King Leoric POV

Darkness...

The whole room was covered in this eerie layer of darkness that made you feel depressed just by looking at it.

I turn my head towards the right and I could see my son next to me with the same confused look I probably have.

He was shaking in fear at the sudden turn of events

I waved my hand in the air and cast a light spell

"Guide me, wisp!"

A small ball of light materializes above my hand but the strange thing was that it didn't help with the situation at all.

I couldn't see the marble floor even though I placed the orb of light near my feet.

"Hey Hey I can materialize again!''

"Yeah me too! Alek must be in trouble huh~ It's been so long since he's needed us"

I heard two voices echoing in the darkness, the first one belonged to a child and the other one sounded like a woman's voice.

"Ara ara.. will ye shut yer traps for a sec! There are other people inside the room!"

''Ahh yeah... I guess you're right"

More voices echoed through the room, A rough sounding male voice talked with the female voice from awhile ago

"Oh, he's moving.."

The female voice said as I hear footsteps heading towards me

"Your majesty..''

Ah.. it was the young hero... Can he see through this darkness?

As the footsteps get closer I begin to see his outline in the darkness.. but something seems strange about him.

A while ago he seemed so full of life, excited to roam our world. But now he looks more like one of the automated maid golems that roam the castle grounds to do small tasks like cleaning.

"Ah.. young hero... something strange is going on.. this darkness is unnatural.. perhaps an attack from the demon king? It seems we have to postpone our conversation.."

I raise my hand and insert more mana into the orb of light, making it as large as an average human child.

As I do this the hero shows a troubled face as he looks at me.

"Ah... Do not worry young hero I can sustain something like this for days without rest. Although I'm a king I used to be quite the mage if I do say so myself ..hoho"

I try my best to hide the fact that I too am nervous, as I try to calm the nervous hero. Someone as young as this child would certainly be afraid of sudden situations like this

"And it seems there are at least three intruders in the throne room... Ezekiel hand me, my staff"

My son that was beside me hands over a golden staff with a large red gem on the very tip of it.

"Show your selves!"

I raise my staff as a ball of fire shoots from the red gem, heading for the direction of the voices from a while ago.

I squint my eyes as I prepare for an explosion from either hitting the intruders or possibly the wall behind them...

I waited for a few seconds but nothing happened, it was as if the fireball never existed.

"Ah... Right sorry. I still had it switched on.."

The young hero suddenly spoke as he raises his hand and does a swiping movement with it.

Suddenly the darkness disappears and the scenery around me goes back to the throne room.

" W-what... You did that!? How dare you cast magic within the throne room without our permission!?" The young prince Ezekiel screamed

'Ara.. this boy really has a temper... although the sudden darkness really worried this king.'

"Silence swine."

A voice suddenly whispered next to me, then I recalled the issue about intruders! As I turn my head I see a tall man about six and a half feet tall with blond hair reaching to his elbows covering a small portion of his pointy ears holding a knife towards my son's kneck... An elf? Why would an elf attack us? Is this betrayal by the elven union!?

Before I could even speak, a cold and uncaring voice suddenly echoed throughout the throne room.

"Stop."

The voice came from the person in front of me, the young hero Alek.

"B-But Master! He was-"

"Shutup. Are you going against my orders..?"

"A-Ah... Understood..."

The tall elf bowed his head quickly before disappearing in front of me as if melting into the shadows before appearing between 6 more people at the back of the throne room.

From the left it was a small child with Red spiky hair, On his fists were what looked like metal gauntlets with spikes at the knuckle area, his eyes were filled with fighting spirit and his overall posture told me that he was a fighter.

Next to him is a dark elf woman with silver hair reaching down to her knees. She had two curved swords strapped at her back while wearing some kind of leathery scale armor which was the same color as her skin.

Then next to the dark elf was a man with short stature but with a good build. A dwarf.. how rare... A bushy black beard extended towards the short man's knees. A few daggers were strapped to his right leg while a large war hammer was being held upright by the dwarf.

To the right of the dwarf was a handsome looking man with short blond hair. He wore a shining white armor and held a similarly shining white kite shield on his left hand while a blade of light was at his right. A hero. That was the word that first came to mind when I saw him. He looked exactly what fairy tales would describe a hero. Handsome, dependable looking and exuded an aura of strength. Behind him were two women, one wearing a ceremonial outfit made out of expensive looking cloth while wielding a staff that seeped out a holy aura. The woman next to her was an elf with blonde hair tied into a ponytail holding a magnificent bow that was made out of bluish grey metal adorned by multiple gems.

I stood there with my mouth hanging open as I looked at the last three people in the group. HEROES! my heart screamed out. A powerful group of adventurers equipped with unbelievably strong weapons and armor. They looked exactly how I imagined heroes would look like

Every single one of them exuded strength and authority, even the red-haired child... Their levels! I couldn't even see their levels!

If I could all of them get them on my side..!

I was filled with joy, no longer will we be terrorized by the demon king and his army, a large grin was on my face as I imagined a scenario of the three heroes return after defeating the demon king, and the military power my kingdom would have afterward.

I was in bliss, just by seeing these three I saw hope in our dire situation. But that hope did not last long as it was completely shattered by what happened next.

"Master! Please give us an order!"

The whole group which consisted of 'monsters' lowered their heads and bowed as if they were worshiping a God. Seeing these strong individuals bow their heads was very surreal...

Their lowered heads were all directed in one direction. To us... more precisely to the young hero Alek...