A Former Hero’s Journey : I just want to live peacefully!

Chapter 25

Kimiko Pov

She was looking through his eyes when Arthur sensed something and let Kimiko know.

‘ Master!’

She momentarily stopped eating her dessert and concentrated on her bond with Arthur.

‘Yes, Arthur?’

‘I sense few more interesting presence outside the castle. They are likely to be envoys from the Temple. However, it is strange…’

‘What is?’

‘They are far too weak when compared to everyone in this place.’

Kimiko was confused. Why would them being weak be a problem. Arthur continued his ranting.

‘Seriously they are too ‘under-leveled’ for the task. Anything related to Cult is serious business. Their schemes runs deep and just when you think they have no trick left, they pull another one over you. These pests can infiltrate various places. In one of the Kingdom, I personally decapitated the Prime Minister when he was found to be aiding the Cult and he died laughing as well. That is why there is such heavy restriction placed on me. And so sending these novices would be kind of pointless.’

‘Hmm… well what do you think about the Temple’s motive?’

She could feel Arthur grimace a bit, as if he was some bad memories. She could feel his exasperation bleeding through his thoughts.

‘Well, personally I don’t care about those religious nuts or whatever they are. Each one of them is creepier and weirder than the next. The 8 Archbishops are weird but still ok as you can speak normally with them unless you say something which demeans their Gods. It’s from Cardinal onwards that they start making no sense. Their manners and behaviors, simply put is….. unnerving. It’s like each of them has their screw loose in the head and the only one that is remotely sane is an 8-foot muscle man that wears a toga and cries all the time. And I have never met the Pope and personally I don’t want to meet the man that chooses such people to fill the seat.’

That was pretty weird. To think that the sane one among them is a bulky muscled man who cries all the time. She shivered at the thought but then wondered for what reason would Arthur want to meet them.

‘Why would you want to meet them then?’

‘To take permission.’

‘for what?’

Arthur just sighed inwardly and replied.

‘You see, Master, they have built their new headquarter and it is the same island where the final battle between Master and the Demon King had happened. Where you or rather your body is chained up. Since the DemonKing had stated that he would built ‘A staircase to Heaven’ to assault the Heaven therefore they think that, that place is closest place to Gods themselves. They have built the [Holy City] there where the Pope resides alongside the 4 Cardinals and Holy Army of the Temple. So to ascend the tower I needed the permission from the Pope. I wanted to see whether you regained your consciousness or not but interestingly enough, your body is still alive. Just brain-dead because your soul is here and all.’

Kimiko was getting intrigued about the religion because back then the Temple of Origin was the one fighting the Demon King for so long. It crumbled just after a little time later when she was summoned. At the same time inwardly cringed thinking that her old body was on top of that tower where the mentally ill resided. Still she was curious about the hierarchy of the Temple.

‘Explain the hierarchy of the Temple to me Arthur.’

‘Absolutely! You see there is [Temple Initiate] and [Temple Recruit]. Initiate is kind of like mages while Recruit is warrior. Initiate from bottom to top goes like this; [Temple Initiate], [Temple Clergy], [Temple Priest], [Temple High-Priest], [Bishop], [Archbishop] and then [Cardinal].’

Kimiko listened intently as Arthur continued.

‘Recruits will make up an army and from bottom to top goes like this; [Temple Recruit], [Temple Soldier], [Temple Army Captain], [Temple Army Colonel], [Temple Army General], [Bishop], [Archbishop] and again [Cardinal]. They can reach bishop but after bishop they can choose whether to be combat oriented [Holy Paladin] or to be an [Archbishop]. But there can only be 8 Archbishops and 4 Cardinals at the same time so challenge can be ensured for the seat.’

After hearing about that, she started looking at the exchange between Princess and the whole crowd. It was strange seeing the hostility between them.

‘More likely it seems the princess is being a target for hostility but for what reason?’

She turned her thoughts to Arthur.

‘Arthur’

Arthur replied.

‘Yes, master?’

‘Why there is such animosity between the princess and the people here?’

