Vol. 4 CH. 11 – The truth of his being

PART #1

There were things that should and should not be done while one own's temper is at it's peak. The action done while being mad is disastrous and shouldn't be tolerated by any means. What displayed during the parade was what something Kyoushiro had no control over. Indeed, the man's insistent of asking Kyoushiro to do his work as a hero was annoying but it wasn't enough to kill another man because of it.

Well, the reason for that was because the person who threw a rock at Lucinda was the one at fault himself. He should have considered his actions from the beginning and hesitated to throw a rock at a royalty. Much less at the wife of the man who was blessed the Goddess of Creation herself.

Anyways, under the moonlit night, at the veranda of the tallest tower of Ambrosia, bright colors sparked. Blue symmetrical lines intersected, formed a shape and created an object. The materials which Kyoushiro brought with him from research lab in his tower was slowly being melted into shape and the ones that were made into components we're placed in their designated position.

Then the light slowly dissipated.

Reflected in Kyoushiro's eyes were brilliant sparks of blue hue. The item which Kyoushiro created was a intricate device that had a shape of a box. On it's lid was silver plate while on all of it's side were different colored marbles embedded on it's center.

This was the object that Kyoushiro thought of for the request Rizandra asked of him.

"An artifact that can appraised even the most ancient object. I don't know about carbon dating but this should be enough"

Before Kyoushiro came back to Ambrosia, he was requested to do something. Since the item he brought to Oceanus cannot be appraised by his skill, Kyoushiro had to think of another way to do so.

Though there meticulous methods that he can think of, this was the only thing that he could created with what his skills can do. Even from the 500 old books he has on himself, couldn't provide him with an artifact he truly needed.

Kyoushiro then decided to test the artifact he created and placed a single knife he has in his magic necklace.

[Item name: Crude Knife]

–A knife created by Kyoushiro Kagami.

Effects: +1 in Strength.

The silver plate slowly wrote the information of the item on it's surface. Kyoushiro, who was watching this didn't know that it had a sort of function. Kyoushiro merely imagined that it would the artifact's name and origin. This was just like some high level appraisal skill. Even Kyoushiro's appraisal skill can do the same thing.

"Tsk. I don't know if it worked or not. I should go and test the orb thing first to see if it works"

Kyoushiro sighed and held his head. He was tired in a different meaning. What happened during the parade got to him and it was preventing him from sleeping. Of course, Kyoushiro thought of his own actions resulting in that sort of ending. But he didn't really wanted his own daughter to see him kill someone right before her eyes.

*Knock—Knock*

Kyoushiro's ears heard the knock on the door and turned his head in order to see who it was. Right there was a young girl that looked similar to Lucinda but she had her father's eyes instead.

"Clara? What are you doing up so late?"

"......"

The little girl who wasn't even able to talk yet or understand other people's intentions quietly walked towards her father.

Kyoushiro tilted his head in wonderment, then took Clara by the arms and carried her onto his lap. Thinking that she was just tired or something, Kyoushiro decided to lull her to sleep. But Clara was looking at him, straight in his eyes, as though staring right through his soul.

"Clara?"

Kyoushiro called out to his daughter. However Clara just slowly reached out to his face and held both sides of his cheeks.

"?"

Suddenly, a strong surge of pain shot through his head.

"!?"

Like being electrocuted by a high voltage power line, Kyoushiro's head was slowly being fried. Is what he thought, however Kyoushiro saw something in his mind.

A scene in a place full of water, towering pillars of water dancing like a squid's tentacles and giant whirlpools spinning and taking down everything in it's path. People screaming as they ran away from the unknown entity destroying everything and at it's center was the thing that Kyoushiro brought to Oceanus.

The orb with a beating heart.

It was there at the center of the being surfacing from the depths of the ocean. A giant, beast with a shape of a kraken with dragon like wings and scales. Eyes glowed dangerously as it's bile and heart dripped from it's chest.

And those eyes were looking straight at Kyoushiro's.

"!!?"

