Vol. 2 CH. 13 - Kings

PART #1

For the moment, the search for the missing princess was completed. Kyoushiro, the heroes and the rest of elves Knights and soldiers were now heading back to Caladium. Now that the mission was complete, there was nothing left to do.

Was what how everything should have ended but there was still one last thing before everything was done.

It was arresting Pernicious Caladium for the act of high treason and rebellion. Princess Lydia already confessed everything regarding her involvement in Pernicious' schemes. Her words held authenticity since she was the next high elf Queen.

The rest of elves had themselves surrounding the princess. It was for her protection as well and since they were still inside the forest, there was a high possibility of monsters attacking.

But for whatever reason there is, none of the sort came.

Everyone had been walking for hours now and neither a sound nor presence of monsters appeared nearby them. Only small creatures, like birds, rabbits and squirrels run about from time to time.

Kyoushiro had asked Koizumi what they've been doing before they arrived at the site. According to Koizumi, he was with Katsuto when they arrived at the same target base and left to deal with the rest.

As one would expect, the two encountered two of Ernest Vern's heavenly kings. The mutated creatures were tough enough to make heroes retreat. To the point that even Katsuro went "They were pain in the arse!" while making a face filled with rage.

It seems that they faced a duo of leaders. One could extend himself like a rubber and act like a snake while the other was more a slime with thousands of eyes inside it.

Just one would expect from mutated human, their transformations were too gruesome....

Minami fought one as well. The only difference was that this heavenly king wasn't much of a fighter. Rather, he was an undead. He became a lich after ingesting the drug directly, killing him for overdosing. Minami was a Healer so purifying such monster was easy for her.

But the person in question said "If anything, I didn't like what they did" while showing a dark expression. It seems that as a woman, she detest what she witnessed in some of the bases she and her elf escorts raided.

In all honesty, what Ernest Vern did was truly inhumane. Even by Demon Lord standards, what he did seemed to have been over the top. Lady Snow admitted that even in the past, many like Ernest Vern resorted to artificial strength, but in the end, they did no tried to used it one themselves, much less human beings.

Speaking of which, Lady Snow already left. It seems that she decided that sticking around for too long wasn't a good idea and left almost immediately. Koizumi, Katsuto and Minami were wary of the 3rd Demon Lord's reason for sticking around for such a long time with Kyoushiro, thinking that she was spying on them rather than helping.

Kyoushiro vouched for Lady Snow. After all, he did received some help in raided Ernest Vern's fortress. The elves however, they really just doesn't like the idea of Kyoushiro coming with them so they just didn't talked to him for the rest of the way. Likewise, Kyoushiro ignored them with the best of his abilities. The only problem was that the Female elf knights that Kyoushiro rescued was sticking close him.

Surprisingly, even Elyria found herself in Kyoushiro's company. The evolved elves had changed their races from [Elf] to [Forest Nymphs] which was kind of surprising. They even high access to powerful magic and can even use the power of spirits more easily than other elves can.

Princess Lydia had her race changed from [High Elf] to [High Spirit Nymph]. It seems that her last racial changed from the Moonlight ceremony, her High Elf status was added to her evolution race change. Her skills were much stronger than before which was a good outcome for Princess Lydia since she was captured rather easily.

According to her, she was attacked by Ernest Vern personally so her guards didn't stood a chance. Added by the fact that she doesn't have any experience in fighting, she was captured the moment she was discovered.

Kyoushiro wasn't surprised by that and merely scoffed the whole thing with a snort. He couldn't really careless about. He even thought that she was already dead so he didn't had any motivation to even rescue her. He just ended up meeting Edsel and Dahlia along the way, which then led one thing to another.

Today was more tiring than any other-Kyoushiro thought.

And so, after nearly half a day, they reached the entrance of Caladium. Finally, they were about end all this events and rest. Kyoushiro was one of the people that wanted to just get this over and done with. But with Elyria stubbornly scolding him, Kyoushiro had no choice but to continue.

"We're here but...."

"Yeah, looks like you were hated huh? That's what you get for insulting them"

Minami sighed at the fact that no elf was hiding their killing intent. All their eyes was fixed at Kyoushiro, who was entering nonchalantly as if nothing even happened.