Arthur signed inwardly, looking at Princess Nina who stood straight despite being rudely acted to. He could see that the Princess was lonely if her downcast eyes were any indication.

‘Master, it all began when the princess was 5 years old. I wasn’t there on her birthday celebration so all I have is information passed from mouth. In the middle of the celebration a strange man came out of nowhere. The participant saw no one in the corner of the hall and suddenly poof- he was there. He was wearing ragged clothes but he had one distinguishing feature. He had a balancing scale made out of [Mithril] in his hand.’

Kimiko listened on as a spoonful of Sundae went inside her mouth, her leg swinging in a free manner. It was getting interesting. She was looking the view of the Capital as well from her rooftop table. Rows and rows of buildings stood straight but were not taller than 5 storied buildings, well except for the castle. It was strange because in every city there were no taller building. She still could hear Arthur speaking.

‘You see, master, such person was reported to be seen around 6 years before her birthday in the Kingdom of Poshsem. He had predicted that the then youngest Prince, who had no influence whatsoever, would succeed the throne. Everybody laughed at him but before they could capture to hang him, he disappeared. 2 years later, the youngest did succeed the throne. He had predicted over countless such events that did come true over many places. His appearance is random at times. Therefore, he was dubbed as ‘The Wandering Prophet’ because he wanders many places.’

Hearing such a corny title made her choke on the Sundae before she gulped it down, causing few people near her to look at her in worry. She waved at them indicating she was ok. But still, she couldn’t help but feel….

‘So unimaginative…..’The Wandering Prophet’?’

And by the voice of agreement inside her head, it seemed that even Arthur was agreeing to that.

‘ I know right? So on the night of the Celebration, he appeared once more causing the Nobles to venerate him for his ability but what he prophesized during the event led many misgivings of the Nobles towards the Princess. He prophesized that in the future, should she stay in the Kingdom of Posat then the kingdom will face unimaginable fate. But we do not know what he meant by ‘fate’ nor the ‘what age of the Princess’ these events will unfold but the Nobles, being paranoid little shits they are, think more on the line of ‘Destruction’. That was why in order for the heat to die down she spent eight years living with the Elcot House away from the Royal Family. But even after years of staying away from the public eyes, there were rumors, which caused her to have lonely school years.’

A twinge of sympathy rose inside Kimiko before it was suppressed. But hearing about this ‘Prophet’ made her ‘gut’ twist for some reason. She had this nagging feeling in her heart regarding this person.

‘It was one of those hectic days when there was a shouting match all over the meeting room. And being somewhat of a Guardian of Posat I had to attend the meeting as well. Nobles were discussing to snuff the bud before it could blossom or something like that. In the end all the shouting got into my nerves and I practically flipped the table. Then there was quiet and I, not wanting to get this out of hand, decided that the King would have a final say and promptly left the room. That’s all I know. She is already an adult of age 21 so they think that the calamity will be upon them soon. Plus, the involvement of the Cult isn’t helping her case.’

 She looked at her finished Sundae before she asked the waiter for more. Now that she thinks about it, didn’t young girls mostly married around the age of 16-20 in ancient societies? Maybe because of her reputation the princess did not get married?

‘By then I started investigating more on this enigmatic Prophet but believe me or not, nothing has been conclusive. He is more elusive than [Dimensional Lord] and is even more slipperier than a slime, if that even is a word. The more I dig, the less sense the information became. The only thing I could conclude was that the Prophet could be from the Cult but that theory has only just 20% credibility. Others are even less. That is why I am wary of that person because only two organizations can do such thorough elimination of evidence and I don’t like either of them to be the one.’

Then there was a guard who entered the room and declared it was the Heroes who arrived. The same classmates she had spent her High school with. She had a mixed feeling regarding this. As she was musing in her heart, Arthur thought about their arrival.

 ‘Heroes…..huh? But still, it is careless. Maybe…’

‘Back to the original topic, what will you do? Will you meet the envoy? Frankly speaking, I wonder which of my friend will be coming…But I have my doubts.’