Kyoushiro immediately snapped back to reality. His head was dripping with sweat and his body was trembling like a new born fawn. Kyoushiro then looked down on his chest. Clara sleeping quietly while holding onto his shirt.

"What was that....."

Kyoushiro worriedly asked himself. The vision or whatever he saw was enough to shake him to his core. The cold wind turned warm. Kyoushiro quickly decided to clean up and went back inside. Clara, who was the one that showed him such vision, was fast asleep.....

—

After tucking the sweet princess back to her bed, Kyoushiro went out of the tower. Apparently, Lucinda and Mikoto have yet to come back since his room was vacant. Walking through the quiet hall then down the elevator, Kyoushiro reach the ground floor.

He didn't visit the R&D room since he didn't have any business there any longer. The dark streets of Ambrosia was now brightly lit than before. Back then, it was hard to see which was which in the dead of the night without bringing a torch but now there street lamps lighting up the sidewalks of the entire city.

Though the whole city itself was just like before. Quiet when the night comes.

Kyoushiro enjoys his nightly walks whenever he was alone. If this was earth, he would have been on beck and call of the boss of the Yakuza he was working in back then. It was a time that wasn't too long but felt like he had passed years since he last worked with those kind of men. Well, it was already half a year or so since they were summoned after all and with the whole battle after battle incident going on, Kyoushiro's feeling of time passing faster was real.

Anyways, after entering the main which leads him to the plaza, Kyoushiro visits a store that was still open.

"Good evening, what's your take for tonight?"

A brawny bearman welcomed Kyoushiro in his stall. The sight of all kinds of dishes before his eyes made Kyoushiro hungry. Immediately, Kyoushiro sat down and the chair next to the counter. Though, there was already a customer eating there before him.

Kyoushiro took a seat far from the man.

"I'll take the Coyote meat and Sand lizard tail also, some sliced Rock tortoise innards and desert squid"

"Quite hungry ain't ya?"

"Well, just finished working"

The bearman quickly prepared Kyoushiro's order and placed them in front of Kyoushiro. Since this world doesn't use chopsticks that much, a spark was provided. Naturally, this idea came from Kyoushiro himself. It was just a whim of him since the use of wooden utensils for eating was mainstream on this world. Only the rich uses metal base tableware after all.

As soon as the food arrived, Kyoushiro began munching down on his midnight snack.

"It's really terrible what happened in the parade huh?"

The bearman suddenly started a conversation. Kyoushiro looked to the side and see if the bearman was talking to the other guy but the other custome just quietly ate. Kyoushiro then thought —i guess he's one of the guys that doesn't recognize me—.

"Yeah, that king of yours killed someone like that huh? Didn't think he'd do it?"

"Hmm.... It's hard to say since the person that died hurt one of the King's wives but I guess he did gone overboard"

The bearman wipes the washed glasses on his hands. While taking out some fresh beer mug under the counter and placed it on both Kyoushiro and the other customer, the bearman continued while pouring beer.

"Well, his majesty has so much on his plate lately so it's probably normal that he'd snap like that"

The corner of Kyoushiro's lips went up as he felt like laughing at the bearman's interpretation of him back in the parade. The only reason Kyoushiro snapped like that wasn't because of stress but because he couldn't control his anger and got pissed at someone else.

"You sure he was just stressed out? Looks to me he enjoyed what happened"

"Hey now, don't talk like that about his majesty. He helped Ambrosia the moment he came here after all. He worked hard so people here are very grateful to him"

"So your saying what he did was justified?"

When Kyoushiro said that, the bearman paused for a moment. Kyoushiro had his head low wince he was eating and all, so the bearman didn't know that it was the same person that he was talking about sitting in front of him.

Kyoushiro imagined the bearman getting angry but he jus heard a deep sigh.

"Haaaah.... you guys from the outside are really rude. But unlike what he is known in your countries, his majesty is a hero in Ambrosia"

"That doesn't answer the fact that he's an evil person. He used his power to kill someone innocent after all"

"Boy, even the king is a mortal. He isn't an omnipotent and omniscient god. His majesty has his limits too"

Rather than admonishing what Kyoushiro did, the bearman just understood in his own way, the actions Kyoushiro took in the parade. He displayed his power in front of the masses and mercilessly murdered someone in cold blood.