Before he left, he was rained with insults, trash and every kind of vegetable and rotten eggs in the city. Kyoushiro instigated them for a bit then left. It was then he met Edsel and Dahlia which was walking right next to him right now.

"I don't care. It's not like they can kill me anyway"

Kyoushiro snorted then arrogantly smiled at the elves that was looking at him disdainfully. Edsel was looking troubled since she hasn't been in an elf city for quite sometime. After all, she and her husband have been running around for a while now. Dahlia was sleeping in Edsel's arms. She got too tired of walking and running around.

"Hmph, worry not, this time I'll gratefully vouch for you at the entrance"

"Yeah well, it doesn't matter really"

Elyria said that proudly and although it was supposed to be a "sorry" to what she did before, her hate towards Demon-Spawns was still there. Kyoushiro replied like he lost interest in what Elyria got to say so he just answered what came to his mind.

"I would like it if Kagami-sama would like to have some tea sometimes.... with me?"

Princess Lydia timidly asked Kyoushiro out for some tea as a token of appreciation for what he did back at Ernest Vern's base. It was a form of a reward that someone of her status can give to a hero. But as this was Kyoushiro she was talking to, Kyoushiro just answered "It's fine" while looking straight at the road with a blank look.

Actually, Kyoushiro was worried. He had took a glance at his status and saw changes that he didn't expect. Other than he went through two stages of evolution, his status and his class sounded more dangerous than what he expect before.

The thing he saw inside his dream during his first evolution was proof that he was still human but, Kyoushiro gave his humanity in exchange for a power that could overwhelm others.

But losing his humanity and evolving into a Demon Lord no less, that change wasn't what Kyoushiro expected.

Furthermore, he received two different blessings. One from a scary sounding name and the other was from the little girl that appeared in his dream. Kyoushiro still have no idea who that was but one thing was for certain, she gave him power.

I decided to stay to complete my goal. I could've gone with them but as it stands, I can't just leave everything unfinished. There's still Taiga after all and I have to get back to earth and fix everything my relatives ruined...

Besides from the fact that there are things that should prioritized right now, planning his revenge wouldn't really matter right now.

I guess I should really set aside my revenge for the time being. Even now, jerks like the 9th Demon Lord and the Dark Lord would appear again if I don't prepare myself. What's more, there's Ambrosia that's need improving.

Kyoushiro sighs internally as he quickly set things in order inside his mind. Since Taiga was well far away from him right now, flaunting his new found strength by rushing to him wouldn't be practically, no, it was a bother. Kyoushiro would be too stupid if he did that.

Kyoushiro's revenge would come at a later date once the time is right. Now that his curse was finally lifted, added by divine protections of two unkmow deities, Kyoushiro can now do things as he likes.

Still though, my stats looks weird...- Kyoushiro thought as he gazed at his own status using his skill.

Kyoushiro Kagami [Blessed]

17 yrs. old

Male

Job class: [Black Hero] (Demon Lord of Chains)

Level: 1000

STR: 33567

AGI: 56890

DEF: 30436

MAG: 151000

RES: 60780

Skills: Language Acquisition, Appraisal, Compounding, Transmutation, Metal Forging, Mineral Processing, Magic Infusion, Magic Manipulation, Magic Seer, Enchant, Earth Manipulation, Soil reforming, Soil conversion, Wind Manipulation, Boost, Increase Strength, Mental resist, Magic Boost, Golem Creation, Alchemy, Synthesis, Potion Craft, Forging, Crafting, Magic Conversion, Electricity Manipulation, Construction Craft, Blueprint Creation, Blueprint Machination, Gravity resistance, Regeneration(Intermediate), Evolution II, Shadow Manipulation, Darkness Manipulation, High-Speed thought Process, Group Evolution, Demon Lord's Aura, Heroic Insignia, Sword Mastery, Household Creation.

[Blessing]

{The Chains of Yog-Sogoth}

Removes all links to mortality. All stats are boosted 100×

Effects: All Status ailments Negated, Added 10,000 points to all attribute values whenever the user evolves, All curses negated. Ability to Evolve targets.

