Mash considered how to best approach the angry king. He settled on waving at his brother. Arthur stood behind General Irkish to the left of the king. Arthur wore shining blue-silver metal armor. It looked like it should’ve had a helmet, but his brother’s face was exposed. Mash got to see his brother smile for a moment though he didn’t wave back. His brother’s expression turned flat when Irkish glanced at him, but Mash hadn’t missed the smile.

The king wasn’t smiling, nor were the people around him. Most of the ground outside of the city was empty, made intentionally bare for the sake of defense. He could see several guards milling about on the walls. Mash could tell that they were watching. The king’s words filled the air between them.

“Why are you here Mash?”

It was not a friendly greeting. The Empress of Colors had been much more amiable. The king didn’t seem to share her opinion, nor did the people around him. The general’s face stiffened, and the knights and guards squared their stances a little. Only Arthur remained unmoved by the king’s words.

Mash couldn’t help it. He knew that he shouldn’t do anything to worry the king or the knights, but he couldn’t stop a smile. His sharpened teeth made the smile inhuman, but he only grinned wider at the way everyone tensed. It was the wrong thing to do, however, he realized now just where he stood. He had met other powerful people, but this was his king. Well, the king of the place he had called home. Both statements probably didn’t apply anymore, but it didn’t change the fact that this was the most important person in the kingdom by far, and now Mash stood on even ground with him.

The king had seemed so powerful in the past, but that wasn’t the case anymore. Mash could also tell that General Irkish was stronger than the king both in magical and physical abilities. Of course, the more unique skills were unknown, but he was fairly certain the General would win in a fight. The king saw it now too.

“Now, that is a monster’s smile.”

Irkish spoke easily, much more casually than the king had. She didn’t feel as tense either, but she was watching Mash like a hunter. Her response didn’t make the smile vanish, he just responded grinning all the while.

“Yeah…We are here to help the beastmen.”

Mash couldn’t think of a clever response for Irkish, so he decided to just respond to the king. He couldn’t think of any gentle way to broach the subject either, so he just put his intentions out there. The king’s stiff face cracked, and his eyebrows rose dramatically.

“You are the one who destroyed their city and ended the war. Now, you want to help them. They wouldn’t accept that.”

The king didn’t sound particularly angry, but his voice rose with disbelief.

“They will accept my help though, and Mash is here to help me. To redeem himself if he can.”

Luke’s words weren’t magically carried through the air, but they were the clearest words ever spoken. Everyone who was watching turned to him as he spoke. Mash wasn’t suppressing anyone’s aura, domain, or whatever so everyone’s presence clashed with one another openly. Luke’s aura seemed to draw attention to his words and actions. The king shook his head.

“And how do you intend to ‘help’ them?”

Luke responded almost instantly, though they had agreed that Lisa or Red would be better at explaining things. That being said, Red looked oddly like a sick child, and any explanation from her would be weird. It meant that Lisa was supposed to be the one to talk here, but Luke wasn’t giving her a chance. Honestly, Mash wasn’t supposed to speak earlier either. Both Mash and Luke had become less polite since their advancements, whereas Lisa was pretty much permanently polite.

“I will give them a haven. A place to grow and build free of others. Like the elven prophet and queen, I will provide the beastmen with sanctuary.”

The king had never been smiling, but Luke’s words made his lips bend down.

“No. Not again. What makes you think I would allow that?”

“You do not own my people, nor will I take any of your lands. They will come to me freely or remain by their own choosing. However, you will not stop me from taking those who wish to follow.”

Mash’s mouth hung open. Luke spoke with such confidence that even the king hesitated to respond. It only lasted for a second; the king shook his head.

“No. There is nowhere you can take them. I have and will protect them.”

“You are not protecting anyone. You are domesticating them. Where are all those with power? I sense more than a few in your prisons. Free them! They have fought for a place in this world, and I will offer them one.”

Luke snapped back almost immediately, and mash began to realize that Luke had more in mind than he had told them earlier. Mash wanted to ask something but refrained sensing this wasn’t the right place or time. Luke probably had something in mind, or the other person in his head did.

“You do not command me!”

The king roared back, his fury exploding in a blazing fire. Literally, flames spat from his mouth as he shouted back at Luke. The ground around the king burned as if he had become fire incarnate. Mash’s skin dried up instantly, and the air he breathed in was hot. If it felt like that for him, it must be unbearable for everyone else. The knights must be getting cooked alive in their armor. Arthur was sweating and he wasn’t even wearing a helmet.

The general was the first to react, and she placed a hand on the king’s shoulder. She pushed a little and the king’s feet dug into the ground several inches. The fire coming from his mouth disappeared, but the hot air lingered. Irkish glanced at Arthur, who waved his hand to cool the air around them. The cold air of ice collided with the hot air and filled the space with an eerie mist. On the wall, people panicked as their line of sight thinned. The king didn’t calm down, but the fire and heat had stopped.

“I am a king. You are not. You are not a leader of men.”

The king’s words brought up a question Mash had considered several times now. The ‘king’ class didn’t actually grant someone a kingdom. Someone could get the class without being a ruler of any kind. He wanted to ask, but again this wasn’t the time for him to interrupt. Luke’s confidence didn’t waver as he responded.

“I will not rule them, but neither will you. You are not their king anymore. All those in your prisons will be freed. Mash could do it with force if he wanted.”

Was that a threat? Mash thought that it was, and it was a threat in his name. He wanted to say something but didn’t really know how to respond since he might actually do it. It wasn’t part of their plan, but he didn’t need a lot of incentive to free people.

“Mash is powerful, yes, but he is one. I do not fear him. He may have a record of killing monarchs, but the first lacked the levels to inherit a throne, and the second lacked his army. The King of Chains was arrogant and a fool, we are kings and our power comes from more than ourselves.”

The king stood next to General Irkish; his gaze was firm. Mash looked at the two and would bet the king had more people near that level ready to fight if needed. A fight wasn’t their goal, and Red had enough silence.

“Let’s not do rash. I really don’t want to hurt anyone here, and I believe Luke has a good plan in mind which he will share with us now.”

If anyone else had said that it would’ve failed. However, none of the people here were heartless enough to overlook the pleas of a sickly little girl.

“Who are you? How did a child get such power?”

The general’s question alerted everyone to the fact that Red was unrecognizable. Her face was similar, but everything about her had changed. In fact, they might have to stop calling her Red. It was no longer a nickname that suited her.

“I’m Elinia.”

A few eyebrows raised at that claim. The king stared at her for far too long before responding.

“Fine, I will at least listen to Luke’s request, in hopes of stopping an altercation.”

Mash let out a short breath. Well, that was a good response. Now, Luke just had to say something reasonable. Luke nodded, and Mash’s hopes rose.

“I will take them, all of them regardless of power or crime, to the Necromancer’s island. That is where my people will find salvation.”

Luke’s plan was not something they knew about, and it was way crazier than what Mash had thought. Mash couldn’t keep quiet any longer. It made absolutely no sense considering what he had done earlier.

“Seriously? I’m an unholy monster, but is The Necromancer safe? Are we going to kill them? Is that the plan?”

Mash stepped toward Luke with each question. Luke stared at Mash with his impassive golden eyes and answered him flatly.

“No. I know the necromancer. They will provide protection and have the power to maintain it. Even the king would not risk attacking the island.”

Luke spoke with so much assurance, that Mash knew that it was the other Luke talking. Mash didn’t know much about the necromancer, but they were as infamous as him. And they had survived a lot longer too. An alliance with a famous villain; a person whose name was used to frighten children. It might be better to fight the king. Judging from the expression on Red’s face, she was probably thinking the same thing.