(Arthur's POV)
It finally happened. The summoning was successful, I sense an unknown person in the basement suddenly.
'But.... Why does his soul essence seem so weak?!? Was this not supposed to be the chosen one? The great warrior capable of stopping the Demons from destroying the us? this feeble person is the one for who I condemned my people to a life of cattle? A life that is sure to be cruel enough to bring their hearts to the depths of despair'
'No.... I must not loose faith.... I have already done everything I could have. Now I must trust this person.... I must trust in god's kindness. The prophecy has to be true even further if it was true till this much'
I feel Bruno will guide him right, I trust you Oh chosen one, run for now...
Come back stronger....and I...I...
will now do my last duty as the king, Then fulfil my last wish as a nobody, freed from the shackles of this heavy crown. And if the situation demands....
My last duty as a free citizen of Manschrod....
I heard sounds of buildings being destroyed from around the castle, The demons must be demonstrating their power to instil fear and discourage rebellions. I prayed in my heart
'please my people do not give in to their provocation, they seek to fan the embers of anger and nip the threats in the bud.'
May the saint Kulgheit give you wisdom to be cautious.
May the lady Shinko give you faith in god.
May the brave Speranza give you hope for a better tomorrow.
May the kind Jizen give you compassion for your fellow person.
May the knight Dani give you the strength to endure the hardships.
May the Angel Castiel take away your material desires.
May our First king August guide you through a just path.
I pray to the seven apostles to bring meaning to our sacrifice.
I'm ready....
As I think this to myself and finish my prayers I notice the two presences coming my way.
"greetings human king! Oh wait you're no longer a king right? Hahaha!!"
I heard this coming from an enchanting woman who would easily be confused for a human princess, save for the two small blood red horns coming out of her forehead. She wasn't wearing a dress made for battle, instead she wore a white dress that looked something like a one piece dress which hugged her body, a body which seemed to be like that of a goddess of fertility and health.
She had hair made of trillions of tiny lapis lazuli shining like stars in the night, eyes made of gold which matched her several gold ornaments fit for a kings coronation, skin radiating as if the pale moonlight on a pick rose petal.
I find myself smiling, how strange. The very sight of this woman was enough to make myself smitten, I don't doubt anyone less virtuous than a revered hero would instantly be charmed to the point of servitude.
Somehow I resist her, I focus to remember my duty and resolve.
"I'm still the king, as long as I have this crown. "
Following her was Khulgana, the warrior I'd met earlier still in the same clothing as before.
"Khulgana! Who is this woman who doesn't have manners and decency while talking to a king?"
I felt a shallow pride at rejecting this beautiful woman.
"My apologies.... Even as a human you're still a king and----"
As Khulgana was apologising on the surface the woman interrupted...
"humph... if that crown makes you a king than I shall take it right now and make you kneel. Wouldn't that make you feel good too? The coward king who surrendered in half a day, you want to surrender to me too don't you. Hahahaha!!!"
She had a really childish personality, it made me want to tease her more. However it was undeniable that she was even stronger than Khulgana, her soul essence wasn't calm at all yet the raw power it exuded dwarfs what Khulgana had demonstrated before.
"Seiiii sama!!! please just let me handle this . you are aware of ousama's beliefs aren't you? Do you want to be scolded by him" Khulgana continued. "As I was saying this is my superior and the head of our inter-continent army, Seikid sama. Be grateful to the gods human, for being able to witness her graceful body and for being in the presence of her pure and strong aura"
Damn what is he? An admirer or a fan of some kind. Where did all the elegance disappear to?
"In that case it is my greatest pleasure to meet you, lady seikid"
"hehehe!! I'm not that beautiful!! But you can keep praising me if you want! Hehe"
This just reaffirms the phrase 'appearances can be deceptive'. The elegant and seductive Erlik beauty is a childish brat who is easily swayed, but the brutish looking person is an elegant and proud warrior but also seems to be at the childish whims of this woman. Truly a comical pair.
Makes my resolve seem so distant now. It is humiliating to think these are the ones who I'm surrendering my country to.
"Khulgana, you said that only the strong are worthy of asking questions? Well I wanna ask some. How would a man go about asking them? I presume I can ask that much at least."