-Cannot be ruled by any being-

[Blessing]

{Light of the Eclipse}

Received divine protection from the goddess of creation

Effects: All status will automatically set to 1000

Unexpectedly, Kyoushiro became a hero. Although he didn't intend to from the start, he actually gained the job class of [Black Hero] rather than some production class job.

Furthermore, it had the added class of (Demon Lord of Chains) even though there was no related skill to that class. Kyoushiro did tried to ask Lady Snow about it earlier but she didn't gave Kyoushiro any concrete answer. All she said was "I welcome you, new Demon Lord" before leaving with a smile like she was satisfied with something.

Kyoushiro wasn't really sure what she meant by that but surely, it wasn't anything good.

There was no use in talking to thousand year old women, they are as hard as steel and too blank to predict.

"*Splat* Suddenly, a tomato flew and hit Kyoushiro on the face as he walked with a blank expression.

" K-Kagami-sama!"

Princess Lydia immediately went to Kyoushiro as soon as she heard something behind her. Elyria, Katsuto and Koizumu looked around the streets and stood on guard around Kyoushiro. Edsel hid behind Kyoushiro and Dahlia worriedly glanced at the red colored face of Kyoushiro.

"Who threw that?! Answer me if you all do not want to be arrested!!"

Elyria pulled out her sword and shouted as such with a threatening tone. However, everyone in the streets was silent. Even though they were just a few meters away from the front gate of Pernicious' mansion, someone had the guts to throw a tomato at a hero.

It was a crime punishable by law. Even if Kyoushiro was a Demon-Spawn, as he was still Elfianna's guest, its a crime of besmirching the Queen's image.

All elven citizen remained silent as they glared at Kyoushiro.

"I demand that you all speak honestly! Where is the culprit!?"

"It's no use, no one would answer even if you force them"

Koizumi calmed Elyria down as he made a logical response. Even if they did found the culprit, it's not like it won't happen again. It'll be just a meaningless action against the normal populace that has deep rooted resentment towards Demon-Spawns.

Elyria sheathed her sword while showing a disgruntled face. It seems that her pride was hurt because she let her benefactor get shamed just like that.

"You alright there Kagami?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. It's not like they're stupid enough to just admit it was their doing. Well, I'm used to being hated like this in this world anyway. What's more, I can just get rid of them if I want to"

"It really just doesn't matter" Kyoushiro added while wiping away the stain on his face with a cloth handed by Edsel.

Once everything was settled, Kyoushiro and everyone else entered Pernicious' manor albeit, worried about what Kyoushiro just said.

-

"Eh? Her majesty is not present?"

Elyria was currently talking with Durif, Elfianna's trusted general. Because of the completion of their mission, Elyria intended to report everything to Queen Elyria as soon as possible. However, when she entered Queen Elfianna's office room, she only met Durif, who was busy reading stacks of paper.

"Yes, I only came back from the delivery of the trade ships so I too only heard it. the rest of the voluntary army had already returned to the capital"

"But where has her majesty have gone?"

"According to the maids, she left with Pernicious-dono. I was told that they left around a day ago"

Around a day ago, Pernicious invited Queen Elfianna go visited a grave. No one know who owns that grave but Elfianna and Pernicious both know about it and left. Elfianna did not bring any guards along with her, even a small amount of soldiers would have sufficed but the two decided to go alone together.

As Durif merely come back just this morning from delivering the goods that came from Ambrosia, he didn't know what actually happened after the heroes split up in order to search for the missing princess.

Since someone has to take the ships and the cargo Kyoushiro handed to them as gifts back to the elf capital, he didn't have much choice but to leave the Queen alone.

Elyria showed a dark expression as she was lost for words after hearing this news.

"I don't know what's happening but.... Is thus report of yours has something to do with Lydia-sama?"

"Yes.... The truth is that, we have already rescued he Highness Lydia-sama. We have also encountered two Demon Lords along the way and.... a large army headed by Ernest Vern, a former mercenary"

"!?" Durif's widened in shock. He was surprised that two Demon Lords would appear and not only that, mercenaries were involved in the abduction of the princess.