‘Your wish is my command master, I shall come to the throne room asap with the King and the Prime Minister.’

With that he conversed with the king and he found himself in the throne room leaning towards a pillar looking at the four figures kneeling in front of the King. The Prime Minister was standing to the King’s side. Kimiko looked at the Throne room from his eyes as it was a big room with 10 huge pillars supporting the big white marbled hall. Just like in the standard movie, Kimiko thought, there was a huge staircase on which at the top stood a big-ass throne made from [Adamantine] and meticulously designed. Then there was the red carpet that stretched from the bottom of the Throne to till the big double door.

Soldiers were present on either side like Guards. It was certainly gaudy and expensive considering that [Adamantine] was one of the Hardest Material found in the world. She wondered if the King ever caught a cold because the material he sat on was certainly cold as an ice block. But her thought drifted to the heroes in front of her.

‘Certainly, like I thought, he was a Hero material…’

Arthur seemed to be surprised. He asked/thought.

‘You seem to be familiar with every one of them, Master.’

‘I told you, I was a class representative as well as Council president. I know my classmates when I see one. The one who is in front of the other three is Ryuu, my childhood friend. If I hadn’t had passive abilities on me, then certainly, academically he would be above me. The boy in the middle of the trio at the back is Hotaru, the one on his left is Ren and the only female is Sarada.’

Arthur looked at the group of four. According to his Master, Ryuu was handsome as well as intelligent. He seemed to have a sense of Justice within him. He wore simple steel armor and had two swords on one side, one plain looking sword while the other was interesting.

‘A [Holy Sword] eh? I guess the Temple did find their lost weapons from the ruins of the Temple’s previous Headquarter. Holy weapons, forged from the hands of [Divine Blacksmith] Job….’

Arthur then looked at the Hotaru. He was athletic type with cloths that revealed his upper part of his body and had dark red hair. He had muscles to go with it as well and wore a gauntlet as his weapon of choice. He seemed to grin stupidly as well. He was deemed to be in the category of ‘Muscle-brain’ by Arthur. Those who think by using their brawn than brain.

‘He looks like the idiot of the group. Simple kind of guy, easy to manipulate. Well, he is just a teen.’

The other boy was exactly the opposite of the previous. He was lithe and wore light but long clothes. He had a gender neutral face as well as had a bow. He had straight hair with a ponytail that reached to his back and wore glasses. He seemed to be looking cautiously above though he did it so discreetly.

‘Seems to be analytical type and aware of the surrounding. He has found at least two of the [Shadow Unit] operative. Either he must be blessed with a ‘sixth sense’ or it is a [Unique Skill].’

Then the last was a girl. She wore a white priest garb and had brown hair tied in a bun. She had a mole right under her left eye but could be considered as beautiful by the people. Not that he would check her body because frankly she was just a teenager and he was ten times her age.

‘A person who has holy affinity…. she seems to be a [White Mage] category, those who play a supportive role like healing and enchantments rather than pure offensive like the normal mages do. Only those of [Holy] affinity or [Nature] Affinity can normally do.’

Kimiko was nodding at the examination of Arthur. Overall, the group was balanced with 4 party members. Unless they had some heavy firepower or tricks that rained pure destruction, she could not see how they will overpower someone stronger than them. She remembered the words spoken by Arthur.

‘They have a [Holy Sword], Arthur?’

‘Yes, master.’

He said as he gazed into the sword that was covered in a brown cloth, a hint of gold and blue color was seen, a usual combo of color to a [Holy Weapon]. But the biggest factor was that it was leaking [Holy] energy.

‘Now that I remember, didn’t Master not have any [Holy Sword]? Why is that?’

Kimiko replied nonchalantly.

‘Because my Summoning was a fluke caused by researchers of Amrita Kingdom and the Temple was destroyed before I could even go to there. I had to make do with normal swords.’

‘Eh, if you had such a weapon then the journey would have been easier.’

Kimiko did not reply for a bit while Arthur winced inwardly at his insensitive comment.

‘Just let us hear the conversation between them. It seems he has changed a bit though.’

