemies, if they forcefully try to open it, it will initiate the self destruct command so even if they fail this mission it''s both a win/win situation for the UN. "Done. Now let''s leave this place before i trigger the activation program." Before Heins and his team can activate the cargo they must first reach Uzbekistan for safety. "Hey, don''t forget to position a camera 2 miles away from here. We need to see if the cargo is a dud or not" Heins and his team began to leave. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Few hours after they reached Uzbekistan they were met by some high UN officials, they were glad that no one died during that operation but they didn''t have time to rest and were quickly led to the underground base. Right now all of them are looking at the big monitor and one of the official gave the signal to Heins to trigger the activation program. "So this is the moment of truth." He took out the small computer tablet and began to activate it. "Activation in 3....2....1.." After the countdown an explosion happened. The entire monitor i became completely white and after a few seconds it began to show the after math of the explosion. "Huh... That''s it?" Heins was dumbfounded. Looking at the screen there was completely no damage, even the trees didn''t even get destroyed. Basically it was underwhelming but then.... """""Woooooh!""""" Suddenly everyone in the underground base is celebrating. "Congratulations Lieutenant! You just change the fate of this war!" One of the official said to him with a big smile, It seems like he''s really happy. "W-what?" Heins didn''t know how to react. The official noticed Heins expression and remembered that they were not told what were inside those cargos. "That explosion just now.... was the Cobalt bomb." Before Heins even ask the official said it with a serious face. "Wait...How did a Cobalt bomb exist? The structures, effects and composition of the elements needed are only theories and no one even dared to make it.... How on earth... " "The Cobalt Bomb theory is now a reality. Now that we managed to detonate in the Enemies borders, An intense fall out is expected to happen causing a dose rate of 10 sv (Sieverts) per hour " The official doesn''t seem like to be joking and Heins began to grasp the situation. "So if a person got exposed to that level then it would die within 30 mins." Heins began to have a cold sweat then said in a low voice. "Then if that''s true, not just Russia and China or N. Korea would be affected even the nearby countries would become a deadman''s land within a few days. " "That doesn''t matter. If you''re worrying about Mongolia or Kazakhstan, those countries were long dead since the Tsar bombing of Russia " The official said it in a cold tone. He''s actually right, those countries were long dead since the Tsar bombing started. "......Then what are going to do next..." After a long pause Heins decided to ask. "Since the detonation of two Cobalt bomb is a success. They might send you to deal with the terrorist next, The Russians and the Chinese are done for." After issuing the command the official returned to his companions to continue celebrating. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 days after the Cobalt Bombing, the contamination spreads throughout Russia and some Southeast Asian Countries. Though the Chinese discovered that the unusual death was caused by a high level of radio active contamination, they can''t do anything to defend against it. Most officials are locked up inside some underground facilities and some tried to leave the main land but getting exposed to the radiation would be instant death so most of them wasn''t able to leave. They can''t even send some soldiers outside of fight because they would be dead before a they even fire a bullet, but this didn''t stop their loyalty and love for the country to stop fighting. [If our great nation will fall then we would take our enemies with us] Those were the words of their leaders knowing what awaits them is death since they can''t stay underground forever. They sent their best pilots to drop all the Tsar bomb into the Enemy territories. The UN believes that the Russians and the Chinese can no longer fight so they didn''t focus all their attention to them and now busy dealing with the terrorist and that''s one of their mistakes four weeks after the Cobalt bombing the Russians together with the Chinese and N. Koreans launched the largest air bombing into the UN territories. They dropped 168 Hydrogen bomb throughout the entire Asia and Europe and that will be their last offensive attack forever. 168 Hydrogen bomb would consist 16,800 megaton and shocked the UN officials. Their enemies launched an offensive strive not to defeat them but to destroy the earth itself. Everyone is doing their best to rescue survivors, even Heins knows that even they survive this it doesn''t guarantee that they will be safe in the future and when everyone thinks it couldn''t get any worse, it did gets worse. The Contamination of the Cobalt bombing is quickly spreading around the globe, no one is safe from the hands of death, quickly killing everyone that gets contaminated no one would be able to survive. The contamination that started in the borders of Russia and China was able to reach even Alaska to Argentina. The UN started blaming each other for the Contamination the countries who voted for the making of the cobalt bomb is now trying to defend themselves from any accusations. The remaining powerful countries decided to leave UN and focus on preserving the their own safety others decided to look who''s responsible and decided to declare war to those suspected countries. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.But Heins is the one who felt the most responsible for it. He''s the one who led the mission and trigger the activation. He always believed that he can save his own country by fulfilling every mission they give him. He believed that by serving the people who are serving the right side will eventually save the world and a true peace can be attain and most of all he believed that by taking the lives of the enemy he can at least give peace to those who died innocently and to those who sacrificed their lives to maintain the peace. But in the end he was just naive. Now that the UN is torn apart, every country is fighting each other taking every resources they can to save their own lives and during the Nuclear winter countless lives has lost. Instead of helping each other, they decided that they must first find who''s responsible for all of this. Countries is not just fighting other countries they''re even fighting their own people, Different kind of revolts happened in different countries, some even decided to drop their nuke into heir own soil. Chaos is controlling everything. It''s been sevens years and nothing has changed in those seven years Heins continued to work in the military. He was sent to kill officials, civilians who were revolting against the government, going into the front line to fight their former allies, going deep into the new enemy country and killing the key commanders he kept doing this until it broke his soul. Heins opened his eyes after remembering all of those things that happened "How many people did i kill in these seven years of war.... I no longer have an idea." "Lieutenant..." A young private beside him whispered. "Hey.." "Yes lieutenant?" The lieutenant look the young private in the eye and said. "I''m willing, perfectly willing to lay down my life for the sake of this country..." "That''s the greatest honor a man can give to it''s country Sir Heins." "Yes... But i want to know what we''re really fighting for." said by Lieutenant Heins in saddened by voice while looking down at the corpse of a young girl. "Are we fighting to save our people and country...... or are we destroying everything that''s left?" he added in the end. "....." The young private beside him can''t say anything . "..... I always thought that i''m saving this country but now that''s impossible" Heins with a shallows eyes whispered. "Sir! There''s still hope... didn''t they recently found a medicine to make you immune from radio active contamination?" The private said it hoping to cheer Heins. "Yeah.. but that happened after so many people died....... from 7 billion population to 2 billion....... if only... the focused on finding cure rather than developing new weapons" "T-that''s!" "Did you finished the thing that i asked you about?" "Ah yes sir, but why would you need something like that?" "To save what''s little left in this world" "W-what?" The young private in asked in a worry. This young private has been with Heins for a long time and also noticed how he changed, Heins is usually a cheerful guy who is great on motivating his team but now he''s just a cold hearted killer. "Let''s go back to base.. i''m tired..." After they reached their base which is located underground Heins quickly asked the private to hand the thing that he asked about earlier and of course the private hand it to him since you can''t defy your superiors orders. Heins went to his room and inside his room there''s a small computer tablet which contains large amount of data about he nuclear facilities all around the world, Heins showed a faint smile while looking at all of those data then started to prepare his self. Later that night Heins Infiltrated one of the nuclear facilities that was located on a small island somewhere in Asia. He was able to easily entire by using his authorities and said to the guards that he was just planning a quick inspection inside. Right now Heins is currently looking at the small monitor in front of him then he took out the flash drive from his pocket that he got from his subordinate, the young private. The flash drive contains a virus that will go online if you upload it into on e the computers that are managing the nuclear weapons, it doesn''t matter if the computer is protected by encrypted password because the virus will do the job to unlock it but that''s not the real job of the virus. It''s job is to connect the Nuclear facility to another facility then hack into it''s system to follow any command from the host, Then after it finished to infect the facility it will automatically find another nuclear facility around the world. Basically this is like a domino effect. Heins looked at the monitor after it gave the message that the all facilities was completely hacked he gave a cold smile. "That young man... it would take me a lot of months to code a strong virus like this but he just made it in few days." While Heins is talking to his self one of a guard open the door and with a surprise expression suddenly ask. "What are you doing sir?" "Hm? Don''t mind me just go back to work" But the guard point his gun at him. "You are not allowed to touched any of that please move yourself from it." After the guard said it a large alarm resounded. [Self Destruct Activated. Countdown will now start. ] After a computer generated voice resounded the facility and shows a two minute countdown the guard began to have a cold sweat while Heins looked at him with an evil smile. "You.... What have you done!... I need back up here and bring one of our technicians no! " "I''m trying to save the our race" "You''re just trying to kill us all!" "Huh? No. If all the nuclear weapons disappeared then humans can focus on saving themselves instead of using their intellect to create new weapons, they can focus on creating new cure. Don''t worry, humans can be very smart at certain times..... but can be also very stupid... They managed to find a cure against the radio active contamination after i used all my influence and power to urge them it took me even 2 years to completely convince them all because they focus too much on making new weapons to destroy their enemies. I can''t believe they''re more worried about how they kill their enemies rather than saving their own people, but don''t worry humanity can survive this" After Heins finished saying those words the reinforcement has finally arrived. "Go! Take him" One of the soldiers charged at him but Heins didn''t even bother to evade. "Guah!" Heins was hit by the back of the guards machine gun and laying on the ground while facing it and a soldier is restraining him from behind. "Hey! Go see if you can stop it." The technician quickly went into the monitor and the countdown now down to 30 seconds. ".. I can''t. The encrypted password has been changed!" The man said while panicking. "Can you hack it?" "No. We don''t have much time." "Hey what''s the password!?" The guard restraining Heins asked in panick! "Hm.. lend me your ear." Heins said so in a calm voice. After the guard put his ear near Heinz, He began to whisper his answer. "You can go fuck yourself." Heins said it with small laugh. Then the countdown reached zero. The entire facility engulfed with a large light not just in that facility but every nuclear related facilities all around the world has self-destruct. Now the all nuclear weapons has been destroyed, They won''t be able to make a these weapons for a long time since all of the nuclear scientists are stationed near the facilities. Humanity will face another nuclear winter but Heins is confident that they''ll be able to survive just like last time. It will take a lot of time for them to recover but with this total extinction has been avoided. Heins died believing in the good capabilities of Humanity. Chapter 3 New life; Second Chance Enjoy Smile ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the land of Istrus and inside the Empire of Entros the 38th prince was born. His name is Flint Entros his mother is named Eliz Entros the 21st wife of Emperor Zion. Everybody thought she was infertile that''s why most nobles in the empire were shocked when they heard the news. Eliz Entros former name was Eliz Maves she came from the family of lower noble and she never thought she would become the one of the Emperor''s wives, though she didn''t love the emperor, she doesn''t have a choice but to accept him because his family was also urging her not to decline and there are also a lot of benefits that her family can get from it. When she became pregnant, it gave her such happiness, not because it''s the Emperor''s child, but because she was given a chance to have her own child and raise it by her own. She was glad what the doctor said about her being infertile is not true. She promised herself that she will raise the child to become a kind-hearted person as her mother did to her. In the past five years after the child was born, she gave the child so much love and care, she is raising the child they way her mother raised her and she was happy that the child was really the exceeding all her expectations. When the child turned five years old, he showed promising potentials he was able to speak fluently and was able to write perfectly though right now the child can''t speak other than the human language, it''s still a remarkable progress. In terms magic the child can''t show any potential, but of course, considering the child is just five years old, it''s no surprise since only at the age of 10 you can see if they have magical potential or not that''s what she thought to herself. The Empire building is a very large structure where all the wives of the emperor including some of his subjects are living. If we think about the size, it would be a size of a small city that''s how large the Empire building is, and located at the top floor of the Empire building is the Emperors personal Chamber and below is the Emperor''s Audience chamber. The design of the Emperors building is superb, outside was different gardens with different designs inspired from the Elve''s forest, the garden doesn''t have any trees, but there are a lot of flowers of different kind and in that garden a child named Flint is having a rest while enjoying the scenery. "Sigh.... So I got another chance to live again, huh." I can''t believe what happened to me, i never thought such could happen. I died and was given a chance again to live in this world though it''s different from earth at least i have a better life here. Not every can be born as a prince you know? Right now my body is five years old, but I had my own consciousness when i was five and a half, at first i was surprised because i thought was reincarnated in earth and thought ''I''ll live this terrible world again.'' but i''m glad that wasn''t the case. It turned out that this world is different and i''m glad about it, when i officially turned five i didn''t waste any time and immediately ask my gentle mother to teach me how to read because human writings and language are different here, i don''t know why i can speak the human language of this world, but maybe I learned it when i was a kid. After mother taught me how to read she became really happy because i was able to learn it easily but well, i can''t tell her that her son is a reincarnated person. "Heeey~ Flint~" While i''m immersing myself with my own thoughts my mother came to my side with a gentle smile and in her right hand has a plate full of cookies and in her left hand holds to bottles of juice. She''s really a gentle mother and while looking at her i remember my mother in Earth, she was also a loving parent, she always gives me some lunchboxes and always give me some advice, i also remember the time when she came rushing to the hospital when i got myself into an accident though she gave me so much love and care i always ignore here because i''m so busy training in the military and busy studying all kinds Martial Arts, Battle Strategy and everything that involves killing a person. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. My mother in my past life always sent me letters asking how I was, asking how she misses me so much and always trying to give me a call even thought it''s not allowed to give call to someone who''s currently training in the military. Yeah, she''s a persistent mother so i decided to reply one of her letters and told her to stop bothering and that she''s starting to annoy me and obstructing me to become a better soldier. After a few days, i sent that letter a reply came. I sigh in frustration because she didn''t learn her lesson, but i still took the letter and read the contents. She wrote that she''s sorry because she''s bothering me and wrote that she won''t bother me until a graduate, but again the contains showing how much she love me and it annoys me a bit, but in the last part of the letters she said ''My son, always remember that i love you and I''ll always watch over you. Please always take a good care of yourself.'' that line gave me chills for some reason, but I ignored it, maybe next time i''ll call her and tell her that even though i act like that to her she''s still a good mother to me, But that call will never happen.... A few days since her last letter she died. I discovered later that she was fighting an incurable disease and it gave my heart a great regret and sadness I can''t help but blame myself. She''s the kind of mother that will always ask how am i doing, am i healthy, did i eat my lunch, did i sleep well or did i brush my teeth. She was a very caring mother, but I on the other hand never bothered to ask if she''s doing well or if she''s healthy. Now that i think about it i never had the chance to to tell her ''I love you''. If i die again and meet her in the afterlife, I want to tell her how much I love her. "Flint... Why are you crying?" Eliz, my mother in this different world asked me in a worry. "Ah! Nothing mom... I''m just happy that you love me so much, by the way, the cookies are delicious." I draw near her and hugged her tightly while saying those words "Fufu.. Of course i made that just for you" My mother Hugged me even tighter while having a big smile on her face. I decided at least in this world, I''ll take good care of my mother and show her how much i love her. As an atonement of my shortcoming to my mother in my past life, this is the least i can do... "I''m so sorry mother and i love you... Thank you for everything." I whispered in mouth those words are for both my mother in my past life in this present life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After we finished eating all the cookies, my mother said something "By the way Lia together with her mother will come today, so I hope you can play well with her again." "Ah yes" Lia is my half older sister, she''s two years older than me but all she does every time she comes here with her mother, she always cuddles with me. "Mother, can you tell Lia to stop cuddling with me every time we meet?" "Well... I can''t do anything about that because she''s very fond of you since you''re so cute hehe." My mother said while blushing. I sigh in surrender to her response Chapter 4 The Priestess Fox Encounter "Fliiiiiiiiint~" A girl with a blue hair and a slightly tall build run towards Flint. "W-wait. What? You''re already here?" She''s supposed to be here later not now. I look at mother while saying those to myself. "Seems like she can''t wait to see you." I sigh after hearing my mother''s word while looking closely at her, i noticed that she''s wearing the usual outfit whenever she visit me. She''s wearing a violet dress with some lily design etched on the upper layer of the dress and there''s also a flower that''s currently attached into her hairpin on the right side of her beautiful blue hair. I stand up and walked towards her, but she suddenly came flying at me. "Hey! Don''t do th-" Before i can even finish my words i quickly positioned my body to catch her. "You know, I don''t mind if you always come visit me everyday, but do you always have to come jumping at me every time you see me? Also, stop hugging i can''t move" I gently separate my body from her and told her those words. "I don''t have anyone to play with and our older brothers and sisters are all busy" Lia and i were the youngest in our siblings the older person next to us is Prince Kyle, who is currently seventeen years old and impossible to play with us because he''s busy studying both magic and swordsmanship. If you''re wondering why all of our siblings are busy, that''s because they''re all competing for the throne, just because you''re not the first prince it doesn''t mean you don''t have the rights to become the next Emperor. If you prove yourself to be the strongest and the wisest of your siblings, then obviously you are the next Emperor and this is the reason why our siblings don''t have a close relationship with each other. Lia and I are different though. "Aren''t you supposed to come with your mother?" "Well mama said she''s coming later, so I told her that I will go first!" My mother and Lia''s mother are pretty close, maybe because both of their age is close to each other so they often come here to have dinner with us or gossiping with each other, We''ll they''re both females so gossip is practically normal to them so don''t think that they''re the worst! "I''ll go inside the Mansion first, i need to sign some documents. Don''t go wandering anywhere okay~?" ""Okaaayy~"" My mother went inside while holding the empty plates and empty bottles. By the way, me and my mother''s place is located in the far end of the Empire''s building. "So Flint where should we go today?" "Oh. How about we go outside to see the world?" After i said those words Lia immediately pouted. "How many times do i have to say that we''re not allowed to go outside the Empire''s building!" "Yep. That''s right, I''m a Prince, but i can''t even get out of this place." "That''s the reason why you can''t get outside!" She''s actually right the reason i''m not allowed to go outside because they said it would be dangerous for me, but there are places in the Empire''s building where even a Prince isn''t allowed to go. I want to know more about this world and i''m tired of reading books i can''t even train my body because obviously this body is just seven years old. "I wanna see some other race! I wanna see some Elves or Beastkins!" That''s one of the reasons why i want to go outside, being able to see such mythical race that only exist in the books of my past life. I really wanna see them. "....." Lia gave a sharp glare at me "What?" "You''d rather play with those races whom you didn''t even meet rather playing with me! Your big sister is angry!" Actually, that''s not the reason, but knowing that i can''t win against her i just sighed in defeat. "Let''s go to the usual place then" After i said that Lia showed a big smile. We are both walking towards the library when suddenly we heard some of the guards talking about something. "So the Fox priestess has come here today?" One of the soldier uttered to his subordinate. "Yeah, seems like she''s, here again to plead the Emperor to release her kin which recently became slaves" The other soldier answered while eating some bread. Hmm... Interesting, I told Lia to go first and wait for me in front of the library. I made an excuse that i need to go to the restroom first and after hearing my excuse she nod her head then she resumed walking towards the library. As for me, i walked directly towards the guards. "Hey, mister?" I tugged one of the guard sleeves and asked "Who is the Fox priestess?" "Hm? Ah, it''s you our little Prince." The guard gently smiled at me while the other guard who''s currently eating answered my question. "She''s the Fox priestess of the Stilk Forest and she''s here to plead your father to release her kin." As I talk with them, I began to understand the whole situation. Basically, some of the Demi-Human foxes were captured by slave traders and one of the nobles that are serving the Emperor bought them from the merchants. The Fox priestess immediately came here even though she knows that the Capital is full of slave hunters and she might become the next victim. If you''re wondering why the priestess wants to talk directly to the emperor, it''s because when the priestess tried to talk to the noble who bought the slaves, the noble said that he''ll release the slaves in exchange for her body and she have to become the noble''s personal slave. So priestess is coming, here again, to make terms with the emperor even though she failed three times already. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Mister, what''s the name of the noble?" "His name is Ressy Trus" The guard answered without having a suspicion. "I see, thanks mister!" Ressy Trus i only met him once, but he''s quite old i don''t think he can even get hard, but maybe if he uses some magic to temporarily make his thing hard then it isn''t possible. Since i don''t follow such stupid thing like slaver, maybe i''ll deal with this issue later. After i meet up with Lia we entered the library together. "So what do you want to try today Lia?" "I want to know how to create fire." "Fire? ...Are you sure? You might end up burning this place." Me and Lia are training her magic today since i can''t emit any magic yet what i do is read the instructions written in the book while she concentrate on emitting the mana and incantations. So far she can use low rank magic like making an object float or making the water move a little bit. Although usually when you reach 10 years old your body will naturally start to emit mana but in her case her body started emitting mana when she was just six so maybe she''s special. "Yes, i know but of course we''ll be very careful", She said while puffing out her chest. "I see then try burning this paper, The instructions are....." After i told her the instructions and the incantations a small fire began to lit up in both of her palms "I made a fire! yay~" "It''s not over yet, start burning the paper." After i told her that she began to command the fire that is currently floating in her palm to burn the paper then suddenly the fire extends it''s range and burned the paper completely. "Hey flint, I did it! I did it!" "Yeah, yeah stop hugging my head! I''ll do this instead." After i said that i managed to release myself from her then i started patting her head. "Huee~ so niiiice~" she whispered those words while i''m patting her. We continue to try different magic for a few hours then decided to call it a day. "Ahh, the sun is already setting" Seems like she didn''t expect to stay in the library for several hours. While we''re on our way back we saw the Fox Priestess together with some of her followers. The Fox priestess has a white hair and fur, She have 4 tails and she''s extreeeeeemely beautiful, her eyes with long eye lashes and magnificent pale skin anyone can tell that she takes care of her skin very well. How could such a beautiful person exists! Now i know why the noble Ressy Trus wants her, she wear something like a pinkish white Yukata but it''s a revealing version of that clothe but the one thing that really caught my attention were her large breast and if you look carefully it seems like those breast were about too spill out from the dress. No man would be able to resist her. "Such magnificent breast.." i murmured that to myself, but suddenly Lia stomp my feet then hit the back of my head. "Ouch! Why did you do that!?" I asked her while holding the back of my head. "How could you! You already have me yet you still look at another girl!" She shouted while having a teary eye "Huh? I have you? You''re my sister it''s not like we''re lovers and beside we''re still both kids." I answered with no hesitation. "You idiot!!!!" She stomped my feet one last time then ran away from me. "Sigh........ Really? guess i''ll talk to her later and i''m pretty sure she''ll cuddle up with me after i apologize to her....Sigh... " I looked back to the Fox priestess and her subordinate and they''re already began moving. "Guess i''ll follow them for now" I silently followed them from behind. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Lia reached her home she lock up her self in her own room. While hugging her own pillow she remembered Flint''s words ''Huh? I have you? You''re my sister it''s not like we''re lovers and beside we''re still both kids.'' Then Lia said to herself "No. Flint you''re only mine" she hugged the pillow tighter the began saying "YOU''RE ONLY MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!MINE!" Lia kept saying those words until she fell asleep. Chapter 5 Decision I kept on following them until we reach the Emperor''s audience chamber, i hid my presence with the knowledge of my past life and actually i''m surprised it was effective. I believe there is another way of hiding your presence by using magic, but i can''t even use magic yet so it''s impossible for me to use that spell. "Hmm.. So this is the audience chamber...." There are quite a several people inside, but the Emperor isn''t present yet so i was able to blend in with the noble without them noticing that i''m a Prince. The Audience Chamber gives you the feeling of awe. The walls have the same color of gold and the light of the sunset reflect from the big windows which make the room brighter and the walls are releasing a gold color glow. The floor is made of yellowish ceramic tiles, but in the center of the floor, there''s a big red gem embedded on it and i wonder why would they place such valuable gem on the floor, there''s no carpet placed on the floor but you can see a lot of different carvings and designs. If you look in front, in the higher section of the room there are currently five empty seats and in the center of those five is probably the Emperor''s seat because it has more imposing designs. I placed my attention back to the Priestess and her subordinates. They''re currently feeling anxious by the gazes of the surrounding nobles. "Came here to plead again?" One of the nobles said it with a grin. "No. Maybe she''s here offering her body this time." Uttered by the small noble who''s currently locking his gaze to the priestess bosoms and the priestess who felt unease about it and tried to cover her body. After a few minutes the Emperor together with four of my siblings entered the room and when everyone noticed them, they immediately bowed their heads until the Emperor reach his seat, actually i''m the only one who didn''t bow down and since i''m still small nobody noticed it. When the Emperor is finally seated, he immediately look at the priestess with a disparage gaze, though he didn''t say anything yet you can feel the heaviness and cold presence around him, his eyes are empty and i have a good idea what cause this guy to turn out like this. It''s my first time to see the Emperor personally, i saw some paintings of him, but that wasn''t enough to give me a full impression on him, but now that he''s right in from me, i can tell that this guy is actually very strong, i''m on the far end of the room, but i can feel so much murderous intent leaking out from him. But priestess did not waver and stepped in forward. "Your Majesty! Show your mercy upon my people, please let them go." The priestess was bowing her head while saying those words. Silence filled the room for a few seconds, then the Emperor spoke. "...You know very well that the only thing keeping me from making you a slave is because i don''t need any slaves to use for now. I can send you as a give to any nobles, but i didn''t do it as a respect for your courage to come all the way here just to meet me, But now you''re starting to annoy me and maybe i''ll just make you a slave and send to someone as a gift" When the priestess heard those words her fox ears twitched in fear, but she didn''t show it to her face and without bowing her head she continued to speak with the Emperor. "...I''ll do anything to save my kin..." "Hooo... I heard that one of my subjects, Ressy Trus asked for your body, but you refused and took your chances to speak with me just to save them. Do expect to find a different solution " The Emperor voiced out in a mocking tone. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "I''ll tell you this, It''s impossible for a mere Beastkin to make a bargain with me and if you ever try to request an audience with me again, then you and your kin will personally die in my hands" with tone full of disgust Emperor Zion gave his answer to the priestess fox. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Wow, that was quite a show. I never thought The Emperor of this big empire is an asshole." I said it to myself while waiting for the Priestess to come outside with her subordinates. After her audience with the emperor i quickly get out of the room to avoid noticing by him, i don''t want to associate with the emperor as possible as i can since he didn''t even bother visiting my mother or Lia''s mother, i''ll do the same to him. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with that guy. When i saw the priestess came out of the room, I noticed that her subordinate is panicking or some reason so i decided to get close and listen to them. "Priestess Selyn you can''t...." The oldest Beast-Fox said worryingly. "It''s the only way.... If my body and life can save them, then I''ll have no choice but to do it..." The Priestess with a voice full of dejection responds to him. "....There must be another way.." He replied back while closing his eyes, seems like he doesn''t want to see the sad expression of their priestess. The priestess was supposed to say something again, but then she noticed me. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" After she noticed me, she asked me in a worry. "Uhm.. I''m lost? Maybe?... Ah yeah, that''s right, I''m lost." I gave an unconvincing excuse to her. I just can''t suddenly tell her that i''m a prince because they might suddenly kidnap me and make a bargain with the Emperor and i don''t want to worry my mother. "You should talk to some of the guards. Surely they''ll help you find your way back." She gently said those words to me with a smile and patted my head, but a person''s eye can''t lie, i know right now she''s in sorrow and i at least want to do something for her. "Uhm... Yeah, i''ll find a guard and ask them for help" I pretended to leave, but of course when i reach a good distance i''ll keep on following them. "Umm.... Be careful on your way back okay?" While I''m leaving, she suddenly said those words. It seems like she''s a very caring person to worry to a stranger like me. I smiled back to her in response. After i managed to have a distance with them, I again hid my presence and follow them. One of the guards is escorting them and i suspect that they''re heading to the noble Ressy''s place. While following them, i began to make my plan. It''s true that i won''t gain anything by helping them, but you don''t need a good reason to help someone do you? Maybe one of the reasons is because slavery disgust me so much. Slavery is a thief, it takes everything from a person, their choice, their chance to prosper, their honor and take even the future of peace because slavery will only bare hatred into the hearts of the sufferers. Chapter 6 Sacrifice We entered the mansion of the noble called Ressy Trus, I came to a decision that the only way to save my kin is to offer my own body to him, i''m scared but more than anything my love for my kind is what''s giving me the courage to keep on moving and i came from a far place just to save them, failure is unacceptable. After i went inside i can''t help but look at the surroundings, the walls are painted with plain white and there''s nothing else worth mentioning , this place is just so normal in fact too normal for a noble. A few seconds later our escort went outside and Ressy Trus went outside of his room to greet us, in a first look you can already tell that this noble is too old and made me wonder why does he wish for my body, but then i realized that humanity is a race that exceeded all expectations, so maybe he just look old from the outside. The noble carefully looked at me and little by little i can see his lips forming a disgusting grin and from his eyes, I can see a strong lust, rather worrying to myself i am more worried about my kin the he bought from the merchants . I bowed my head to him and softly asked. "Can i see my people?" "Hmm.... Maybe after you put this collar into your neck." He grinned, then presented a slave collar from his hands. The collar is black with a blue gem in the center, the blue gems job is to suck every mana from the body of the slave to prevent them from doing anything dangerous towards their own master. I carefully took the collar, but didn''t put it yet, he looked at me puzzled, but i ignored that and spoke to him. "I want to see them first." "....Very well, but you alone can follow me into the basement" "What!? No! We''re coming too, what if you do something unreasonable." The oldest of my subordinate and one of my trusted retainer named Donovan yelled in anger. "Look. If you don''t agree into my terms then forget about getting back your kin and if you yell like that again then i''''ll have no choice but to call my guards outside and forcefully kick you out." The noble Ressy annoyingly responded to him. "Ugh.. But even so, We can''t let the Priestess go alone!" Donovan even though he threatened, still insist on coming with me. "...Fine, but only you and Priestess alone and if you do something funny, i''ll immediately kill those slaves. " The noble took out his arm and showed us the bluish bracelet that was attached to it. That bracelet is called the master''s armlet, it has it''s own mana flowing in the gems that were engrave in the bracelet and by using the mind to command the mana you can give directly give acute to severe pain or even death to the one who''s wearing the slave''s collar. "Very well, Priestess please stay behind me." "Y-yes." The Noble began to walk, then led us to a room near the kitchen, then after entering that room i saw a small rectangular door on floor, located in the edge of the room and the noble slowly walk near it and opened it. "They are located here, let''s go" The noble entered first, then Donavan followed after him while i''m walking behind him. We finally reached the basement and what met our eyes our my several of my kin, the females were completely naked and lying on the floor and the men were locked up in a metal cage, one would quickly noticed that they haven''t treated well and the some of the men were heavily wounded, it looks like the tried to resist or escape from this place, i can''t help but feel sad just imagining it and before the tears began to accumulate in my eyes the noble suddenly spoke. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Some of them tried to escape... And I had to punish them" "What did you do to them?" I placed my gaze towards the female fox that is currently lying on the floor while asking him. "When they tried to escape, we managed to capture them, but some of my guards were wounded so as a reward i let them do what they want to them.... Are you sure you want me to say the exact things they did?" The noble''s response angered me, controlled by emotions i began to gather mana in my body, but then he just smiled and showed me the master''s armlet. I regained my senses after i saw it, but Donavan wasn''t able to get a hold of his self. "You! I''m going to kill you here right now!" Donavan tried to grab him, but suddenly the Beastkins around us yelled in agony. """"""Ugraaah!"""""" "W-what!?" Donavan was dumbfounded. "Are you stupid? I''m the one who holds their life, I can decide whether to kill them or not, so i suggest you become a little bit careful.... And now my Priestess... " He looked at me then point at the collar that i''m holding. "Their collar will automatically release them after you put that i know that you might not believe me, but I''m still a noble and I don''t break promises. After you put it on I''ll personally escort your kin outside the empire building, of course, you can see them off if you want. " Right now... Isn''t the time to hesitate i have to quickly save them and treat their wounds. I looked at the collar one more time and I slowly put it on my neck...... Then after a few seconds a bluish light engulfed my body, then suddenly i can feel my mana getting sucked, my body started to become weaker and my tails are shivering from the short pain. I found myself falling on one knee and started to pant. "Don''t worry, that''s only temporary, you''ll get to it soon hehe." Ignoring his words i looked at my people and i felt glad that the collar on their neck is no more. Others didn''t realize what just happened and began to make some noise, but as soon as they saw me and the collar on my neck they began to realize what happened. "Priestess.... Why?" "Priestess?" "Don''t.... tell me" Words began to create noise in the surroundings, but i smiled to them and said "Everything''s going to be fine.. Donavan please.." Donavan who was completely silent for a while, nodded and walk to them and began to heal them. "Now.... I want to test if it''s completely working" The noble mumbled something and stare at my breast. "....For now, get naked." for a few seconds i didn''t get what he''s trying to say, but then I realized tha i am now his own personal slave. "If you won''t do anything, i''ll get my guards and kill all your kin here instead of using the master''s armlet to punish you...." He seriously said with those words while his eyes are full of lust. "I-i understand." Chapter 7 Escape After the priestess entered the noble''s mansion i began to make my own move. First, I need to take out the guards, i first thought of making them faint, but right now the strength of this body is incapable of doing that so one way is to kill them one by one, slashing and stabbing their neck is a lot easier than hitting them at the back of their neck, but here''s the problem, there are currently ten guards outside the noble''s mansion and if i suddenly stab one of their friends i will surely get caught or even worse killed before i even charge to another one. "Guess I''ll go back to get some useful items." I began running to my mother''s mansion and after i went inside and took a knife in the kitchen, wrapped it with my handkerchief then hid it under my coat. "If i remember correctly my mother hid the fire orbs in this cabinet." Fire orbs are the one we use to make fire for cooking and other things that involve cooking. After i opened the cabinet i took seven small orbs put it in my pocket. Right now, i''m sure that my dear mother is busy reading some documents in her room, but i must get out quickly before she get out of her room. I closed my eyes, then try remembering all of my knowledge from my past life... then i began to remember something ''Killing someone doesn''t make it evil, sometimes its necessary to kill for the sake of the greater good and sometimes you have to be evil to to reach a better outcome for everyone.'' I began to remember the things they taught us when i was just a cadet in the military. Then i opened my eyes. "I''ll treat this one as a mission." I began to sprint, then after a few minutes I reached the noble''s mansion. I hid my presence and put my back against the wall while taking out some of the fire orb, then sneak a peek at the guards i decided to throw three of the orbs to the biggest guy since he''s the easiest one to hit. After the orbs broke into his armor, he was immediately engulfed by flames, although it would only last for a few seconds and wont do any much damage, it''s good enough to alarm them. "Shit! Who the hell was the one who threw that!?" The big guy yelled while taking out his burning clothes. "Let''s find the idiot who threw that. It must be one of our colleagues who hates you." One of his friends said it while smiling. "Ramos! Stay here in case Lord Ressy needs something." "Eh? Me alone? He''ll get angry when he finds out that you guys left you post." "We''ll take care of it quickly! Just shut up and follow my order! and it will be easier to find him if we spread out so i need everyone, damn it! I bet Drion is the one who did this to me that guy is pretty upset at me because i dated her sister a few days ago." The big guy yelled at him angrily. The nine guards are beginning to spread out then started dashing at every direction, while sensing their presence i hid myself behind the walls and when they''re getting near me I go to another wall and hid myself there. A few moments later I felt that they passed through my location without noticing me. "Then i have to take care of the guard that was left behind." I walked quietly to the guard while i removed the handkerchief on the knife, then hang it unto my waist while my coat is hiding it and after i reached his side i tugged his sleeves. "Hey, mister?" "Huh? How?" He was surprised because he wasn''t able to sense me, but he managed to regain his composure and ask me. "What are you doing here prince? You should go back to your mother now she must be getting worried about you" Ignoring his words i smiled at him and spoke. "Mister lend me your ears.. I''ll tell you some secret that i discovered...let me reached your head, it''s embarrassing to say it out loud so i''ll just whisper it to you" "Eeehhh... So you want to tell me your secret huh... What is it?" He slowly lowered his head for me to reach the i put me mouth near his ear and said. "You should worry more about yourself rather than me" Immediately i draw out the knife and slashed it into her neck, then stabbed her neck on the back, Blood draws out from his neck while he was dumbfounded trying to grasp what just happened. "Ahr! Aaaah! Kraa!" He tried to hold her neck in panic to stop the bleeding and since he''s busy trying to stop the bleeding i took out one of the fire orbs and put it inside her mouth. "Sorry, but i can''t let any witnesses to live." After saying those words, his mouth suddenly engulfed into flames burning everything inside and stabbed her neck one more time to deliver the kill blow. The guard fell down and died. Without wasting any time I pulled his body inside the mansion, then cleaned the blood outside and locked the door, since there is no window on this floor his friends won''t be able to peek from the outside. "Now, where the hell are they?" I quickly look around the first floor the i reached the room near the kitchen then i noticed the subordinates of the Priestess Fox. "You''re the kid from earlier... What are you doing here?" One of the Beastkins asked me in surprise. I decided to give out a mixture of truth and lies because it will be a pain to explain them everything. "I am Flint Entros The 38th Prince of the Empire. I am here to say some message from the Emperor to Lord Ressy, So if you''ll excuse me, i''ll get inside now " I walked towards the rectangular trap door and opened it. "But..Hey-.. wai-" All of them were shocked and felt some fear when i told them that i''m the son of the emperor and before one of them finish talking i entered the basement. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While going down the basement, I suddenly heard some voice. "....For now, get naked." "If you won''t do anything, i''ll get my guards and kill all your kin here instead of using the master''s armlet to punish you...." "I-i understand." I saw the Priestess Fox and before she even remove one piece of her clothes and began to speak. "Did you fail to find a girlfriend or a wife when you were younger and decided to resort in this kind of thing?" ""Wh-!?"" Both of them were surprised by that voice, then quickly looked at me. "You were the kid earlier" Uttered softly by the Priestess. "Prince..... Flint, what are you doing here?" The noble asked me in a low voice. "Wait.. Prince!?" Not just the Priestess everyone in the basement were shocked. "Okay, listen to me, Lord Ressy. As the Prince of this Empire, i command you to grant the priestess their freedom and escort them outside to ensure their safety." After i finished my sentence everyone became even more shock. "H-have you gone mad! You might be the prince, but you''re just a kid and even the first prince never gave me a ridiculous order like releasing any slaves." "So are you going to disobey me?" I looked at him in the eye while releasing a bit of killing intent, He immediately felt the heaviness of my words, but he didn''t even falter. "Ha! So what if i disobey you, are gonna tell me to your father? Do you think he''ll take your side, He hates other races and treat them inferior to us, I don''t know what the hell came into your mind, but a kid won''t able to stop me!" He began shouting at me angrily while starting to walk near me. "Hey, wai-" The Priestess was about to stop him but i shouted at her "Shut and stay there!" The Priestess was surprised, but she stopped her words after i shouted at her. I began to take out the remaining fire orb, then threw it at him, his clothes began to burn the i took out my knife and stabbed his knees. "Ahhhhh" Surprised by the flames and the pain from his wounds, he can do nothing but cry in pain. "Hmm.. Now where is it...." While he''s holding his wounded knee, look at both his arms to find the Master''s armlet. "Ahh.. There it is..." The master''s armlet is on his left arm. I dashed towards him the stabbed his hands that were trying to stop me and when I was taking out the armlet he tried to punch me but i was able to dodge it and gave him another stab into his arm. "Finally!" I was able to take out the armlet and quickly make a distance from him. "Hey old man, take him down!" I shouted to the Old looking Beastkin who''s currently watching us from the side. "Y-yes, " Still can''t believe from what''s happening, he quickly put down the noble. Then the Priestess looked at me. "Why?" I decided to ignore her words and said "Heal that damn noble i need him so that everyone of you can safely get out of here." ".... Yes" She hesitated for a few seconds, but she began to realize that they can''t get out of her alive without my help. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the noble was healed, i gave the master''s armlet to he priestess and she was able to release herself. I took the Armlet and the collar from her then walked towards the noble who''s currently sitting and surrounded by the beastkin he enslaved. "Hold him!" One the beast kin hold his both arms, then I quickly put the collar into his neck. "If you think slavery is a good idea, then why don''t you become a slave yourself." I smiled coldly at him. "You bastard!" After he realized that he became slave, he became completely angry. "Now, as your master i command you to change your clothes, then relieve the guards outside of their duty and by the don''t forget to put a cover into your collar or else ...." Taking the meaning of my words he quickly gets some new clothes and went to the guards outside, of course i followed him just in case but i''m hiding behind the door so the guards won''t see me, even though he saw the corpse of one of his guards it didn''t even bother him. "You can now go and rest for now. I have no need for guards right now" He talked to the guards who just returned from finding someone. "Is that so?.... by the way Ramos ran away from his post seems like he went again to the Gambling Den" said by the big guard. "I see. we''ll see you tomorrow then" "Yes sir." The guards immediately dispersed and by the way Ramos is the guy that i killed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 8 Promise I called the Priestess and her friends from the room after the guards left, while they''re coming in the living room they saw a dead man lying on the floor. The priestess already guessed who killed that man and looked at me. "Why.... Would you even kill your own kind just to save us." She asked while puzzled. "Well, It''s because i hate it. " I answered her in a whim, but Lord Ressy chuckled then told me. "Are you stupid or what? We became strong thanks to those slaves by the knowledge of the Emperor an his trusted mages we were able to surpass our own limits and now can live in much greater height than them. If the emperor didn''t take those slaves, then we wouldn''t be enjoying all the benefits of becoming the stronger race, so i don''t understand why you would say you hate it" I have absolutely no idea what his guy is talking about, but it seems like he''s saying that slavery helped humanity in someway, but even so i still hate the idea of slavery, i turned around to give my response to him. "I detest it because of the monstrous iniquity of slavery itself. I detest it because it takes the freedom of a person. I hate it because deprives our humanitarian example of how justice should work in the world and most of all, i hate it because we take the future of those people while we drown ourselves in the benefit of all their achievements and take all the credit to ourselves." I answered him without faltering and narrow my eyes on him to show that i''m serious. "...." Everyone became silent after i said those words and the beastkins are looking at me with eyes full of affection. After several seconds of silence, i began to speak. "Since it''s already getting late and there shouldn''t be many guards outside. Lord Ressy i want you to take some gold and bribe the guards in charge of guarding the gate of Empire''s building" The noble became angry at my words. "What!? Hey kid don''t get ahead of yourself, do you think you can get away with this? Even though you''re a prince the emperor won''t be able to forgive you, you know? " He''s trying to outsmart me by giving a threat. "So you plan on telling him? Haha!" I smiled, then showed him the armlet, when i saw his terrified expression i can''t help but give a laugh at him. "P-please don''t put yourself to risk any longer, you''ve done enough to save my kin. We''ll take care of the rest so please...." The priestess looked at me with a pleading eye, then she began to pat my head as if trying to reward me, but i know that i can''t stop now if i leave the rest to them the noble might try to do something and might result a bigger commotion. I don''t want to risk myself getting caught so it''s better if i finish this until the end. "No. Thanks for your concern, but I started this and I''ll see it until the end. Don''t worry, i''m more capable than what you think." I smiled gently at her and reassure her that i can take care of myself. "I see.. But stay close to me.. You didn''t just save my kin, you also saved me so it''s my turn to return the favor and, what''s more, i never met a person like you, you''re the second person to defy the injustice of this world." The priestess murmured to me with a charming expression. "Second?" I ask while puzzled. "Uhm.. You don''t know about General Nathan, who defied the emperor hundreds or years ago?" "Uhmm. No.. My mother taught me a lot of things, but i still know nothing about history." I remember my mother told me that she''ll assign some teachers tome to teach me a lot of various things, mother taught me a lot about etiquette but never about history. "General Nathan is an ambitious who tried to take over the Empire, he''s a disgrace to the human race, He fooled other races promising he will give the slaves freedom if the fight for him. " Lord Ressy said without stopping. "No! He''s the only human who fought for the sake of different race and even willing to sacrifice his life just to save them." The Priestess tried to correct the noble in haste but the noble just chuckled. "It doesn''t matter, in the end he died without saving anyone." "Uhmmm... Do you perhaps personally know him?" Beastkins have a long lifespan so perhaps she knew him and maybe even fought together with him so i asked her. "No. I wasn''t born yet during those times and i only read him about the books published by elves, but now i understand that the empire is giving a different kind of story to the humans." Well, this is interesting, i need to look into this issue later, but now i have to let them escape. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We went outside the noble''s mansion and began to walk quickly towards the entrance, i positioned myself in the center of several Beastkin to cover myself just in case someone saw me. After roughly 45 minutes we reached a place near the exit and currently there 2 guards on duty, standing between the very big titanium gate. "Now let''s go, make sure you properly cover me and Lord Ressy don''t try to do something while bribing them, i''ll instantly kill you by the use the armlet if notice something funny. " "Yes" "Y-yes" All of them together with the noble agreed with me. Everyone started walking towards the guards and when the guards looked at the several beastkin, they suddenly became surprised, but began to relax when they saw the noble. "Seems like both of you were really working hard." The noble talked to them with a fake smile. "Yes sir, by the way, seems like you managed to make terms with them" The guards looked at the beastkins but quickly moved their gazed to the priestess. "I''m jealous that you''re able to take such a beautiful fox." One of the guards said with eyes of lust. "A-yeah by the way, since you guys are working hard every night why don''t you guys get some drinks for yourself and go to a brothel" Lord Ressy showed them the a small bag full of gold coins and gave it to them. "Ehhh.. Is it really okay, we''re still on duty." The guards did overwhelm by the amount of gold but still asked in a worry. "It''s okay. No one would dare to attack the Empires building, They may manage to get it, but it''s impossible to get out." Basically the nobles is right, even if some people manage to come inside it would be impossible to go back outside since this place is full of people you don''t want to mess with and the place is barricaded with walls that are more than a thousand feet high. "I see... it seems like you''re very happy to get you own slave and giving this gold coins as a give away to us." The guard said happily then called his friend to leave. Finally, we managed to go outside, it''s my first time to go out and if what mother told is true i walk more than a half kilometer from the Empire''s building, i''ll be able to see a lot of different cities here in Entros but that''s not what''s important right now. I notice the gazes of the beastkins at me then the Priestess walked in front of me. "Thank you for everything." The Priestess bowed her head and when her subordinate saw it they also follow what she did. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "No. You don''t have to bow your head that much, i only did what i believe is right." I told her what i really felt. She suddenly draws my body near her then i realized that she''s already hugging me. "I''ll be forever grateful to you." With eyes about to burst into tears, she said those words. She hugged me tightly few another few seconds, i did not stop her and just enjoyed the soft sensation of her bosoms. Then she began to separate her body from me and put her hands under the clothes of her magnificent bosoms, It seems like she''s trying to get something, but it''s so seductive to watch. "Here, take this. This is a necklace that connects with me. If you ever near me i''ll be able to feel it because the mana inside that necklace will connect to my own mana whenever they''re within reach" She took a necklace and hand it over to me. "T-thanks, but why are you giving this to me...." I took the necklace that has a small animal fox engraved into the small red gem of the necklace then asked her. "I believe that we''ll meet again in the future- No I''ll make it happen so we''ll meet again" Without giving me time to understand she continued to speak. "Please come someday to Stilk Forest, We can teach you everything you want to know including magic that didn''t exist within the knowledge of the humans" I''m beginning to understand what she''s trying to say, it seems like she wants to give me reward by teaching me some magic that even humans didn''t know. "And please remember this." She suddenly became serious and look at me without blinking, I gulped my own saliva. "My name is Selyn. Please don''t ever forget that." She returned to her own gentle smile after she uttered those words. "Y-yes." I can only give her a simple answer. "Then it''s a promise." She began to hug me one last time and kissed me on the cheeks. "You have to go now.." I also hug her tightly while blushing and said those words. "Yes.. Then we shall meet again." After she said those words the other beastkins bowed their heads to me once again, then swiftly ran in the direction towards the forest. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I returned my attention to Lord Ressy who''s been silent the entire time. "So.. What now?" He asks me in a carefree voice "I told you, right? I hate slavery and that means i also hate slave owners." I began to narrow my eyes then suddenly began to shiver. "I''m sorry, but you did this to yourself." I began to imagine and command the mana inside the armlet, even though i my body can''t produce any mana yet the armlet has it''s own mana so it can be used by anyone. Suddenly the armlet began to glow in bluish color, then I saw the collar of the noble beginning to glow in the same color. "wOuoouuOuoou...." The noble can''t even shout in pain it seems like the collar is preventing him from doing so and in several seconds his head was cut off. "Well, that''s disgusting." I saw the head of the noble roll on the floor. "I guess i''ll go back now.''" But before i entered the gate i notice something strange. I felt suddenly felt a strong gaze, i felt shivers in my spine i turned around to look the source at that gaze but i can''t identify it''s location. The gaze is getting stronger and stronger it began to make my body heavy, although it has no killing intent, the gaze is enough to make me faint. "!!" I began to run inside the mansion with all my might, i didn''t stop until i managed to get home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I''m feeling someone is tugging my clothes in the bed..... Seems like i was so tired yesterday that i overslept, I first thought mother is the one waking me up.... and i opened my eyes. "L-lia?" "I''ve been trying to wake you for more than 30 mins but you''re not even moving" Seems like she came to wake me up today but did she come early today i wonder why? "Hey are you listening?" She hands me a glass of water while asking "Ah yes?" I took the glass of water and answered her. "There''s something important i need to ask." She look me with unease. "Hmm.. What is it?" i asked her while thinking what could it be... Wait, don''t tell me she saw me last night? i began to have a cold sweat in my back. "Who would you choose... Me or the Busty fox?" She asked me in worry. Could it be that she really saw me? When i hugged Selyn last night and when she kissed my cheeks? "Why... would you ask that?" I said while beginning to sweat. "Because yesterday when you were looking at her, it seems like you were charmed by her. That''s why i panicked and run away from you yesterday" I sigh in relieve after she said those words. "So that''s what you mean." I was just overthinking and i''m glad she didn''t saw what happened afterward especially the part where i killed someone maybe she went straight home when she ran away. "Of course i will choose you." I said those words without any hesitation. We''re siblings so it''s only natural to choose your family fist before anyone that''s what mother Eliz taught me. "He~~~So you will choose me huh.... hehe" She began to smile and laugh softly.. "We''re siblings after all and we should cherish each other because we''re family," I said those words, but she''s not already listening to me. She already went to her own world. "Flint chose me~ hehehehehehe~" She suddenly jumped at me and hugged me while rubbing her face into my chest "Hey! Are you listening to me!?" "I''m glad that you chose me......... Because i was just about to kill you if you choose the Busty fox" She whispered the last part of her sentence, but i managed to hear it. "W-what?" I asked her in a worry. "Hmm? What is it?" "About the things that you just said... Can you say it again" " I said i''m glad" she answered after she separate herself with me. "No after that." "I said i''m glad" She gave me the same answer "I -i see. " I notice that she doesn''t want me to ask about it anymore so i just went with the flow. "Hey, Flint where did you get your necklace?" She asked me in a scary smile. Lia isn''t usually like this, she''s a cute girl who always cling to me and always give me a very charming smile everyday and this is the first time i saw her giving me such a scary smile. I quickly hid my necklace to prevent her seeing the fox that was carved in the gem. I didn''t know why i did that, but my instinct is screaming that i shouldn''t let her see it. "It was given by mother" I made a poker face the answered her. "Oh okay~ Let''s go eat. My mother and your mother is waiting for us below.." She clung unto my arms then said those words. "Ah so you''re mother is also with you. Let''s go then" The weird atmosphere immediately dispersed and we went below to eat together. Chapter 9 Reminiscent 2 days after the incident regarding Selyn, They found a body of a man inside the noble''s mansion and currently Lord Ressy is missing and i found it very strange because i left his body in front of the Empire''s building, but then i remembered the strong gaze that night, i suspect the one giving me that gaze has something to do with the noble''s corpse disappearance. Currently, me and Lia are both having a stroll inside the Empire''s building. "Hey, Lia where are we going?" I tilted my head and asked. "Of course we are going to investigate!" She answered while puffing her chest. "Ha? About what?" "The weird incident 2 days ago, where a dead body was found inside Lord Ressy''s mansion and why Lord Ressy suddenly disappear" She replied with beaming eyes, i guess it''s okay since i didn''t leave any trace or evidence so even she try her best to play as a detective she won''t be able to uncover anything. "Well, where do you plan to start?" It''s impossible for us to go to the noble''s mansion because currently locked down for full investigation. Of course it made a large commotion in the Empire because you''re not supposed to find a dead body inside the most secured place in Entros. "We''ll since we can''t go to the place of the crime, we should visit the soldier''s family" I was surprised by her words, even in my past life i didn''t bother to visit a dead soldier''s family because i feared that the families of those soldiers who died under my command would blame me. "Well, i''m sure they''ll be surprised if they see us, but first we should change our clothes in appropriate attire." I guess it ''s best to follow the culture of this world that you need to wear black clothes and don''t wear anything that look likes you''re going to a party or anything related to that. Lia and I went back into our own Mansions to change our clothing, then after roughly an hour we met in front of my place. "Both of you, don''t do anything rude while you''re there okay? Be respectful to the family of the deceased" My mother didn''t forget to remind me. "Yes mama~" Lia''s the one who gave the response. "Mama?" I asked in perplex, but mother just laugh at my reaction. "Fufu. Sometimes it''s not good to be so insensitive. Right Lia?" My mother winked at me then turned her attention to Lia. "Mama is right Flint." Lia looked at me with a big smile. "Well, whatever" I ignore those two who are currently laughing with each other and checked the small bag that contains some silver and gold coins that my mother gave me earlier. We''re going to give the money to the family of the deceased. It is the last salary of the guard who died...... I began to feel bad while thinking that i''m about to meet them. My mother escorted us into the Empire building''s gate, since a prince and a princess are going out, there are currently a lot of guards that''s going to escort us to our destination and in our way back. Currently, there are 30 guards waiting for us. "Then mother see you later." I gave my goodbye to my mother then she came and kissed my and Lia''s forehead" "Be careful, okay~" She told us those words while worrying, i can see tears accumulating into her eyes. Oh, mother, we''re not going to war and i''ll see you later tonight so stop worrying. Lia and I went into the carriage and we began moving while some of the guards mounted their horses and follow us. "Hey, Lia, why do you want to investigate that incident and can you please stop holding my arms I''m not going to run away you know?" I ''m just curious so i asked Lia while she''s hugging my arms. "Ah! Don''t you find it strange? Why would Lord Ressy kill his one of the most trusted guards and why would he bribe the guards that were guarding the gates. So I think the Beastkins that came a few days ago has done something to him." Well, actually i''m the mastermind of the incident, but of course I can''t tell her that and the guards that got bribed were immediately executed for misconduct and leaving their post during duty. "Well, Something must have happened, but we can''t get any information by visiting the family of the dead guard." I gave her my opinion, it''s not that i don''t want to see them but if you think carefully you shouldn''t start investigating at that place. "Actually, That guard''s wife is one of our maids in the mansion." Lia said in a saddened voice. Now i''m beginning to understand her purposed, she must have felt sorry for the wife so she decided to go visit and comfort her. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I''m starting to feel more and more sorry. After roughly two hours, we reached a certain house in the western city of Entros. It''s a wooden house that gives you a feeling that the people living inside were commoners, the house is only one story with a 25 feet height. It wasn''t painted with anything and if you peek inside there actually no Furnitures inside. One our guards went inside and to get the wife of the deceased while me and lia went outside the carriage then wait for the wife. "Oh Princess Lia, please come inside" A woman in her mid 30''s went outside to greet us and urged us to go inside. She had a gentle expression, but you can see that she''s suffering inside. After we went inside i saw a wooden coffin inside the house and some relative that are mourning. There are many sets of seats inside so we decided to seat and edge of the house. After i went to my seat Lia is still talking to Cren, by the way Cren is the name of the wife, I just greet her and went straight to my seat because it''s giving me some weird feeling just by talking to her. While waiting for Lia a small girl came and talk to me. "Hey~" A small girl, maybe at the age 4 is currently in front of my view. "Hi." after i respond to her, she a handed me some cookies and gave me a small cup of coffee, it seems like she''s currently distributing it to everyone as a thanks for coming. "Thank you, " I thank the small girl that has a hazelnut hair, then she smiled brightly at me and went to other people to distribute the cookies. "Seems like Nea liked you~" Cren came near me together with Lia. "Is she perhaps...." I asked her but i felt a sudden pain and didn''t continue my words. "She''s our daughter" She answered me while giving a soft smile. "I''m sorry...." at that moment i realized something. "It''s okay, i know the risk of being a knight i was already prepared for something like this when i got married to Ramos" She said those words, but her tears began to fall from her eyes but she still maintained her smile while looking at me. Lia hugged her. "It''s okay Cren you still have me and the other maids in the mansion," Lia said those words while looking sad. After a few moments, she took Cren''s hand and pulled her into one of the rooms inside the house. Lia wants to talk to her and comfort her so she decided to talk to her alone. While seated alone on the edge of the house, I began to remember the memories of my past life. I killed a lot of soldiers and even civilians i never thought about what might their family is going through after they see the missing heads of their loved ones or tattered body of their husbands and fathers. As i soldier, i was refined as a weapon to fight for the sake of my country while believing we are in the side of right. Those people that i killed will never again feel the joy to see their sons and daughters nor feel the warm embrace of their wife. I took the chance of their children to feel the love of a Father and they''ll grow without ever experiencing a joy of a complete family. I looked at the girl with a hazelnut hair named Nea who''s currently giving the people a gentle smile while distributing the cookies, I took the life of her father and now she have to live the rest of life without feeling the love and joy of having a father. I took her father''s life without even thinking of the results and in her darkest days there will be no father to support her and her mother has to handle all of the responsibility. I began to have the feeling of regret. I was given a rare chance to live again and instead of correcting all my mistakes in my past life all i did was try to forget those horrible things that i did in the past. Instead of learning the lessons of my mistakes i decided to continue my life as a killer. Now Nea has to live her life just like me in my past life. Living a life while deep inside seeking for a father''s love and feel a sad envy to anyone who can feel the warmth of their own fathers. I can''t keep on living the way I was in the past. I need to at least change myself for Mother and Lia i don''t want them to suffer because of my mistakes. Chapter 10 Study We stayed in the funeral for a few hours and i remained silent the whole time while Lia tried her best to cheer up Cren. I also want to do something for her and her daughter, but what rights do i have to comfort the family of the one i killed? If they knew that the killer was me and was inside of this house i just can''t imagine what would be their reaction. Right now me and Lia is on our way back we both didn''t say anything to each other, it seems likes she still feel sorry for Cren. She looks at me and broke the silence. "I decided...." She said in a serious voice "Decided about what?" I still feel a lingering regret inside so i asked her in a dejected voice. "I know that the beastkins know something about what happened inside Lord Ressy''s mansion. I want to find them and ask." She seems serious about it, but we''re not allowed to go in a journey yet, we need to become at least capable people so that we can protect ourselves in case we got attacked. I also don''t want her to meet the beastkins because she''ll discover that i''m the one who killed the guard Ramos. "When i reached the right age, I want to go to the Stilk Forest and personally ask them." It seems like she was able to read my mind base from my expression. "I don''t think that''s a good idea." I said it with a serious expression. "W-why?" She seems to wonder why i''m rejecting her idea. "Do you think that Cren wants you to spend your life looking for her husband''s killer? Of course, i think she''ll be happy that you''re willing to go that far, but you''re a princess and there are a lot of things for a princess to take care of. You also have a talent with magic, there''s a big future ahead of you so i don''t think Cren wants you to waste your time doing something that won''t benefit you. I think it''s more than enough that you did your best to comfort her." She listened carefully to my words and began to understand what i''m trying to say then she just nod her head in response and we both went silent again. "Cheer up. I''m pretty sure that Cren doesn''t want you to feel sad for her and it also pains me to see you like this." I gave her a gentle smile and started patting her back. "I see then i''ll cheer up then. I also hate it when you feel hurt because of me." After i patted her back, she gave a bright smile and replied to me. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When we reached the Empire''s building, i decided to part early with Lia. She seems a little worried about me because she noticed that i looked dispirited ever since we went to Cren''s house, but i gave her a fake smile and reassure her that I''m okay. "What a bad day...." I whispered to myself while having a stroll within the Empire''s building. I want to be alone for a while before i get home so i decided to get some fresh air. "I think i should go the library and read some books to temporarily forget the bad things" That idea came up in my mind and i quickly change my direction towards the library. I entered the library, it is the usual place where me and Lia came to play and practice her magic almost every day since very few people are coming it''s a perfect spot for me. I look through the arranged books in the shelf, There are a lot of interesting books to read, but i remembered the man called General Nathan, Selyn said he was a hero who fought for the sake of the other race but Lord Ressy said he''s a disgrace to humanity. "Hmm. Interesting...." I took some several history books from the shelf and also took some books regarding about how humanity evolve. I went to the nearest desk and immediately started reading. According to the books published by humans, General Nathan is a person who grew up in a small village located in South Islands of Entros. Genius in swordsmanship during his childhood, he was immediately discovered by the empire and urged him to enter the order of the knights. Several years later he accomplished a lot of achievements and was promoted as a General of the army, During those times Humanity is not as strong as the other race due to their shorter life span, weaker bodies and lower knowledge of magic, but after Emperor Zion became the Emperor he immediately gathered all the strongest magician and warrior in the Entire Continent. Young and hungry for knowledge he formed the Council of Magic, their job is to research new magic and find out how the elves and demons can use a Magus rank spell with ease and how to make the human body as strong as the beastkins. A lot of years had passed since then and they were able to make a lot of progress, but most of their theories were impossible to prove without performing experiments to the various race. Emperor Zion Decided to launch a total attack to every race living in the continent, 800,000 empire soldier waged war and became victorious. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Emperor Zion declared that everyone that were captured will become slaves, finally they can test their theories and progress their research. A lot of years have passed and the humans evolved, they can now live longer, use stronger magics and have more physical strength. In the age of ten the human body will naturally emit mana and it became a culture in Entros that when you reach that age the mages of the Empire will give you various magic blessings that will give boost to your magic aptitude, magic flow, magic effect and many other interesting things, they will also imprint some small cells into your body to make you live longer. Basically, those are some of the many fruit of research and experimentation of the various races. According to this book, General Nathan became jealous to the Emperor''s Power and started a rebellion. He was able to conquer the eastern part of the continent with the help of various races that he fooled and declare himself as a king. The Emperor was saddened about the news and even though it breaks his heart to fight the General he had no choice but do so for the sake of humanity, then the emperor sought the power of the dragons and defeated King Nathan and punished him in front of his own people. "Hmm... This is strange..." I took away my eyes from the history book published by the humans and turned my attention to the book published by the elves. To be honest books published by the other race is banned in the entire continent, but the Empire''s library needs to have every kind of books for the royalty and highest mages to use for their own research. According to the books of the elves the Emperor lost his reasoning and forcefully enslave various kinds of race just so he can achieve immortality and, as a result, uncountable lives has lost. When General Nathan offer his help, all of the race, including the demons didn''t hesitate to take up the offer. They believed that by unifying with each other then they can stop the emperor''s madness. After they successfully invade the eastern part of Entros called Reha, they made General Nathan a king and made him promise the freedom of all the races, but that didn''t last long because a few months after the Dragons attacked all their territories and the tides of war had immediately changed. King Nathan died as a hero, as the only human who fought for them. "Basically, this world has two different kinds of history..." I began to realize how complicated this world is. "Human stupidity never fails to amaze me..." After knowing all of this i realized that making friends with the other race would be very hard, but it isn''t impossible since i plan on going to the Stilk forest to learn some magic in the future i have to get their trust when i''m there. "Guess i need to fill my mind with knowledge of this world. How magic works and how can i use the knowledge of my past life to my advantage in this world, in terms of various kind of martial arts and assassination i''m confident i have the advantage but i need to use every other thing that i know to become stronger and be able to live this harsh world." Chapter 11 Second Promise 2 years have passed. I was able to gain different kinds of knowledge. Recently, i have begun my physical training like a jog , push up, sit up and martial art. I don''t want to abuse my body and suddenly do some heavy weight exercises, but i have a plan to add more weight to my training step by step. Now i''m 9 years old while Lia turned 10 nothing had really changed between our relationship, She still so lovely and always act like a spoiled child when i''m together with her. When Empire mages gave their blessings to her they were all surprised because of the vast quantity of mana that her body holds and the emperor decided to send her to study at the Royal Magus Academy in a few days. She forcefully refuses the emperor''s decision because she doesn''t want to part with me, but i urged her to go because i don''t one to be the one who hold her back. She cried after I told her my opinion, but what else can I do? She has a great future ahead of her and it''s not like we won''t meet again. The Empire has also appointed several teachers to me, to prepare me for the day of the blessing when i turn 10. They taught me a lot of things like how important the magic in this world and how the emperor changed the fate of humanity. Basically, I already know about those things, but I don''t act like a smart-ass in front of them, i don''t want to piss them off if possible, there is also an instructor who teaches me swordsmanship and martial arts, but he was immediately got fired from his job because i''m way better than him, my brother Kyle noticed my talent and she asked my mother to become my teacher at first i was surprised because other than Lia, no one of our siblings has bothered to even pay a small attention to us. While my older brother Kyle was teaching me, he noticed that i''m using different kind of techniques that he never saw before and asked me where did i learned those but i answered that i just imitated the books that i''ve read, he doesn''t seem interested to dig in any further so he let me continue to do those strange movements. There were also martial arts in this world, but if we compare it the martial arts in my past life, the martial arts in this world is way inferior i think it was because the martial arts in my past life was able to evolve to it utmost power because humans can''t use magic, but even so, they were able to make their martial arts so deadly. So if i fight someone with martial arts without the use of magic, i''m pretty confident i can defeat them. I took a bath after my training near the garden and my mother came to hand me the towel and clothes. After my bath, i went to relax in the living room and sat together with my mother who''s currently sewing my clothes that were tattered during my training. "You should talk to Lia." My mother said while sewing. "Is there a problem with Lia?" I ask her in wonder. I wasn''t able to play with her this past two days because i was tired from my training. "She''s about to leave after a few days, so you should spend more time with her." Ahh, so it''s about that. Yeah, she''s going to leave in a few days and will go study at Royal Magus Academy. "I see. Well, i plan on spending more time with her anyway. I guess i should see her after i rest." My mother smiled at my response and began to speak again. "Do you plan to preserve your royal blood?" She asked while giving me a naughty smile. Royal blood huh? I never really thought about that and i don''t plan on becoming an Emperor. I plan to find the person who brought me into this world. A year ago when i was having a self-study in the library, i stumbled upon a book about magic from lowest rank to the highest rank there are currently 7 ranks of magic and those are Novice rank Middle rank Sage rank Master Sage rank Magus rank Warlock Invoker Those are the ranks of magic, but let''s talk about Invoker right now because no human even the emperor has ever reached that rank, but according to the book that i read, a person with the rank of Invoker can manipulate the realm of life and death to pull a soul and give it an artificial body, but in my case it was different i was reincarnated and born from a mother. I tried searching books related to reincarnation, but failed, all of the books gave strong evidence that reincarnation is impossible because it would take an impossible amount of mana to make it possible and if you wonder how much mana it would take, it would at least take mana twice the amount of this world. So my only clue is the Invoker but i''m not even sure if an Invoker really exists. "We''ll even if it exist... I''m pretty sure it''s not a human." i murmured those words to myself. "Flint?" My mother noticed that i stayed silent for a long time and tried to take my attention. I guess i should answer her question for now. "Mother, I don''t know how to answer your question.... but for now i don''t have any plans on becoming the emperor, besides, I have more than 30 siblings and i don''t want to make them enemies." I told her my honest opinion. "*Siiiigh* You didn''t get it, do you?" my mother gave a long sigh the gaze at me with amazement. "I''m talking about Lia. Are you going to take her as your wife?" My mother then smiled after she said those words. "...........What?" After a very long pause, i again asked her. "Lia shows much affection to you and i thought you already noticed it...." "We''ll i actually noticed it. The way she shows her affection is very different in the way you should treat a sibling, but i don''t think it''s a good idea to talk about marriage right now... I still have a lot of things that i want to do and also..... Incest? Even though she''s just my half sister.... i''m not so sure about that mother." "Well, just so you know royalties are allowed to marry some of their siblings to preserve the royal blood, Didn''t you know that the first Prince married two of his sisters." My mother is like trying to force her opinion to me. Do you really want me to marry Lia? "I''m not the first prince and i don''t want to think about marrying yet, so please just spare me." I don''t want to flatly reject my mother because it might hurt her feelings so i just gave her a vague answer. "Anyway, I''ll go see Lia now... See you later mother." I gave her a kiss on the cheek then prepare to leave. "Lia will become a splendid girl in the future and she even became a genius in magic i''m pretty sure that she''ll have a lot of suitors in the future, but i''m pretty sure you''re the only that she will love and good luck if you can survive her advances after she became a very beautiful lady fufufu.... " My mother is looking at me while giving an evil laugh. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "W-whatever. Bye~" I began to go to Lia''s place. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When i reached their mansion i saw Lia''s mother taking care of their own garden outside. She had the same color of hair like Lia and also have a gentle expression like my mother. I can tell that she''s a caring person just by looking at her. She look at me and gave a small smile. "Lia''s inside," She told me like she knew what i was about to ask. "Ah Yes.. Thank you..." I bowed my head to her and enter the mansion. After i opened the door i immediately saw Lia in front, It seems like she saw me outside and waited for me in front their door. "I''m going to leave in a few days...." Lia said with a heartbroken expression. "Don''t be like that... It''s for your own good, you know? I''m really looking forward seeing you become a very strong Magician. You might even have the capabilities to use a Master Sage rank magic" Although it''s a bit exaggerated, i know if she works hard it''s not impossible for her to reach it. "I don''t want to be strong! I just want to stay with you and who knows if you suddenly have a new girl with you while i''m away!" She shouted at me angrily. I turned around to look at her mother and i was surprised to see my own mother standing next to her and for some reason they''re both giggling. Mother, do you think to see your own son having a hard time? I''ll ignore those two for now and turn my attention back to Lia. "That won''t happen, Lia. You know that our other siblings is not fond of each other, so i don''t think any of our sister would waste their time talking to me." I tried to pat her head while saying those words, but she pushed my hand away. "But Even so!... I still don''t want to leave you!" Ahh, she''s starting to become a pain. I''m happy that she really cared for me, but she must also think about herself. "Lia if you turn out to become a successful mage, i would be very happy and even grant you a single wish in the future." i guess giving her an award will convince her but I''m not sure if it''s effective. "..." Lia became silent for a while the slowly open a mouth. "Any wish?" She asked while tilting her head. "Yes, as long as it''s within my capabilities." I smiled at her and gave my honest answer. I was able to hide my surprise that it worked. "Fufufu....." Her eyes began to sparkle while she put her right hand in her mouth and began to laugh. I don''t know what she''s thinking, but now i don''t have to think about her leaving my side while having a sad expression. This is also for her own good, i''m just helping her as my sibling. "Then we have a deal then. Yaaay~" She gave her answer and jump onto my chest. Looking at her like this it really gives joy in my heart even though i''m a little bit sad that she''s gonna leave me soon i guess it''s okay i''ll be able to see again in a few years so i don''t see a problem with that. I also hugged her and patted her head. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few days later Lia was already prepared to leave. Her mother, my mother and me are currently in front of the Empire''s building to bid Lia our goodbyes. "Wait for me Flint~ I''ll become the greatest magician of Royal Magus Academy then you would have to fulfill our promise. Fufufu..." Is she really happy that much about our promise. Now that i think about it, this is her very first request from me so that might be the reason for her to be so excited. "We''ll do your best so that i can grant you your wish." "Of course!" She answered cheerfully while puffing her chest. At that time, the carriage together with several knights riding horses came to get Lia. When Lia saw that she gave me a one last hug. "You''re only mine Flint~ Okay?" She said it to me with a teary eye. I really appreciate her feelings, but i don''t think her feelings for me will remain the same. She''s still young and going to experience a lot of things, Humans will always change as they mature. So i don''t think her feelings will remain the same though there are chances that it might get stronger but those are only rare. So i think it''s safe to play along for now since she''s gonna forget her feelings for me after a few years. If i say no to her she might refuse to leave so i guess it''s okay to go with the flow once in a while. "Yes" I gave my answer to her in a delighted tone. She''s very pleased with my answer and decided to enter the carriage "Then i''ll be going now. " ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ""Fufufu"" My mother and Lia''s mother are both laughing while covering their mouth with their hands. "What?" i asked them in curiosity. "You just went down the road of no return." my mother said in a smile. "Huh?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the Demon, Continent Demon King Agara is seating on his throne when one of his soldier came and deliver a message. "My liege, The Princess found her!" With an excited tone, the demon soldier reported to her superior. "So my daughter found him huh? Since when?" The Demon King Smiled at the soldier then asked. "Since two years ago." Delivering a message from Entros to the Demon Continent is almost impossible because if a demon stepped into the human territory, the Empire would immediately summon their best knights and mages to kill it, but the Demon king can''t just abandon their hero so he sent her own daughter to find him. The Demon Princess has the ability to fly in the sky, She''s the only person in the world who can do that and she can also use Magus Rank magic so the only way for the Empire to defeat her is to use thousands of mages and Knights or if the Emperor decided to personally handle her but the chances for that to happen is very low. "Tell my daughter to observe him for a little bit longer we can''t risk to forcefully take him from the Empire since he might come to hate us." The Demon king issued a command to his soldier. "Yes sir!" Chapter 12 Theories and Secret Place. It''s been a week since Lia left and went to study to Royal Magus Academy and I''ve been doing nothing but training my body under my brother Kyle. Even though he''s the one training me we don''t talk to each other that much. He just shows me how doing some advance attack and let me imitate them. I''m not sure if you can call that teaching so whenever i finish my training with him i continue to train alone and keep sharpening my strength, i know that it''s not good to rely on strength alone, that''s why after training, i always go to the library and research different kinds of magic for me to learn when i reach the age of ten. "I''ve read almost all of these" Actually, since I always spend my time alone here I managed to finish reading almost all the books about magic. I kept on looking until i reached the very edge of the shelf located in the back and my attention was caught by a strange looking book. The book was covered with black leather, it has a thick number of pages but what caught my eyes was the title. "Unproven and Failed Theories of Magic" basically it''s a book of theories that was never proven or failed to give proof that it''s possible. I took the book to my usual desk and started reading it carefully. "Well, some of it are completely ridiculous." There are a lot of bold theories, but it''s impossible to do or try it, one of the theory says that if you manage to use kill a Dragon and use it''s cells and embed it to your body, your many will be as vast as the dragon and you''ll be able to use some of their high ranks magic it is quite an interesting idea but the problem is no person in his right mind will fight a dragon. I kept on reading and reading, but i can''t find at least one theory that''s possible to try until i reached the middle section of the book. I stumbled upon a theory of a certain Blood Elf named Sindar. "This is..." i was surprised when i read his theory. He talks about changing and manipulating the properties of mana, you can cause a chain reaction and will result in a very big explosion, I kept on reading until it gets very complicated but the idea and the method are almost the same of making a nuclear bomb. "This is like the Atomic Bomb with this world version " If a person didn''t know about Nuclear weapons read this, he would just laugh at this and think the person who made the theories is aiming for the impossible. If we treat the mana as Atoms in my past life, then there should be chance for this theory to be possible and with my knowledge about nuclear weapons, it''s possible to create a weapon that can shake the foundation of this world. Following the popular formula E=mc2 and using the equation of nuclear fission of uranium -235 and substitute the original elements of the properties of mana then it should be possible but the problem is a fission reaction is possible in my old world because a radioactive material like uranium it splits atom into two small atoms and the energy that held together by the small atoms will be released. If this process continue and keep splitting the atoms then it will cause a chain reaction, because of the speed involved of nuclear reaction, billions of atoms can be split in fraction of a second and if it proceeds in an uncontrollable level then an atomic explosion will be the result. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "So how they hell on earth can i split the properties of mana like the atoms?" I asked to myself while confused. It''s true that the essence of this world is mana but no one bothered to study the mana into the very core level so it''s hard to say that the properties of atom are the same as the mana and i''m not even sure if radioactive materials like the uranium -235 can split the mana and cause chain reaction in unimaginable speed. "I need to either meet the one who made the theory or study the mana itself, but that would take too much time." for now I have closed the book and return home, though it is very interesting to see if the theory would work, i have no reason to start making weapons that would destroy this world and i don''t want this world to end up like my old world. While I''m on my way back i notice that there are a lot of mages walking in the hall. Obviously my curiosity overwhelmed me and followed them from behind. The mages were wearing very long blue gowns with an elegant design that gives a little glow in the dark and pointed dark hats, they''re walking in haste, it seems like they''re in the hurry. I''ve been following them for more than 3 hours now and we reached a dead end in the Empire''s building. "I don''t think there''s a way there" I mumbled while watching carefully at them but immediately take back those words when i saw one of the mages touch the thick wall and began to chant some spell. After several seconds a red light carvings started to form from the part of the wall where the mage put his hands until it began to cover the entire wall, then suddenly the wall silently shook and began to fall apart. "Oh, so there''s a secret way hidden in this place." The mages didn''t waste any seconds and went inside and, of course, i followed them. Inside was like a cave tunnel and there are several torches that lights the way. I began to hide my presence the best way i can because right now, i''m walking near them. we proceed to walk for another several minutes until we reach wide area inside, it has at least 50 meters wide and in the center of the floor there are red carving that is giving an intense light. The carving forms in the shape of a circle and there''s some ancient script written on it, in the center of the carvings there''s black sphere of mana floating. I can feel a strong power of power from that sphere and if you keep looking at it, you''ll feel like you''re gonna get devoured by it. You can feel a very wicked power from it, but that''s not what''s important right now. The important thing is the man who''s currently standing beside the black sphere while looking at it. "Damn it! What is that guy doing here." I silently gave curse to the man standing near the black sphere. "I''ve been waiting for you." Those words were directed at the mages that i secretly followed. "We''re here to check the progress again your Highness." One of the mages who seems like the leader spoke. Yes. The guy standing beside the black sphere is Emperor Zion. Chapter 13 Turning Point Thanks for the review made by Negosyo. It made me rethink a lot of things to make this novel better, i want to let you guys know that your opinions really helped me a lot. By the way, before i make the next chapter i would first fix the errors in the earlier chapters so for now enjoy this chapter. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few minutes before the mages reached emperor Zion inside the cave, the black sphere that is glowing intensely beside the emperor began to voice out some of its words. "You know that you can''t keep me here forever." A deep voice resounded from the sphere. "Even if you manage to escape.... There is no place for you to return to." The emperor looked down at the black sphere. "You were betrayed by your own kin, you no longer have a place in this world" The emperor added. "Even so, I won''t let you do whatever you want with me." "Don''t you realize your position? Right now you are just in the form of soul, what do you think you can do without a body?" Before the Sphere can even answer the mages had already arrived. The emperor turned his attention away from the sphere and looked at the mages. "I''ve been waiting for you." "We''re here to check the progress again your Highness." One of the mages who seems like the leader spoke. "We need more information about Rhaegal''s soul and since it''s the soul of a dragon, we need to be more extra careful." The emperor spoke in an annoyed tone. "It might at least take us another century to fully conduct an experiment without damaging his soul, But at least for now we can extract some of its power and transfer it to you, your highness." The elder mage walks near the black sphere and observed it with his own eyes. "I see. Then it''s possible for me to steal some of his power and use it. Did you hear that Rhaegal? I can finally use you." The black mana surrounding the sphere intensified its glow like showing its anger toward the emperor. "....." "I didn''t expect much reaction from you, but it seems like all you can do right now is to stay silent and watch your powers taken away by me." The Emperor holds the black sphere carefully in his hand then gave the mages the sign to perform the ritual. "Your highness, are you sure that we should perform the ritual without taking care of the one''s tailing us? He''s been trying to hide his presence so much the moment he noticed you." The elder mage tilted his head and asked the emperor. "Ah, yes I almost forgot about that." He narrowed is eyes in the passage where the mages came out a little while ago. "My son... How long will you hide from there? " --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shit! So they perceived my presence from the very beginning. What should i do now? Run or show myself? If i run they''ll eventually find me sooner or later. Then i have no choice but to show myself. I revealed myself from the darkness then look at the emperor. "....." "Hmm... Why are you saying nothing? Aren''t curious about something that''s why you followed the elder mages into this place?" He looked at me carefully and spoke with a mocking tone. "Yeah, that''s true but i didn''t expect to see the great emperor in this place." I answered him honestly, he''s the last person on earth that i want to mess with and even if his conducting some strange experiment about that black sphere i have to turn a blind eye so that i can get away from this place carefully. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. If I''m correct that black sphere is the soul of a dragon. How did he get it? Did his power already reach the level on par with dragons? If that''s true then he can''t be considered a human anymore. He looks at me with a grin and began to open his mouth. "If you''re wondering why i have something like this, it''s because it was given to me as gift by the leader of the dragons, this guy called Rhaegal is their former leader he ruled them for more than a thousand years, but he was challenged and defeated by a younger and stronger dragon. Since dragons are immortal they sealed his soul with invoker rank magic before he reincarnate and was given to me as gift after the war with the demons, they were very happy that they were able to get a hold with precious black diamonds so making a small request from them was nothing. " He probably noticed that i was having a lot of questions in my mind so he spoke without even having the chance for me to ask. "If I''m able to extract every ounce of his power then i can become a true immortal that can even rule the dragons and.... maybe i can even revive someone who died...." He opened his arms while speaking proudly but the last part of his words became a little bit dim. "I see. Good for you then." Right now all i can do is to agree with him, opposing him isn''t a good idea. I''m actually relieved that he doesn''t look like he was about to kill me, but what will he do to me after this? "These mages has been with me for a very long time, we''ve been through together both the good times and the hard times, they have proven their loyalty to me countless times and we all have the same goals, To go beyond the boundaries of this world and rule not just in this world but also the world of the sprits, the afterlife. " I began to shiver upon hearing those words. Such Ambitious man with ridiculous dreams. He narrowed his eyes on me then began to walk towards me. "I... see.. since i have nothing to do with your dreams can i go back now?" I don''t want to stay here any longer, i can''t take the heavy atmosphere in this area. "mmmmhahaha! Don''t you get it? These mages are loyal to me but you! You, who have seen and heard all this, do you think that you can just walk away like it''s nothing!?" This time, i felt a very strong bloodlust coming from him. "Well... I can ....promise.... to.. keep-" Eve though i''m currently kneeling in one knee, sweating and shivering. I did my best to voice out my thoughts, but i was interrupted. "Foolishness! I don''t want to make another man like General Nathan and take care of any future rebellion, so it''s the best for you to disappear in this world!" A heavy voice came from his mouth together with intense bloodlust. My entire body can''t move from fear and all my instinct are shouting inside that i have to immediately get away from here. "I need... to at least ... stand.....up.... and run.." I used all my strength to stand up, but the emperor is already standing right in front me, his hands are blazing with red fire and i can see his arms filled with large muscles beginning to change its color to red. Shit. My body instinctively jumped behind to make a distance from him then he immediately disappeared in front of me and while i was pondering what just happened, i suddenly felt my back bump into someone. I have a very good idea who could it be, but even so i still decided turn my head and look. What i saw was the emperor''s face. During that moment, my death is certain to happen. He pierced his blazing hands in my chest and took my heart. Before my eyes go dim, I saw my heart on his palm and mercilessly squeezed it and my life in this world has faded. Chapter 14 Hidden Madness Inside Enjoy guys --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can feel my consciousness floating in a dark space. I can''t see anything, nor feel my body. While my consciousness is drifting. I began to remember everything that has happened. I was killed by the Emperor because i accidentally discover his secrets. My numb body began to feel intense anger, I was given a second chance to live, but now that chance was wasted. I am angry, not because i was killed by the emperor, i am angry because even though i was considered strong in my past life, i was powerless in front of the emperor. Now I have died and left my mother and Lia, i''m afraid to imagine my mother crying in tears, but I am more afraid to imagine Lia is going to have a rampage in the Empire after when she receives the news of my death. There is nothing i can do now. If only i have the power to protect myself, if only i was able to use strong magic, maybe the outcome would be different, if only i have the power to change everything. If only i can have another chance, but asking that thing would be too much. While thinking that to myself, a deep voice resounded in my mind. ''I have the power you need.'' ''I, the one who once governed the strongest race, the one who was feared, and the strongest of the strongest. I have everything that you need'' A voice filled with madness is occupying my mind, but i continued listening to it. ''If you have the resolve to take the path of destruction for the sake of my revenge, i will give you the power to change the world. The power to change everything.'' "If that''s what it takes for me to go back, then I''ll gladly take it" If this is my only way of going back then it is a small price to pay. I have no choice but to believe his words. ''In exchange for your soul. You will have my power.'' After he said those words i can feel something enveloping me. I am being seized inside, i can feel something is changing, something is awakening inside me. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the emperor killed Flint, He turns his attention to the mages to issue a command. "Take his body and bury it outside the empire." "Yes, your highness, but how could we explain this to his mother? I''m sure her mother would worry and try to find him." "Eliz huh? Tell her that his son died due to accident messing up with magic items hidden in the storage room of the Empire. Don''t show his body to her, Tell her that his body completely has completely perished and was buried immediately by my command." The Emperor lost his interest and walk near the Black Sphere. "Now let''s resume what we''ve been doing." He looked coldly at the black sphere and began to accumulate his mana into his entire body. Red light surrounded his entire body, reinforcing his strength and he holds the black sphere in his hand, sucking every ounce of power from the sphere. "Yes... That''s it... Give me everything.." Black mana began to surround him, He can feel an intense power flowing inside his body and his eyes began to glow a red light while his grin is getting wider and wider. Just when he thought everything is going according to his plan, the black sphere to utter some words. ''The contract is complete'' The Black sphere forcefully break away from the emperor''s hand. "W-what?" This made the emperor astonished and the black mana surrounding his body has quickly disappeared and looks at the black sphere currently swiftly flying away from him. The black sphere stopped at Flint''s body and began to enclose itself to his pierced chest, then a large quantity of black mana surrounds the entire area. "What is going on!?" "Get a hold of yourselves everyone. This kind of thing won''t kill us!" The Emperor shouted to his mages that are currently panicking. After several seconds, the dark mane surrounding the area began to wrap flint''s body in a great speed then a small explosion occurred. The area where his body was lying down formed a small crater, but his body is nowhere to be found. "This is.." The mages are trying to figure out what just happened, but they suddenly hear the emperor''s angry voice. "Send 12,000 knights and 3,000 mages to find him in the continent! Rhaegal must have teleported his body somewhere! " Upon hearing those words the mages began to move and run outside the cave in a hurry. "I''m going to find you. You can''t hide yourself from me forever." The Emperor whispered in anger. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can feel my body aching as i softly open my eyes. I found myself lying on a grassy field and when i turn my eyes to look at my surroundings, I can see a large number of trees, i can feel the cool wind gently blowing my face as i try to raise my body. "How long did i sleep?" I''m looking at the surroundings and I noticed that it''s already morning so i may have slept for a several hours. I began to comprehend everything that just happened. "I remember that the emperor pierced my chest and took out my heart so..." I looked down at my chest to check the state of my body and my eyes focused it''s gazed at the scar near in my chest located near my heart. I felt shivers just by remembering everything that has happened and if the guy with the deep voice didn''t help me, i would probably be a cold corpse right now. "But that guy..." I''m not sure, but probably the person who helped me was the dragon who was sealed and currently in the form of a soul. Now that i think about it, did he really gave me some power? I agreed to become a tool for his revenge in exchange for power and another chance to live in this world. He probably took my body and took it to this place. Right now, i don''t know where the hell i am, but i need to at least find someone to ask. I don''t know if i''m still in the continent of Entros, if by chance that i''m in a foreign place then i''m screwed. Of course, there are humans living outside Entros but the majority outside of the continent are Orcs, Elves, Beastkins, Dwarves and Demons who hate humans to the core. If I accidentally encounter another race then I would have to fight or run for my life. I just wish the place where that dragon put me is not very dangerous. "I wonder what''s happening right now in the Empire?" My mother is probably very worried right now or maybe even crying if the Emperor told her that i''m dead. There is no use thinking about it right now. "First, I need to know where i am, but i''m pretty hungry, so I guess i would find some food first." There must be a river around this area, It''s a good place to find fish to eat. I kept walking deeper into the forest for a few hours until a luckily found one. The river is a very wide and also the current is not that strong, so i could take a bath while catching some fish at the same time, it''s killing two birds in one stone. I began to put remove my clothes, i wrapped them properly and place it under the tree nearby. I jumped into the river and the cold water engulfed my body. "This is so refreshing!" I enjoyed the sensation of the cold water while catching some fish eat. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After i finished bathing i create some small fire so that i can begin to grill the fish, I still can''t use any magic, but by using the survival training in my past life I can live in this forest without having a problem. "There you go." I placed the two big fish that i caught near the fire. While waiting for it to be cooked i began to think how to use the power that was given to me by the dragon, i tried to generate some mana earlier but i failed. I look at my palm while thinking. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "What should i do?" If i can''t use the power that was given to then it would be impossible for me to survive in this place for a long time, I know that there might be some dangerous animal or maybe even another race around. While i''m in a deep thought, i suddenly felt some several presence around me. "Humans? No... If they are humans, they won''t leak out this much killing intent... This is dangerous." I can feel them getting closer and closer. "What should i do.. I''m completely surrounded" Suddenly, A very big person revealed his self in front of me. His whole body is made up of large muscles, the color of his skin resembling different from humans and his face a pig with a little resemblance of an ape and has prominent fangs on the sides of his mouth and his hand is a massive axe made from stones and metals. It''s an Orc! "A human....." He looks at me with eyes raging in anger. "Finally... We can make a human as our slaves! Make sure to completely surround him don''t let him escape!" he calls out his friends and one by one they came out behind the trees. "This is more than of what i expected..." I mumbled in a low voice and began to look around, there are probably around 50 orcs around me. "I have no intentions to hurt anyone and i believe if you all just calm yourselves then we could probably talk. I just want to know where am i and the way out of this forest, if you tell me i''ll immediately leave and never bother you again" I tried to convince the orcs since it''s only the option i have left, i''m not confident that i can defeat them all. "Do you think we''re fools? This would be a chance to get revenge to a human and we will not let this chance slip away!" He began to run and try to catch me, but I kicked the fire to divert him and jumped into the side of a tree. "Wait! I bring no harm i just want to know my way out!" I scream at him while pulling myself together. "Hahaha! A human trying to make his way out by fooling us! Make sure to not die after this because we plan on making you our own personal slave." He laughed madly while he raised his axe and began to charge at me. He swung his axe at me, i tried to dodge by jumping behind, but my left arm was grazed by the blade of the axe. My arm began to drip some blood and i put my right hand into the wound to stop the bleeding. The other orcs are just watching and laughing softly at me while they watch me struggle. It seems like for them, it''s fun to see a human suffer slowly. "What should i do now. Damn it!" I began cursing while keeping my distance from, i know that i can''t keep dodging because eventually he''ll be able to read my movements and be able to hit me fatally. But before i even think of my next move the orc leaped over me and land in front of me, I tried to run away, but he extends his right hand to my neck, raise me up and began to choke me. "Wrrraag...krrr...S....sto..pp it.." My consciousness is beginning to fade due to the choking and lack of oxygen. "Listen human... You will suffer the way you did to our race... You will live the rest of your life as a slave..." He grinned at while enjoying the expression on my face that is showing a great pain. ''Kill him'' Then a deep voice resounded in my mind. Kill him? How? I ask those words inside my mind, but he gave me the same words. ''Kill him'' What the hell! I can''t even move my body, there''s no way I could do that! ''Kill hiiim!'' Those words resounded in my again, but this time it has a strong tone, then my right hand move on it''s own and easily slashed the hand of the orc that was currently choking me. "H-how!?" The Orc widened his eyes while looking at me. I, on the other hand, was also surprised from what just happened, but when I look at my right hand, a black mana is enveloped around it and you can feel that you''re gonna get devoured just by looking at it. "This is.." I''m very surprised to see the intensity of power in my right hand, so maybe by using this i can survive this disaster. "Here i go." I took the chance while the orc is still dumbfounded and slide below him, he looked at me in surprise and i can see based from his reaction that he didn''t expect me to attack him. I jumped forward and slash my right hand into his neck, then his neck flew away from his body. After i confirmed that i killed him. I can feel that something inside me has awakened and i feel such pleasure from killing the orc, then after that i began to feel the madness swelling up inside me. The Orcs began to have a stir, but they immediately calm down and began leaking out a terrifying killing intent, but i ignored them. "This is.... Mmhahahahaha!" A strange madness and pleasure has invaded me inside and I began to laugh madly. "yEs! ThIs Is pOwEr! I nEeD to KilL yOu AlL!! MmMhaHaha!" My heart was completely taken over. The Orcs were a little bit surprised, but it didn''t falter them and attack me all at once. I Dashed straight to the one of the orcs and before he swing his axe i cut his right arm and put his head between my two hands. "Ahhh!" He began to scream in pain as i began to squeeze his head into my two hands. "HaHAhAhA! YeS tHatS iT.. ScrEam In Pain." I threw his body to the side after i completely squeezed his head then i turned my attention to the other Orcs. They began to look me in fear, i can even see some of them beginning to wet their pants. The black mana that''s enveloping my right hand slowly begins to envelop my entire body. It didn''t stop until my entire body is flowing with dark mana. "HaHAhAhA.. WhAt''s WroNg I tHoUgHt yOu gUyS aRe gOiNg to mAke mE yoUr SlAvE!? " I looked at them with eyes full of bloodlust. But suddenly i can feel some part of my body began to change. My back began to hurt and I feel like something is going out of my back and suddenly two black horns began to come out from my forehead. "WaaaAAaaAAaAHahahah!" I screamed and laugh at the same time. I can feel something in my back has come out and when i turned around to look at it there are large black wings with one small horn to each side of it and when i try to flap the they move just as i want. I became a humanoid dragon. My heart and soul are currently filled with massive madness and pleasure from killing.My body turned so different and my clothes were completely ripped apart as my muscles began to expand. The Orcs watched at me in both amazement and fear, but i took that chance to accumulate dark mana in my both hands. When then we saw it, they began to run as fast as they can from me. "HahAhA! FoOoOlishNeSs! DiE!" I released the dark mana in my hands and released it towards the running orcs. Everything was devoured in it''s path the trees completely disappeared, destroying the soil below while leaving it''s trail and made a very big explosion in the area. I flew towards the area of explosion and saw a massive crater, The Orcs were completely incinerated leaving nothing behind. "YeS! ThIs PlEaSurE oF KiLlinG.. I lOvE iT! I wAnNa FeEl MorE MadNess I waNt To KiLl MOOORE!!!" I can''t think of nothing other than killing. "MoOrE! MoOre! I WaNt MoOre! KiLl! kIlL! KilL! KilL! kilL! AAaaRRrrGh!!!!" My body began to ache so much like being stabbed by many swords while I felt that my insides are being dissected and the black man enveloping my body began to fade little by little and my consciousness began to fade away. I dived into the ground and once again i lay unconscious in the forest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hay guys! Please tell me which one do you want to see A Human or an Elf? Chapter 15 Unvoice part 1 ''Quite a mess you did there'' As my consciousness is drifting again in a dark space. I heard a familiar deep voice inside my mind, the own of that voice is the one who saved my life and the one who gave me power. I vaguely remember everything that happened, but I''m sure i lost control of everything, i wasn''t the one in control of my body that time or... am i? ''If you''re wondering why you suddenly lost control, it''s because of the Dragon''s bloodlust. Only Dragons can control the intense bloodlust that will surge into your body so normally, Humans are not compatible with it, but if you properly train your body and make the dark mana flow into it naturally, it might take a long time but it''s not impossible. '' I see so that''s the case. If i can train myself properly then i could have a total control of my power, but again i killed indiscriminately. Just when i promised myself to change and stop living the way i did in the past...How disappointing.... "Hey, if i''m correct you''re the former leader of the dragons, right?" ''Yes'' "Then why did you die?" I asked him out of curiosity. If i''m going to work with him from now on then, it''s only natural to develop a friendship with each other, that what i''m thinking but, unfortunately, that''s not a good idea for him. ''You and i are bound with our contract. I''ll provide you all my power and you will get my revenge. I don''t feel the need to answer unnecessary questions'' His voice got a little bit louder after he heard my question. If you don''t want to talk about it then i won''t force him but i hope someday that he will open up his self to me. "Then can you tell me how to control my power?" I won''t let this conversation end without getting any information about this power. If i always go rampage while using this power then it''s impossible for me to use it. I don''t want to kill indiscriminately, i refuse to rob the life of the people from their families. I might sound stupid, but i won''t be able to persuade people if they know that i''m going to kill them anytime i feel like it. ''When you wake up, the first person you''ll see has the ability to help you control your own mana. Build a good relationship with her and ask fo her assistance. '' "Huh?" Before i even start asking again, I began to feel my consciousness suddenly fading. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can feel soft sensation around my body as i open my eyes. I looked around me and i noticed that i''m currently lying in a soft bed, the surroundings are foreign to me. Right now, i''m surrounded by wooden walls and branches, the branches have artistic designs of nobility and smoothly varnished. The room is quite a small, only 3 persons can fit inside. I''m not sure, but i''m guessing somebody has found me lying in the center of the massive crater and decided to take me. I was about to go back to sleep again since my body still ache so much but when i turn my head to the right, what catches my attention was a girl around of the age of 21. She has a bluish green hair, pointed long ears, her golden green eyes are so extravagant that can make anyone get charmed by it, her breath-taking lips can make any men lose their own cool and might start kissing it and her adorable breast that has a striking appearance that are currently trying to peek out from her ligh green dress. She''s wearing a no lace dress so basically, you can see her seductive cleavage and smooth skin of her slender arms. She''s currently looking at me with caution by i decided to ignore it and speak. "To see an unbelievable beauty after i wake up, my heart is charmed. " I voiced out my honest opinion then she blushed a little and suddenly, golden text made by magic appeared in front of her. [Thank you, but may i know what your name is?] The golden text formed a sentence and i began to read it. It seems like she doesn''t wanna speak directly to me or maybe she can''t use her own voice. "My name is Flint Ent-" I quickly stopped halfway because if i say that i''m a prince and the son of the emperor, i might get executed by her subordinates. I''m not sure if there are other people outside this room, but it''s better to assume it so i can prepare for something unexpected to happen. [Flint...] "Yes, by the way, are you an elf? Actually it''s my first time meeting one." [Yes and you''re currently in the village of the elves. Elven guards had found you lying down in the forest while they''re on patrol and they decided to take you back here for questioning.] I see so i''m currently in one of the elven villages huh. Unlike humans, the elves went to different kinds of forest to seclude their selves but they still connected to each other by sending birds to relay their message to them. One of the books i read back at the empire said that even though elves are scattered around the world, there is one place they call the Forest Castle where the biggest numbers of elves are gathered. "so... what''s going to happen to me now?" "Ah! The council still deciding on that matter" All of a sudden i heard a voice but when i looked around i can''t see the one who said those words. "Hey down here!" "Ah....." When i looked down, what I saw was a girl probably in the height of 4''4 currently sitting on the floor. She has greenish and transparent wings on her back and a dress that only covers a small part of her body, you can see literally her bare legs. "A fairy? I though they''re only in the size of a fly....." "What!? Where did you get that from? Fairies might be small but... saying that we''re only in the size of a fly is very rude, isn''t it?" She suddenly got angry at me for a small reason, i guess this very is a little bit hot tempered. "Whatever... so tell me. what''s gonna happen to me now?" "Don''t get ahead of yourself! First i want you to give your respect at the princess!" She pointed the elven girl sitting on the chair beside her. "Princess, i thought i''m currently in a small elven village... What is a princess doing here?" I tilted my head and looked at the Elf then again, golden text began to show up in front of her. [I''m here to train under the village chief, He''s one of the best magicians in the entire elven race. I also want to explore other places os i decided to come here instead of calling the village chief to teach me in the Forest castle, so that''s why.] I began to understand what is happening, so currently the elven princess is here to train her own magic and also want to see different places other than the Forest Castle. "Well, staying in one place forever would be boring in my opinion. " After saying those words, the door of the room slowly opens. [Master?] "Ah, chief!" A slender man entered the room, he''s probably in the age of mid 20''s, but probably i''m wrong. The elves have a very long lifespan sop this guy might have lived several hundreds of years. He looks into my eyes like he was examining me and after a long silence began to speak. "Human, what are you doing in the forest and what caused that massive crater in the place where they found you." "Ahmm. When i was about to eat the food i caught several wild animals suddenly appear, i protected myself but since i can''t control my power yet, i went out of control" I didn''t tell them that the orcs tried to capture me to make me their slave. "So you''re the cause of that massive crater in the forest huh.... It might be possible since i can feel a massive mana inside of your body.... Are you the result of human experiments?" He looked at me with disgust while saying the last part of his words. "Actually no... It might take a very long time to explain... but i doubt you might eve believe it." "Hmp. I don''t really care if you hide things from me, but right now you are our prisoner. If other race had caught they''ll surely make you a slave as a revenge for their kin that was caught by humans, but we''re different if we make you a slave then that means we''re no better than humans. We are a race that have great honor, but just so you know we really hate humans all the cruelties they''ve done until now is unforgivable." He''s eyes began to turn red and i began to feel his hostility towards me is getting more and more intense. "Will you believe me if i tell you that i''m different? That i''m one of the minorities that doesn''t approve of slavery?" I said those words in a gentle tone. "Oh? Are you trying to persuade us so that you can escape from here? Too bad you can''t get out of here without an Elf lifting the barrier" He smiled at me and began to give a small laugh at my words. "You''re judging a person based on their race... I thought elves are better than humans?" I got a little annoyed at him so, i tried pissing him off a little. "....." He closed his eyes stayed silent for several seconds Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Right now you are our prisoner, we won''t locked you up in jail because there''s nothing like that here so we decided that our best warriors will guard you wherever you go. Although you can go around this place if the guards suspect that you''re trying to do something they will immediately kill you." After talking to me, he turned his attention to the two who were currently watching us. "Now, Princess forgive me that i asked you to look after this disgusting human while i''m in the meeting with the council. Now please follow me so you can continue your training." The Chief left the room immediately after saying those words. [Bye bye.] The Princess smile at after conveying me her message and began to follow the Chief. "Goodbye, disgusting human~~" The fairy cheerfully waved her hands at me while flying away to follow the princess. "That fairy does she even know the meaning of those words?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After i rested my body for several days i decided to go out from the small wooden house that i''ve been staying. even though i am prisoner they gave me the freedom to roam freely around in the village. Of course, there are a lot of guards around me. I actually feel like a VIP being escorted rather than a prisoner. I can feel the uncomfortable gazes coming from the elves that i pass by, i can understand their hatred towards the humans, but i hate it when the put all of their hatred on me. I remember the words Rhaegal before, that the first person that i''ll see will help me gain control of my power so that means the Elven princess is the one who can help me, but how do i persuade her? I think she doesn''t hate me, but i can''t be really sure about that. She might be hiding her hatred towards me or she just treated me normally because she doesn''t want me to hate an Elven princess. I guess for now i''ll find her and try to talk to her. I went further in the village, The houses made by the elves are really simple but beautiful. There are tree houses between the large trees and the children playing with each other around their houses. It''s really a peaceful village. "Hmm... so where should i find her...." I tried asking one of the guards earlier, but he didn''t even bother to say anything, i guess it''s one of their order to ignore to prevent me from swaying them with my words. "I''ve been walking for several minutes now... and still no sign of her...." I kept walking around while enduring the painful gazes from the elves until i saw someone that looks familiar. "Oh, that fairy.." I saw her flying around the apple tree trying to get some of the fruits i walk near the tree and call out to her. "Hey!" She looked down to see the source of the voice. "Ah! It''s the disgusting human!" She smiled while saying those words and land near me. "What are you doing here?" "I''m getting some snacks for Princess Kaya." I see, so that means she gonna meet her soon. "So Kaya is her name huh.. I didn''t manage to get it last time...By the way, you probably know me already, but i''ll introduce myself again... My name is flint and i hope you can stop calling me a disgusting human." I reached out my hand to her for a handshake and she didn''t hesitate to take. "My name is Nahla.." Then she began to shake my hand intensely, i quickly draw back my hand from hers. "You said that you''re gonna meet Princess Kaya soon. Can i come with you? There is also something that i want to ask her." "Okaaay~ She''s currently training with the village chief right now, but we can watch while waiting for her." "I understand.." "Then let''s goooooo~" "Hey, wai-" After i agreed, she forcefully took my right hand and began to pull it while she''s flying. Obviously, i''m stronger than her so i pulled her back with my hand. "Don''t suddenly pull me. What will you do if i suddenly lose my balance? Let''s walk normally." "....Kay" I after i scolded her she became immediately obedient, The guards are looking intensely at me, but i ignored them, they can''t hurt me unless i do something dangerous so the can only watch for now. I took Nahla''s hand and began to walk towards the princess location. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We enter into the woods not far from the village. A Human will get lost inside if they forcefully go in or go out from the forest without the guide of an Elf, this is why no human was able to attack them into this place. The fresh fragrant of the woods tickled my nose, the sensation of the wind is really gentle and gives you the feeling of calmness inside your mind. This place is ideal for people who always to meditate. "There they are!" Nahla shouted happily while pulling my hand. Princess Kaya is currently accumulating mana around her body while holding something in her hands. "Is that a harp?" I asked Nahla who''s currently pulling me. "Yes, is it your first time to see one?" She tilted her head and asked, she looks really cute while doing that. "No, It''s just look different..." The harp has a triangular shape but designed with Elven carvings, The handle is made of gold, but the strings are glowing lightly with different color and every time she strum one of the strings the color shines intensely and surrounds her body the fades gently into the surroundings. She looks very majestic while playing the harp, the beautiful music began to reach my ear and i can''t help but feel different emotion inside. So peaceful like water yet my heart is on fire and so sad yet you can feel real happiness inside. It''s a music for the soul. "She''s like a goddess" I can''t help but mutter while looking at her. Her eyes are currently closed, but her lips are gently smiling. You can tell that she''s really immersing herself in the music. On her side, i saw the Village Chief who''s currently sitting in cross legs while his eyes closed. "Let''s go near them since them, we won''t be disturbing them we just stay silent. You guys wait here while we go there." After talking to me she turned her attention to the guards. "But-" The Elf who looks like the captain tried to stop her but Nahla interrupted her. "This guy won''t be able to run away from this forest and besides the chief is there, so won''t do anything dumb, right flint?" She looks at me again while smiling brightly. "Well, i''m not stupid enough to run knowing that i can''t get out here with the help of an Elf." "T-then we''ll stay here and watch closely... But if you try to do anything then we''ll immediately crush you" The elf raise his spear while leaking some killing intent. "*Sigh...* Fine fine" Nahla and I went near them and sit on the grass 2 meters away from them. "She''s very good right.." Nahla began to sway her body and began to immerse herself with the music. "What kind of power does she have?" If she has a harp then it must have something to do with making people relax and boost their energy. I don''t really think her magic is for killing. "Her magic is called Goddess Healing, It''s a Magus Rank Magic that can heal any kind of injuries..." Magus Rank huh... That''s quite a talent. The highest healer in the empire can only cast a healing magic in Sage Rank. I guess i should ask the thing that''s been bugging me. "Hey, Nahla" "Hm?" She looked at me with a questioning look. "Why is she not speaking." The things that came into my mind are either she can''t speak or she refuse to speak to me, but if you have a healing magic in the rank of Magus then the former would be impossible since she can just easily heal her voice. Nahla''s face became serious and began to open her mouth. "It''s because she can''t speak.." "Huh? But you just said that she can use a healing magic in Magus rank." I became dumbfounded by her answer if she has such intense power then she can just easily heal herself. Nahla shook her head and opens her mouth. "You can''t heal something that you didn''t have since birth." Chapter 16 Unvoice part 2 What''s up guys? Before you read the chapter i just want you to know that this chapter contains 13,000 words! Yup that''s right! So here''s the thing, instead of updating everyday (which is really inconvenient for me) i decided to update chapters maybe weekly... but the chapters would be more than 10k Words, so that''s it i''m gonna upload chapters maybe once a week or once in a two weeks but again, those chapters would contain more than 10k words. (Now that convenient for all of us.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ Nahla shook her head and opens her mouth. "You can''t heal something that you didn''t have since birth." "... I see" I should have known that healing means recovering something that was once broken and not to create something. I look at Princess Kaya once again. She began to open her eyes and look immediately at me, She must have noticed our presence when we were approaching. She stop playing the harp and began to release a small amount of magic [Hello.] Magical words formed in front of her. "...Hi" [Did you like it?] "Uhm.. if you''re talking about the music then it was really relaxing but if you''re talking about yourself then i must say that you''re the most beautiful and charming person that i ever saw while playing the harp. I am honored to witness it. " The Princess blushed after hearing those words, Her face became red as tomato while holding her cheeks with both of her hand. [Awawa... What should i say.... uhm... Thank you...] "Hey, you dumbass! You are talking to the Princess. Watch your mouth." Then the Chief intervene with our conversation. "I believe i didn''t say anything wrong." Then the Chief showed an expression of irritation. "I believe you a prisoner like doesn''t have any rights to question me." Well... I better stop before i completely piss him off. I walked near the two of them and stare at both of them. "Fine... There is something that i need to talk about with the Princess. So may i?" Princess Kaya then smiled at me. "No!" Before the Princess can even answer the Chief immediately refused my request. "Just because we''re letting you roam around that doesn''t mean you can do whatever you want." This so called Chief is really annoying. "Guards! Take him back to the village. We don''t want to get disturbed." I just wanna add that this chief is beginning to piss me off just a little. ?????? I was taken back to the village. Right now i''m alone inside of this small wooden house, the guards are currently outside talking with each other, seems like they''re bored watching over me. But forget that. I need to find a way to talk to the Princess in private but how on earth could i do that? How could i make her trust me? How could i prove to the Chief that i''m not a bad person? *Sigh...* "What to do now?" I started playing with the black mana in my right hand while thinking... I could control a small amount of black mana but if i use more than that then i''m gonna go out of control. I was able to prove it because when i was recovering, i was bored and i tried to play some of my mana and whenever i try to use a large amount of mana i feel like i''m gonna go mad, i immediately stop before i get out of control. "For now i can only use this small amount... I guess i should find a way to make use of it." There must be some kind of spell and tricks that i can use with this. I began to make the mana from my right hand to envelop my entire body. I command the mana to gently enter my skin and reinforce my body, then i can feel my body become lighter and sturdier. "This is body reinforcement...." I spent the entire day learning different kinds of magic and tricks that may be useful in the future. ?????? "What time is now?" I was so occupied with learning magic that i didn''t notice that it''s already around midnight. "Well, I guess it''s enough for now since i learned a lot." To began to recall the things that i just learned. ?Body Reinforcement? = Since i was using a dragon''s mana, my body reinforcement is way stronger than any normal person. My body became as hard as a dragon''s scale, my physical power became as strong as a dragon''s physical attack and my speed is on par with a dragon flying in the sky. ?Dragon''s Binding? = I can release a dark sphere that can travel in a fast pace and can give psychological pain to the enemy while binding their entire body and stop their movement for a few minutes. ?Tempest Strike? = I can move to the enemy with a breakneck speed and release the gathered mana from my body and strike the enemy while releasing all the mana at once. I learned three things today. Now it''s time to think a way to get close to the Princess. My consciousness began to drift while thinking .... ?????? I can feel a very familiar feeling... I became a little bit happy when i realized where i was. "So Rhaegal what do you want from me?" "...How long do you plan on staying here? You must learn how to control you power by seeking the help of the Princess, that way you can learn how to escape." "Even if you say that... I''m doing what i can do right now. By the way, you can just teach me, right? Why do i need her help if you can just help me." "Wrong. Since birth, we Dragons can already use and control our massive amount of mana. There is no need for us to learn the basic things. That''s why you can''t ask me to teach you the basics because i don''t know. " What a useless fellow. Compare to other races, they need to learn from the very basic to control the flow of mana surrounding their body but these Dragons doesn''t need to do that because their body can freely control the mana. "I can feel a very large amount of mana from the Elven Princess, even though she''s an elf, she must have learned to control her massive amount of power." Then what should i do? Hmmm.... "Hey... before i died i saw my heart crushed by the emperor. How did you saved me?" My heart was completely crushed at that time and also taken out from my body. You can''t heal something like that, you may stop the bleeding from my chest, but i still won''t live if my heart isn''t attached to my body. "Simple. I just recreated your heart." "...What?" "A Dragon''s mana can automatically regenerate the body within a few seconds, but aside from that we can recreate the parts of our body that just in case some dragons cut our body into pieces." "Oh, really? How did you die then?" "They stopped the flow of mana inside my body and burnt me with Dargon''s breath until my body turn into dust and then they captured my soul." "Then why did the dragons kill you?" "As i said before. You are just my contractor, there is no need for me to answer unnecessary things." Seems like i can''t get any more information from his past as expected. "Rhaegal... Can i also use the power of recreation?" "It''s an Invoker rank magic. You need to learn to control the flow of mana first before you can use it." I see... Well, i got some useful information... I can really use this information in the future. ?????? I slowly opened my eyes. Seems like i had a pretty good sleep last night, my body feels lighter today for some reason, maybe practicing to control the flow of mana inside my body is actually the reason for this good feeling. I gently raised my body then i see someone sitting on the chair beside my bed. It''s the Princess. "Right now, I''m the happiest man on the planet because i once again see the beautiful face of the Princess right after i woke up. It feels like a wife waiting for his husband to wake up so that they can eat together." [Hehe, really?.....wait... WIFE!?] She seems very happy for a second but then she suddenly panicked. Her hands are currently on her cheeks while looking around restlessly. Ahh, she''s so innocent. "Hey, don''t panic! By the way, why are you here? " After hearing my question, she began to return to her own senses. [Ah! Well, yesterday you said there is something that you want to talk about. That''s why i''m here.] Ahh yes, yesterday i requested to talk to her but that didn''t happen because of that damn Chief! "Uhm.. Can you be my teacher?" I flatly told her what''s on my mind. I have to slowly tell her the details so she won''t get the wrong idea. [Teacher?] "Yes. Actually there is something that you-" I wasn''t able to finish my sentence because the words that formed in front of her shocked me. [What does Flint the Prince of the Human Empire want me to teach him?] I looked at the Princess while sweating, she''s carefully observing my expression. SHIT! IM DEAD! HOW THE HELL DID SHE KNOW!? but that doesn''t matter now. Now that they know who am i, I''m pretty sure that I''ll get executed today! Is that why they let me roam free? to enjoy the last moments of my life? DAMN IT! I''m not gonna die here! I''d rather use the uncontrollable power of the dragon and let the madness take over my body temporarily rather than getting killed here! I already died twice and there will be no third time. [Relax Flint, you''re safe. ] The princess cutely smiled at me to reassure me. "What do you mean?" I tilted my head in response. [The only who knows the truth are me, Nahla, and the Chief.] "I see... But how?.." Do they plan to blackmail me? Do they plan to use me as a hostage against the empire? If they do that the Emperor would know my current location and he would be very glad to personally come here to kill me and destroy this entire village. [Priestess Selyn is my best friend. Roughly 3 years ago you helped her right? She told me everything about you, How you look like, what kind of personality you have, how you hate slavery, how cool you are and everything. When she came visited me at the Forest Caste she never stopped talking about you. That''s why i also became interested.] "I see... Selyn huh." I release a huge sigh of relief after reading her words.For a second, i thought i''m dead. [Yes. That''s why when i first so you i began to suspect that you are Flint while observing your face and you cleared all my doubt when you woke up and told me your name.] "I see, Well i didn''t change my name when i woke. That''s why... Is that the reason why i can roam freely and do anything that i want?" [Yes! I told Nahla and the Chief about all the things that i know about you. Though the Chief was reluctant at first in the end he agreed to my request because you saved the Beastkins before and it''s not right to treat the savior of Selyn in a cruel manner.] So that''s why the chief didn''t like me because he knows that i''m the prince of the Empire. "*Siiigh* Thanks to Selyn and to you, I''ll be forever grateful." I bowed my heads to express my gratitude. [No. It should be me, who must express gratitude. You saved my Selyn from a despicable Human.] She also gently bowed her head. I think i also need to thank Selyn when i go to her in the Stilk Forest, but now there are things that i need to do. After sighing one last time, Then talk to her in a serious tone. "Going back to the original topic. I need you to teach me how to control a Dragons mana." She began to look confused. [Dragon''s mana?] "Ahh, I should say everything from the very beginning but before that we should go eat first. Ah, i should wash my face and body first! " [Ohh. Okay, let''s go outside then.] ?????? After washed my entire body, i meet with the princess under the apple tree a little bit far away from the village. Obviously The guards are still accompanying me but when Princess Kaya told them to keep a distance from us, they gathered under a tree that is 300 meters away from us. At first they were hesitating to follow the order but an order from a Princess is absolute. For some reason, Nahla is also with Princess. "Hey, I brought a lot of fruits and vegetables! Taste it! Taaaaste it~" She cheerfully came flying at me and forcefully putting the food inside my mouth. "Wai- uguh! uh! ack!" "Hey, Is it delicious? It''s delicious, right? Of course it is! I made sure to pick the best quality after all!" She puffed her chest while currently flying in front of me. She seems like she doesn''t know that''s she''s killing me. [Hey, Nahla be more careful. Look he''s suffering because you suddenly put a lot of food in his mouth.] The Princess scold her while patting Nahla''s head. "Ah!! I''m sorry! I''m sorry!" While panicking Nahla forcefully put her small hands on my mouth and she began to take out the fruits. "Ha! Seriously, don''t ever do that again!" I shouted at her while panting heavily. "I''m really sorry~" She looked down, but i can see some tears accumulating on her eyes. I gently patted her head to show her that i''m not that angry. "I''m sorry for shouting at you.. I was just surprised by what happened but don''t ever do that again okay? Other people might get really angry if you suddenly do that. Look why don''t we eat together and enjoy that food that you brought." "Ah yes! Thank you!" She began to look a little bit better. "I''m pretty sure all of those are delicious since your the one who picked them, right?" I picked one of the fruit and bit it. "Oh! It''s really delicious as expected from Nahla!" I patted her head again while smiling gently at her. "Of course~ I''m the best after all! Hehehe Thank you, Flint!" She began flying around cheerfully then she came hugging my head from behind. The Princess is looking at us happily. [You''re really kind to different races Flint.] She looks very satisfied after watching us, Maybe she didn''t expect me to cheer up Nahla. "It''s not about the race Princess Kaya. I believe it''s natural to also show kindness to people who have showed kindness to you and she collected those food for my sake, and for that i''m really happy." "Really!?" Nahla looks at me while still hugging my head. "Of course! I''m really happy!" "Hehe~" [Nahla has always been left out, her tribe said she can''t do anything right and alway making a lot of mistakes which makes things sometimes to get worse that''s why i took her because i believe she won''t improve if they always leave her out. Her clumsiness has gradually becoming better since then. So i hope you will also help me.] "Of course. Every person can improve their self as time passes by so you can count on me." I gave her a smile and a thumbs up then I looked at the Princess with a serious face while letting Nahla do what she wants. "Then i''ll begin to explain things from the very beginning. So Nahla, get down first so that we can eat together. " [Yes.] "Yes~" They both Carefully listened to my story. I told both of them everything, from how did i accidentally discover the Emperor''s personal experiment, from how did i end up having this kind of power. I also told them the madness that always trying take over me whenever i use a large amount of black mana. ?????? [So that''s what happened.] "You''re really unfortunate eh." "Actually rather than worrying about myself i''m more worried about my mother." I know how my mother loves me. I don''t want to imagine what she''s going through right now, believing that her only son had died. I really hope she''s doing fine. "It''s impossible for me to go back in the empire now so i must find a way to take my mother, but i need to get stronger first, i must have the power to take and protect her." I expressed my words with determination. [That''s why you want me to teach to control the Dragon''s mana?] "That''s one of the few reasons. I also don''t want this power to go out o control that''s why i must find a way to control it to ensure the safety of the people surrounding me." [I see.. Then why don''t we start teaching you now?] The Princess became serious after hearing my story. I can see that she really wants to teach and i was able to gain her trust because of Selyn. "Uhm? right here? How about the guards they might get worried when they see that you''re teaching me." The Guards might also get jealous that the Princess is personally teaching especially that i''m a prisoner. [They won''t mind. Elves has more trust into each other than what you think. So there is no need to worry about.] "I see..." "I''ll also watch so i can cheer for you!" "Thanks... So Princess what should we begin?" She took out her harp and sat down on the big rock beside the tree. [First you must learn to have a calm heart. First i''ll guide you with the help of my magic so it won''t be hard for you.] She then began to play the harp. This time, it was a different music from before. It was warmer and calming, i feel like it''s only the two of existing in this place, so peaceful. The dark mana began to flow out from my body, but this time it comes out gently, slowly creeping out from the surrounding, but it''s not scary like before. The mana is easier to control and i can direct it however i want. [Listen. Your heart must be calm like water, but your soul must be blazing like fire because the soul is what emits the mana and your body must blend in with the mana to that it can flow in control and avoid it to flow violently. The music will guide you, close your eyes.] I followed her instruction and began to close my eyes as i listen to the harp. Calm like water...but the soul must be... blazing with fire.... The Dark mana that is surrounding my body became larger and larger, but i can''t feel the madness that usually try to take over me when i try to release a great amount of mana. Inside of my body is getting more hotter. No, it''s not my body I can feel something hot inside me but it''s not my body. Is it the soul? While my concentration drifts a little, suddenly my entire body release a larger amount of mana and began to go out violently then i can suddenly feel the madness taking over me. I opened my eyes in surprised. "Ah... ugh!" I can feel such anger inside, it seems like my body wants to go on a rampage. "Ah! Gah!...Ugh!!!" I tried to stop myself, but it''s hard for me to control it... I release another larger amount of mana the surrounding became like a night. I can''t see any light at all. But before i totally lost control, i heard the sound of the harp playing stronger than before it feels like it''s directly playing on my mind. The beautiful music began to take over my mind and body, i can feel my body became lighter and the dark mana surrounding the area became gradually thinner. I shook my head to clear my confusion then began to find the princess. I saw her still sitting on the large rock beiside the tree, She already stopped playing the harp when the dark mana surrounding us has disappeared. She began to cast magic worryingly and golden words began to form in front of her. [Are you okay!? I was worried that you won''t be able to hear the music when you suddenly release a large amount of mana that''s why i used a stronger magic.] "...Yeah, I''m alright Thank you..." [Seems like you didn''t concentrate properly, that''s why the mana suddenly burst out you should be more careful but more than that i''m very glad that you''re alright.] She''s right, The moment i lost a little bit of my concentration was the moment the mana flow out violently. [We''re gonna have to do it every day now but right now, you should help Nahla.] She smiled wryly at me while saying those words. I turn my attention to Nahla and i was surprised that she''s lying down unconsciously on the grass and when i turn to look at the guards that were 300 meters away from us, they were also unconscious. I already know the cause of this, it''s embarrassing but i must admit my mistake. "I''m sorry Princess, I caused you trouble." But she smiled at me like she didn''t mind. [It''s okay i was able to protect them and even if i didn''t, it won''t kill them since the mana you release doesn''t have the intention to kill.] I see, so if i release a mana without the intention to kill then it''s safe huh. At worse, they''ll just get unconscious. The Princess Protect them to prevent longer exposure because longer exposure means the victim will be unconscious for a longer period of time, probably a month or so. "I see. But i still apologize for it. I did cause you trouble after all." I once again bowed my head to her. "I''ll carry Nahla back and ask other people from the village to carry the guards, Let''s go Princess." But the Princess didn''t move from her spot. " Nh? What''s wrong?" She''s scratching her head while giving me a wry smile. [Actually, I used a lot of power when you''re mana became violent, i used Stronger magic while expanding my own mana to protect everyone and as a result.... I can''t move] I see, she really worked hard for my sake. I''m very grateful to her i should at least carry her. "Then i would carry you first." I smiled gently at her while saying it, smiling to other people is a proof of goodwill. [Wait! No... I.... Uhm... Me... to be carried by a man.. and able to lean on his chest.. Wah... ahh...] Oh, crap. seems like she''s getting the wrong idea. "Uhm.. if i carry the unconscious Nahla first, the people from the village might get the wrong idea since no one is going to explain what happened." I reassure her that we don''t have any other choice but for me to carry her. She looked down while her face is very red and mumbling some words in a low voice [But... I want... my first.... experience to be ...carried.... by the man... i love... ] She thought i didn''t hear it but since i receive the Dragon''s power, my senses have become way stronger than before. "I''m sorry to disappoint you, but i''ll do my best to act as a man you love while carrying you. So how do you want me to carry you?" She became even more redder, I want to laugh at her, but she might suddenly refuse me if i do that. [Flint... as my...lover.... together.... wawawawa!.. My face is getting more hotter... What on earth are suddenly saying! I''m not....ready for this....] "*Sigh*I''m not gonna wait for you. " I went closer to her and began to wrap my arms around her body. [WAIT! What Are you- I''m not yet ready!] Let''s just ignore those words floating around her. I carried her with a princess carry and began to walk slowly. "So Princes, What does it feels like to be a Princess?" I began to talk to disperse the awkward atmosphere. [But you should know right? You''re a prince.] She tilted her head while gazing at me. "Yes, but i''m the last Prince so i don''t have much responsibility in the empire. You can say that i''m just a higher noble and i also want to know what it feels like to be a Princess of the Elves." [I see] Her eyes became suddenly sad when i tried to insist her. She looks down with sad eyes and began to form magical words around us. [It''s hard.. and sometimes really sad ] "Hmm? How so?" Then she kept silent and moved her eyes away from me..... Maybe she'' not yer ready to completely open up herself to me... I guess it will take some time, so for now let''s be considerate and should not force her. When we reached the village everyone was surprised especially the Chief but he immediately calmed down when he heard the princess''s explanation. I went back together with some of the villagers to bring back Nahla and the guards, no one even bothered to talk to me when were on the way there, but i didn''t mind it, after all i''m different from them. ?????? 4 years has passed since then. I became closer with Nahla and the Princess, my relationship with Chief Mau became a little bit close, he even allowed me to call his name and the villagers became less conscious of me. In my early days in this village, they at look at me with scorn gazes, but now some of them were smiling every time they see me, probably because they already know my relationship with Priestess Selyn and how i saved her kin. At first they were surprised and refused to believe it, even though the Princess was the one explaining it to them, it''s hard for them to believe that a human who lives in the empire would save the Beastkin. Yes, they now know that i lived in the empire before, but, of course, we still need to hide the fact that i''m a Prince. I''ve been training every day with Princess Kaya. In these past four years, i was able to control half od the dragon''s mana. I can you use it however i want without the madness taking over me, though if i use more than half of Rhaegal''s power i would immediately go out of control but thanks to the Princess the damage wasn''t that great because everytime she notice that there''s something wrong, she quickly use her power to calm me but everytime she do that she also lose a lot of her own mana and i have to carry her back every time that happens. Every night when i''m alone inside the small wooden house, I always try to find ways to use recreation magic. The progress is quite slow, i didn''t expect it to be this hard. I can recreate small pieces of stones using my power, but it takes a lot of concentration and time to make it. The reason i''m working hard learning the recreation magic is because i want to repay Princess Kaya by recreating her vocal chord. Nahla told me secretly that the reason she can''t speak was because her vocal chord wasn''t able to produce phonation. The reason she can''t heal it because she can''t heal something that didn''t exist so the only way to give her a voice is by using my power of recreation. "But how should i apply the magic to her?" That''s also one of the problems i''m facing right now. My power might be incompatible with her body and will cause her to suffer. *Knock knock!* Someone suddenly knocked on the door. "Nahla?" "Yes~ Please open it. " I stand up and walked to the door and after i open it. Nahla immediately pulled my hands outside. "Hey! What are you doing?" "Did you forget it? Today is the day for your final training right? So we prepared a loooot of food for you." Yup. today is my last training with the Princess, she said she already taught everything she knew to me and it''s about time for me to discover new ways to improve myself. "Even if you say that... It''s not like i''m gonna leave after my training and i should go finish my training first before celebrating right?" Nahla puffed her cheeks and look at me with annoyance. "That doesn''t matter!I''m already hungry so let''s go!" She flapped her green transparent wings and began to fly while pulling me but because she can''t carry me. I remain in the ground while being pulled by the flying Nahla. "Okay. Stop pulling me and come down here, let''s walk together, by the way, is Mau also there waiting for us? " "Yup." So he''s there huh? i want to be alone with Nahla and the princess so that i can tell them about the recreation magic that i''ve been practicing. Well, it can''t be helped i''ll just tell them later. During these past four years Mau became so busy, every time he finishes the training with princess Kaya, he immediately go back to the village and write some sort of report and use the birds to send it somewhere... Maybe those reports are about me? or maybe about the princess, but i didn''t try to pry on that, i won''t do anything stupid as long as i feel safe. "We''re here!" Nahla began to shake my right hand cheerfully. I can see the Princess together with Chief Mau. They''re both standing together on our training spot, Usually that place was just a flat field filled with grass and surrounded by trees but now it''s surrounded by wooden tables with different kinds of fruits on top of it. "I didn''t expect you to bring out a lot of food, is it okay?" [Of course it is, Today is the last day of your training so we should at least celebrate right?] "It''s fine Flint.... " Mau gently look at me while giving his approval. "Well.... Okay..." "Let''s sit there Flint." Nahla pulled my hand once again and we both sat down on the wooden chair, Princess Kaya and Mau also sat down in front of us. [You should eat a lot Flint, after your last training for will be easy for you.] "Haha... I think it''s because you always go easy on me." [No, It''s just that.... you became really good that''s why managing a very massive and unique kind of many became easy for you... Even though you can only control half of it, You''re still amazing. A normal person would at least take 20 years to do that. ] "Of course, he''s good! I''ve been cheering him almost every day!" Nahla stood up from her seat and began to brag. "...The three of you became really close" Mau murmured softly while looking the three of us. We began to eat and we ate a lot... I really miss to eat some meat, but i''m in no position to complain and the food here in the elven village are delicious and healthy at the same time, it''s good for the body when you are currently training. We rest after we finished eating.... Mau went back to the village earlier, he said he have something to do so right it''s only me, Nahla and Princess Kaya. "What do you plan to do after you finish the training?" Nahla sat beside me and ask in curiosity. "If possible i want to go to Stilk forest to meet Priestess Selyn and after that i plan to go back to the Empire to get my mother..." Priestess Selyn promised me that she''ll teach me magic that even Humans didn''t know, i need to get stronger before i plan on going back to the empire. I don''t plan to fight the Emperor, i just want to get my mother back by sneaking in the empire, but i need to have the strength to fight back just in case i get discovered. "Uhmm.. You''re still our prisoner right now, you know?" Well, that''s right... but i don''t think that they plan to keep me here forever. I have a good relation with Selyn and Princess Kaya, i can convince them to release me so that won''t be a problem. "I know.. But everybody knows that i didn''t do anything wrong. So i believe i''ll get release soon." The only reason i stayed here for four years was because i want to control my power. [It will be sad when you''re gone FLint] For some reason, the princess looked down sadly. "It''s not like we''re not gonna meet again. After i get my mother back i also plan to visit you..." [Really?..] I smiled to reassure her. "Of course, Believe me. " ?????? I began to train with Princess Kaya in the after noon. I''m currently concentrating my mana around my body with Princess Kaya''s guide, everything is going smoothly. I began to control my mana towards the sky, I''m releasing a large quantity of dark mana, but i don''t feel anything worry at all, in these past four years she trained me with dedication and in return i was able to control the flow of mana perfectly. The dark mana began to reach the clouds in the sky, it began to cover the blue sky and the surroundings became a little bit dark. [Flin, do it now.] When she gave me the signal the surrounding the sky began to swirl... then all the mana began to return back to me while forming a straight line from the sky. "Haaaa... I did it.." I wiped the sweat on my forehead while looking at the princess. [Congratulations Flint.. You can now freely control your mana.] "I knew he could do it!" Nahla began to fly towards and me while Princess kaya is walking behind her. "Yeah.. It wasn''t that hard anymore. Thank you, Princess." She smiled cheerfully at me then [I knew you weren''t a bad person and i you save Selyn before.. It is i who should be thankful.] "No.. Even so, it''s all thanks to you that i managed to control my own power. I don''t anybody else can ever teach me the way you did. I promise to repay this debt." [Well.. If you say so... ] We both bowed our heads to each other as a form of respect and gratitude. She Taught me everything she know.. and never give up on me, now it''s my turn to pay her back. I must find a way to help her have a voice, i must consult Rhaegal about this matter though in these past years i never talk to that guy. I wonder if he isn''t bored. [Flint?] "Sorry, I was just thinking about something. Anyway let''s go back for now, i still have something to do." [Something to do? What is it?] She''s tilting her head while her face is close to me. "You''ll know later tonight, let''s go." ?????? I went back to the small wooden house. I rest for a while, this is my first time to talk to Rhaegal by using a meditation to get in touch to him, so it might take a lot of my mana and leave me exhausted. After a while... I sat on top of my bed and began to meditate. I can feel my consciousness going deeper inside. I need to consult Rhaegal on how can i apply my magic on her body without facing some incompatibility issues and i also need to ask him on how can i apply the magic inside her body. My consciousness is now floating in the middle of dark space... This place really gives me a familiar feeling, maybe because this where my soul stayed when the emperor killed me.... "......What are you doing here?" I heard Rhaegal''s deep voice echoed in my mind. "It''s been 4 years huh." "Yes.. I see that you can now use my mana, though you still can''t use all of them, It''s already more than enough to escape from here." "Actually, i won''t do that without paying back Princess Kaya for her kindness." "Hmm.. Then tell me what are you here for?" His voice resounding in mind with irritation. Seriously what is wrong with this guy? "About the power of recreation... How do i apply it inside the body of someone?" I can recreate/clone something by directly touching them, but the problem is, If i''m going to give the princess a voice then i would have to touch it inside her body, but for obvious reasons i can''t do that to her. "If it''s a person''s body then you just have to inject it directly" "How?" "By transmitting the power inside your body and by directly making a way for the mana to flow to the person." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Can you make it simpler?" "Hmmm..... You have to--------" "I see." So i have to do something like that huh... It seems like a death wish for me. Well, if i have to do something like that, i have to do it when we''re both alone. I''ll call her tonight and we''ll both go together inside the forest and when we''re deep inside... then i will have to do it... even if i force it.. this is for her sake...... ?????? After my conversation with Rhaegal, i immediately prepared myself, especially my heart for what i''m about to do. I went outside the small wooden house and went to the big tree house where the princess and Nahla are currently staying. *Knock* *Knock* "Hm? Wait a second~" I can hear Nahla''s voice behind the window, it seems like they''re doing something. A few seconds later Nahla opened the door and she was actually surprised to see me, maybe because this the first time that i personally come here. Even though the guard stopped guarding me a year ago, I wasn''t able to visit them so casually especially at night. Since we already have a good relationship with each other, i don''t want the villagers to think that i''m having some kind of love realtionship with the princess. That''s the reason why i didn''t visit them in their tree house until now. "Is the princess inside?" I ask Nahla while patting her head. "Hmm~ This is suspicious, what are you doing here tonight and it''s your first time to come here, right?" "Well.. There is something i need to talk to her. It''s something very important." "Hmm~ Tell me about it first! I don''t want to be left out!" She began protesting at me like a little child. "Of course i''ll tell it to you later, i promise but i have to tell it to the princess first and stop acting like her parent Nahla, it doesn''t suit you." "What!? How dare you say that to me!?" She began to hit my chest several times while flying in the air, i caught her hand and forcefully put her down and ask her once again to call the princess and this time she obediently did what i told her. "Okay~ Wait for me he- I mean come inside!" I went inside and wait for the princess to come out of her room, she was also surprised to see me visiting them, but i immediately told her that there is something important that i need to tell her. I called her to walk outside with me, there''s no need for to be cautious since she already trusts me. We''re currently walking together towards the forest, i told her that i don''t want the villagers to see us alone together because they might get the wrong idea, [So what''s the thing that you want to talk about?] I decided to do it slowly since it won''t be good to suddenly do it. I want her to relax more with me. "Before that there is something i want to ask." [What is it?] I casually talk to her while walking, we can feel the cold night touches our skin, i gave her my coat since she didn''t bring one. [Oh! Thanks... ] "4 years ago you told me that being a princess is sad and hard for you.. Can you tell me why?" Then she suddenly stopped walking while her eyes are avoiding my gaze. [...................] "Princess Kaya..." Up until now she still refused to open up to me... Is it because i''m a human? Or her trust to me isn''t enough to make me closer to her. "Princess... Do you see me as your friend?" [Of course!] She looked at me and immediately answered my question without hesitation. "Then why... friends always relies on each other to lessen their burden" She faces downward again and words gently appear in front of her. [It''s just that.... I shouldn''t rely on anyone...] "Why? I think relying on people that you trust is just natural... If you can''t open up to your anyone then you''ll always be alone even though there are people that you call friends." This time, she holds the hem of her clothes and look at me. [I am the Princess of the Elven race, my people should be the one relying on me, not me relying on anyone. That''s... how they raise me... If the leader is weak then the people will also become weaker. I must be the foundation that they can rely on... If i rely on someone.. I''m just passing the burden to that person.. ] I see... so that''s how is it huh.. This is just the same on earth... Some leaders of powerful countries breed their sons to be a great leader, they have no choice but to become someone where people can rely on them. But if have to say my own opinion.... "That''s gotta be one of the most stupid things i''ve ever heard. I thought you are more intelligent than that." The princess widened her eyes in surprise after she heard my response. [.......] "You totally have no idea how to lead your own people right? All those things that you said were based from the people who raised you not from the people who actually led their people to harmony and greatness, that most be the reason the elves lost the war several hundred years ago because their leader''s ideal is just ridiculous." *Slap!