Normally, there was a treaty preventing other countries would aid in criminal activities from ever happening inside the Elf country. Going against that meant that the other country was planning of attacking the Elf country.

But this treaty has loopholes that most human countries would take advantage of. One of those was the elves residing in their countries. Although they were elves, they were accepted as citizens of human countries. Therefore, be it slavery or not, the elf country won't be able to do anything about their brethren.

Durif put his hand under his chin as he tries and think about any method I'm looking for Queen Elfianna.

"This problem had blown into proportions...."

"Also...."

Elyria then narrate what Princess Lydia had told everyone about. As the two stood inside the office room of the missing Queen, time kept on flowing no matter how much they wait....

-

"Aaah.... finally after a long time, I got to take a bath"

Kyoushiro sighed at the pleasant feeling of his body getting cleaned after a long while. The search and the trip took too much time. Because neither did have any sort of bathing facilities there, it was quite hard to wipe off one sweat with only a cloth.

Inside Kyoushiro's room, he sat on his comfy bed that was so soothing to sleep on. He even missed sleeping in such bed after just a few days. It was unexpected but it as a good quality bed.

Kyoushiro breathe out as he slowly felt the cold air passing through the window...

"Haaaaaah.... this is one heck of a business trip"

The true purpose of Kyoushiro being here in this country was to just exchange products out of good will. Kyoushiro wasn't an ambassador but he did held some responsibility since he was already acknowledged as Ambrosia's king. Even though the true ruler was Arianne, the citizens of Ambrosia recognizes no one but Kyoushiro as the king.

One of the reasons for that was because he gave everyone comfortable homes and well paying jobs. Although circulation of money inside Ambrosia was a bit vague due to not having any sort of relations to other nearby kingdoms, it has much better coffers than any country.

Kyoushiro was also the reason for that. If it wasn't for him, expanding the territory of Ambrosia, it would be impossible to even make towns or cities outside Ambrosia.

The country of Ambrosia sits in the south west part of the gigantic continent that houses all human countries and other demi-human countries. Kyoushiro extended his railway project to the ocean which was on the southwest direction.

Golems work nonstop to import fresh seafood from the ocean back to Ambrosia. Along with workers that had experience in fishing and business. The current and only Port Town has yet to establish a good route for fishing thanks to sea monsters, but right now, it was possible to trade with Paracellumn through the sea.

But as long as the sea route was blocked with sea monster breeding grounds, Ambrosia would fully utilize its air delivery services.

"After this would be the dwarf kingdom right? Then there's the lion king I'd have to deal with"

Kyoushiro sighed once more as he was reminded of things he has to do during his trip. Kyoushiro didn't expect his ships would move first to Paracellumn capital. This was a problem since he had those magic artifacts inside the battleships.

The transfer gate that he made using the documents left inside the former Aurolius archive. They were ancient plans in order to connect the whole world together. But after the country itself went under, the plans was lost until Kyoushiro found it.

"That thing could have took me a day just to go back to Ambrosia. Now I'm stuck here until that Queen comes back"

It would have been best if he had installed one of his artifacts in Caladium as an insurance. Kyoushiro thought, as he let his body fall back on the bed.

"I guess there's no hel-"

"Black Hero, may I ask a little bit of your time?"

Just as Kyoushiro was about to close his eyes, he heard Elyria's voice coming from outside his room. He was taken aback since that elf Knight hates him to her very core. Kyoushiro wasn't sure if it was alright to answer but...

"This is urgent and I am in need of your help"

For some reason, her voicse sounded desperate....

-

"Don't you think Kyoushiro changed somewhat?"

"What do you mean?"

Quietly having a nice cup of coffee by the terrace, Koizumi and Minami were spending their time together in the mansion's guest room. Minami asked the question as she felt something changed about Kyoushiro. It wasn't Hus physical state that she noticed, but something inside him that seemed yo have undergo a change.

"It's like, he became someone else or something. Like all his rage and hate suddenly disappeared....."

"Then, isn't that a good thing? I mean, from what its worth, he needs the break"