Ryuu Pov

It had been days since they had last seen the land. Hotaru was already causing a scene by kissing the ground as soon as they got off the ship. It seemed the harbor was one of the main place for trade between Kingdoms so it was fairly populated and unluckily Hotaru’s antic caused a few to look at them. Sarada was already kicking him in the back while Ren was stoic as usual. For Ryuu, it felt like a long time already. The whole deal with the Summoning of Heroes, the fiasco with the Trio of Troublemakers as well as training for the upcoming war, so many things to do. He did not believe they were ready for a war with the [Demon], not one bit.

A bit pessimistic but for a group of young teens with no formal training or experience, it would be a pipe dream. Now that she was gone, he was the one responsible for leading them. Not that he asked but nearly everyone looked at him for direction in this strange situation. So, they first needed to grind their level. Even though the Heroes have passive ability to [Level up] faster didn’t mean they could catch up with years of hard work in few days, not to mention the experience the veterans had. That was why the whole group was sent to different branches of Military under the guidance of the Archbishop in the [Holy city]. Though the only person they had interacted was the Archbishop who summoned them.

Some were trained in the arts of close combat to hand to hand combat while the others who were adept in [Magic] were trained in it. It was still surreal to see [Magic] being used. The phrase ‘Power of Nature at the palm of your hand’ couldn’t be any truer, especially to teens who only viewed such things in cartoons and anime were sold out.

‘Great, now I am monolouging inside my own head. Guess I still can’t get over the fact that I won’t see her again.’

His frame grew weary for a second. He looked up towards the sky and exhaled before shaking his head, garnering some blushed looks from women in the harbor. He just smiled a little and they were sold out with love-struck expression. He was weirded out and he looked away to his friend, stuck with him for his journey to, quote ‘Vanquish the Heretic Demon King’. He read in the Wikipedia once about The Hero’s Journey. A topic which Kimiko had once found interesting and nodding to herself.

‘Now that I realize, what will I tell her parents?’

A topic for later after they defeat the [Demon King] and return to their home. He looked at his companion who were drifting further away from him due to the influx of the crowd and shouted at them.

“Hey, Sarada, Ren, Hotaru! We need to find the carriage which was specifically meant for us.”

Sarada and the others pushed through the crowd until they reached him. Then, they all organized themselves. It seems they had to empty their belonging from their [Storage Ring], provided by the Temple, in the ship’s room to ensure that they had brought nothing illegal with them. He looked around to see many people. How he will look for the person responsible for transporting them, he had a rough idea somewhat.

 ‘The carriage should have an insignia of the Temple sewed somewhere.’

Ryuu looked at Ren who nodded at him. It seems they had the same idea as they both started looking for it except for Sarada and Hotaru as she was busy preaching about how to behave like a Gentleman in the public to him. He searched around and voila! He saw a carriage that had an insignia etched onto a banner hanging on the side of carriage. He spoke.

“I think I’ve found our ride.”

Ren nodded, silently. He was not surprised at all; after all he was the most silent among the class. Hotaru and Sarada seemed to have stopped bickering as they walked towards the carriage. A coachman near the carriage was looking at the people, searching for someone, with a mild sweat on his forehead. They walked towards him and as they neared the coachman Ryuu spoke.

“Hello, are you searching for someone?”

The coachman just looked at him dismissingly and said.

“Go away kid, I am here on an important business.”

“I know; we are the envoys.”

The coachman looked skeptical but Ryuu took out an insignia which started glowing for no reason. The coachman just quirked an eye as he took out an insignia of the Temple just like the one with Ryuu as it glowed as well. Ryuu looked at the glowing insignia, thinking of a mechanism in Anime where the original had the function to root out the Fake ones by glowing in the original’s presence. The coachman just sighed.

“Well I am the personal Coachman for the envoy from the Temple, the name’s Albert. Though what are they thinking about? They are sending kids now?”

But before Ryuu could say anything, Hotaru just huffed.

“Hey we are Heroes all right! Don’t take me…. no, us lightly.”