* The Princess slap my face with her left hand, i turn my face to look at her again. There are tears flowing on her cheeks while she''s gritting her teeth. [How could you! Do you know how my father worked hard for his people? In the first place we suffered because humans invaded our lands and took our people!] "I don''t have a single idea about that, but he lost because just like you, he didn''t rely on anyone, he took the burden all by himself." I step closer to her, but she didn''t falter and stand her ground. "Did he even ask anyone what''s the best thing to do in those hard times? Probably not. Did he ask anyone for a better plan to save his people? Probably not and you know why i can say this? because you were raised the way he did. You think people should just rely on you and you can''t rely on anyone." She began to shudder as she listened to me. [But...] "No buts! It''s true that people rely on their leader, but the leader must also rely on his people. He must use the intelligence of the people around him. They must all take the burden together to overcome the challenges that they face." I hold both of her shoulders and draw her closer to me. "Tell me, will you follow the same mistakes of your ancestors or will you choose a different and more effective way to lead them" [I....I''m....] "I know you''ll choose the right choice... You''re more intelligent that what you think. You are a very kind person, who always think what''s best for her own people." Tears didn''t stop flowing from her eyes, her entire body is trembling. I should choose my words more carefully from now on. [Kind...... What''s best ..... for... my ... people?] "Princess, I want you to know that you can rely on me, I''ll always be there to support you in your darkest times and when you are falling down, I will be always there to catch you... Always. " She suddenly stopped trembling and look at me with moist eyes, for some reason we can no longer feel the cold wind that touches our body. I hugged her body and whispered something in her long ears. "From now on... In all the days of my life, i would always be here when you need someone to rely on." She entrust herself to me and also hugged me tightly then golden words began to surround us. [That''s just like a proposal..] Crap! I just realized that i went overboard! but i didn''t regret because those were also my true feelings. I''ll always come to her side when she needs me. She may never know about my secret that i was a reincarnated person and i was also a cold-blooded killer who took uncountable lives, but that me in the past is already dead, i am now a different person. "Princess Kaya... I''ll ask again would you rely on me?" I looked at her eyes while still holding each other. She gave me a cute smile and golden words began to form as if to respond my question. [Yes! From now on and forever please take care of me.] If i''m just a normal guy i would have pushed her down already, looking her seductive lips and eyes while her beautiful cleavage is about to pop out anytime and her beautiful bluish-green hair is dancing in the wind. Such phenomenal beauty is existing right now in front of me. I''m sure nobody can resist that. I''m really grateful that the Military trained me with such deadly discipline, that''s the reason i still can hold back right now. But I must do the thing that i have to do. I put my right hands on her beautiful tender cheeks and look at her. "Princess then this will be our vow." I slowly brought closer my face to hers. ?????? Several minutes ago While Princess Kaya and Flint are hugging each other. Someone flying in the sky is carefully observing them. A girl with a very seductive body, her beauty is no match for the beauty of the moon and the stars. She''s the kind of existence that will make any man go mad just by looking at her. She can be considered as the most beautiful woman in existence. Her charm is different compare to Princess Kaya and Priestess Selyn. We can safely say that she is a cool beauty blessed with a very seductive body and a perfect face. "What the is that guy doing!?" She angrily told herself while clenching her fist. "I''ve been observing him for a long time and endured myself to go and talk to him because father''s orders are absolute! but now he''s flirting with another woman? First that fox with a very big bust and now this Princess?" She kept hitting her left palm with her right hand. "I also want to get close to him! I also want to talk about a lot of things to him! Why does Father can''t understand that! *Siiiigh* I need to send my father a message that i can''t wait any longer. He must give me permission to interact with him." Then she flew away in a speed faster than sound. "Wait for me Flint.. Or should i say Heins Cross... Hehe" She smiled to herself while flying away to go back to where his father is, She decided that she''s gonna convince her father personally. ?????? "Princess then this will be our vow." I slowly brought closer my face to hers and i kissed her. She was surprised wen i kissed her and tried to resist but before she can do that i hold her tightly so that she can''t get away from me. After a few seconds her eyes still in surprised while trying to resist. I pulled back my lips to get some air while looking at her. [......] Her face became redder than a tomato, She obviously don''t know what to say. Then i brought my lips into her once more but this time she surrendered herself to me and we both enjoyed out moment together, i also noticed that her feet began to weaken but i''m gonna ignore that. I began to do what i have to do, it''s the real reason for calling her out here. I commanded my mana to go inside her body, The dark mana began to flow out inside my body going directly into hers by using our mouth as a passage. She suddenly trembled when she felt a foreign mana going inside her, but i can''t let her interrupt, Recreation magic is so exhausting i can only do it once tonight that''s why i hugged her body tightly, i can feel her struggling, but she have to endure. I''m already using a lot of mana but''s still not enough to recreate her vocal.... I need to use more... I commanded greater mana to flow towards her body.. I began to feel exhausted, but i can''t stop now or everything will go to waste. We kissed each other for several minutes. It takes me a lot of effort to give her a voice and when i thought it''s already good enough i separated my lips from her. "I''m sorry you have to endure that." I scratched my cheeks while looking away from her. "I..... i....Wh....." I heard a cute voice trying to say something then i look back at Princess Kaya. I''m patting her cheeks while guiding her what to do, though her red is still so red, she obediently followed my instructions "Yes.. That''s right taking it slowly is much better, don''t suddenly force it." "I can...Speak?" She then looked at me with eyes full of affection. "It took me a long time to do this." "I can speak... I can.." It seems like she can''t still believe it, she''s holding her neck while saying those words. "Flint!" She shouted my name with excitement and jumped to embrace me. "Flint... Thank you!" Though she''s still having a hard time to speak she managed to convey her honest feelings to me. "....You can now lead you people more efficiently i guess.." We held each other for another several minutes. ?????? We''re currently sitting next to each other while talking a lot of things but then Princess Kaya brought up a very surprising topic. "Hey, Flint..." "Hm? Yes?" Her face became so serious while looking at me. "You plan to take responsibility right?" "Ha?" I am completely dumbfounded, to be honest, i didn''t see that coming. "After all that you did and said to me, You don''t plan to act like nothing happened, right?" She''s right, We can no longer act like nothing happened between us. Will i choose to be a man and accept it or will i choose to become a coward and run away from the question? "I told you right? I''ll always be here for you Kaya." She blushed when she heard my answer and also when she heard me calling her by her name. "Yes... Call me that from now on." She looks very happy when i called just by her name. "I''m gonna call you Kaya only when we''re alone, The Entire village might try to kill me when they hear me calling you just by your name. " We both laugh at each other after that. "Hey, Why don''t you go back first?" "Uh? Why?" She asked me while puzzled "I need to talk to Rhaegal, there is something that i need to talk to him." "Then I''ll wait here when you''re finished?" "I''m sorry, but Rhaegal won''t talk to me unless i''m alone." "I see.. too bad." She murmured with a sad face, she looks really cute when she''s pouting. "Don''t worry.. We''ll see each other again tomorrow, right? There''s no need for you to feel bad and you should show to Nahla that you can speak, i''m pretty sure she''ll be shocked" I patted her head to comfort her. "Okay, If you say so. Then i''ll see you tomorrow then." "Yeah" She stood up and walked slowly back to the village, I made sure she''s gone before i lay myself down on the soft grasses. "Pheeew.... That was really exhausting.." I didn''t want to worry her that''s why i sent her back first, but i also plan to talk to Rhaegal i want to thank him for telling me the method to help Kaya. "But i''ll do that later, I wanna rest for several minutes" Thus i rest myself while feeling the sensation of the soft grasses. ?????? After around 30 minutes, i prepared myself to meditate so that i can talk to him Rhaegal, i still feel so exhausted, but it''s much better than before. I closed my eyes and began to concentrate... But before i enter the state of meditation someone suddenly hit me with a very strong magic in my back. My body was blown away from the impact followed by intense pain all around my body. "Uggghh!" I kept rolling on the ground until i move my hands to stop the momentum of the force. I began to vomit some blood and i used my hands to wipe it off from my mouth. When i turned my attention to the person who release the magic explosion, i was surprised and didn''t know what to say. "Chief Mau..." "I was surprised to see that you''re alone.. this is the day that I''ve been waiting for." Before i can even respond he released another spell and released it towards me, It''s a fireball! I immediately moved my body away and tried to avoid it, but my body is already exhausted from using a lot of power earlier and it was also crying from pain and, as a result, i wasn''t able to dodge it. "Ahhh!" A direct hit to my stomach, i can smell the burnt flesh of my body and i fell down on the ground, i tried to move my body, but it won''t listen to me. "Damn it!... Why?" I looked at him with eyes full of hatred. He walked near me and holds my head with his hand and scratch it violently to the ground, he looks very calm while doing a cruel thing to me then he brought my head up and smashed it violently to the big stone nearby. "Ughh! Aguh!" I activated ?Body Reinforcement? forcefully even though i''m already exhausted. I have to fight here if i don''t wanna die. I kicked the ground and separated my head from his grip and i immediately cast ?Dragon''s Binding? to him. His movements have been stopped by the spell and gave him a strong psychological pain. "Ahhhhhh!" Mau shouted in agony. The spell won''t last forever i need to defeat him before he can recover from the pain. I can feel the madness starting to take over me, i almost spent all the mana that i can control to Kaya earlier that;s why using more power means using the other half that i can''t control. "Damn it! I need to finish this quickly! ?Tempest Strike?!!!" I used my third spell to try and defeat him. I appeared behind him with a breakneck speed and release the mana that i manage to gather and release it all at once to his body. Now that i think about it, using these three spells consecutively is a good combo. "Agaahh!!" His body was blown away by the impact from my right hand and his body hit several trees, those trees were destroyed by the strong force. It would be hard for him to immediately get up and fight back. But that thought betrayed my expectations....After his body hit the ground he immediately stand up and run towards me with a face full of anger. I prepared myself for combat, If it''s martial arts i can defeat this guy but suddenly he disappeared at appeared above me. "What!?" Both of his hands are blazing with fire while falling down on me. "Dieeee! Human!" I covered myself from his attack, I endured all of his deadly punches, all i can see are after images of his punches, i can''t dodge most of his attacks. "?Tempest Strike?!!!" I activated the spell while defending and immediately appeared behind him and began to charge my attack. "Take this!" But Mau quickly turned around and released a fireball! "Agaahhh!" It seems like the same spell won''t work twice against him. We continued to attack each other even though it''s clear that he have the upper hand, but i won''t go down without trying everything even being taking over by madness ?????? I, the Chief of this Elven village named Mau. Several hundred years ago i served as a soldier for the Elven 18th cavalry unit. During those years, the entire world is at war against the human. During those times, the reason for the declaration of war isn''t clear but as a soldier in his prime only one thing is clear, it is to defeat the enemy and protect my race. My son was also together with me in the cavalry and my wife was in the Elven 9th sorcerers unit. Yes, we are a family of brave warriors. The war with the humans was very hard though there are humans who takes our side and fought together with us it''s still not enough to defeat the talented fighter and mages of the Empire and their massive number also played a big role during the war. My son and I can fight weeks without rest, I consider myself as one of the strongest in the cavalry unit. Even though the numbers of Empire''s soldiers were more greater than we think we still fought bravely with honor, i felt like i can defeat any opponent. But i realized that i was just delusional, one day a messenger came to my unit requesting for immediate reinforcement when i calmly asked him what''s wrong, he told me with a trembling voice that the sorcerer''s unit was attacked and when i specifically ask him about that unit he told me that it was the 11th unit where my wife was assigned to. I quickly gathered my comrades and rode the horses as fast as we can to the place where the unit was attacked. But i was too late, Dead bodies of innumerable elves were lying everywhere and when i tried to look for my wife, i saw several humans standing in the piles of elven corpses. There were seven of them and they were all overflowing with massive mana but what really caught my eyes was the man with a fierce look on his face, It looks like he lost something very important to him. That man was holding something and when i looked carefully at it, it was the head of my wife and her body nowhere to be found. "You bastard!!!!!!" I was taken over my emotions and commanded my unit to activate their spells to attack them, though our spells were a little bit weaker compare to the sorcerer''s unit, it should be enough to deal significant damage to them, but again i was wrong. When the smoke cleared up from our relentless attacks, the seven people are still standing to their original place like nothing happened then the person who was holding the head of my wife, raised his hand and slowly crushed her head while showing it to us. I know at that time that his provoking us to attack, but i wanted to get revenged for my wife and gave an order to the unit to attack. All of charge at the seven of them, my son and i targeted the one who killed my wife, we were all overtaken by emotion and we broke ur own formation while charging towards them. I threw my spear towards my target by the spear got destroyed when his mana got in contact with my weapon and my son draw out his sword and try to cut him down but just like what happened to the spear, the sword also got destroyed. That man slashed his right hand towards my sand and after a split second i saw the hands of my son flying away, my son fell down from his horse and the man slowly walked near him, i quickly moved to aid my son, but i was stopped by another enemy. While confronting with the new enemy... The man was already in front of my son who was lying on the ground, without wasting any time, he cut down the remaining arm of my son, next was his legs. I can never forget that scene, that scene of brutality, that ruthlessness i saw that day, the voice of my son crying in agony. I tried my best to get near my son, but i can''t get away from the enemy in front of me and because i didn''t focus my attention to the enemy in front of me. I got stabbed, Ii got stabbed several times in my stomach and i fell down as my consciousness began to fade away i heard the voice of the man who killed my son and wife. "Finish this quickly we still have to infiltrate other of their bases." Then his comrades spoke all at once responding to him """"""Yes! my Emperor"""""" I thought i died, but i was lucky that other units immediately came to rescue us, they''re lucky those peoples were already gone when they came here because f they coincidentally confront with them, I''m pretty sure that unit who came to rescue us would get wiped out. I was the only survivor of the confrontation, but i lost everything...... I wasn''t happy that i survived.... But i will survive to get my vengeance. ?????? Several hundred years after that event a human was found near the village that i was assigned to I''m no longer a soldier but a village chief. That human was just a child around the age of 9-10 years old but even so, I can''t hide my hostility towards that human, It fuel up my hatred towards them but as an elf who live in honor, I can''t hurt this person and at the same time i also can''t leave him alone since he might pose a threat to us, judging by the place where we found him, it seems like he used some strange magic to cause distraction to the surroundings. So i decided to bring him back to the village. I asked Princess Kaya who''s currently under my training to look after him while he''s still unconscious and for some reason when she saw him her face suddenly brightened up, i first thought that she knew him, but that was impossible because this is the first time for the princess to go out of the Castle Forest. I left him with her while i attended the council. Several days after that the princess told me that Priestess Selyn knows the human that we brought here in the village, She told me that he saved the both the priestess and her kin, i was delighted to hear that to think there''s a human who''s not a puppet of the Empire, i quickly told the council to treat the human with care and without any kind of cruelty. But later that day, The Princess told me that human is also the prince of the empire, in other words, he is the son of that despicable person. The one who took everything from me. The princess told me to keep it a secret from anyone, she told me that even though he''s a prince of the Empire, he thinks very different from them. I was enraged when she told me that, but i was able to show a calm face to the princess and gave her a fake smile, but there''s no way that person was different. He is the son of the man who took everything from me, maybe he saved Priestess Selyn and her kin because he plans to make them indebted to him and use them in his dark schemes and when he discovered the Stilk forest then he will command his army to invade them. There is no way the son of that man is trustworthy since they all share the same blood. Before i can make any move i must first go to the Castle Forest and talk to them about this matter. ?????? When the Elven king and his subjects heard my report, they were surprised and also worried about the princess, We can''t just suddenly take him without informing the princess because surely she will try to find him and try to press us for answers and no to mention he''s also the savior of Priestess Selyn. I was commanded to observe for a while and if try to do something funny i have their permission to kill him but after 4 years of observation nothing happened, He didn''t try to escape and i even removed his guards so that he''ll be tempted to escape and that will give me a reason to kill him but he didn''t do anything like that, he obediently stayed in the village and even improved his relationship with the Princess and Nahla. As i an Elf i can''t kill him if he didn''t try to do anything dangerous. We are different from humans and we live by honor. That''s why i endured my own hatred that is overflowing inside me, but even an Elf has his own limitation. When i was walking around the forest i saw him lying down alone, he looks exhausted for some reason... But a temptation has entered my mind. For the sake of my wife..... For the sake of my son..... For justice... an eye for an eye... My vengeance.... I endured for four years and every time i look at the son of the man who killed my family i feel intense anger inside me and now is a good chance to kill him... Maybe the emperor is trying to find his son but he won''t him because this place can only be found by an elf and if by any chance he use a slave to come here this place is protected with several ancient barrier so it would still be impossible to enter because even a dragon can''t enter this place. The Emperor will feel that pain and anger that i felt.... he will suffer the same way that i did. (A.N. Please take not that the emperor doesn''t really care about Flint he only cares about his power, but of course Mau didn''t know that) And so i whispered a chant and a fireball appeared in my hands and without hesitation i attacked him. ?????? Mau is currently gaining the upper hand and i need to do something.... I can''t die here! i used another ?Body Reinforcement? to defend his attacks, ?Tempest Strike? will no longer work on him since he already knows he speed of movements. He ran towards me and after he got close i quickly chant a spell. "?Dragon''s Binding?" I temporarily stopped his movement and gave him a roundhouse kick the gave a cross punch to the jaw. His body stumbled and struggled to stay on his feet, but my attack is not yet ending, i gave him a stomp to the throat and an up kick. Usually, people would die if i do this kind of attack but right now i''m fighting for my life so there''s no reason for me to worry about my enemy. "I don''t know why are you doing this but i won''t you do what you want Mau. If you are trying to kill me then i''ll do the same to you" "A Disgusting human like should just die, I''ll kill you and then your father the emperor will suffer!" Why would the emperor suffer? I think he will be happy if i die, the one who stole something from him. Mau managed to get back on his feet, i gave him a vertical stomp kick, but he was able to dodge it. "Burn! ?Scourge Earth?!!!" The entire are turned into flames, it''s impossible to dodge it. "Argghhh" If i use any more mana then Dragon''s bloodlust would take over my body. While i was trying to get my body from the fire, Mau appeared in front of me and stabbed my chest. i unconsciously used my mana to throw him away from me. "Damn it!" Immense mana is overflowing from my body.... I''m about to lose control. ?????? This son of a bitch thinks he can win against me. I keep trying to turn his body into ash but for some reason it only gave him some wounds and it''s far away from what expected, As i thought that strange mana that surrounds him is very different from a normal mana. After he threw me away, i immediately got up to chant another spell but is stopped...... Because this person in front of me..... His body is overflowing with dark mana... i can no longer see his face, it was covered with those dark mana and his eyes are glowing with bright red "What the hell is this...." "!!" He suddenly vanished this time i can''t feel his presence, this is different from before. Then i felt a light feeling on my left side and when i turned to look at it, my left arm is missing, he cut it off and before i can look at him he slashed both of my legs and i saw my legs flying away from me, He took my head and threw on the tree nearby. "Impossible.... " I don''t what the hell is going on but...... this is just the same when the emperor killed my son.... "HahahAHahHAHAHA! I see... you are really his son..." Right now he is gathering a very large amount of mana from his hand.. "In the end... I will die without having my justice for them...." The mana gathered in his hands is already three times larger than his body and he began to point it towards him. ?????? KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! "No!" I can feel my body moving on it''s own and i barely have my control over it... I''m doing my best to control my body, but it seems like another person is also controlling it. "Damn it! Why!" I saw Mau lying on the ground one of his arms is missing while his legs are no longer attached to his body. Don''t tell me i did that? My body began to gather a large quantity of mana on my hands it became three times larger than me and if i throw this immense power to Mau he will completely disappear from the face of the earth. The other part of myself is telling me to stop, but the other part is telling me to kill him. "Ughhhh!!" While doing my best to stop the bloodlust inside me, i accidentally release the gathered mana on my hands. The Dark mana destroyed everything on it''s path leaving a 10-meter trail behind, It eats everything on it way... and finally it reaches Mau.. He was devoured Mau like nothing even the ashes disappeared leaving nothing behind. The Dark Mana continued to move on it way even after killing Mau. "Damn it!!!!!" I was trained by Kaya so that i won''t be a slave to a dragon''s bloodlust but.... because i already used half of the mana that i can control to Kaya, using more mana means using the other half that i can''t control. My consciousness is very hazy and i can''t even think straight... I need to go back to the village and talk to Kaya, I now that she will understand if i tell her everything that happened... While walking like a drunk man, i tried my best to reach the village with a very hazy consciousness...... ...... ...... ...... ....... ....... ........ ........ ...... ....... But when i reached the village, i can''t help but be surprised.... Everything was destroyed and i can smell the corpses of the Elves burning ....A lot of corpses... the Tree houses are currently burning.... and when i looked around i saw several survivors looking at me... Some of the dead elves lost their heads, some parts of their body like arms or legs is not intact and some lost half of their body. When i turn to look at my left side.... I saw Nahla her wings is no longer there and her back was burned severely, Kaya was behind her desperate healing her. "Please don''t die Nahla!!!" Tears are overflowing from her face. My dizziness disappeared after i saw that scene and rushed to Nahla, I immediately us recreation magic to save her..... It took some few minutes, but her body returned back to the way it was, i was also able to recreate her wing, she is still unconscious, but she''ll be fine. Before i began to talk to Kaya, Someone threw a stone at me. "This all you fault!" The survivors began to look at me with eyes of hatred. "It was you! Who released that dark power and devoured everything...You came here to kill us all.." I was surprised to hear that... and began to realize what happened "Don''t tell me...!" The dark sphere didn''t stop even after it devoured Mau so it must have reached this village and devoured everyone. In other words, i killed them all.... I looked at princess Kaya.... and she''s looking at me with eyes full of hesitation. She''s the one who trained me to control this power but after all those efforts... i still failed... i failed her... "Princess! we must kill him now!" "He killed my son! We must bring punishment to him." I can hear the rage of the Elven villagers around me, i can feel the sadness, i can feel the hate. "No...I...." No words can come out from my mouth... Then i heard the Princess''s voice. "No! There will be no more death tonight..... We..... must arrest him and bring him to the Castle Forest." Then i heard the sound of the harp and my body was wrapped with several magic chains, my body was pushed into the ground and i was surrounded by different kinds of barrier. Then the princess touches the barrier while kneeling down to look at me and she whispered. "I''m sorry Flint... I believe in you... But i must do this or else they''ll kill you.." And my consciousness has faded due to severe fatigue and from the wounds of battle. "MMMHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I can hear Rhaegal''s laughter resounding in my mind as i began to lose my consciousness. -------------------------------------------- The World Map Hey guys i just made the World map of the series....so how do you like it? CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LARGER IMAGE Chapter 17 Unvoice part 3 (Sorry for the delay :P) The Princess and the remaining survivors took me to the Castle forest, the trip took 7 days, but I was unconscious during those days. Using an excessive amount of power made my body very tired and painful, not to mention that I used recreation magic twice in a single day. But if i remember correctly, the Princess told me before that the Castle Forest is located not far away from here. Now that I think about it, the place where Rhaegal teleported me four years ago was on some unknown island and it''s basically outside the Entros continent. I think it''s better to see a map or something to make sure of it. When I woke up I was in a very dark room, there isn''t a single light that shines into the room and I can hear sounds of magical chains that are restraining my freedom to move. Several minutes pass by and my eyes were able to adjust in the dark, I began to look at my surroundings, a few meters in front of me, I saw iron bars that surrounds the room and that alone, gives me a good idea about my situation. "This time, I''m really in real prison..." I was unconscious when they brought me here so I have no idea if i am currently located underground or some isolated prison of the Castle Forest. I haven''t even had the chance to see what the main forest of the Elves looks like. "I wonder if Kaya will come and visit me..." I''m pretty confident that she''ll listen to me and won''t forsake me. "Arrgg!!" My wounds are getting more and more painful and I can''t even use magic to ease the pain because these chains are restraining my power. What''s going to happen to me now? What if Kaya fails to protect me? Then that means I have to escape from this place as soon as possible.... But I can''t do that, I made a promise to Kaya, i don''t want to betray her feelings. I want to at least promise her that even if I leave, I will always return to her side. While I was thinking about what to do, I heard several footsteps coming to this room. When they reached in front of the iron bars they stopped and looked at me then began to whisper to each other, Some of them are holding their long staff and gentle light emits from the crystals that are attached to those staffs. One of them stepped forward and kneel down to match my gaze. "....So you are Flint Entros..." This guy has a big scar across his face, but what surprised me is the fact that they know who I am. Did Kaya tell them? No. i don''t think she''ll do something that will endanger me so it''s probably Mau. He must''ve told them when he went to the Castle Forest before. Just when I thought that things couldn''t get any worse..... Damn it! "Regarding about Mau''s body, we managed to find his arms and legs, but we didn''t find the rest of his body.... Did his body completely disappeared when you used your dark magic against him?" There''s no point in lying it will only give me disadvantages to prove them that i wasn''t the one who initiated the battle. "..... Yes" They began to become noisy again after they heard my answer, some of them began to leak some killing intent towards me, for the first time in my life, I feel like i''m safer inside the prison. "So he really did defeat Mau..." "How could that be? He''s one of our proud veterans and to be defeated by just a single human and what''s more? He''s way too young " The man with a scarface closes his eyes and... "Silence...!" His fellow elves around him were taken aback and shut their mouth. He again turns his attention to me, but this time, I can notice that his expression is somewhat indignant. "Are you the one who attacked him?" "..No... He initiated the fight and I did the thing that any person would do in that kind of situation and that is to defend myself." "I see...." I feel this guy would be fair towards me... Unlike his subordinates who are still leaking out such bloodlust, it is really making me uncomfortable. "Leave us for now.." The guy with scarface seems like to notice my irritation and gave an order to his subordinate to leave, they didn''t object his order, they bowed their heads to him and they left. "My name is Connor... I am the General of the Elven Magic Swordsmen... I''ve worked together with Mau several times during the war several hundreds of years ago and he''s gotta be the bravest man I ever saw. " "I see..." I don''t get the reason why this guy is telling me something like this, but let''s just go with the flow for now.... I don''t want to piss him off so I''ll be obedient. "But he changed..... During the war, the sorcerer''s unit where his wife was assigned has been attacked by the humans and the person who''s leading them was the Emperor himself... Only very few people know what happened to his family, even his student the Princess doesn''t know this." "I see..." His words became heavier as he continues to speak and by that, I can already guess what happened to his family. "His son and wife were killed by the Emperor.... He was also dying when we went to rescue them... But his eyes during those times were full of hatred... His hatred kept him alive." That''s why he hated me so much not because I am a human, but it''s because I''m the son of the emperor... I thought his anger towards me has subsided in these past four years, but I was wrong. It was just a facade. "In the eyes of the humans, the Emperor must be a hero, because of him their knowledge of magic was able to advance greatly. Thanks to that the Human race are now one of the strongest race and they can live much longer than before. They were able to achieve those things by sacrificing other race.... By their heartless experiments.....In the eyes of the other race, the Emperor is an existence that brought destruction upon this world, until now we all that the only way to save our people is to defeat the emperor... But that''s impossible." Of course, I know that... I''m also against the emperor''s way of doing things. Taking the future of another race for his own sake is very wrong but no person in existence can stop him. "When Mau reported that you''re the son of the Emperor, we were all shocked, but believe me, we all wanted you to die and the only thing that''s keeping us from doing that is our own honor. The sin of the father is not the sin of the son. We are different from people like you, we live by our honor." That''s why no one has tried to take my life during those four years, even though some of them were showing clear hostility towards me, they didn''t dare to make a move because their beliefs were holding them back. And I just gave them a valid reason to kill me... "I believe that you weren''t the one who started the fight, you don''t look stupid enough to start a fight in a foreign land... But it doesn''t change the fact that you killed a lot of Elves and you will be punished by that." He spoke those words while walking out, he went out to call his subordinates and after they came back, they cast several spells on me. My body began to feel more restraint and two of Connor''s men took the magical chains that were attached to the ground. They began to pull the chains away and forcefully pulled me out of the prison, I almost choke when they suddenly do that because one the chains were Binding my neck while the other were binding my feet and hands. "Let''s go outside.. There''s something i want to show you." Connor showed a cold expression and he leads the way outside. Even though i feel the displeasure of what they just did, I walked behind them without saying anything. When we reach outside, the bright light of the sun began to warm my skin, it feels nice to expose your body in the sun after a long time. We headed to a place full of tall trees, the trees are lined up with each other as if covering what''s behind. Connor went to the nearby trees and chanted some spell, The trees began to move on its own responding to Connors command, Their root was pulled out from the soil and the trees began to walk aside giving way to Connor and his subordinates. "Treants...." I whispered those words to myself, it''s my first time to encounter them. There are no Treants in the Elven village where I stayed for four years. "Right now, you''re in the outer part of Forest Castle and this is the way going to the inner part of the Castle Forest... I thought I would tell you something about the place where you are going to die so.... " I remained silent even after hearing his words.. I have to find a way to meet the princess or escape. We went inside and after walking for several minutes I saw something very eye-catching in the sky. That''s because there is a very large rock and on top of it was a very big castle on it, It has the appearance of the Winter Palace back on earth, but this one is way bigger and taller. The majestic wall that surrounds it has a size of approximately 90 km2. This one is invisible from the outside, You can''t see anything floating in the sky if you''re outside the probably because this entire place is protected by different kinds of barrier... You can see smaller castles nearby though I called it small.... The main castle is just too big that makes the surrounding castle ''small''. So beautiful.... I can''t help but be amazed by it. So that is what they Elves called Castle forest. I''m not an artist, but I''m pretty sure anyone would have their jaw dropped to the ground while looking at this enchanting and captivating castle. It''s like a city of very rich people.... I can''t help but think that way since I never saw something like this before. Connor began to chant magic without caring about me and a few seconds later a large magic circle appeared on the ground then he walk inside of the magic circle, we followed him after a while we began to float.... No this is different.... i feel like flying, but our body is gradually fading..... A transfer magic. ?????? We appeared in front of the big wall that surrounds the floating island and few meters ahead i saw a strange gate with some elven design carved on it. The gates slowly opened as if welcoming Connor''s arrival. "Let''s go, there is something I have to show you before you face the trial." When we entered the gate, A huge crowd appeared around us. Some are looking at me with pure curiosity, some are worried, some are looking at me with caution and some are gazing at me with hostility. The people made a way for us to walk and while we''re following Connor a group of soldiers appeared and whispered something to him. "I see. Then let''s go." Connor began to walk quickly, his subordinates pulled the magical chains giving me a signal to walk faster, iI almost trip when they did that, but I managed to hold my balance. These people are treating me like a dog. A few minutes of walking and we finally reached our destination. It''s some kind of a church or something, Connor lead the way in and what met my eyes were several coffins made by oak wood currently lined up in front while an Elf who looked like a priest is giving his blessing to those dead people, the coffins are not actually closed and beside them were people, which maybe their relatives. Those were the people that I accidentally killed.... "I see" I murmured quietly this guy wanted to show me this, probably he wants to see if I feel any remorse or regret. By Connor''s lead, we began to check them one by one.... The first coffin, there was a young man around the age of 17 lying inside, his lower body is nowhere to be found, but a lot of different kind of flowers was placed on where his lower body should be, there is a woman crying beside her, it must be her mother. I didn''t make an eye contact with her because it would just hurt her feelings even more. The second coffin, there was a child lying in it, there are two people standing beside his coffin, the man is glaring at me with hate while the woman was looking blankly at her own child. "This kid has a huge potential, he has a talent of controlling four elements... Such talent to be wasted just because of accident" Connor whispered those words to me. I really don''t get why he''s showing this to me, but I have a good hunch that his fueling the rage of the people so it won''t leave them a bad taste killing a young human as a punishment since these people care so much about their honor and pride, they don''t want to kill an unarmed pitiful prisoner even though that man was the son of the emperor. So he''s basically doing this so that the entire elves won''t feel bad killing a young person if the people won''t see any regret or remorse from me they would think that i killed like it''s nothing even though it was done by accident. Even though I want to act like i''m grieving... they''ll notice that i''m just acting if they look at me in the eyes and that will enrage them more. In the end, I believe I deserved their anger. Unfortunately, I killed a lot of people when I was still in the army and I''m already used to it that I don''t feel anything at all. ?????? Kaya,s POV 4 years ago. He seems to struggle a little bit, but he is working hard to control his mana. Selyn told me that this person thinks differently from the people of the empire though at first it was hard for me to believe it but as I began to know him, I began to understand what Selyn is trying to say. He doesn''t look down upon my people, he''s a prisoner yet he treat them with kindness, people look at him with hostility yet he looks at them with gentle eyes. [What do you think of the Elves?] "I think they''re more disciplined than I thought." [..Hm? Why so?] "When i was brought here I thought that they would instantly beat me but they didn''t. " [Would humans do that?] [Well.. That depends, but under some circumstances they would try to kill you during imprisonment to prevent you from leaking out information.] [That''s terrible...] "The world is more terrible than you think." ?????? 2 years ago He managed to improve controlling a medium amount of his mana. He learned fast, He''s so dedicated to control his mana. Why does he want to be strong? Does he want to fight someone? Is it because he''s a prince? There''s nothing wrong living a simple life, that way you can avoid big troubles. To be honest, I would never consider becoming physically strong if I wasn''t the princess. Living simple and peaceful is still much better after all. [Why are you trying so hard to be strong.] He turned sideways to look at me. "Why? So that I can live peacefully in the future." Huh? You don''t need to be strong to live peacefully? I can''t understand him. Is it because we''re different? [What does it have to do by getting stronger?] He smiled at me and walked closer to me. He then sat beside me. "The strong always return home and the weak always perish. I need to be strong so that I won''t perish...that was life has taught me." [What life has taught you?] He stayed silent after that.... I feel like this person is way above his age. He''s really strange. ?????? Several days ago. Today is the day he will finish his training, during these past four years I learned a lot about him and both Nahla and I became attached to him, He always gives compliments to both of us whenever he had the chance, but strangely he won''t say anything whenever Chief Mau is around. The Chief removed his guards a year ago probably because he saw Flint isn''t really a bad guy. Lately, the Chief doesn''t train me that much, he''s been busy about something and always go to the Castle Forest reporting something, Is it about Flint? No, It''s probably about my progress and I also ordered him not to tell anybody about Flint being a prince, I don''t think he will go against my order. Flint can only control half of his mana, I taught him everything that I know, but it wasn''t enough for him to have a complete control of his, mana. His mana is originally wasn''t his, to begin with, I can never imagine a human controlling a dragon''s mana. He is still young so I hope someday he can have a complete control over it. After his final training, I wanted to have a chat with him and talk different thing with him, we''ve been doing this a lot in these past years and I never got bored talking to flint, He''s the only person aside from Selyn and Nahla who treated me without thinking about the difference of our status. A lot of people act very carefully whenever I''m around and when they talk to me they always use very respectful words to avoid offending me. I feel like being surrounded by people wearing a mask hiding their real personality from me, but Flint didn''t do that. He''s been using his real personality whenever he''s with me and I never felt that he tried to fake his feelings or personality even once towards me and for that, I am grateful to him. But too bad he said he have something to do and want to go back immediately to the village..... It seems like i won''t be able to chat with him today. we went back to the village together and parted after we reached the place that i was staying... I wasn''t able to have a fun talk with him today, but i''m pretty sure we will do it tomorrow. Oh... I wonder what would Nahla wants to eat tonight. ?????? Later that night he went to our place, i was surprised to see him, he said before that he doesn''t want to come here because people might start strange rumors about us, i don''t really get it but i think he''s worrying about me so i didn''t pry on it further. We walk in the breezy night towards the forest, I ignore the coldness touching our skin as the pale moonlight shines our way like guiding us. My curiosity piqued me up and i asked him. [So what''s the thing that you want to talk about?] "Before that there is something I want to ask." [What is it?] He stepped closer to me drawing my awareness in those gentle eyes of his. "4 years ago you told me that being a princess is sad and hard for you. Can you tell me why?" ?????? *Slap!