Like this, he wasn't that different from Taiga or any of the other heroes at all. Kyoushiro knows that and already accepted the thought of getting punished for his actions. He too had his responsibility as a hero that was summoned but since he was treated like garbage, Kyoushiro decided to abandon his duty as a hero.

However in the eyes of people like this bearman, the King of Ambrosia was different.

"The meals the delicious mister but our talk isn't really good to hear"

"Haha, well just ignore what we've just talk about then. Here, have some beer, on the house"

Kyoushiro couldn't decline the second mug of beer placed on his side immediately. Probably, this was the way the bearman tried to get back at a Kyoushiro for insulting the ruler of this kingdom. Well, the person in question himself doesn't like being treated like a king but being accepted like this felt good sometimes.

"What do you think? You've been quiet over there, why don't you throw in some of your thoughts on the matter?"

The bearman then switched his gaze and turned to the other customer for any thoughts about Kyoushiro. The customer stopped eating for a moment and raised his head. Weirdly, this person was hiding his face with a shawl so Kyoushiro couldn't see his face. As for using appraisal skill, this really wasn't the right time he'd use on something like this.

"He's quite selfish"

"Hoh.... is that because he has so many women around him?"

The bearman chided with a smile.

—Seriously? Does people think I like collecting women?— Kyoushiro made a scowl as he glared at the old man.

"No, it's how he gets everything easy. Power, women, money and now a country. It's like the God's blessed him with everything. Not only that, he got mad and killed someone. If he's a hero, he should have been selfless and lend those people a hand"

The person suggested that Kyoushiro should have been more lenient and acted like a hero. Saving those who are in need and granting the request of the people who ask for aid. For the the people of this world, Heroes are nothing more but a convenient tool for the own sake only. Kyoushiro already knows this since the first day he was summoned with the others.

That's why, hearing someone say that was being selfish made him angry. However, Kyoushiro didn't want to act like some tyrant and beat the crap out the stranger for badmouthing him and cause more trouble for Arianne, so he just continued eating and listened to the bearman and the customer.

"Hah, if his majesty was so selfish he wouldn't have protected Ambrosia from the Demon Lord"

"I've heard that other heroes came for help"

"That's right. They did come to help out but if it weren't for the things that his majesty built, like the barrier around the entire city, Ambrosia would have been gone by now"

Kyoushiro prioritize defense first rather than offense. That's why Ambrosia didn't have large cannons the moment the 9th Demon Lord came. The only cannon that Kyoushiro did prepare was a mere prototype and was easily destroyed by it's own use.

The bearman then poured beer on the person's mug once more as though saying telling the man to continue.

"Hmph, but that doesn't justify his actions"

As the man took up the mug and poured the beer into his mouth, Kyoushiro got a glimpse of the man's face. It was a familiar Asian face that Kyoushiro knows of.....

Then the man met with Kyoushiro eyes.

"How is it? This broken world of yours?"

The surroundings shook and crack, crumbling down like a castle of sand. Kyoushiro's expression turned dark as he glared the man who had his own face.

"I thought you were gone for good?"

"I was until Clara came called me"

The Kyoushiro in front Kyoushiro pulled down his shawl and revealed his ashen hair and tired looking red and black eyes. This version of him should have been turned into the crown which was the manifestation of the power given to him by the goddess of Creation.

But Kyoushiro never thought that he would see this version of him again.

"I met a Demon Lord with my face but yours is just uncanny"

"Tell that to the guy who has this face originally. This ugly mug shouldn't even be popular at all"

Two glared at one another for a while before they stopped. Kyoushiro, then looked around the space around him and unlike before he was in here, he didn't see his parents. Obviously, they were already gone after all.

"Don't look for them, you know where they are"

"Shut it, I wasn't looking for anyone"

"Yeah right"

The ash haired Kyoushiro scoffed at the black haired Kyoushiro. But the black haired Kyoushiro sighed then asked what he was doing here.