The coachman’s deposition changed and he looked at Ryuu. Ryuu just nodded as the man blinked once and twice then bowed a little before opening the door.

“Please enter the coach while we head for the palace. Refreshments are inside but I have to warn you to eat without causing a mess. We are meeting with the King and I have barely squeezed out the time from him for this meeting.”

They entered the carriage which started moving. He sat on the right side with Ren at his side and Sarada in front of him on the opposite side. Honestly no one spoke except when Sarada berated Hotaru for easily disclosing their status. However, they too kept quiet when looking at the capital of one of the oldest kingdom of the world like it came out from a fairy tale. The atmosphere was lively and had an ancient charm to it. The old but well cared buildings to fountains that still had clean water, each building seemed to have its own history. Frankly for Ryuu, it was refreshing experience. After all, the [Holy City] did not have colors beyond blue, white and gold and everyone looked so serious as if they had never laughed their whole life. Looking at the colorful capital was…. nice to say the least.

They arrived to what looked like a massive castle. It was a white colored and had many guards patrolling the wall. They got the permission to enter the gate and looked at the body of water that surrounded the Royal Castle, Moat was it? Then the coachman after entering the gate took off to inform one of the guards. The atmosphere of the castle was heavy, oppressive in a sense to deter the enemies. There was a man who walked from inside the place, stood near the carriage beside them and started talking to the coachman responsible. The man seemed to nod before opening the door and a small girl of age 10-12 walked out groggily as she yawned cutely. His breath hitched as his eyes widened a bit.

“SO KYUTE!!”

A squeal was heard from their female companion. The other two boys were looking at the girl weirdly. Hotaru complained.

“Hey, keep your shrill voice down Sarada. Otherwise, you will blow everyone’s ear out.”

 Sarada looked sheepish for a while.

“Hehe but you have to admit the little girl is so CUTE!!”

“Whoa! Who the hell are you talking about?”

“Look from this side”

Hotaru stood up and looked. His eyes widened and he uttered an unmanly squeal as well.

“SO KYUTE!!”

“I know right!”

Even Ren looked as his visage grew in confusion. Ryuu looked at her confusingly, this little girl looked so much how ‘she’ looked like when ‘she’ was in that age. The resemblance was uncanny. The little girl looked scared when the window to the carriage suddenly opened and Hotaru’s as well as Sarada’s face peered out. Sarada spoke first.

“Hi!”

The little girl seemed to be confused as well. She hid behind the person’s leg. She spoke in low voice.

“….hi?”

Sarada seem to freeze then slowly keeping both of her hand at the side of her face before muttering.

“Oh so adorable! The name’s Sarada by the way.”

The man, who seemed to be the guardian, just grinned a bit as he spoke.

“Why don’t you say your name as well? Chibi-chan. We still have some time before we need to go.”

The little girl pouted cutely, earning a ‘awww’ from both of his companion. She curtsied a bit.

“My name is Fiore Elcot. Pleased to meet you Miss!”

Then they started talking with the girl while Ren just nudged him from the side. He looked at Ren as he spoke.

“The resemblance to her is uncanny, I know Ren. Thinking back, after looking at Sci-fi movies, you just can't seem to get the concept of 'clone' out of your head....”

Ren just nodded and stopped as he focused on their topic. After a while, the man had to go, taking Fiore with her as Sarada seemed to weep in sorrow. A bit dramatic but then the coachman returned saying that the King had accepted their audience. They got out of their coach and followed the coachman as they proceeded to the Throne room. The security got tighter as well as more and more guards were patrolling the corridor. They were led by the coachman who stood in front of a, they looked up and up and up, BIG RED WOODEN DOUBLE DOOR.

“Bloody hell…That’s a big door.”

Thank you for voicing that in English so that no one would understand it.

 The coachman looked confused for a bit before talking to the Guard on the side of the door and the guards nodded. He looked and them and gestured to go inside before giving a warning.

“Well, you can proceed inside but remember your manners. Hero or not, respect must be given to the King by kneeling. So unless he asks of you to stand up, don’t stand. The King is a reasonable man by far. Remember, you represent two respected forces of this world; The Temple and the Hero so don’t mess this up. Also go straight to the point.”