* I... I can''t believe I just slapped him... but I did it on impulse because he suddenly said hurtful words, those words of him pierced my heart like arrows, but what hurts the most was he failed to understand me, those efforts that were not for my sake but for the sake of all those people who believe in me....... I thought he would understand my feelings... I can''t believe he said those words. Maybe Selyn was expecting too much from this person.... Maybe I am expecting too much from him. [How could you! Do you know how my father worked hard for his people? In the first place we suffered because humans invaded our lands and took our people!] "I don''t have a single idea about that, but he lost because just like you, he didn''t rely on anyone, he took the burden all by himself." He moved closer again to me, but i stood my ground to show him that my determination won''t stumble. "Did he even ask anyone what''s the best thing to do in those hard times? Probably not. Did he ask anyone for a better plan to save his people? Probably not and you know why i can say this? because you were raised the way he did. You think people should just rely on you and you can''t rely on anyone." I realized.... I realized the things that he''s trying to say. My father told me that we should be the rock that our people can rely on, a rock where our people can stand proudly, but did we ever consider their feelings about it? Did we ask if it''s okay to take responsibility for everything? Probably deep inside they feel useless..... Useless because they were not able to help my father to make a better decision, all this time my father decides on everything, he won''t even listen to his closest subjects because he doesn''t want them to take the blame when he fails. [But...] "No buts! It''s true that people rely on their leader, but the leader must also rely on his people. He must use the intelligence of the people around him. They must all take the burden together to overcome the challenges that they face." That''s why my father lost.... and a lot of our people has killed and enslaved by the humans, but no one blamed him because they know he is the one suffering the most. He raised me to be like him.... but if i don''t listen to Flint''s words then i''m just going to repeat my father''s mistakes..... my young brother is still too young to lead the elven kin, i don''t want him to feel the sadness alone, i want him to rely on everyone..... I must learn from my father''s mistakes.... Flint said those harsh words to me but at the same time he was able to open my heart. I wonder if it''s okay to rely on him from now on. He suddenly holds both of my shoulders and looking closely at me... "Tell me, will you follow the same mistakes of your ancestors or will you choose a different and more effective way to lead them" [I....I''m....] "I know you''ll choose the right choice... You''re more intelligent that what you think. You are a very kind person, who always think what''s best for her own people." My tears won''t stop flowing..... why... even though i don''t want anyone to see my weak side.... why am i letting him see it... the beatings of my heart became faster, i can feel my nervousness spilling up inside me. "Princess, I want you to know that you can rely on me, I''ll always be there to support you in your darkest times and when you are falling down, I will be always there to catch you... Always. " Eh? What did he just said?..... So it''s okay to rely on him?.... He said he''ll always be there to support me even in the hardest time of my life...... Little by little i began to realize the meaning of his words... Did he just say that he wants to be with me forever? How can i.... While i''m in deep thought he slowly hugged my body, I unconsciously entrust my body to him, his body feels real nice, he''s holding me tightly and the heat from our body wrapped both of us and cold wind that was crawling in our skin is no longer there. "From now on... In all the days of my life, I would always be here when you need someone to rely on." Yeah, I think if it''s him...It would be alright... If it''s Flint it''s then i would love to stay with him. [That''s just like a proposal..] i''m feeling a lot of different emotions right now, but i still managed to tease him, to show that i''m alright. "Princess Kaya... I''ll ask again would you rely on me?" My heart is slowly getting charmed by his eyes, of course, i didn''t let him notice it, I don''t want him to think i''m beginning t have feelings for him. [Yes! From now on and forever please take care of me.] He gently caresses my hair and slowly put his hand on my cheek, His face draws closer to mine, we can feel both of our breath under the sacred moonlight. "Princess, then this will be our vow." ?????? He then kisses me... I feel like my mind is going to explode, I''m currently having a lot of different feelings and i''m confused what to do... I tried to struggle, but it''s useless... after a few seconds, he separated his lips from me. [....] I have no idea what to say right now, we just kissed and my body feels so light, but my feet are losing its strength and just when i thought it was over he brought his lips again unto mine. But this time, it''s different.... I can feel his mana flowing inside of me.... he hugged me tightly while kissing. My body instinctively tried to struggle be he hugged me tighter than usual. His mana is like invading my body, i let my body rest on his and we kissed for another several minutes. After several minutes, he finally separates his lips from mine. "I''m sorry you have to endure that." I scratched my cheeks while looking away from him. He avoids his gaze from me while saying with a wry smile. "I..... i....Wh....." What''s this? For some reason, i was able to utter some words...... Flint''s holds my cheeks once again and tried to help me. "Yes.. That''s right taking it slowly is much better, don''t suddenly force it." Could it be the reason he kissed me was because he wants to give me a voice using his power? He went so far to this thing for me... I can see that his quite exhausted, he must''ve used a lot of mana during the process. Having my own voice will dramatically change my life in a better way.... This way i can become a better leader for everyone until my little brother grows up... I think he would get along with Flint, he will surely learn a lot from him. "Flint!" I shouted his name with excitement and jumped to his embrace. ?????? I went back to the village without Flint, I want to go back together with him, but he said he had something to talk about Rhaegal, I insist on waiting for him, but it seems like Rhaegal won''t talks to him unless they''re alone thus i went back to village alone, i''m excited to show Nahla that i can finally speak thanks to Flint. I quickly went back to our place and saw Nahla currently lying on the ground face down. "Uhm... Nahla What happened" Without raising her face, she started to speak. "The Princess left me all alone.... and she''s still not back and i''m dying here because we don''t have any food left." "But you can just go out and get some food in the forest." "Naaa~~ I was supposed to do that but i fell down because i no longer have any energy left. Eeeeeeeh!?" She slowly brought her face up while talking and was surprised to see me. "Princess! Are you the one who was talking!?" I''m the only person in front her so naturally she would ask that kind of question. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. I smiled at her and gives my answer. "Yes!" Her eyes widened in shock, then she began to fly around me cheerfully... i thought she doesn''t have any energy left? "But how!? We tried everything before and nothing ever worked, tell me! Tell meee~" She holds my hands and she shook it with excitement, Nahla is really happy that i can now speak. "Flint helped me... He''s amazing right?" She then tilted her head and she realized the reason he came here tonight. "Flint? Oh! I see... so that''s why! I know he''s really amazing, so tell me how did he do it.." "Ehh?" My face began to feel hotter and my i avoid my gaze from Nahla. "Hmmm...... That''s a suspicious reaction... Hey! Tell me what did he do to youuuuu~" She clings to me and presses me for my answer i don''t really know what to tell her.... It''s very embarrassing to say what i just did with Flint. ?????? After several minutes of trying to dodge Nahla''s question, She finally decided to settle down and we both went out to take some food. I didn''t tell the entire village that i can now finally speak, i want to wait for Chief Mau before telling it to everyone. "Hey Princess, Would you like these apples? Or you want some Watermelons, i also found some Star fruits" Nahla is flying beside me while holding a big basket. "Anything is fine, Oh is it heavy? Do you want me to hold some of those?" "No, it''s okay. More importantly, Flint is taking a lot of time." "Yeah... I wonder what if he is still talking to Rhaegal." While thinking of that, we both heard a faint noise coming from the forest. That faint noise gradually became stronger and we see a very big black mass bigger than some of the small trees devouring everything in its path. Everything is getting devoured by it, tree houses completely disappeared and we began to hear the screams of agony and cry of fear around us, due to my shock i wasn''t able to move quickly while the dark magic is getting closer and closer. "Princess!" Just before it hits us Nahla pushed me with all her might, she also moved quickly away from the path of that dark magic but she was a second too late. Her wings were grazed by that dark magic and devoured everything on her back. Nahla fell down and began to vomit some blood and went to heal her while the dark magic continued to move to its own path like it''s nothing, but before it goes away, suddenly it explodes and i was thrown away while holding Nahla in my arms and lost my consciousness for several minutes. When I woke up, I was devasted from what I saw... People carrying their dead family. People sobbing and people looking at towards the sky with empty eyes. "Ughh..." I heard some moan beside me and when i look at it i saw Nahla moaning in agony. "Nahla!" I immediately began to cast my magic to her but strangely it works very slowly... is it because of the dark magic? Does it have the property to slow down healing magic? I keep pouring her my own mana, but the progress is very slow.... There is lingering dark mana on her wounds that is preventing me from completely healing her. "Nahla! Hang on..." Tears began to flow from my eyes... at this rate she would definitely.... "Kaya! Nahla!" "Flint..." But then he appeared, He had wounds all over her body and he looks very exhausted, i wonder what happened?. He immediately cast some magic on Nahla and her wounds began to fade and her wings began to grow back, all the wounds on her body disappeared like nothing happened. She is still unconscious but i believe she''s already out of danger. I looked at Flint and before i went closer to him, someone suddenly threw a stone at him. "This all you fault!" The survivors began to surround us. "It was you! Who released that dark power and devoured everything...You came here to kill us all.." Flint looks very confused he held his head like thinking so hard about something.... "Princess! we must kill him now!" "He killed my son! We must bring punishment to him." "No...I...." Flint looks very confuse and can''t even say something. The people want me to do something but......I don''t think Flint wished for this to happen, but if i don''t do anything the villagers would kill him and i can''t let that happen, I don''t want Flint to suffer, but this would be better than him dying. I manifested my harp and cast magic chains to bind his movement. The chains pinned him down and he looked at me with a surprised expression, It really hurts for me to do this to him, but by doing this i can also protect him from the villagers. "I''m sorry Flint... I believe in you... But i must do this or else they''ll kill you.." And he lost his consciousness after I said those words. ?????? In the base of the Royal Navy located in the Southern-west part of the Empire, a man in his 90''s but still look like a person around his 30''s thanks to the massive advance of Human magic, a man named Admiral Vern is currently talking to someone who came from the Empire. "What did you just say?" The Admiral ask again to assure he heard it correctly. "I said mobilized your entire fleet." A young man around his twenties answered. "No, after that.." "We are going to invade Castle Forest of the Elves and by the help of Elven slaves we can enter their barrier and we won''t get lost in their territory" "But... The Castle Forest is the main territory of the Elves... and you''re telling us to launch an attack into the heart of their territory?" "Is there a problem with that Admiral?" The young man asks him with a serious expression. "There is! The Beastkin of the Stilk Forest and the Orcs of the Wasteland won''t stay silent! We might also attract the attention of the Demon race." The young man took something out from his breast pocket and bring out a certain letter, the Emperor''s seal can be seen on it, meaning it''s a letter directly came from the emperor. The Admiral nervously opens the letter to read it. "This...." The letter contains an order to mobilize his entire fleet under the command of the young man. After a few moments, the Admiral Vern sigh in resignation. "Prince Kyle, If it''s the order from the Emperor then we will follow it without falter." The admiral reassures the prince with a voice of determination. "Good..." The young prince Kyle was one of the many that was ordered by the Emperor to find his little brother, He knows the truth behind everything, that Flint stole something from the Emperor and the Emperor promised him a higher position among his siblings that will give him a better advantage to win the throne if he managed to take his little brother back. It doesn''t matter if he''s alive or dead just bring his body back. That was the order of the Emperor, actually, the Emperor wants him either dead or alive, but he didn''t directly said that to Kyle. Kyle also knows about the Fake information that the Emperor announce to its people, about the death of the youngest prince because he was messing up with the magical items, it was all a lie. If the entire continent will know about the real events then other race will also know it and will try to find Flint as well and they might use his power against the Empire. The Empire doesn''t want anyone to have the power to go against them, after all, they made great efforts to fabricate history and feed lies to their own people to make sure that they won''t go against them. There are a lot of mass massacres happened in the history that was initiated by the Empire, they killed everyone they suspect that would go against them, but they all managed to cover up those events by fabricating stories and a lot of propaganda campaign. Sadly, only very few humans know about the real history of their beloved Empire. "Then do you have any plan, if other races suddenly interfere?" Admiral Vern asks him in a worry. "Admiral, it''s true that you are now under my command, but you have more experience than me in the sea so I would like you to handle that matter. I will give command to your brave soldiers once they reached the Elven territory." "Yes, My Prince.. if you don''t mind can I ask you one more question?" "What is it?" Prince Kyle was about to go out, but he looked back to the Admiral. "Why does the Emperor wants to invade the Elven territory? If it''s about of slaves, we have plenty of Elven slave around the continent and we can also to enslave fresh Elves living in a different forest, that''s i don''t understand why do we have to attack their main territory." After hearing his question, Prince Kyle immediately answered the admiral. "It''s not in your position to question the Emperor or the people close to him. Just do your what they ordered to you and your family and the empire will be proud of you." "I understand." The Admiral bowed his head as an apology and then the Prince went out of admiral office. (They want me to go to war without knowing the reason? The hell!) The Admiral secretly though to himself. "But I don''t think my fleet alone is enough to invade the Elven forest...." The admiral mumbled those words. ?????? After Prince Kyle went out from the admirals office he immediately heads to the room of the Empire mages that came with him in this place. *Knock* *Knock* The door was slightly opened and a man glanced from the door and when he saw that it was the prince he opened it widely. "Welcome back prince." One of the mages greeted him. There is a magic circle embedded on the floor and a map made of reddish magic is floating on top of it, there are currently three mages that surround the magic circle. "So did you confirmed it?" Prince Kyle asked one of the mages. "Yes, four years ago we detected a massive flow of dark mana in that place, It''s probably the effect of teleportation when Rhaegal teleported the youngest Prince away from the empire and just several days ago we again detected a massive dark mana explosion in the same place, so that means, this time, we''re very sure, it''s the prince." Four years ago when the mages detected the dark in the Elven island, they were reluctant to send somebody to confirm it because the Castle forest of the Elves is also located not far away from that place and teleporting from the empire to that place is almost impossible to even for Rhaegal so they assumed that the dragon is just trying to mislead them. It''s also risky to send somebody there with uncertain information, but several days ago the mages that accompanying Kyle in his search detected the dark mana once again in that island so Kyle reported this matter to the Emperor and the Emperor gave his order to prepare an attack on the island. "I see, It would take several days for us to go there so use that time to prepare yourselves. " "Yes, my prince" The three mages gave their respect to Prince Kyle and return to what they were doing. ?????? Kaya''s Pov After I brought Flint to the Castle Forest, we were immediately brought to my father to report all the things that happened, at first he was surprised to see that I can speak but he soon understands after explaining it to him though i said it was all thanks to Flint, i tried to defend him as possible as i can, but It''s still impossible to hide the fact that he accidently killed some of the villagers and i heard about the fight between Flint and Chief Mau... According to the report of the people who interrogated Flint, the chief suddenly attacked him and that caused Flint to go on a rampage and killed him. I also heard about the Chief past and his hate towards the Emperor... so the reason why he did that is already clear to me... Normally Flint won''t blame for it, but he killed some villagers and he is also the son of the emperor. The Justice court will decide his fate. I begged my father to avoid giving him the punishment of death and my father said that he''ll do the best that he can, somehow that doesn''t reassure me. They prevented me from visiting Flint, saying that he''s dangerous and might try to attack me, Flint would never do that, I know him more than anyone else in this castle. I tried to sneak and visit him, but I was caught every single time, even Nahla isn''t even allowed to visit him. There was also a fuss about giving him a death penalty, but I trust my father, I know that he won''t disappoint me. I''m currently in my room together with Nahla, we are both making a plan to use my influence as a princess to save him. "Do you think Flint would be alright" Nahla asked me in a worry, there are tears currently accumulating on her eyes, but she''s doing her best not to cry, she just woke up yesterday and after i told her everything, she became so worried about Flint. Even though it was because of him that Nahla was injured, Nahla didn''t blame Flint for it because she knows that he never intended to hurt her. "He will, trust me. I brought him here so that i can use my title as a princess to save him. " "Yeah.." Her voice is still sad, I can understand her feelings so I must cheer her up. "Hey, Nahla. Flint would be sad if you keep making a sad face. So you should cheer up and we''ll both find a way to save him. "Y-yes! Let''s find a way to save him!" Understanding my words, she slapped her cheeks and began to smile. Then someone opened the door without knocking. "Big sister!" "Wendell!" My brother Wendell came inside and greeted me, he is around at the age of 15, he has a very cheerful personality and everyone in the castle always shows a gentle smile whenever Wendell come and talk to them, Unlike me, He easily open up his self to other people. He still didn''t receive the harsh lessons for a prince so for now, it''s okay for him to act like that. "It''s been too long, big sister! Nahla" He gave me a big smile and held my hands. "Have you been doing well?" "Of course! I would become a splendid prince for our race. Anyway did you know that General Harlan is my personal trainer? He is so strict, but I learned a lot of things from him." "Oh? So were able to convince General Harlan to teach you?" Nahla intervened while tilting her head "Yes, at first he didn''t like it but i was able to convince him after asking him every day." "Hehe, it seems like you annoyed him everyday that''s why he agreed." "Haha.. Well, you can say it that way by the way i heard about the human you brought is it true that he was the one who gave your voice and is it also true that he was able to defeat Chief Mau." I hesitated at first, but I don''t see any point in lying to my little brother so I answered honestly "....Yes" "So he must be a strong person huh..... I wanna meet him ahahaha!" Nahla and i looked at each other, we both had the same idea on our mind. I hold my brother''s shoulder tightly and looked at him seriously. "Ouch! What wrong?" he was a little bit surprised but quickly asked us. "We have a favor to ask you, Wendell!" "Huh?" ?????? After Connor brought from that place i finally sigh in relief, i feel like those people were gonna kill at any moment, it was a good thing that Connor decided to leave. "Do you feel any regret now?" He stopped walking and asked me. "Even if you say that.... I regret that I accidentally killed those people, but it''s hard for me to regret killing Chief Mau, He tried to kill me so I think what I did was the right thing." "I see... That doesn''t matter we only need to make the people angrier at you so that they would approve your death." He then resumed walking, Where are we going next i wonder? "Hm?" Connor stopped his steps once again, he seems to be staring at someone and when i looked at the person he''s staring at, it was a young man running towards us and looking at me excitedly. "Hey General Connor, how are you? Haaaaa... Haaaa..." He gave his greetings to the General while panting. The General and his subordinate bowed their head towards that young man. Is he an important person, I wonder? The General also bowed his head to him so that means his position is higher than Connor? "Thank you for your concern, we''re doing fine young prince." Connor raised his head and gave his response to the prince. Eh? Prince? So that means he''s Kaya''s younger brother.....I see. But what the hell is he doing here? The Prince turned his attention to me while smiling at me. "You! hahaha! I need to talk to you! General Connor, I want you to stay a few meters away from us." Then Connor tried to disagree with the prince. "But Prince it''s dangerous and you''re not allo-" "Only My sister and Nahla are the people who are not allowed to talk to him so that means i''m allowed right? And it''s not like he can do anything in his current condition." I see that explains why both of them didn''t visit me because they were not allowed to. "But-" "No buuuuts. It would only take a minute." The General sighed in resignation and followed the order of his prince. "...Fine But make sure to hold onto these chains, His body would burn if you accidentally released your hands from it without binding it unto the ground." What!? So I would burn if they release their hands from it. Probably it''s a precaution if try to escape.... They really thought about this, this means i can''t escape as long as i''m bound by these chains. Connor and his men walked a few meters away from us and the prince began to open his mouth. "Hey! So you''re Flint huh... I heard from my sister that you are an amazing person and just by looking at these many chains bound on you, i can now understand." ".... I-i see... So what do you want." "My Sister want me to pass a message, oops! before that let me introduce myself. My name is Wendell the Prince of the Elves" "....My name is Flint.....Flint Entros." They already know that i''m the son of the Emperor so there is no need to hide it. I can''t believe the prince of both enemies is facing each other. "Haha! There is no need to be on guard, I''m not going to do anything." "Yes.." I just noticed, but this guy laughs a lot! He seems a very cheerful person, a person that look like he doesn''t have any problem. Well, it''s helpful for me to meet someone like him because people on this place are glaring at me with hostility especially Connors subordinate. "Uhmm.. about your sister''s message?" "Ahh yeah! She said that don''t do anything rash because she will save you and you just have to wait!" I see, I guess she''s worried about me. If I suddenly start resisting these guys they won''t have a second thought on killing me. For now, it''s safe to do nothing and wait for Kaya''s progress. "I understand, Then I also want to pass a message to her." "Sure" "Tell her that I would be fine and if helping me is dragging her title as a princess to go down, then she must stop." The Elves won''t like it if the princess is sympathizing with a criminal and it will make them question her position as a princess. I don''t want to cause her some problems. I believe i would be able to find a way to escape even without her help. "I don''t think she would agree to that." In my surprise, his brother disagreed to me. "W-what" "She looks very determine to help you. I''ve never seen her like that, her eyes were burning with determination, oh, by the way, she said that i would be your messenger from now on, can you imagine that a prince as a messenger hahaha!" This guy actually has a point, After all, that happened I don''t think Kaya would just listen to me, but it''s a good thing to have a messenger because i would be able to monitor her progress that way. "Then tell her that I''m fine and take care of herself." I''ll just pass a simple message for now. "I will." He then tapped my shoulders and looked at me. "Okay, Now tell me how you defeated Chief Mau." "I''m sorry, what?" "You defeated him right? Based from what I heard, it was the Chief''s fault but that guy is a really strong veteran and you were able to defeat him. So what''s the secret?" "Secret?" "You must have used some secret power right? I heard that you have a unique kind of mana... Did you defeat him by those power?" His eyes are sparkling while looking at me, Is this guy really Kaya''s brother? Ughhh. They have a very different attitude. "It was very vague when I defeated him because i was very exhausted during the fight." "Oh! So you defeated him while exhausted? That''s amazing! Hey did you use some kind of fighting style to defeat him?" Annoying! Where''s Connor? Come here already and take me away from this guy! "*Sigh* yes use a different kind of fighting style to defeat him and I think it''s now time for you to go back because Connor looks like he can''t wait any longer." He looked back at the general who''s intently looking at us. "Yeah.. See you later, because i would talk to you more about the fight against the Chief." Later? That means i''m gonna see this guy later again? "Please just come when Kaya has a message for me." "Don''t worry I would see you every day so you won''t feel sad!" He said those words while running back to where he came from. Seriously, what is wrong with that guy. "What did you talk about?" Connor came to press some answers from me. "Are you going to torture me if i won''t say it?" He narrowed his eyes at me and opened his mouth. "We''re different from humans." "I see, then I won''t say anything." He looks pissed, but well, he said they''re different so they''re not gonna torture me. ?????? A day after. Admiral Vern and Prince Kyle is currently looking at their forces gathered in front of them. There are around 80,000 Empire soldiers that are serving in the navy and those people are standing proudly in front of them, every single one has a strong body and their armor shines brilliantly that will make anyone think that the empire is really taking a good care of their soldiers, everyone has an enchanted spear that can pierce even into the hardest rock, enchanted swords that can slash through the water and enchanted bows that are guided by the wind. All of them has the perfect weapons to defeat their enemy. The admiral decided to talk first. "You understand now, right? This isn''t enough." "Yes. We can''t take our chances when invading the main territory of the elves. So what do you suggest?" "Hmm... How about asking the royal slave hunters, with our combine forces, it''s not impossible to attack different sides at the same time, it would confuse the Elves and will be forced to separate their unit into two." "But, that means also splitting our forces into a half. " The admiral took out his thick cigar and he lights it up. "The other force would only divert their attention and buy us time, our main force would invade them unto the Castle Forest, Are you sure the Elves that are we gonna use won''t betray us?" "I see, that''s a good idea and about the slave Elves, there nothing to worry about them, we held their families as a hostage so they won''t surely betray us." ".....Yeah, that''s good, Do you plan to take the Elven king''s head?" "Huh?" The prince tilted his head in confusion? "If you take back the head of the Elven King then that would lower the moral of the other race especially the Beastkin and the Orcs and they won''t resist that much knowing that one their strongest leader is no longer there to protect them and i''m pretty sure you would win the position to throne when that happens." I see, I was so focused on finding Flint and didn''t think about that, so if i brought back the body of Flint and the Head of the Elven King, Then surely The Emperor will recognize me as his heir and my other siblings would have to serve under me. Prince Kyle is showing a poker face, but deep inside he is actually grinning. "Oh? I heard the Elven princess is beautiful, maybe I should also take her as my price." The Admiral is still sipping his cigar while listening to Prince Kyle. "You can do whatever you want after we defeated them but for now we should talk to the commander of the Royal slave hunters." Then prince Kyle cheerfully began to walk. "Then let''s go, We should invade as quickly as possible, the Emperor is already eager for the result." ¡ï¡ï¡ï¡ï¡ï Sorry for the delay guys Chapter 18 Unvoice part 4 There are plenty of good reasons to invade the Castle forest some of them are: - Lowering the moral of the other race who are trying to oppose the empire. - If the main forest of the elves will fall, it will cut off the main trade lines between the Demon Race and Stilk forest. - Preventing any communication between the Beastkin and the Orcs that way they can use fake information to send it to them instead and they can spy on them if they need to. - Humanity''s population is growing larger at a rapid pace. Since the humans can now live longer, their death rate is low, but their birth rate is considerably high. They need a new land where the new generation can stay. - By occupying the Island, they can make a new port and it will shorten the travel days from the Western Royal Navy to Eastern Royal Navy. - The Island is located between the Orc''s Wasteland and the Stilk Forest, Slave hunting will be more efficient if the Royal Slave Hunter establishes a base on the Island. - It''s essential to the future invasion of the Demon continent if the Empire decided to wage another war with them. Commander Armand of the Royal Slave Hunters are currently looking at the list presented by both Admiral Vern and Prince Kyle, Armand is a man with a stern look on his face, but dresses magnificent, he is a man who cares a lot about his appearance. He glances at the young prince who''s showing a slight smile on his face. "It is true that there are ''some'' benefits if we manage to invade that island, but are you sure this is the right time to do this?" After the last war with the Demons several years ago, the Empire decided to stop invading other territories because there is a conflict inside their own territories questioning the Empire''s reason to invade the Demon territory and sacrificing a lot of human lives, but what the people didn''t know was the Emperor made a deal with the dragons that after helping him he will help them get the black diamonds that can only be found on the demon continent. The Dragons can''t do the mining because they would just destroy the entire mines and the fragile black diamonds by their uncontrollable power so human help is necessary if they want to get a hold of it. Since the people didn''t know this, some of them tried to make a revolt like what General Nathan did, but they were immediately killed by the empire, their friends, families and anyone acquainted with them was all killed to prevent anyone from having a grudge against the empire. The Empire also focused a lot of work to hide their own misdeeds and only show the people their great achievements, that way the new generations will never know the evil deeds of the empire. They spent the past hundred years fabricating histories and information to feed it to their own people. The people who only know the real history are the non-human race, but since the empire poisoned the minds of their own people, there is no way for the humans believe them. The Humans thinks of the Empire as a good administration. "I think there won''t be any problem since the Emperor gave his approval, his subjects will do the other works such as showing the benefit of the invasion to the people and other things." Or they can just fabricate stories like the navy was attacked by the elves and the navy retaliated. Prince Kyle didn''t completely say his thoughts, but the two persons with him already know this without saying. "Commander Armand we need your men for this invasion to be successful, so will you cooperate with us?" Admiral Vern sips his tea after asking the commander. "Well, If the Prince needs me then I would love to give you my assistance. I''ll be under your command, your highness" The commander stood up and bowed his head to the young Prince. In response, Prince Kyle stood up to declare his thoughts. "Then you must prepare all of your men to depart tomorrow morning." ""Tomorrow?"" Both of them were surprised by his sudden declaration. The prince walks near the door of the room, but just before he opens it, he stopped and look back at the two. "The Third Prince Nizel said that he would forcibly intervene if I don''t show any good results soon, he''s already running out of patience about my past failures. That fucking bastard, I will show him what I''m capable of. " He went out of the room and closed the door with annoyance. ?????? A town.... A desolated town destroyed by heavy bombardment.. judging by the damage that was done in this town, it''s unlikely for anyone to survive. Several groups of soldiers infiltrated the area to assess the damage and temporarily occupy the area as they advance. The soldiers ignore the pile of corpses and continued to advance inside the town, one can assume that these soldiers no longer care about these dead people, probably because they''ve seen much worse, but a young soldier who''s currently accompanying them can''t help but speak out his thoughts. "Everybody is dead.... I can''t see any soldiers among them...all of them are civilians" This young man sadly mutters. "Yes... There''s no point regretting it now. " The one who responded to the young man was a lieutenant with a cold expression. He''s name is Heins Cross. He''s the one who suggested bombarding the area before advancing. "We could''ve infiltrated without killing everyone... so why did we-" With slight irritation, the young man presses him for an answer. "We are special units dispatched in the front lines, and we don''t have the leisure to call for back up. You know what happened in Mario''s unit right? We''re the only special unit remaining." Before the young man can answer, Heins continued. "That''s why, I suggested to bombard this are because we''re unsure about the numbers and the resources of our enemies, but seems like the enemy abandoned this town.." "Then-" "Look, I could care less about civilians dying in this war, but I can''t let any more of our soldiers to die or else we would fail this mission. If we fail this mission then we can assume that more civilians are going to die." "Then we are no difference from our enemies!" "Exactly." The young soldier was taken aback from Heins cold tone and clenched his fist. "We are not different from them. Our enemies see us as evil, but we also see them like that. Do you think they''re fighting us if they think we''re on the right side and Do you think we''re fighting them if we think they''re on the right side? Both sides think they''re fighting for what''s right and no soldier wants to go to war thinking that their country is the on the wrong side. That''s why leaders are doing their best to manipulate information to win the heart of their people and avoid internal conflict." "....." "And before you punch me, think that nothing will change. We killed these civilian and it''s inevitable that we would kill more as this war drags on. The only way to stop this is to finish this war as fast as we can." "That kind of thinking would only bring the pain..." The young soldier turns his back from Heins and went ahead of him. He doesn''t want to hear anything more from him But Heins spoke loud enough for him to hear. "Your kindness would not bring this war to end, Andrei." Even after hearing that, the young man continued to walk ignoring Heins. "Quite harsh in my opinion." A middle-aged man who''s been listening to their conversation spoke to Heins. "Hey Heins, why do you think Russia has sent someone like him to spy us?" "Even I have no idea, probably because they''re running out of people to send?" Both Heins and the middle-aged man knew that Andrei is a spy agent sent by the Russian government to spy on them. He pretended to join the UN army and was able to pass the test to join the special unit. Instead of arresting him, Heins use this opportunity to give wrong information to Andrei to mislead the Russian advance. Heins is no fool and knows the risk of doing this, but if he plays his cards correctly then this would be advantageous to them. Right now, it''s easy for him to manipulate Andrei because... "He fell in love with a woman named Talia. I don''t know much, but he seems pretty serious about her and already dating her." "Haha, When did you have an interest in other people''s love affair." The middle-aged man chuckled while taking cigar from his chest pocket "I don''t know much about love but as long as she''s dedicated to Talia, he won''t do anything stupid that would expose his true identity and by tapping all his items then we can know the next movement of the Russians. " "You''re playing a very dangerous game here, if that guy managed to get a hold of key information then that would be the cause for us to lose. " "That won''t happen as long as he''s with me. I could control him by using that woman." By that words, the middle-aged man stopped smoking his big cigar. "Could it be..." "If it gets to that point then I would have to do it." "This war has corrupted you, Heins." Heins stopped walking and looked at his pal, his doesn''t show any light at all and with a serious voice, he spoke. "We''ve been fighting together for years, we both saw good friends die with our own eyes and for those people we cannot fail, for the sake of those people who died for us so that we can live, we will not fail. I''ll resort to anything just to end this nightmare." ?????? "!!!!!" Flint woke up while having a hard time breathing. "Oh, you woke up?" While holding his chest, Flint looks around to find the source of that voice and saw Wendell sitting on his knees, standing beside him is General Connor. When he looked around once more, he realized that he is currently in his own prison, but there is some magic circle flying around him. "What is this?" He asked in a ragged voice while confused. "Oh, I was just trying to peek on your memories?" He said it in a casual tone and he started to remove the magic circles one by one. "My memories?... Why?" Don''t tell me that was the reason I was having a bad dream. Why is this guy wants to see my memories? "Why? Hm, Because I want to see your fight against Chief Mau and this would also help us to know everything that happened" ... Probably he wants to see my memories to prove my innocence? Kaya probably sent her again for this purpose, but if he saw my memories there are chances that he also saw my past life. "So did you see it?..." I need to know how much of my memories he saw. "Actually... Nothing, " "Huh?" "Yeah, that''s right.... I''ve been trying to go inside your mind for a while now, but all of my attempts were all failures. Your mana always intervenes with mine.... Can you do something about that? " I think I was lucky he didn''t saw any of my memories, but that also means that he won''t be able to help me in my trial. "I still can''t control everything, so I can''t help you about that." It''s impossible for me to turn off Rhaegal''s power of automatic protection, I''ve been trying to mess with for the past four years, but I always fail to control them. It''s the other half of the power that I can''t control. "Today is your first and last trial, you will receive your punishment today." Connor stood up and walk near the iron bars of my prison. "Today? Already? I though it would take a few days before they decide?" Did Kaya fail to save me? And what''s more, today is the day they will kill me. I need to think of a plan right now! Wendell is smiling while looking at me. "Worry not, Flint because my dear sister was able to convince some of the council not to give you a death punishment and she also pleaded our father about that. So you should be grateful to her! Hahaha!" He put his hands on his waist and started laughing. I see so Kaya really did her best for me, I need to thank her properly for this. "Yes, they decided to let you live because you help the princess to gain her own voice but one of the reasons was so you can suffer for the rest of your life." Connor chuckled and revealed a mocking smile. That''s actually better than dying and it will also give me more time to make my plan. "Fix yourself we''ll go to the Justice Court once you''re ready." Wait, you''re not gonna let me eat? At least let me wash my damn face first! ?????? Wendell gave me some new clothes to use, unfortunately, he didn''t bring any food, but he gave me some water to drink. When we went out of the prison, Wendell has been greeted by the guards waiting outside for us. These knights would probably escort us to the justice court room. "This way your highness..." Connor leads the way and naturally, we followed. "Hey, Prince Wendell is Nahla doing fine?" "Hm.. Yes, there is no visible injury in her body she just woke up a few days ago but she''s fine and she''s actually very about you, you know?" Nahla was injured because my power was able to reach the Elven village, Thankfully I was able to use recreation magic one last time before I passed out. I need to apologize to her, I almost killed her so I guess I''ll do anything she wants to show my regret. "I see. Is she and Kaya will be present during the trial?" "Yup! They were both eager to see you so they''ll be present." "Call her Princess!" Connor looks back at me when he heard I didn''t address Kaya properly. "We''re finally here." After several minutes of walking, we finally reached a certain Castle Building, this castle is called the Castle Forest the biggest castle on this floating rock. I''ve seen this a couple of times now, but this castle is very beautiful, in front of the door there are two small Treants who have the height of a human guarding the door. These Treants are capable of creating roots, despite having none themselves, and able to influence the treelife around them. These creatures are necessary for the forest to grow magnificently. "Those Treants looks capable, right? They can make their branches as sharp as knives and they can live for almost eternity." "...Yeah these guys really looks........ capable" "Stop looking at them, they''re hostile toward humans" We enter the castle and to a certain room on the 7th floor, there was something written on top of the door room. ''Justice Court'' So this must be the place.... Behind this door are the people governing the entire Elven race. Connor slowly opened the room and we walked inside. There are several sets of seats above the room where the elves are sitting and at the very top was the seat of the King. The King has the appearance of a brave warrior, his white long hair match his silky robe and his fingers are wearing different kinds of magic rings, every inch of his appearance defines a King. "Stand on top of the magic crest" Connor pointed his finger at the magic crest embedded on the floor. I slowly walk to the center of the crest and suddenly a barrier appeared around me and the floor which i''m standing on suddenly rose up and match the height of the of the Elves sitting above that room. When I look around once more, I saw Nahla and Kaya sitting on the edge, Nahla is cheerfully waving her hand at me while Kaya is showing me a gentle smile. Her beauty is really irresistible. I nod at them in response then I raise my head to look at the King. "Let''s start the court trial" One of the elves on the left side has declared while reading some documents on his left hand. ?????? 