The seikid woman just seemed bored now and just sat down in a corner and said "ughh little khu take care of this annoying man so I can go back to base and celebrate our victory".
"yes Sei Sama, as you command" Khulgana said in a hurried tone. "Listen carefully human. You are weak. You don't deserve an answer so just give me your crown and step down from the throne on your own, and you can start your new career as a fool in front of ousama with my recommendation"
"Hahaha So you're still set on the fool thing. I really thought you had a good sense of humour, I guess not. Well why don't you come closer and take this crown, just remember the treaty that no individual who bows down will be hurt"
"yes yes. I'll honour my little promise"
Khulgana casually walks closer to me and stops in front of me. I steel my heart for what's about to happen. I reach for my crown and take it off....
Suddenly red mist starts oozing out of me, Khulgana is surprised but can't seem to be bothered still, the mist starts to fade and a shining red dome covering almost all of the great hall has appeared around me and Khulgana.
"YES!! It worked without any problems."
'The trap worked, Both the first and second in command are trapped in here. Now everything will be alright and the chosen one will be escape more easily.'
Khulgana ignored me was calmly analysing the blood barrier while Seikid seemed to not care at all that she's outside the barrier and still seemed bored.
This was my last duty as the king. Even if I'm forever remembered as a cowardly king, even if all my pride was crushed at this moment, I succeeded. I felt a bittersweet sensation, great shame, yet a taste of freedom from the shackles of this crown, a feeling of fulfilment at success of the trap and....
A feeling of regret, knowing I would never see my family again....
"Hoh.....This is quite intriguing."
Khulgana mutters these words to himself as he continues inspecting the misty red dome, it's a good outcome for me as well. After a while he starts to speak again,
"hahaha...... you humans aren't that bad indeed. If not strong or smart, you're at least creative, This soul curtain is indeed a good use of a simple principle"
Did he just call this a simple principle?? Does he even know how many years and years it took to create this artifact? No one in there right mind would devote that much time in todays society, It is a legendary artifact and is said to have taken more than 100 years to make from the inception of the soul solidarity theory to the making of such delicate and powerful artifact.
I need to waste more time....
"Oh great second commander Khulgana" I said and snickered, "forgive me but it is hard to believe you have truly understood it so simply. I do not question your honour, perhaps you just misunderstood how this device works from another impractical method?"
"you say you don't question my honour? You must really take me for a fool. Do you think I don't sense your mocking tone?"
"No no, I simply ---"
"Silence!! This is a good moment to show how inferior humans are, Understand this now and thank me forever for showing you your place."
'Yes!!' I thought to myself, Khulgana might me stronger than me but he is still too arrogant and naïve, the very qualities I call precursors of ruin. He started to speak again.
"Listen carefully human! It is quite clearly your own blood that's thinly spread and enforced to this shape, using your own blood is such an inelegant method, nothing short of barbaric. You use your blood as a medium for your aura to spread, I'm sure even all you barbaric people know that you can't move an aura using any means but moving the physical body itself which is too thinly spread in this case, so much so that your Aura is spilling out and making a curtain of sorts that I can't even touch without killing you first. While anything physical will just pass through easily, mana will have no effect and disperse back"
"?!?Wha.... HOW......??" My face contorted in an unsightly manner after a long time. How could he possibly understand it so easily even if he already knew the soul solidarity theory. It's impossible!!
"Hahaha!!! your face makes it all worth giving the lecture! Well we do have containers back home which uses a similar principle for preserving mana dispersion. But to actually spread your own aura? you're probably feeling a slight piercing pain but it'll gradually grow and It'll shorten your life drastically, that is.... if you don't kill yourself from the pain after a few hours. Such a shame... I was looking forward to your career as a fool"
'Oh God! This wasn't supposed to happen! if he can understand the working this easily then given some time he can probably even figure out how to get out of this blood barrier.'
This barrier can sustain itself for over a week after even after my death, I was planning to halt their expedition here by trapping their commander but now it seems my only choice is to give him a fatal wound.
"Enough Stalling!! Time for you to prove your feeble strength!!" Khulgana Roared.
"hmph... FINE!!" I reinforced myself with soul essence and wielded my Zweihander greatsword known as The Draugaar's regret and immediately a chill enveloped the blood dome.
A chill reminiscent of death.......