Ryuu nodded. Not that he was wanting to mess up. Their objective was simple enough. To search for the reason of the murder of dead girls which had enough [Holy] affinity. Still thinking of their death made him rage inside as he clenched his hand. To save the Kingdom of Posat was the added bonus. Whoever led those death was also responsible for the upcoming big event as it was divined. With that mentality in mind he turned to his friend.

“Listen everyone, I will be the one talking all right? Everyone’s ok with that?”

They all nod.

With that the Guard opened the door slowly. The first thing he saw was the red carpet then the chandelier and the silk curtains between the pillars. With a confident gait they walked down the hall. Not too aggressive to come off as arrogant but not too submissive to be considered as a pushover. There was a big throne and sitting on it was a person. He wore white trench coat with golden threaded shoulder pads and black buttons, black pants and black leather boots. He had white hair but that was not that he was old but due to genetics with a simple crown on top. He looked to be in his forties. He was sitting lazily with one hand on the Throne while the other was supporting his tilted head. Now that Ryuu looked at him, he seemed to have slight wrinkle on his forehead.  They all kneeled before the King. With his sharp eye he looked at them directly but Ryuu stared back without flinching so did others. Then the king radiated a sharp pressure and he bored it down to Ryuu but Ryuu refused to kneel any further. Then suddenly as he smiled slightly as the pressure diminished.

“At least you all have spine to look me in the eye. Stand up, all of you.”

They all did as the King said. The King just straightened up from his lax position, smiled and asked,

“Tell me, what do the ‘Heroes’ want? Or is it classified?”

Ryuu just shook his head.

“No your Majesty. We are here to investigate the murder of innocent children that were found in the river on behalf of the Temple as our first work….”

Granted there were some hidden motives but it was for the benefit of the Kingdom. The King looked thoughtfully at him.

“Yes, that case is being handled by our Captain Mark.”

The king continued on.

“You have my permission to investigate alongside him or move independently to do your own. Though the information you get might be little restricted. The soldiers will not bother you, my guarantee. Though I can surely say that it is the handiwork of the Cult.”

Ryuu’s eye narrowed. They had heard about the Demonic Cult that worships the [Demon] and the danger they hold. They were commonly referred to as 'Cult'. If they were involved then that could explain why the kingdom was in danger. The King spoke once more.

“What will you do? These Cult guys in the capital are not the regular kind of men. They are killers through and through. So tell me kid. Do you have the guts to do what it takes to take them down?”

The pressure doubled as the King’s [Aura] bored into Ryuu as he grunted, his knees  shaking. The King’s eyes widened in oppression as he questioned on.

“Do you have the will to take that necessary step? Because they are die-hard fanatics and the only way to stop them is to kill them.”

Ryuu gritted his teeth as he mustered his answer with determination.

“If it is to protect the innocent, then I will.”

The King’s eye seemed to gleam in approval as the pressure dissolved. Then he closed his eyes and smiled, started to clap his hand.

“I like your determination boy, I really do. But I want to see you, sticking to it through the end. You may proceed your investigation. The investigating soldiers will help you with all their might.”

He stood up with open arms and said to them.

“Let us witness the first chapter to your story. You are dismissed. Tell the coachman to send you to the Area headquarter of Peacekeeping force. A soldier will be there to guide you to Mark. He is an exceptional man and will help you.”

Then he turned back.

“All of you are dismissed for the day. Leave us alone.”

Ryuu inhaled a deep breath.

“Thank you, your Majesty.”

Then he was supported by his friend who smiled at him and he, too, smiled. First step was complete.

Arthur Pov

He was somewhat impressed by his determination.

“Not bad. You have good friends, Master. Balls of steel. Really balls of steel. William is no slouch in combat. He could very well be in the top 10 in this Kingdom. To remain standing despite using only 50% of his [Killing Intent] is a feat in itself.”