2 hours of a relentless barrage of questions has been given to me. they ask me how I got into the Island and my first contact with the elves, they asked me why did the son of the emperor came here and I told them that I was running away from the emperor at first they won''t believe me but when explained the things about Rhaegal they finally understood, I didn''t tell them Rhaegal''s name to avoid any more tension. It causes a stir when they heard I made a contract with a dragon so it''s not good to tell them that it was Rhaegal. And finally the matter about the Chief, I told them everything I know. How we fight and how it ended. In the end I lost control of myself because of too much usage of mana but I explained to them about the recreation magic, recreation magic takes a lot of mana from my body and I used it to help the Princess and during the battle against Mau I unconsciously used the other half of my uncontrollable mana and the reason I was able to use recreation magic for the second time to heal Nahla was because I was also using the other half that I can''t control, fortunately, I passed out before going on a rampage again. Kaya was about to cry when she heard my explanation while holding Nahla on her side.if I have a chance to talk to her, I''ll tell her that she shouldn''t blame herself for what happened. Those were some of the few questions the asked me and they finally made a decision. After an hour whispering with his subjects, the King open up a scroll. The King stood up from his seat and began reading the contents of the scroll. "Flint Entros! Because you used your power to grant the Princess a voice, the punishment of death was avoided and you have been proven not guilty on the battle against Chief Mau, but you are proven guilty of killing several innocent Elves although it was an accident it doesn''t change the fact that you were the origin of the power that killed them and our decision will be...." I gulped a couple of times when he was about to say my fate. "Agreement of Exchange between the Empire. We will try to communicate to Entros Empire and exchange you to the Elves that they enslaved." "Wh-what...." I''m horrified to hear their decision, that makes no different by giving me the punishment of death, I look at Kaya and she is also horrified by the decision as well, she stood up at glare at her father. "Fa-father! You know that he is going to be killed if send him back! You promised me!" "You liar! liar! liar!" Even Nahla is protesting to the king. The surrounding became noisy because of them. "Princess, you must get a hold of yourself" one of the council tried to reason with her, but Kaya refuses to back down. "No, We all know that he didn''t wish for this to happen... None of this was his fault....." Then finally she broke down in tears. "Kaya.... It''s okay...I''ll be fine" I try to comfort her by my words, but this only made her mad. "You''ll be fine!? Don''t lie to me! Do you think they would keep you alive after what you have done to the Emperor!?... No! so.... don''t go." Kaya tried to plead me at the end but right now, there is nothing I can do. The King raised his right hand and the entire place became silent, only the sobbings of Kaya can be heard. "By giving this person to the Empire, Our people that have been enslaved by the humans will be returned to us and if you ask me which one is more important, this man or my own people. It''s obvious which one would I choose.... I want to triple the security and the magic restraint onto this person, we can''t let him escape. Then the King and his subjects went one of the room one by one. "Flint! Kaya tried to jump at me, but she was stopped by the Elven maids." I tried to go to her, but the guards immediately pulled the magical chains to restrain me. ?????? The King of the Elves Ulysses is in the King''s chamber of the Castle Forest located on the 60th floor is currently discussing something with his subjects when a scout rush inside to report something to him. The scout looks terrified while sweating a lot, he kneels down to give his respect to the king. "What''s wrong?" One of King Ulysses''s subjects asked him in a worry. "The Royal navy of the Empire has been seen by one of our ships and sent me a bird to pass the message and they are also using ?Flash Wind? to reach us as fast as we can." It would usually take a week before the humans can reach the island but by using ?Flash Wind? they can reach the island within 24 hours if they keep on casting the spell nonstop. The King gave a command to the scout to stand up and ask him. " ?Flash Wind? is a spell a Master Sage rank can use so I assume not all of their ships is using ?Flash Wind? so how many their ship is using the spell. " "All of their Battleships..." "What?" The king asks once again while slowly standing up. "All of their ships are using ?Flash Wind?... Probably because there a lot of mages in the rank of Master Sage." The surrounding becomes tense... Gathering Mages in Master Sage Rank is no easy task an average person can only reach Sage Rank even though they do all their best, if some people reached the Master Sage rank it means they are genius and Magus Rank like Princess Kaya is like finding a needle in a hay sack. While Warlock and Invoker are in a completely different realm. "So how many ships are coming." one of the subjects asks nervously. "70 battleships...." "Ar-are you kidding me!? 70 Ships? and all of the are using ?Flash Wind? is this an all out invasion!?" Some of them began to panic, but the King speaks in a calm voice. "Calm down, If we tell them that we have the prince of the empire then they might be willing to negotiate with us." "But your highness, that Prince is a wanted criminal in the Empire......" "We can use that Prince as a key for negotiation... But we must be also prepared for the worst.... How much time do we have before they reach they shore? " "According to the information, we have 15 hours before they reach the shore." "I see, Then gather all our generals...." ?????? Wendell and Connor brought me back to my prison, usually, Wendell will be laughing while chatting with me, but this time he didn''t say a single word on the way back. "It is I who should be feeling down, you know?" I decided to speak because I can no longer bare with the silence. "I''m sorry about the decision of my Father..." He feels bad huh? I know that this person is a really nice guy and he possibly feels bad because I''m someone close to her older sister. "You know, your father made the right decision, he could''ve killed me, but he chose to save his people that were captured by the Empire in exchange for me. I would have done the same thing." "Yeah... Also, thank you for taking care of my sister. I wish you good luck Flint, I really do." "Yeah..." While Wendell and I are currently talking, an elven knight walks beside Connor and whispered something to him. Connor looks surprised, I wonder what the knight said. "Your Highness we''re the King wants us to go to the King''s Chamber." Wendell turned his back to look at the astonished General. "Hm? That''s unusual, why is father suddenly calling us?" "We''ll talk on the way, for now, let''s move." He pulled Wendell''s hand and the began to run away. "Hey, Wai-!... Ah! Flint, I promise to visit you tomorrow!!!" "Ahh yeah!" Thank you, Wendell, for caring about me, I''ll thank you tomorrow when you come back. I''m curious about the thing that shock Connor so I decided to ask the Knight that was left behind when Connor and Wendell ran together. "Is there something serious that''s happening?" But the Knight just glance at me and left after locking me in the room, what a snob! Now that I''m left alone in my prison, it''s time to find a way to break these chains. There''s no way I''m gonna surrender myself to the emperor. I sit on a cross leg and starts to emit my dark mana, but there''s no mana coming out. Damn it! I can''t even communicate to Rhaegal because these chains are restraining my power if only I could control all my mana then i''m confident I can easily free myself from these chains. I need to break these chains before they triple the magic that''s currently binding me. Then I suddenly came up with an idea. Now that I think about it, early this morning when Wendell was trying to peek in my memories, Rhaegal''s power that I can''t control protected me and prevented Wendell from taking a look at my memories, that means that the other half of my power that I can''t control can come out even though the chains are binding me. So if I can control it then, it means that I can break away from these chains. That''s it! I concentrated once again and recall all my training with Kaya... My mind is suffering a lot while trying to control a small amount of the power that I can''t control, but I can''t stop here. Stopping here means i''m gonna be sent back to the empire. I concentrated for an hour before trying to control the mana. After another hour, I began to command a little amount of that mana to break the chains because the king was so paranoid he planned to triple the number of chains binding me. "Ugghh...." I began to groan as I feel the mental pain is gradually getting stronger. The dark mana is beginning to eat one of the chains, little by little the chain is losing its light and gradually disappearing. That''s when I heard two knights coming in my prison and I quickly stop and lie down my body and pretends to sleep. "Hey wake up!" One of the Knights struck his spear on the iron bars to make noise. "...What?" I rose my body and look at the two. "The King summons you." Huh? Again? I just came back from the justice court, why would he want to talk to me? Well, whatever. The knight opened my prison and pull the chains that are rooted on the ground and they began to pull me out, I obediently followed the two and after we reached outside I saw several knights surrounding me. So these people will escort me? They all look skilled and there are too many of them. ?????? *Thud* "Then we must fight!" General Harlan stomped his feet in front of the other Generals. "Teacher calm down... You are putting more tension on us." Wendell tried to calm his teacher, the one who thought him everything he knows about fighting and using magic. "He''s right Harlan, We must first negotiate with them, we must know what they want before engaging in battle." General Connor agreed with Wendell and tried to loosen the tension around the room. "But they''re obviously here to invade... bringing 70 battleships is just.." A woman with a blond hair murmured her thoughts she is the only female general in the history of the Elves, though there are a lot of female knights, reaching the rank of general is very rare, her name is Amena. There are currently 32 people in the room, The 8 general of the Elves, Princess Kaya, Prince Wendell, Nahla, The King and 20 of the Elven Council. "I''m pretty sure it''s the Empire Prince fault! These things are happening because he is here." Another General voiced out his thoughts. After Princess Kaya heard what he said she glare at the general and spoke. "Stop blaming everything to Flint! We still don''t know why they are coming to us!" The general shut his mouth, but one of the members of the Elven council stood up and began to talk. "But what else could be the reason they''re coming? That Prince stole something from the emperor... " "No.... They didn''t know that Flint is here.... so there could be another reason." Princess Kaya tried to protect Flint, but most of the member of the Elven council are unconvinced. This time, they King decided to speak. "Enough! I gathered you all here so that you can listen to my orders." "King Ulysses, I suggest we position our Infantry units few meters behind the sea shore and position our cavalry unit on the west side, this way they can cut and break the Human army formation and the cavalry will prevent their reinforcement to aid their first wave of attack. " "No! Positioning our Infantrymen few meters behind the seashore would be very dangerous, the humans have mages that are in Master Sage Rank. They would be able to cast explosion magic that can travel 500 - 800 meters." "Then we can give command to our own wizards to create barrier to-" "Harlan!" King Ulysses raised his voice and General Harlan chose to shut his mouth. General Harlan tried to suggest his plan, but the King didn''t listen to him. The King never did listen to anyone he thinks it only his sole responsibility to protect his people and he even influenced Princess Kaya about these beliefs, but thanks to Flint he manages to open Princess Kaya''s eyes and she began to rely on Flint, but the King is different, He thinks his people should only rely on him and he can''t rely on others because as a king, he can never show weakness to his people. "We will first send someone to give them our message first, we will try to use the empire prince to our advantage and if they agreed to retreat in exchange for their prince, then that means we can also demand them to give back our captured people." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "But Father, Flint will..." "Kaya... I know that person had a special place in your heart and thanks to him, you can now speak, but this is the right thing to do." The King spoke to Kaya in a very soothing voice. Kaya also understands she knows that she can''t be blinded by her feelings but letting Flint go means they will never see each other again. "But are you sure they will retreat for their prince? That person is wanted in his own Empire." "I know that General Amena, but he is still their Prince, I know that the humans have a little ounce of honor." *Knock* *Knock* Someone knocked the door room and one of the Generals opened the door and the person that they have been waiting for has arrived. ?????? I enter their room where the King is waiting, but it surprised me that there are many people inside the room. "Fliiiint~" When I turned to the right to see who''s the shouting my name, what I saw is Nahla who currently flying at me. "Gumbo!" She accidentally hit her head on my stomach, but she didn''t apologize and instead she flew around my head and she hugs it tightly. "It''s been so long~ Flint~" "Oh, Nahla... It is so good to see you." I held her hands that are currently around my neck. "Ahem!" Then General Connor cleared his throat while looking at me. I gently put down Nahla and told her to behave she looked displeased, but I patted her head to comfort her and her mood immediately brightens up. "Okaaaay~ Hehe~" I fixed my eyes to Kaya, She looks like she wants to come and talk to me, but she''s restraining herself. A beautiful woman with a greenish-silver armor walks towards us and took pull Nahla''s clothes from behind. "Nahla, Did forget that you are not allowed to talk to him." "Ahhh no! I want to sit beside him~ " Nahla tried to protest, but the beautiful woman hit Nahla''s head. "Awww~ You''re so mean Amena" "Now, Just behave like a good girl." One of the Knights who escorted me guided to me my chair, he also sits down beside me while holding the chains. I take a look at Kaya once more and she gave me a sweet smile in response. "General Amena explain the situation to our....very important prince." A man beside General Connor spoke with a mocking tone. "Yes, General Harlan. This is the situation....." The beautiful female which turns out to be a General explained the situation to me and every word that comes out from her mouth is surprising me. The Empire''s navy is coming and the battleships are around 70, then that means that more than 100,000 Empire knights and mages are coming here!? Do they know that I''m here? But how? Were they able to track me down by using magic or they were able to figure out the place where Rhaegal teleported me? Damn it! Problems after problems! "So what do you plan to do?" I ask the general nervously, but the King was the one answered. "We plan to use you as our bargaining chip, if we give you to them there''s a good chance for them to turn back or we can use you as a hostage." Sounds reasonable to me but why the hell he''s telling this to me? "Uhm.. so why are telling this to me?" "Because you have the right to know your fate and I know you will be killed when you reach the Empire... but I want you to know that your sacrifice will bring back the people that were taken away from us. We at least want you to know that. " ".... I see" Too bad that''s not gonna happen, even if the empire agrees I don''t think they will give back your people. "What would you do if your plan fails and the royal navy decided to still invade." "Then... We shall fulfill our duty even though the outcome is doubtful..." "......" These people are doomed..... ?????? Few hours after the meeting the King has sent a boat to convey his message to the navy. The watchman saw the small boat paddling by a young Elf, when the elf saw the watchman he immediately waves a white flag and the watchman reported immediately to the captain of the ship. The captain immediately went out to see the boat. He let the Elf climb into his ship to hear what he has to say. The young Elf stood up proudly in front of them and opened his mouth "I am a messenger sent by his majesty, King Ulysses. I have a letter to give to the person leading this entire fleet." "...Admiral Vern is on the 7th ship together with Prince Kyle and Commander Armand... I guess I''ll just take you there." "Understood." The captain gave an order to his men to bring out a small boat for the captain to use. ?????? In a certain room in the 7th battleship, that''s currently sailing to the Elven Island Admiral Vern is currently explaining his plan to the prince and to the commander of the slave hunters. "With the combined forces of the royal navy and royal slave hunters, we currently have 130,000 knights and mages under your command so even if some things won''t go according to plan we can still make up with our large number." "That''s certainly true admiral... What does prince Kyle think of this?" "Hm... So the first wave is a decoy to attract the attention of the elves on the west side of the Island... Well, I can just go to the battlefield myself if to support our men." "But that''s too dangerous your highness." "Commander Armand, I am way more powerful than you and leading our men in the front lines will boost their moral." "He''s right Armand If we add his highness strength into our troops then we can easily push back the Elves." *Knock Knock!* They stopped talking when they heard a light knock on the door "Hm? Come in.." The Prince responds to the person knocking on the other side of the door. A Knight in his prime came inside and gave a light bow to his superiors. "Captain Reeve is here. An Elf messenger is with him, your highness." "Messenger? Oh, I see let them in." "Yes." Prince Kyle looked at Armand and Vern, they both nodded to each other since they already expect that the Elven kingdom will send a messenger to make terms with them. Two persons came inside, Prince kyle put his gaze on the elven messenger beside the captain and asks. "Welcome, I believe our captain here brought you to us because you have a message for me?" The messenger nodded and hand him the letter. The prince immediately took the letter and opened it after confirming that the Elven crest is embedded on the letter. [We have the Prince of the Empire, We shall hand him alive and well if you agree to make negotiations with the Elven Kingdom.] Prince Kyle grins broadly after he read the message even Admiral and Commander Armand were both surprise after he saw his reaction, this is the first time that Prince Kyle shows such emotion on his face. "Hand me the quill and ink" Admiral Vern took out the quill and ink that was hidden under the table and hand it to the prince. Prince kyle took out a paper from his breast pocket and began writing. [The Prince holds no value, kill him if you desire. Only the Emperor can stop us from invading your kingdom.] The prince folded the paper and took out a small envelope and put the letter inside, he also stamps the mark of the empire into the letter and hands it to the messenger. They don''t need Flint to be alive, they just need his body and they can immediately recover it after they reach the Castle Forest. Rhaegal won''t be able to get a new host since his soul is permanently embedded in Flint''s soul. 2 souls that became one. When a person die it would take several weeks before the soul fades away from the body and continue on its journey to the dimension of life and death. The Empire mages told everything to Prince Kyle, that''s why he is confident on every gamble and risks he takes. "Thank you for coming all the way here. Here is my response to your king. Now, go back immediately." The Elven messenger immediately went out led by the captain after the Admiral Vern made sure they''re gone he politely asks the Prince. "What is the message?" "They''re trying to negotiate with us as expected." "*Chuckles* I see." He turns his attention to the commander who is silently observing the two of them. "Commander Armand how much time is left before the first wave arrives at the shore." "Around 4 more hours...." "Then I will go with the second wave together with our main army." ""Yes, your highness. "" "Let''s bring glory to the Empire!" The prince grins broadly one last time. ?????? *Cling!* Sounds of metal resounded inside a certain prison in the Elven Island. "*Huff* *Huff* That''s the last one." I finally broke all the chains that were restraining my body, but my mind is completely exhausted. After the talk with the King, they quickly brought me back here and since I''m alone inside my prison I slowly remove the chains one at a time. "Now.... I should silently get out from here." I gather my dark mana on my right arm and touched the iron bars. The mana is slowly but silently eating the iron bars and after several iron bars disappeared I went out of the room. I walk slowly towards the exit while hiding my presence, I can''t any mistake here. I peeked at the exit and saw several Elven Knight standing on guard, there are currently 7 of them, thanks to the moonlight I can perfectly see them. I approach them silently until they are in the distance where my ?Tempest Strike? can reach them. "?Tempest Strike?" I silently cast the spell to the Elven knight facing his back towards me. The Elf immediately lost his consciousness, but his companions were surprised when the saw me suddenly appearing and knocking out one of them. I don''t want to kill these guys so I''ll just knock them out. One of the Elves draw his sword and attacked me, but I wrap my hand around his shoulder and break, his broken hand lets go of the sword and I knocked him out from behind. 4 Elven Knight attacked me at once, I jumped back and accumulate mana on my palm then I move forward to strike them. The four knight stab their sword at me in unison, I lower my back while facing upward and avoided their attack then I swing my hand that was wrapped by my mana and destroy their swords. The Knights were dumbfounded and I took that chance to do a spin kick to one of them and gave a reverse punch to the other person, Still confuse of what just happened, I cast a ?Dragon''s Binding? to the two and they passed out since they can''t take the mental pain from the spell. "I''m quite happy I still remember how to use martial arts..." Seven Elven knights are lying around though their life is not in danger, but it would take a while before they regain their consciousness. "...I need to see Kaya." I would like to talk to her, but I don''t think she wants to leave her people especially when a large number of the enemy is approaching. ...Should I say my goodbye to her? It''s not like we won''t meet again and I''m pretty sure we will meet in the future. . . . . . Nope! I promised her that I will always be there in her hard times, I can give a lie to any person and I won''t bet my life to strangers, but I never break my promises. Kaya is already an important person to me. In my past life I abandon a lot of people, I turned my back away from them even though they were trying to reach their hands to me and instead of taking those hands, I moved forward without looking back at them. I will never do that again, never in this second life. My ruthlessness in my past life died along with that nuclear explosion. I should lend my hand to Kaya..... But how about the king and his subjects? They plan to use me as a bargaining chip and I don''t think they would listen to me..... urgg! I''ll think about it later after I find Kaya While hiding my presence and using body reinforcement and ran silently. I managed to avoid the Elven Knights roaming in this floating city by sensing their presence and going different direction before we see cross other until I finally see the Castle Forest. "...This Castle is really beautiful" Even in the night, it''s still so beautiful, the moonlight shining upon it gives a sacred feeling to this Castle. "..Oops, this isn''t the time for this..." I peek at the Treants that were guarding the Castle... I feel bad doing this to these forest guardians, but I have no choice. I showed myself to the Treants and cast ?Dragon''s Binding? on them before they can reach me. I amplify the mental damage of ?Dragon''s Binding? to make sure the Treants will pass out. They both fell down and I kicked lightly on them to check if they are still conscious.... since they didn''t react I continue to sneak inside. I immediately went up to the upper floor while trying to sense Kaya''s location, I was forced to slow down when I reached the Kings Chamber. I sensed several presence in the room and the door is slightly open, so I peek inside. Inside the room were Princess Kaya, Prince Wendell, Nahla and all of the Generals, of course, the king is also present inside. The king is holding several letters while looking devastated. No, actually they all look like devasted except for Kaya and Prince Wendell, Nahla looks confused. I wonder what they talked about? Prince Wendell went in front of King Ulysses to express his thoughts. "Father, We must fight!" He raised his voice to his father. The young prince continues to express his thoughts "Father, It''s my duty to protect our people, please let me go to war!" *Bang!* The King slammed his fist into his chair and narrow his eyes to the young Prince. "Don''t talk to me like I''ve never seen war!" "...but Father the humans refused your offer.... and everyone is preparing to go to the battlefield so why won''t you allow me?" "Listen Wendell, I already lost your mother and I''m not gonna lose you too. You and Kaya will stay here. " "Father..." "General Harlan and General Connor will lead our Knights into the first line of defense, the other Generals will cooperate with General Amena to make a defensive plan jut in case the humans will pierce through the defenses of Harlan and Connor." "I will not fail you, your majesty!" "Yes, your highness!" General Harlan and General Connor both gave their respect to their king. Wait.... The Empire refused the King''s offer? That means I lost my value as a hostage! I don''t know the reason why, but this is a good opportunity for me. "Father, I think we should accept the Orcs and the Beastkins offers of reinforcement" This time, it was Kaya who suggests her thoughts to the King. "No, If the Orcs and the Beastkin fight with us, they will also be attacked by the humans and they don''t have strong defenses like ours, I''m happy they want to help us but I afraid I must decline their offer.s " "Then how about calling all our people that are living in several forests of Entros Continent?" "That would take too long, some elves are living very far away from us it would take them at least 7 months to reach here. " "I see..." She looked down feeling downhearted. "The Demon Race won''t be also able to help us, they''re so far away." That''s certainly true if I''m correct they''re located on the other part of the world. The king put his hand on his forehead, He''s obviously depressed. Hmmm..... A strange idea suddenly came to my mind. I don''t really think this is a good idea, but I gotta give it a try. I open the room with and stepped my way in, all of them were surprised. They saw that there are Magical chains attached to my body and after a few some of the Generals including Amena draw their swords and prepares to attack me at any moment, Kaya and Wendell were bit surprised, but they try to calm down everyone while Nahla is waving her hands cheerfully at me, she obviously couldn''t read the atmosphere. "Hey, Flint~ You came see us again~ Hehe." "Calm down everyone, Flint won''t hurt us!" "Teacher put down your sword it''s dangerous." General Harlan stepped forward while covering Prince Wendell from behind. "How did you get here you cursed human! No, more than that how did you escape your prison!" Now I should speak with a calm tone to avoid unnecessary troubles. "Calm down, I just heard the terrible situation happening in this place, It seems like they didn''t accept the Kings proposal... " "You rascal! This is all happening because of you!" "If they''re coming for me then they should''ve accepted the King''s proposal but they didn''t, that means they are coming here for invasion." But maybe the Empire is probably coming because of me and they thought that this is a good idea to also invade this place but, of course, there''s no need for me to say that out loud. I moved my body in front of King Ulysses, I kneel down and lower my head. "You know things about me your highness, let me join the fight." "Wha-!" Everyone was shocked by what I said the King even looked with eyes full of astonishment. "My King! Don''t let this criminal join us! Letting him join our army will taint our honor!" One of the Generals spoke loudly while pointing his hands at me but I won''t let him stop me. "Your highness! Now is not the time to think about such thing everyone here must think of how to overcome this coming tragedy. Your highness, I''ve told you about my power I''m not asking you to trust me but to use me!" I''m willing to serve under him for now, I can''t abandon this place.... The King stood up, he let go of the letters he was holding and it scattered on the ground. "Why.... What''s your purpose for doing this? You won''t gain anything from this." You''re wrong, I don''t want the empire to catch me it''s true that I can just escape alone easily but... I put my gaze towards Kaya, She is also looking at me. "Abandoning this place means abandoning my promise to Kaya." Kaya Widened her eyes or a moment then her eyes moistened she probably remembered the night that I made my promise. "Don''t be foolish! We know you have ulterior motives!" This stupid General standing beside Connor keeps on spouting nonsense. The King put up his right hand to signal silence to that General, General Harlan also put back his sword to his waist. ".. I know you and Kaya had become friends during her training, I don''t know what kind of promise you had with her, but what pushes you to go this far, do you have feelings towards Kay-" "I want to compensate for my crimes " and also I don''t want to break my promises... I said the last part to myself. I immediately intervened with his words to avoid anymore problem to arise, I don''t want the King to know what happened that night with me and Kaya, but I didn''t lie about my answer. I want to change my way of life and be a different person. I''m also a person who never break his promises that''s why i''m very careful giving promise to other people that night with Kaya was a little bit different, but I don''t plan to break my promises. Kaya''s face intensely reddened, but we have to ignore that for now. "I know Elves cares so much about their honor... Then please give me the opportunity to bring honor back to myself." The King looks at me intensely thinks for several minutes before giving his answer. ".......Very well, I will send you into the frontlines under General Connor." (If we can''t use him, then I should let him die the way he want to. Since he looks eager to die I''ll grant that to him. It''s also impossible for him to escape alone from this place without encountering the incoming human army or without encountering our own army. All of his choices will bring him his death....) The King carefully thought to himself. "Your highness, Are you sure about your decision? " General Harlan asked his King with shock. "Don''t worry he is going to fight on the front lines... If he does something suspicious, Connor has my permission to kill him." "Yes, your majesty." He didn''t question the King since he can kill Flint anytime he wants. He also know fighting in the front lines would bring certain death. "The Humans will reach the shore before the first light of the morning. Let''s prepare immediately!" The King declared with a determined voice. ?????? After the talk with the King, General Connor told me to meet him and his men deep in the forest to prepare to depart, Wendell suggested his self to guide me but he leads me in a certain room of the Castle forest. "Why did you brought me here?" The room looks beautiful everything was organized and the floor is shining the owner of this room must be a female because of the girlish design around the room. The door slowly opened and what met my eyes was Kaya, she quickly runs and hugged me so tight after she saw me. "Kaya..." I was a little bit surprised, but I also hugged her tightly. "It''s been so long... I know this might sound cruel, but I''m glad the empire refused my father''s offer. *Sob* *Sob* " She''s burying her face in my chest while sobbing. "Kaya...I''m also glad to hold you... I''m happy that you tried your best to save me until the very end." Wendell told me that she kept protesting to her father after he made the decision to send me back to the empire. "...but my people will... My heart and my mind are conflicting with each other.. I don''t know what''s the right choice anymore...*Sob* *Sob* I don''t want my people to suffer, but I also don''t wanna lose you." I brought my mouth near her long ears and began to whisper in a gentle tone. "I won''t let that happen... I''ll make a way to make sure they won''t suffer..." She then looked at me upward and whisper my name. "Flint..." "I promised you right? That I will always be here for you." She then brought her body closer to mine and hugged me again. "Ahem!" "We are also here...." Kaya returned back to herself and quickly separated from me, her face reddens up to her long ears, she avoids her glance with mine and looked downward while holding her face. She looks very cute when she''s acting like that. "You totally forgot us haha!" "Unfair~" Wendell just laughs it off while Nahla is protesting while flying and hitting my chest, I patted her head to make up for her and she looks satisfied after that. "N-now! I Asked Wendell to bring you here to spend time with us before you go." Kaya poured tea on my cup while explaining why I was brought here. "I''m grateful for that, to you too Prince Wendell thank you for taking care of me when I was in prison." "Haha! I didn''t really do that much, but you can praise me as many times as you want. " "Hey Flint~ Do you want some cookies?" Nahla offered me the cookies and I took some. "Thank you, I will serve under General Connor and will be on the frontlines." "Don''t worry Flint, I know you are strong and will be able to defeat them I''m very confident about that" Kaya really has a high expectation towards me that''s why I can''t fail. "I''m actually jealous... You will earn honor fighting the enemies.." Wendell''s voice looks disappointed for some reason. "I also want to fight! To fight for the honor of defending my own race! but the father refused my request to go fight." "Wendell, You must understand Father, I also want to go since my ?Grand Healing? will be a great help especially to our female knights and wizards. " "Of course, I understand Father, but Big Sister it''s our duty to go and fight the enemies. " "Wendell..." The atmosphere became a little bit gloomy that''s why I decided to change the topic. "Well, let''s talk about something else, Prince Wendell can you tell me about the kinds of training you went through under General Harlan?" "Oh sure! He trained me like an animal!" The four of us talked for a while. ?????? Kaya and Nahla went back to their room after our talk, both of them wants to guide me in the forest but, unfortunately, they''re still not allowed to get near me but thanks to Wendell we were able to have a fun talk with them secretly. "There they are!" Prince Wendell shouted while walking beside me. He runs excitedly towards general Connor and his men, there are several thousands of elves around, they''re too many I can''t count them. "Uguh!!" I just heard Wendell''s voice but when I turn back my eyes to where he was running, he''s not there. "Down here!" I looked down at saw Wendell stuck on a quagmire. He''s trying to get a hold of some branch, but his just hands keep on slipping. "Just what the hell are you doing?" "S-stop looking at me and start helping me!" I lightly ran to where he is and pulled him up, but he pulled me instead. "Wah!" "Ahhh!" Now we''re both stuck here, Just great! "Just why did you pull me? I was supposed to be the one pulling you!" "I thought I would help you raise me if I pull you too? Hahaha! " "How''s that going to happen you dumbass!" General Connor and his men immediately ran here when they saw us both stuck on the quagmire. ".. Just what are you two doing?" How about you stop asking and help us? I wanna say that, but i''m currently under his command. They began to pull both of us and after we managed to get out the General gave us a change of clothes. By the way, the people who helped us were the ones that I beat up when I escape the prison, they didn''t show any hostility towards me probably because General Connor already explained the circumstances to them. "Can you ride a horse?" General Connor asks me. "Yes" I taught myself how to ride a horse during my past life but I didn''t really ride a horse that much, I mean why would you ride a horse if you can ride a tank or a humvee. "I see, then you would sit with the other on the carriage" I felt a bit uneasy even though he explained the circumstances some Elves might not accept it easily and try to do something against me. "If we have the opportunity I promise that I will teach some interesting things." Wendell tapped my back and promised me. I gave my goodbye to Wendell before I went to the carriage, when I went inside I saw the opposite of my expectation, everyone is silent some of them looked at me, but they quickly lost their interest to me. They all probably nervous because we''re going to war. "Let''s go, everyone! We''ll reach the defense line before morning I want you to rest well so that you can fight effectively tomorrow." Thus, we began to ride our destination. ?????? Several hours later before the first light of the morning. The first wave of the attack has begun to reach the shore. Prince Kyle and his officers are watching them from his ship. "I wonder why the Elves didn''t immediately attack us?" "My prince, they''re probably aware of the ranks of the mages we have." Admiral Vern said so while lighting his cigarettes. "Hmm.. That won''t change anything, do you plan on fighting Commander Armand?" Admiral Vern asked him in curiosity. "Ahh yes! I''ll probably join the 3rd wave" "Hahaha! You''re too old for this Commander" The prince laughed at his declaration. "My prince, I may be more than 90 years old, but thanks to humanity''s advance research and magic I look like around 30 years old and stronger than my age." "Then I would join too" "I''m afraid you can''t Admiral." "Huh? Why so Commander?" "You have to take command of the entire fleet while the prince and I are fighting the enemies." Then a young knight approached them while they are cheerfully talking to each other. "Sir, The second wave of the attack is now ready." "Then it''s time for me to go now, see you later on the other side Commander Armand!" The Prince followed the Knight after he wore his armor and swords. "We wish you good luck, your highness!" ?????? Preview to the future chapters of Munivit Anima (Link) Chapter 19 Unvoice part 5 I wore my armor that was given to me by General Connor I was assigned to stop the enemy from advancing inside the forest and right now we are approaching near the shore while hiding in the woods, we are waiting for the Human army to land. "I heard the battle has begun at General Harlan''s side.." One of the elves talked to his companions. "According to the talk of the middle-rank officers General Harlan is doing a great job stopping the advance of the humans, they said they only advance a few meter in the forest." "Then we must do our best too." "Yes, Hey Flint are you ready? We must not let them advance any further the cavalry unit will cut their attack after we block them." The captain leading this group asked me nicely, He seems to be a nice person he didn''t try to show any disrespect and hostility towards me, he really just treats me normally. General Connor said the Elves might doesn''t have time to waste on me there are also chances that they may see me in a different light if would be able to do my job properly, he even said that the Justice court might give me another chance if we succeed. This is my chance to cleanse my name that was tainted by Chief Mau though I don''t plan on killing them it''s probably enough to knock them unconscious or capture them when they surrender, I don''t plan on going back the way I was like killing everyone mercilessly. There are three layers of defenses made by General Connor, The first layer of defense is us, there are currently 20,000 Elven Knights and mages on this first layer, on the second layer there are also 20,000 but there are lower officers positioned on the second layer of defense. The last and third layer of defense is led by General Connor with 20,000 of the strongest in his command. ".....I''m ready." I hid behind the trees when I saw the Empire battleships are approaching. The large wooden gate of the ship opened with a strong noise then we heard the War Cry of the Empire Army. """"FOR THE EMPIRE!!!"""" We heard a strong noise and the ground began to shook when I looked back I saw the Cavalry units of the Empire coming out from the battleships. "The first layer of their formation are the Cavalries!" "What!?" The Elves looked at the Cavalry coming out and beginning to form their formation, The Infantry, and Mages division also began to come out. "This is absurd! There are too many Cavalry units!" I heard the captain''s horrified voice, there is something suspicious here, and I need to ask him. "Hey, Captain are there any Cavalry unit fighting against General Harlan in his position?" "N-no, if I remember correctly most of them that were fighting against General Harlan''s men were Infantrymen and few mages that supporting them." "I see..." When the captain saw my serious face he also began to realize it. "H-hey, don''t tell me." "Yes, it''s what you think you should immediately send a messenger to General Connor so he can collaborate with General Harlan." "Yes! H-hey, there something I need you to do!" The captain quickly gave a command to one of his men. "The Empire''s Plan is to divide our forces, the attack on the northwest side is just a decoy to occupy General Harlan and his men while their main force will land here to immediately wipe out General Connor''s men and with this they can attack General Harlan from the side or continue to march directly to the Castle Forest!" "Go immediately and pass the message!" The captain shouted though his voice trembles for a little bit he still manages to show a good composure in front of his men. "There are still more waves of army to come, so what should we do?" "We''ll stick to the plan, we can''t fight them on the shore the mages on their battleship will be able to hit us.¡± I looked around and saw everyone prepares their swords, magic and bows. They''re on top of the branches of the tall trees, I also climb to one of the trees nearby and hid my presence. "FORMAAAATION!" One of the men who wore a different kind of uniform is giving commands to the troops. They quickly formed a line, the Cavalry unit is on the front lines next to them were the infantrymen, and the mages were positioned on the rear. "READY, MAAAAARCH!" They began to advance slowly and the ground shook by their every step, their figures became clearer as they approach they forest. I fixed my eyes on the person walking beside the man giving the command, he looks very familiar and as I get closer I realized who it was. "Kyle..." I muttered his name to myself, he''s probably the one who planned this invasion. Was he one of those who were sent to find me? The Cavalry entered the forest and I just notice that all of their equipment were engrave with magic, you can notice it easily because of the letterings embedded on their swords were glowing. I also look at their armor and it was coated with magic resistance. The equipment of the Elves is no match to these. They are now marching below us, fortunately, they didn''t notice us. Our captain raise his hands and gave the signal to attack! "GO!" He shouted with all his might. Then magical attacks and arrows began to fly towards the enemy, the elven knights jumped down and started attacking. "AMBUSH!" "DONT BREAK THE LINE!" The Army didn''t even falter, they remained calm and compose they block their magical shot and arrows by the barrier made by the mages that were positioned on the rear. "How could they cast their protection with this distance!?" One of the Elven mage shouted in irritation while looking at mages. "Those people were all probably Master sage rank!" The Infantrymen quicken their march to aid the cavalry unit. "Ready, ATTACK!" The horses began to run and the Cavalry unit began to slash the elven knights with ease, with their magical swords, they can easily break any kind of armor. One of them saw me and charge at me, I quickly cast ?Body Reinforcement? I also run towards him. I need to take down the horse first. I accumulate manna on my right arm and before the horse reaches me, I cast ?Tempest Strike? the man was surprised because I suddenly appeared on the left side of his horse. He swings his sword at me but parries it with my right arm, with the power of ?Body Reinforcement? and the concentrated manna on my arm I can block or even destroy their equipment. He again swings his sword but, this time, I evade it and pierce my hand to the heart of the horse. They horse panics and threw off the man riding it. The Knight managed to control his landing and without wasting any time he again charged at me. He swings his sword sideways, but I stepped back and quickly jumped at his side, I bend my arm and swung my elbow horizontally at his jaw. His body trembled and struggling to regain his balance, he swung his sword at me but since his head is feeling fuzzy I easily evade it, I drove the heel of my palm to his chin and this time, he is completely knocked out. "One down.....and there are still thousands...." The Elves are being overwhelmed, the images are already in close range and they cast fire magic and burns the trees. The Elven mages tried to counter it with their own magic, but the difference of their power is just too much. The Infantrymen began piercing every Elves they encounter without breaking their formation. This line formation of them seems like unbreakable, their magical shields are glowing intensely making sure to protect its wearer. "Their formation is giving them the advantage, we have to find a way to break it.