"Why am I here anyway? I'm not going through that evolution skill again aren't I?"

"No, but Clara brought you here"

"Clara....?"

Kyoushiro then recalled the weird vision Kyoushiro saw when Clara touched his head. The world ending vision that showed the wild sea coming to life and consuming all the living being around it. Kyoushiro didn't think this was connected to that. Most likely, he was still holding Clara in his arms right now on his chair.

"Then what was that about?"

Kyoushiro asked worriedly. He hasn't seen Clara's status yet so he wasn't sure what kind of skill she used on him.

"You'll see once the time comes. For the time being, you're here because that thing inside you is coming back"

"Huh? What thing...."

Kyoushiro didn't understand. There was this odd feeling in his chest as though it was wriggling all around like it was alive. The disgusting feeling of worms in your hands next to your ears would be enough to make anyone disgusted but this was one like a mass of worms trying to break out from his chest.

"That thing is the caused of this one red eye on my face"

The white haired Kyoushiro pointed on his right eye.

"You were given the power by a goddess and your cursed turned into your power but that thing is different. That's a living soul of a being you consumed before you were given the power"

"I don't understand..... Isn't this kind of confusing? I became a Demon Lord and a hero already"

"You killed that thing before you turned into both. You might not know this but the monsters in this world are special. Why do you think there's no end to them?"

In this World's history, monsters have been in existence since the beginning. So many stories were told about their creation and origin but no one truly knows where they came from and how come they never end.

Kyoushiro thought it was the dungeons that overflowed that caused so many monsters to scatter in the world but....

"Hmph, I guess I was this stupid when I was young. It looks funny watching you right now"

"Tsk. Why don't you just get to the point?"

The white haired Kyoushiro paused for a moment before talking. Whether he was taken aback or he was just disappointed at how immature this young self of his, his quaint smile covered it.

"Evolve once more"

"What?"

"Used that skill you gained and evolved once more. Better yet, just completely evolved into a higher being. It'll make things easier"

This white haired Kyoushiro just told Kyoushiro something ridiculous. It was akin to saying he wants Kyoushiro to abandon his humanity and attain a greater body that no else can match.

The white haired Kyoushiro's words made it obvious, Kyoushiro was still weak at this stage.

"The hell are you going on about? I'm already plenty strong even with just two evolutions"

"Against those heroes and some weak Demon Lords yes but there far greater things that your small minds cannot begin to understand"

Suddenly the surrounding turned dark. Like a flipped of a switch the light bulb was turned off. And then, the white haired Kyoushiro stood up. His mug cracked and dispersed like dust. Slowly, he faced Kyoushiro.

"Your real enemy isn't the Demon Lords it's the Outer Gods"

PART #2

In order to understand why Kyoushiro Kagami was deemed necessary for the safety of the whole world, time must be rewinded.

Around the time when the battle against the 9th Demon Lord was taking place, other countries like Paracellumn, Oceanus, Seifield, Dwargo and Primal Kingdom, had decided to have a secret meeting.

Once the other nations from the human side with the exception of the Archbishop of Seifield holy Empire, gone, the five leaders of large nations that's responsible for keeping back the monsters and the Demon Lords' armies in check, we're situated around a small table.

Each one had one guard or attendant standing behind them. Elfianne had Elyria, Rizandra had Corralia, the Dwarf King had a dwarf secretary behind him, the Archbishop had a high ranking aid behind him and Domant the Beast King had a Lioness demihuman behind him.

"What was it that you would like to discuss at this time Elfianna-sama? Are you not supposed to be in Ambrosia right now commanding your army?"

Archbishop Cleo Rumpart Zeste, an old man in pure white robes directed such question to Elfianna, who was sitting right across him sipping tea with a calm expression.

"I have sent a commanding officer in my stead there. There is no need for me to join the battle"

"Hmph, quite the vixen huh? Weren't you with the wife of that Black hero and the other two heroes as well?"

Domant bared his fangs as he threw in a chide at Elfianna. The long lived Elf queen shrugged such provocation with s beautiful smile that could entice anyone who sees it.