Kimiko looked at her childhood friend and seemed to nod inwardly as if approving his determination. She looked at the King who seemed to be speaking with the Prime Minister and got interested. As if sensing her intent, Arthur focusing on his hearing to make their whispers audible.

“I think you overdid yourself, William.”

The King just shrugged.

“I do not think so, Hugo. To tangle with the Cult is dangerous. Not to mention their hatred towards the Heroes. If they had gone up with half-assed determination, then they are likely to die. So I gave them a boost, morale one. You do know that sometimes you have to kill because there is no other way. They are likely to freeze up in combat and that is a big no-no.”

The Prime minister seemed to sigh.

“Really? You raised your [Killing Intent] just to steel their determination? Of course not. You made sure that the next time someone raises their killing intent, they don’t freeze up as they have already experienced it once, didn’t you?”

The King laughed.

“Nothing goes by you, do they? I just didn’t want the Heroes legacy to end it this quickly. You can feel it, don’t you? The timing of their arrival is too convenient. They will have a hand in the future battle with us. I really want to witness a miracle because sometimes, miracle is needed.”

Hugo looked at him strangely.

“You don’t believe we will win, do you?”

The King’s shoulder sagged and he looked weary all of a sudden.

“There is a possibility that we will lose. Just a gut feeling that whatever storm is coming, it will be big. To counter it, we will need a storm of our own and Arthur is just not enough. Just like what happened a hundred years prior. The people don’t know that we did not defeat the [Demon], just sealed it at a cost.”

Somewhere else

In some remote corner of the world, there was a special place where island floated in the sky. One top of another, hundreds of such island existed in these place, creating a breathtaking scene. But only fools would venture out in this place. Atop one such island was an old temple. It was worn out with lots of vines hanging from it. Pieces of bricks were laid across along with bones of ancient creatures. A figure jumped from one of the island to this temple in a graceful manner.

“Yare~ Yare~ what a difficult place to find.”

He spoke with a playful tone that sounded like it belonged to a teen boy. He wore black robes with red edges. The robes had big pointy shoulder cauldrons with a hood that covered his face making it seem that there was darkness within. He looked around.

“Oi~ Oi~ Where are you?”

Then a deep voice was heard from inside the Temple.

“Hmm? How did a human find this place? Leave at once lest you become one among these bones.”

The robed figure did not seem to care. He just examined the bones curiously as he spoke with the same amount of cheerfulness.

“Well~ I have an offering you just might like! Just hear me out! Pwease??!!”

Then from the ring on his gloved hand he took out a big beating heart. It was still pumping blood as it splattered among the ground. Then quickly the heart disappeared from his hand and a chewing noise was heard from inside.

“Speak. I shall give you the time till I eat it.”

The figure just scratched his head.

“You see; you just have been invited to a party!? Our aim is to cause some trouble and you look like you are raring to go!”

An annoyed grunt was heard from within.

“Where is this so-called party happening? The meals better be good than this [Elder Dragon] heart.”

The figure just slumped down at first before saying.

“Well~ the food might not be great but the venue sure is! Keipnihar! Can you believe it?”

Suddenly [Killing Intent] rocked the entire island. But the figure did not seem to mind.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Calm your tits!”

The voice from inside was heard.

“I will give you a minute to explain. Speak!”

The figure just kept his hand up, as if trying to placate him.

“Well… We are about to cause some major trouble and we decided why don’t we invite another one who’d be interested in it. After all, you have a grudge against them, do you not?”

The voice just huffed.

“If I were to cause trouble, then others would just try to stop me. How will I bypass that?”

The figure just put his hand on his chin, as if he was thinking.

“Well, we do have a force-field that can mask your presence.”

Before the voice could object, the robed figure showed him spell circle. The voice peered at the circle and was surprised to see the complex mechanism inside. The robed figure just spoke nonchalantly.

“We have prepared the stage. We just need the main actor on it and that’s you!”

The voice inside seemed interested.

“So what’s the bottom line?”

The robed figure just grinned as his voice turned cold.

“There are none. Raze it to the ground if you like.”

Thanks for reading.