¡± I shout at the captain while who''s fighting from the distance, I cast ?Tempest Strike? to his opponent and knock him out immediately. "How did you do that?" "That''s not what''s important right now. Our forces have scattered because of the Cavalry attack." "Our own Cavalry was supposed to aid us, but General Connor pulled them back." "W-what?" Why would he do that? No, even if the Elven Cavalry unit will join us they won''t make any difference since the Cavalry unit of the Empire is too overwhelming. General Connor made a logical choice. "Then what should we do?" I ask the captain gently. "There is no change of -Aha!!" "Wahl!" An explosion occurred on our right side and we were thrown away by the impact. "Raghu!" I groan in pain even though my body was protected by ?Body Reinforcement? it can''t protect from different kinds of attacks. "Captain, are you alright?" I glance at him beside me, his eyes and mouth are open while looking at me. "Come on Captain let''s get up" I stood up and try to carry him but when I raised his body, his internal organs flowed out from his stomach. "Don''t tell me..." I looked at him again and his eyes are still open, but the light of life is no longer there. "Shit..." I closed his eyes and looked around. The mages were throwing different kinds of magic at the Elves, but even at the overwhelming forces in front of them, they kept fighting till the end. I also joined them, I jumped at one of the Cavalrymen nearby and tried to reach him by my punch, but he was able to notice it and rear up his horse on defense. I concentrate my manna and hit the side of the horse with a back fist. The horse started to draw out blood and fell down. I ran to the fallen knight though he managed to break his fall, he won''t be able to evade my attack. I attacked his left stomach with a side kick and quickly perform a high kick on his head, He falls onto his knees, but to make sure I performed a downward kick onto his head. I took the Knight¡¯s magical sword and put it on my waist. I ran to the Elven mage who''s casting healing magic to his comrade nearby and asks him some questions. "The Captain is dead, Where''s the vice-captain?" "He''s also dead he was pierced by Ice magic and a Cavalry unit slashed his head.¡± "Then who is next in command!?" "I-I don''t know... M-most of the officers are dead." Then that means there is no one leading these guys, no wonder our forces was scattered. The best choice is to retreat and regroup with the second layer of the defense. "We should retreat, and regroup with the others." I put my hand on his shoulder and asked him nicely "B-but, we don''t have orde-" "All of the commanding officers are dead and were all going to die here if we don''t retreat." "Y-yes!" After he heals his comrade he quickly ran to others and passed the words. "Retreat! Retreat!" The other Elves began shouting as well. This battle has ended before it even began, I didn''t know that these guys will be easily overwhelmed, but it''s also because of the Empire''s army, all of them were highly trained and their equipment were all top class. Funding this kind of army to even use magical weapons and gather Master Sage Rank magicians, they must have spent a lot of money on this. Did Kyle use his position as a prince to fund this war? Because usually an empire knight won''t wear those kinds of magical weapons. Only one person came to my mind. "It''s the Emperor." He must be the one who allowed Kyle to use these kinds of weapons. I started to retreat together with the Elves while knocking out the Empire Knights who tried to stop me. ?????? We managed to regroup with the second layer of defense. The Empire Knights didn''t chase us, they probably plan to make a camp inside the forest. The Elves immediately helped the wounded and asked us for information and of course, we said all the things that happened. "Among the 20,000 Knights and Mages only 7,000 has survived.... And the numbers of their first wave of attack of our enemies were 25,000 and you say all of them has magical weapons?" "Y-yes!" I heard one of the Elves interviewing one of the wounded Knights, the Elf began to wipe his comrade''s sweat on his forehead. "Then don''t tell me that the incoming waves of their armies will also be wearing magical weapons?¡± We''re not pretty sure about the numbers they plan to land but based on the numbers of their battleships that we saw, there should be around 100,000 of enemies to land on the shore, that means that those 25,000 that we fought earlier we''re just 1/4 of their total numbers and, what''s more, Kyle is joining them on the front lines so the moral of their army should be way higher compared to us. "Hey Flint, General Connor want''s to meet you. Since we can''t allow you to ride a horse please go to the carriage they will guide you to the third layer of defense. " "Okay..." Actually, I want to rest but there must be things he wants to tell me personally, I wonder what is it? I went to the carriage waiting for me since it would take around 3 hours before we reach the third layer of defense I decided to sleep inside. ?????? "Hey, Wake up...¡± *Shake* *Shake* "Hm?" I opened my eyes and look at the Elf that is shaking my body. "We''re here." He opens the curtains that cover the carriage and I jumped outside. This place is one of the Elven Village outside the Castle Forest, The Civilians were already evacuated on the Castle Forest and this Village serves as General Connors Headquarters. This Village doesn''t have a lot of differences to the village that governed by Chief Mau, The beautiful tree houses became an archer tower or mage tower, There are a lot of fairies around helping with the weapon sharpening or cooking the food. The Female Elven Knights also helps them. "Let''s go, General Connor, is waiting..." My Elf guide began to walk ahead of me... Don''t be impatient he''s not going anywhere .... He led me to the biggest tree house located at the center of the Village, We walked the stairs and knocked the door after we reached it. *Knock* *Knock* "Enter." "General Connor we''re here." After we went inside I lightly nod my head to give my respect to him. "Leave us." He gave an order to my guide in a soft voice and after he made sure that the Elf is gone he turned his attention to me. "So why did you call me?" I didn''t notice that my voice became serious when I asked him. "I heard what happened." "What happened?" Is he talking about the retreat? If he is going to question me why I suggest such thing, that¡¯s because that''s the most logical way. You can''t stand your ground forever a soldier will advance and retreat in a battle that''s inevitable. "I heard you fought bravely during the battle and defeated several enemies while retreating and thanks to you the wounded were able to retreat safely." "Oh, so it''s about that." I thought he''s going to scold me because I suggested the first layer of defense to retreat without his orders. "I also heard that the way you fight is unique, according to the report of the Elves who saw how you fight. They said you used strange unique techniques to defeat your enemies and it was incredible." Is he talking about my martial arts? Well, I learned a different kind of fighting style during my military days. "But you know, I noticed some problems after I finished reading the reports?¡± "... What might that be?" He looked at the several scrolls on his desk, it''s probably the written reports about the battle. He took one of them and raise it. "According to this, you didn''t kill any enemy during the battle.... What the hell is the meaning of this?" He narrowed his dark green eyes at me and matching by the scar on his face, he looks intimidating. "That''s bec-" "You didn''t hesitate to kill Chief Mau and you even killed several Elves, but now you won''t kill any humans?" It certainly true, I didn''t have any hesitation when I killed Chief Mau, but that was because I had no choice! That person will never stop unless one of us get killed and I also lost control of myself during the battle. I also killed a human noble back in the Empire Building, but that was before I decided that I can''t live the way who I was in the past. If I stay the same as Heins Cross then only abomination awaits me. I looked down to avoid his intimidating gaze "...." "Your own Empire has abandoned you and trying to kill you, but you don''t want to kill them to protect yourself? Is this the way you fulfill your promise to the Princess? " "No.. It''s...If possible I don''t want to kill unless I don''t have a choice.." I know this fails me as a soldier, but I won''t go back to a cold blooded killer. And I didn''t promise the princess that I will kill anyone! Though I want to say that I remained silent. This war reminds me so much of my past life, how brutally I''ve become during the third world war I don''t want to return to that. I have people that I really care now compare to my past life, I don''t want them to be afraid of me and turn their back against me. The General stood up from his seat and walks towards me. He stopped when he''s in front of me and his face is so close to mine, I can feel his intimidating presence getting stronger. "You''re not helping us win this war because you don''t have the stomach to do what must be done." "...." "The Empire army sent out several scouts to search any information they could find that would be useful to their advance, they''re guided by Enslaved Elves that they brought with them. I will send out special teams to rescue the slaves and suck out pieces information from the scouts before we kill them." "....I see" "I command you, this time, to act appropriately... Every Human you kill is every Elven life you save... This way you can atone for the Elves that died in your hands. Do you understand?" "Perfectly, General." ?????? "And that''s the last wave.." Commander Armand is standing beside Prince Kyle on the shore while watching their men descending from the battleships. 100,000 Strong army of the Empire has successfully reached the shore and currently creating a wide base in the forest. "So, how¡¯s the first battle, my Prince?" The commander glanced at the prince while holding his growing beard. "It was pretty easy, they tried to ambush us when we enter the forest, but they weren''t able to break the formation. " "I see... Anyway about the interesting information that we received that a human was fighting on the side of the Elves... Don''t you think that''s ridiculous?" Prince Kyle was also fighting during the first battle, but he was positioned between the Cavalry units and the Infantrymen that''s why he didn''t encounter Flint. He didn''t even know that Flint was there before he read the reports that a human was fighting together. After he finished reading the reports he already has a pretty good guess who it was. ''So they decided to use him huh?'' Prince Kyle thought to himself. "That doesn''t matter Commander, we will crush anyone who fights against the Empire." "Haha, you¡¯re a really serious person. By the way, it would take a few days for the scouts to find the Elven base, the slaves also need to rest and the enemies won''t be foolish enough to attack us with our current numbers. " "How about the decoy army?" Their job is to stall the enemy forces and prevent them from aiding the losing forces of the Elves in the southwest. "They''re doing their job pretty well, there are some casualties, but it''s not that match they won''t engage since the enemy number are much bigger, our forces in the northwest are doing a hit and run tactics." "I see, after the scouts managed to find the base of those Elves we will immediately carry out a full attack to the front" "Full attack? Aren''t you bit impatience?" The Commander was surprised, in his experience, they should at least put some reserves and divide the army into different sides rather than attacking a single side. "Let''s defeat them before they can come up with a good strategy to stop us." Commander Armand Chuckled unintentionally to the Prince''s words and put his hand on his chin. "We have the advantage of numbers and the equipment of every knight and mages were all first class that was provided directly by the Emperor''s order. I don''t they would be able to come up a strategy to defeat us since all of our men are wearing magical weapons and items." The Prince didn''t speak for a few seconds, He put his right hand to the commander''s shoulder and gripped it tightly. "You know, the things that my teachers in the Empire has thought me?" "..." Cold sweats began to pour out from the commander''s forehead. "You keep stepping forward and you will keep your enemies away from catching you. Do you know the meaning of that?" "...No." The commander trembles a little, but he managed to speak out his answer. "Then you will learn the meaning of it after we win this war." Prince Kyle lets go of his shoulder and walks forward to the forest. "Make sure to send more group of scouts, I''m counting on you Commander." Commander Armand swallowed his saliva and *sighed* deeply. ?????? Back in the Castle Forest the King has received the reports of the recent battle and also how the first layer of defense was easily broken by the enemy. King Ulysses is sitting on his throne while his subjects are surrounding him from a distance, Princess Kaya and Princess Wendell are also present. "The Humans are currently using slaves to locate our bases... General Connor already sent out groups of Knights to stop them... Also, all of the enemies are wearing Magical weapons and supported by Master Sage rank mages¡± One of the council began to speak and suggest his thoughts. "My King how about we make terms with them? It''s much better than all of us suffering." The King looked at him with vexed expression and hit the side of his chair intensely. *Thud!* "What they want is all of us! Making terms with them is impossible in the first place and I will not bring down my honor to make terms with those humans who made our people suffer for a very long time!" His angry voice resounded in the room and the surrounding went completely silent. "We will keep on fighting, we just need to make a better plan." The King spoke in a dejected voice. Prince Wendell slowly stepped forward in front of his father and lightly bowed his head. "Father I will go fight together with our people." Prince Wendell''s voice is serious and looking at his father without faltering. King Ulysses doesn''t want to believe what he just heard and asks him. "What did you just say?" "I can no longer keep doing nothing while our people are fighting the enemy as a prince it''s my duty to support them." His father looks dejected his eyes became a little bit sad, he knows that he can''t stop his son from going because his cause is right, but even so, the King still tried to reason with him. "I told you right? You will not be going to war." "You want us to stay here to hide and stay safe while our own men are fighting to the death to protect this place? Father, I''ll go fight with or without your permission, I''ll do what has to be done in order to protect our people. I am no longer a child." "BUT YOU ARE MY CHILD! NO FATHER WOULD WANT HIS OWN CHILD TO GO TO WAR, AS LONG AS THERE ARE OTHER MEN ARE WILLING TO GO IN HIS STEAD THEN I WILL GLADLY ACCEPT IT! " The King stood up and shouted angrily at his own son. This is the first time he shouted at him, Prince Wendell knows that his father was just trying to protect him. "Father.... Those people fighting right now are also a children of somebody, they''re are doing their shares to protect this place even though sending their own sons and daughters to a losing war, but we haven''t lost yet there still hope for us to overturn this war and we must go to provide them our strength." This time, his Father sat down again while downhearted, His son is completely right, everyone is doing their part and they also do their own. "Father I''ll go as well." This time, it was Princess Kaya who spoke. "W-what?" The words downhearted is no longer enough to describe King Ulysses reaction. "My ?Grand Healing? is a Magus rank spell it''s higher than the mages of the empire that are currently Master Sage rank, I can play a big role in this war." She''s actually right, her healing magic is Magus Rank higher than the Master Sage rank if she participates in this war the elves can fight longer and their wounds would be instantly healed before they even feel the pain. "Kaya..." "And Wendell would also be safer if I''m with him..." With her ?Grand Healing? Prince Wendell would be safer if Kaya is going with him. King Ulysses had no choice but to wish that his son and daughter would be safe, even him can''t stop them from going. The king spoke in a dispirited voice, you can feel the dejection in his voice. "Kaya.. Take care of your younger brother... that also goes the same for you, Wendell... Take care of your older sister." Wendell smiled to his father''s response. "Thank you, Father and I promise you! We will win this war!" ?????? "?Tempest Strike?!!!" I struck down the last human that is still conscious with my spell, I noticed lately that my spells are limited and can be countered if they saw it once so I¡¯m thinking about creating new spells but for now, let''s concentrate on the job that was given to me. *Clang!* I broke the Slaves collar from the Elven female and set her free, she was used by the scouts to guide them deeper in the forest because a human would usually get lost deep in the forest due to the spells protecting the Elven territory. The slave looks frightened when she saw me, but she regained her calm after the Elves that are searching together with me told her that I wasn''t an enemy, I also promised her that I won''t ever hurt her so she lowered her guard towards me. She explained her situation to us. Apparently, her father and mother will be killed if she doesn''t cooperate with the Knights. She is a slave, but she can refuse to the death or kill herself so that no human would ever step in the protected forest of the Elves but since they took her parents, she was afraid to betray the Humans because that would kill her parents. I told her that it would be alright since we are going to take the unconscious knights as prisoners. They won''t be able to report that the slave had betrayed them and they can''t execute her parents without an evidence or report of betrayal of the slaves. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. By the way, she is one of the many Elves that are living in the forests of the Continent of Entros, they were captured by the slave hunters with her family during the time when they are going to have a visit to another forest. Her parents are currently in one of the battleships of the Empire navy that was used to transport them here. There are also a lot of slaves who got their families as a hostage and Prince Kyle is using them to make sure the slaves won''t betray them. I look at the unconscious knights there is also one mage with them. General Connor wants me to kill them, but that won''t happen if we make them accept surrender. If I manage to convince these guys to surrender after they woke up then I don''t have to kill them, why? Because killing an enemy who surrendered isn''t honorable that''s why the Elves doesn''t kill anyone who surrendered but if these guys woke up and act arrogantly and refuse my offer then the Elves has a reason to kill them. An enemy who refuses to surrender means he''s still willing to fight for what he believes and the Elves see that as an honorable thing and it would be their honor to kill such an honorable person. These people are all about honor! I wish humans can also be like that. I was informed that there are also rules of war that everyone including the empire is following in this world, it''s like the version of The Geneva Conventions of this world, it¡¯s also quite complicated but these are the few things that I understood. First - Any officers are not allowed to be attacked from behind. If you want to fight the officer in charge during the battle then you must do it in an honorable way (Fight him face to face) and not in a cowardly act. (Now that I think about it the captain who died during the first battle was killed by a stray magic attack, so guess it''s acceptable if the officer is killed in an accidental way.) Second - Corps of Drums are not allowed to be killed during a battle, these are the people sounding the march of the army while hitting their drums. They are the one who sounds the retreat, the advance, the victory and the surrender. They act as signalers for the formation of the army. Corps of Drums are considered as an unarmed group and there is no honor in killing them. Third - Anyone who fails to comply with the order of the Chief General will be stripped off his/her rank and shall be put to death without trial in Army Court. (This third rule only goes to the Empire.) The others are just too complicated for me to understand when war gets worse nobody will give a fuck about those rules anyway. Well, I can''t speak for everyone but that''s how I see it. "Let''s go back to the second layer of defense and interrogate these people." The Elf who is leading us gave an order and the elves began to carry the unconscious Knights and the Mage, I also helped them of course. "Hey, why do you think human loves to go to war?" The female Elf asks me silently while I was carrying one of the knights back to the base. Is she asking me because I am a human? She''s not looking at me, but she''s looking straight to our path. I guess I should answer her base on my knowledge and experience...... "War is intoxicating. Once a person has won and tasted its intoxication, they get addicted to it and getting intoxicated is a part of human nature." Maybe not just human, maybe this goes for every race but this is what I observed from the people in my past life. "That is... just so wrong." Her voice sounds dispirited I looked at her eyes began to get teary. "It doesn''t matter if you''re on the side of the wrong people. Your beliefs will become right if you won the war even though it''s so wrong or evil. War does not determine who is right - only who is left...." ''War does not determine who is right - only who is left.'' This was once said by a wise person on earth. "...I detest it! I hope those people who started these kinds of things would just go die!" She declared with a solemn voice. "That''s why we''re fighting because we detest it." I talked a lot of things to her until we finally reached the base. ?????? Two days has passed we managed to capture a few Knights and mages, They accept to surrender when I persuaded them, but of course I still have the beat the shit out of them before they surrendered. You got to show them who''s the boss. We only got very few information, their base is located only several kilometers away from us and their numbers are more or less 100,000 and since some scouts weren''t able to return from their base Prince Kyle decided to add more Knights and mages in the group of scouts. The group of scouts that he is sending are now composed of 25 Infantrymen, 5 Cavalry units, and 3 Mages. Capturing them became very hard so it''s decided that we wait for a new order to arrive. General Connor was busy having a meeting with General Harlan. I heard General Harlan was not a having a hard time fighting the enemies on his side because the enemy doesn''t advance at all. They''re using hit and run tactics to stall time, unfortunately, he can''t send reinforcement to General Connor because they didn''t know what would be the next move of Prince Kyle so he decided that the reinforcement would be him. He left the work to the other officers and came here alone to aid us, I heard he is pretty strong that''s why everybody believes that having him here is a great help. I just finished interrogating some prisoners and I was given time to rest on a tent, unfortunately, this second layer of defense doesn''t have any tree house which is quite disappointing. I was on my way there when a messenger stopped me. "General Connor wants you to go meet him. He is waiting on the main base... The carriage is waiting for you." He pointed his finger to a distance and when I turned my attention to it, there is actually a carriage. "... May I ask why?" "I actually don''t know either." Oh well, He''s probably has something to say or he''s going to scold me again like last time. Let''s just go check it out. I went to the carriage, I was alone inside so I lie down and slept until I get there. ?????? *Thug.* *Thug* I can feel someone shaking my body, it''s probably the coachman trying to wake me up. I gently opened my eyes and looked at him.... But it wasn''t the coachman. "....Kaya?" I rubbed my eyes once again and looked at her. It''s really her! "Sorry to suddenly wake you." "No... It''s okay.... but more than that what are you doing here?" I asked her immediately, I also noticed Prince Wendell behind her. If I remember correctly the King doesn''t want Kaya and Prince Wendell to come here. Did the King had a change of heart? "We''re here to help everyone." Kaya said so with a cute smile. So, I can safely assume that the King allowed them? Well, based on the personality of this siblings they both have a strong sense of duty. They probably forced the King to agree with them. "Hey, Flint I requested General Connor to be in the team same as yours were going to kick the enemy''s ass together Hahira!" Prince Wendell stepped forward and talked arrogantly. "Wait.... The General agreed to that?" I don''t think he would actually allow the prince to team up with me. "He didn''t, Wendell was actually placed on the 13th reserved Division. General Connor insisted him to stay here in the 3rd layer of defense but Wendell didn''t stop complaining to him and he decided to put him on the reserved division¡± Kaya spoke and disclose Wendell''s lie.... Suddenly he started pouting. "Boo... I won''t be able to fight..." All Reserved units were placed in the second layer of defense just in case the Empire Knights managed to find a way to go there. General Connor doesn''t want to give up the second layer of defense that''s why he''s putting a lot of reserves there. But right now the reserves isn''t doing anything. There aren''t any orders for them do anything since the Elven knights and mages that are originally placed on the second line of defense are the ones doing all the dangerous job. "It''s okay Prince Wendell, I''m pretty sure you will have your turn." Sooner or later we would need everyone to fight, so this guy doesn''t have to be impatient. "I want to fight already I''m hungry to earn my honor. Oh, by the way, I want to teach you some interesting spell." "Huh?" "You heard me! Ha-ha!" Well, learning some spell is pretty convenient. Mage unit has a lot of advantage in battle, I think it would be helpful if I learn some useful spells. "Fliiiiint~" While thinking, I suddenly heard Nahla''s voice from a distance. I jumped out from the carriage and look for her. "Ohh- *Thub*" She hit her head on my chest while flying, it hurts a little bit so I pushed her lightly. "Nahla you have to stop trying to kill me every time we meet." "Mm?" I tried to scold her but she just tilted her head. She didn''t get what I was trying to say. Behind her are General Connor and Harlan, They are both riding a horse. They¡¯re slowly coming here. "You guys, I told you to stay inside the Treehouse but you went out immediately after you heard Flint has arrived." General Connor complains while scratching his head while General Harlan just glanced at me. "I apologize about that, I just want to see Flint immediately ever since father finally allowed us to talk to Flint." "There is no need for you to apologize Princess" General Connor responded with a wry smile. The king allowed them to talk to me? So there''s no restriction anymore? But why? "It''s because you are fighting a war with us and it''s unreasonable to stop Kaya from talking to you knowing that you might die anytime." Prince Wendell answered the question floating in my mind. Probably because I looked puzzled that''s why Prince Wendell was able to guess the question in my mind. "I see, by the way, why was I called here?" I asked straight to the point and looked at General Connor, but he glances at Kaya. "It''s because I wanted to see you. " She suddenly wraps her both with my arm while answering. She stuck her body closely to me, I don''t mind her doing this, but right now General Connor and Harlan both looked surprised. "Princess!?" "Princess Kaya is unfair! Let me join in too!" Kaya was startled and immediately separated her body from me while Nahla is protesting. "So sorry I got carried away..." She looks pretty embarrassed, she held the helm of her clothes while making an excuse. Let''s not tease her since both Generals are here. "See me, huh? I also want to see you. " "Really!?" She immediately brightens up after she heard me, was she really that happy to see me, it has just been a few days after we saw each other? "Of course!" "Ahem! Anyway, I will teach you some spell that''s also part of the reason you''re here." I''ve been thinking of creating a new spell, but I don''t have much time since I''m fighting on the frontlines. Prince Wendell cleared his throat and stated his intention. "Come follow me! Let''s go get some horse from the stables! You will learn it immediately because I''ll be the one to teach you! hahaha!" He walks quickly and went to the stable. You don''t have to hurry, I¡¯m not going anywhere. I was about to follow him about General Harlan blocked my way. "Uhm.." I''m figuring out what to say while he''s looking at me seriously. "Listen to me well." He spoke in a serious tone. "Yes?" "Prince Wendell is my student and I''ve been teaching him for quite some time. Sometimes he makes stupid choice bad but he is a kind-hearted person." "I see." So why is this guy telling me this? "The reason I''m telling you this is because sometimes he can be rash. " Crap! Did he read my mind!? "So you want me to prevent him from doing stupid things?" "Yes, If anything unexpected happens please protect Prince Wendell, Do not abandon him." This guy is really close to the prince, he might look like a strict and scary person but them inside he cares for the prince so much. "I will protect him to the best of my ability." I''ll make sure that I won''t fail this guy expectation towards me. He nodded and he looks satisfied from my answer. "Very well." He looks away from and went back to where he came from, then General Connor speaks to me. "Make sure to learn well, because there is something that I need you to do." "... Is that so?" "I''ll tell you the details later." I want to ask him more about it but... "Hey, Flint let''s go!" Kaya pulled my hand and we started to walk, but Nahla hugged my head from behind and she is literally choking me! "Nahla I told you to stop trying to kill me?" She just tilted her head again. "Hm? What are you talking about?" Oh, Nahla.... ?????? "Woh!? Argh!" This is the seventh time that I fail to control and produce the right amount of mana properly. "Do it again Flint." Prince Wendell took my hand and helped me up and I once again began to control my dark mana "Don''t give up." "You can do it, Flint. ~" Nahla and Kaya are cheering for me, they''re currently sitting on the plain grass a few meters away from us. They''re both watching me with eyes full of expectation. "Keep your hands steady and watch your feet. Your body must get used to it." Prince Wendell gently guides, before I start riding this horse he first thought me how to gently accumulate mana to surrounds the horse while saddling it. I never used this kind of magic while riding a horse, I remember in my past life that there are policemen that use horses instead of a car, but it was only on some part of the country sides. "Uhm.. Prince Wendell." "What is it?" "I thought you''re going to teach me some spell?" I don''t have much time playing around with a horse. We''re completely ignorant about the next move of the Empire army. I need to learn immediately. "Don''t be impatient, my big sister said you''re a talented person so you may be able to learn it immediately and more importantly you need to learn how to control the horse while accumulating your mana. Every strong warrior knows how to do it" "*Sigh...* Fine." We kept practicing until the sun goes down. ?????? The moonlight shines upon the face of the Empire Prince, Kyle. Around him are several thousand strong that signify the might of the empire, strong discipline is what their eyes describe, their loyalty is their honor, and the sharpness of their weapons defines the sharpness of their minds. The empire trained each of them with firm education, the empire trained them to become a living weapon. "It''s finished." One of the Elven slaves said to Prince Kyle. They managed to break the spell that protects the Elven territory. Now the Empire soldier will not be misled, the fog that surrounds the forest gradually disappear as if it weren''t there in the first place. Commander Armand taps the shoulder of the prince to signal him to give the order to advance. The prince turns his back and faced his men. "Deeper in this forest our enemies are waiting for us. Those Elves are willing to die just to cut off the head of any human that dares to enter their territory, but what lies deep in this forest is noble glory and it awaits us. I have no doubt of your courage, I know the empire''s troops are the bravest of among all the army of the world and I ignite that courage of yours tonight and bring victory to the empire. O BRAVEST OF MEN! I COMMAND YOU AS YOUR PRINCE, GO! DYE THE MOON WITH BLOOD! GO AND GRAB THAT GLORY, OFFER YOUR LOYAL BLOOD FOR THE EMPIRE''S VICTORY! ALL HAIL THE EMPEROR! " His men gave a loud shout of approval after hearing his words, all of them are hungry for battle and honor, hungry for the victory that awaits them. The corps of drums began to sound their instruments as several thousands of troops began to march deeper in the forest. Prince Kyle showed a scary smile, he can no longer wait and every time he imagine that after he conquer the elves and bring back flint the right for the throne will be in his grasps and his siblings can no longer belittle him. "Let''s also move your highness." "Yeah" Commander Arman and Prince Wendell also began to walk deep in the forest. "Now, that I think about it how long do you think will it take for us to completely defeat the Elves?" "Hm, If we don''t encounter any problems and continue to break the spells of this forest as we advance, probably ten days your highness." "Ten days huh? That''s faster than I expected." "Well, I''m only judging it by the result of the first battle, the Elves might try to do something different this time." The commander is right, they shouldn''t expect the same thing would happen again. They won the first battle because the Elves didn''t know that Prince Kyle used all his available resources to support the enchanted weapons and armors of his men, he is grateful to the emperor because he didn''t hesitate to give his approval. So this invasion should not fail no matter what because his name and right for the throne is at stake, this is a gamble for him so he had no choice but to use everything in his knowledge. Few years ago when Flint disappeared from the empire, he was happy because that means his rival has lessened although he didn''t know the fact that Flint didn''t care about the throne. Whenever he thinks of himself sitting on the throne, he always gets excited and he feels like he has the world on his hands. "Full Speed Ahead!" Prince Kyle gave an order to the army, he can''t wait any longer and wants to finish this war as fast as he can. After several minutes of marching. A cavalryman reports the Prince. "Prince Kyle, our scouts on the front found the second base of the elves, it might be the second layer of their defense. " "How long before we get there?" "30 minutes but if you give an order to the cavalry unit they can launch the first wave of attack to prevent them from preparing and the infantry unit will be able to defeat them easily when they reach their base. " The Prince began to think, the suggested plan wasn''t that bad, but they didn''t know what the elves had prepared for them and the cavalry units are the backbone of this entire army. If by chance they were able to defeat them before the infantrymen reach them then it would certainly become a disaster although the chances for that to happen is slim, Prince Kyle doesn''t want to take his chances. "No, The Cavalry units will stick with us until we reach their base." "Yes." The man nodded his head and returned to his position and after they saw him off, Commander Armand speaks. "I want to lead the front lines, what do you plan to do?" "I think I''ll stay here in the middle, for now, I''ll join you later during the battle." "I see, then I''ll go first." He whipped his horse and it began to run forward. "Good luck Commander!" ?????? After Prince Wendell taught me how to control the horse while accumulating a large amount of dark mana. He quickly began to teach me a new spell. It''s about using my mana to create a spear-like object and after I accumulate a good amount, I began to imagine a sharp spear and the mana began to shape itself. "Good...." Prince Wendell uttered in an amazed voice, he didn''t expect me to learn it immediately. I was also surprised, but I believe it was because my four years training with Kaya that I can do it immediately. This sibling helped me greatly and I want to repay their kindness to me someday especially to Kaya, she treated me normally she didn''t see me as a dangerous person and she even opened her heart to me. Kaya is sitting on the side and still watching me while Nahla is sleeping on her lap, it seems like she was tired of continuously cheering me she''s really a carefree person. The dark spear that was created from my mana is floating over my head, it''s giving a very dark glow and scary feeling. Just by looking at it, you can say that it''s a dangerous power. "Okay, now try to target the huge rock in front of you." He pointed at the rock that is located 20 meters away from us, I try to give command on the spear in my mind. I want it to go on unimaginable speed and power. The dark spear flies to its target in a speed of sound while releasing a strong wind to the surrounding, there was a second delay before we heard the sound of the movement of the spear. The dark spear pierced the target and destroyed the entire rock. "Wow, I didn''t even see that! How did you do that? I never saw something so fast like that!" Prince Wendell began shouting excitedly, you can see his eyes are full of eagerness. "Actually, I just imagined it....." "Imagine it? Magic doesn''t work like that! You need to have a strong concentration to be able to do some like that and you also need to have a clear understanding of the properties of the mana...." "... But it''s true that I used my imagination.... and I just gave an order to the spear inside my mind.." "Inside your mind? That''s Impossible I never heard something like that before. The reason we use long incantations is because we can''t command our power if we''re using a great amount of mana... and it seems like you didn''t even do that" "Well...." I''m not sure how to answer that, Rhaegal''s soul has merged with mine and I''m not even sure if my body is still human. "Hey Wendell, you should stop asking too many questions Flint looks bothered." Kaya came to my rescue and stopped her little brother. I smiled and nodded at her to express my thanks. "But big sister don''t you find this guy too strange? Even with the power of a dragon....... Unless his soul merged with a high ranked dragon... Then it'' possible for him to do everything he wants." Well, it is true that they know that my soul merged with a dragon, but they didn''t know it was the former dragon king Rhaegal. Only Kaya and Nahla knows about this and I don''t plan to just spread this information to anyone. Of course, Prince Wendell can be trusted but everything has to be told at the right time. "I still chant when I use other spells, though." Yup but they''re very short. I only need to say the spell name and it will activate I also have a feeling that I can cast them without chanting. Kaya retorts him once again "Wendell stop it already" "Uhh, Okay... Anyway, let''s continue! Can you create several magic spears and give each of them different commands?" "Let me try. " I concentrate my power once again and the mana began to form around me, it gradually began to form the shape of several spears and for some reason, I don''t feel any tiredness at all. I was about to make them fly over my head, but I heard some noise of a running horse. Everyone look over where it is coming from and we saw an Elf probably a messenger or someone who belong in Elven Cavalry unit. He looks horrified and when he saw us he immediately drove his horse to our place and he fell down from his horse after he reached Prince Wendell. The Prince worriedly face the Elf. "What''s wrong, are you okay?" "The... Haaa! Haaa! The seco.." He tried to utter the words he wanted to say, but we can''t understand what he''s trying to convey to us. I calmly told him to calm down and breath slowly, we waited for a few seconds before he regains his composure. "So what''s wrong? Why do you look so horrified when you came here?" "Th-the second layer of defense is under attack!" I widened my eyes from surprise. This means they managed to break the barrier that was protecting this forest. The question is the number of the enemy and how many waves of attack are they planning to commence. "Hey, what about the numbers of the enemy?" The Elf gulped from my question he''s currently sitting on the plain grass, but I noticed that he trembled a little. "At first cavalry units came attacking us and, of course, our own cavalry managed to block them but we didn''t notice the infantrymen that completely surrounded the base." Prince Wendell placed both of his hand on both sides of Elf''s shoulder. "Surrounded the base!? The second layer of defense is 5 times bigger than the first layer, it''s impossible for them to surround it unless..." "Unless they use an all-out attack in a single wave" I continued the words he''s afraid to say. If they are really using an all-out attack then we must do something immediately but to match the Empire''s army that means we have to mobilize the 3rd layer of defense which is the last defense line of General Connor and if we the third line of defense also get destroyed then the Inner defenses led by General Amena and the other Generals would have no choice but to adjust their defenses and let us join with them to face the huge number of the Empire''s Army. There are more numbers of the Elven Knights and Mages inside the inner defense, but the most experienced fighters are on the second line of defense which is under attack right now and the third layer of defense. What should be the best thing to do.... "Let''s go!" Prince Wendell Shouted with a strong voice. "No. Wendell we should inform General Connor first!" "You go inform him big sister and I''ll go immediately aid our warriors." "What are you saying? You are not allowed to move unless General Connor says so." "But big sister!" "Enough! I promise father to look after you!" I decided to intervene before they start fighting. "Princess Kaya is right Wendell. A strong person knows how to follow his order and you can''t just go there without a plan." "But-" "Come on man, you don''t want your big sister to hit you right?" He glanced at Kaya after I mentioned her and Kaya is looking at him intensely. "Ughhh.. Ahh! Fine...." He looks annoyed, but he knows that he can''t win against his big sister so he decided to give up. "Then let''s go inform the General." [Flint] "Yeah" [Kaya] "Y-yeah, I''ll carry Nahla." [Wendell.]