Chapter 41: Book 2 Embers of War – Chapter 39

It was about four in the afternoon, the royal court was still mid-debate regarding policies and issues that needed to be addressed.

"My liege, we need to consider the strain on our treasury wrought by this senseless war!" stated Roy.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" asked King Richard.

"I suggest we bring the houses in rebellion to the table for negotiations," answered the Master of Finance.

A third of the nobles in the room agreed with him.

The Royal Court Archmage Jin blurted out, "Preposterous! They would demand the crown or the King's head."

A different third of nobles agreed with Jin.

High Minister Elric added his thoughts, "Your Grace, Margrave Roy Vanders may be able to tame the rebels at the table though. The cost of life and coin are equally heavy on the kingdom."

"I understand that war takes its toll on us but negotiations would only further stall the war," stated King Richard, "Believe me, nothing aches my heart more than our own countrymen fighting amongst ourselves. But they demand nothing less than my head. While the southern front is in a stalemate, Duke Louis and the Northern Corps have forced the Sworans to surrender. They'll ride south soon enough to end the war."

Roy knew the King would mention the victory in the north to further the war. It was an unexpected thorn in Roy's side. Originally he was going to make the situation even more dire in order to convince the King to consider negotiations of surrender.

"What of the stipend we pay to our soldier's families?" asked a noble from Roy's side, "We need to lessen it in order to lessen the burden. It is hard enough to pay the hundred thousand soldiers we command. We can use the extra coin toward repairing our damaged lands!"

King Richard responded angrily, "Imbecile, I will never disgrace the soldiers who put their lives on the line for our very kingdom. It is a Midland tradition to take care of the families of the fallen. We will never reduce their stipend!"

Another issue was brought up from Roy's nobles, "Duke Louis has done well, no one can deny that. But how do we know he's not just doing this to benefit himself? His territories have expanded with the addition of Rinhaven."

Nobles from both sides started yelling over each other while King Richard massaged his forehead from the headache had just received.

High Minister Elric then added, "Your Grace, Duke Louis is a cunning man. He is trying to gain favor and profit from this war, just like Duke Frank is."

King Richard didn't bother to reply. His royal court was a mess and he knew it was ultimately his fault for picking certain individuals to power.

Roy fueled the fire further and said, "Grand Marshal Dink Rorschach's inept ability to lead the royal army has cost us gold and lives of Midland's soldiers. I call forth a notion to replace him!"

This started even more upheaval as Grand Marshal Dink Rorschach was barely holding the line against the large southern houses. No one in the royal court fully understood the war situation aside from King Richard himself.

While the king held the authority to make a decision, if there wasn't any support from the royal court then the action would fall flat on its delivery.

Before this could continue, the main hall's double doors swung wide open. Revealing Arlan in his blacksteel armor and wielding his claymore. Behind him were a hundred royal guards.

"He did it!" exclaimed Jin.

"What is the meaning of this?" yelled High Minister Elric, "Leave at once. Your actions are disgracing the royal family! Guards, remove this filth!"

None of the royal guards obeyed though. Even the ones who were already in the room. None dared to raise their weapon against the King's Blade.

"High Minister Elric, I do believe it is in my right to attend court as the King's Blade," stated Arlan.

Roy cursed under his breath and whispered into a few different loyal nobles who slowly slid out the door in the confusion.

"I am the High Minister! Your disrespect is abhorrent!"

Arlan smiled and ordered, "You two, the next time the High Minister speaks, strike him with the blunt end of your spear."

"By your command," acknowledged the two royal guards near High Minister Elric. They readied the blunt end of their spears at him.

The High Minister looked to the King for help but wasn't even given so much as a glance.

"King's Blade, I hope you have a good reason for this. While you hold my power, you are only to wield it with reason," said King Richard.

"Your Grace," answered Arlan as he bowed and handed King Richard a letter, "Please read this to yourself and then hand it to the Royal Court Archmage."

King Richard read the letter and his pupils dilated just a bit before nodding in approval for Arlan to continue.

The King's Blade then turned around and said, "Margrave Roy Vanders, please come forth, I have something for you."

Roy wasn't sure what was going on but felt uneasy and slowly walked over to keep his front up.

"I am here, King's Blade," answered Roy, "But you are wasting our time with your antics, what is it you wa-"

Arlan's blacksteel gauntlet struck Roy across the face with immense force that teeth fell out with the blood.

Roy angrily looked up and saw no one doing anything, "Your Grace! He just struck me!"

King Richard simply stared and said nothing.

"Margrave Roy, please keep your attention on me," demanded Arlan, "I'm going to ask you this one time. Do you regret your actions?"

The Master of Finance was confused, "What do you mean you bastard? You're the one who struck me!"

Arlan backhanded Roy once more, this time with even more force and knocked him to the ground. Margrave Roy recovered and drew his mithril dagger, preparing to strike Arlan. But before he could, ten royal guards surrounded Roy.

"What is the meaning of this? Am I to sit here and take a beating? My Liege?!" asked Roy while he spit out his blood.

Once again, King Richard merely watched.

High Minister Elric tried to say, "Your Gra-" but was interrupted by two blunt ends striking into the old man. The royal guards had followed orders and struck the High Minister after he tried to talk.

"You want to know what this is about?" asked Arlan to Roy.

"Yes, are you angry that you can't fight your little war right now, boy?" said Roy mockingly.

"You're right that I'm angry," answered Arlan, "But not for that reason, but for this reason."

Arlan placed the wooden knight figurine on the floor between the two. At first, the Master of Finance was confused and angry, he didn't understand what was going on until a small memory played back in his mind.

It was the elven girl who held onto the very same wooden knight. Once he realized that Arlan had found his secrets, he knew he was done for.

"Where did you get this?" asked Roy.

"I found it at your estate," answered Arlan with a sinister tone.

"You entered my manor without my permission?"

"Yes, I have that authority as the King's Blade. I found everything. Your letters of treason, your disgusting experiments on those poor people, and your weapons hidden across the warehouses."

"It shouldn't be this way... If only you hadn't come to the capital," uttered Roy.

All the nobles watched on in horror as Arlan swung his blacksteel claymore and cut Roy's legs off at the ankle and lower.

The Master of Finance cried out painfully in an expanding pool of his own blood. Arlan then swung down twice and sliced both of Roy's arms, leaving him limbless like the way he did his victims.

The margrave shrieked pathetically for help from anyone while Arlan dropped his claymore and started swinging his fist into Roy's head. After twenty seconds, Arlan got up, covered in Roy's blood. The man was barely alive, gagging on his own blood as he struggled for air.

Arlan's [Battle Trance] revealed that Roy was a fourth-tier red-core. The swirls around his core were gone. The King's Blade wasn't going to take any chances and had cut down Roy before he could fight back.

Before Arlan was going to kill Roy Vanders for treason, two royal guards flew by Arlan. Something had sent them flying.

I was waiting for you to show your true self.

Arlan turned around to see High Minister Elric Hans floating with arcane magic flowing from his hands and eyes. The Royal Court Archmage knew what was going to happen and tried to escort King Richard out of the room.

But before the two could reach the door, it slammed shut. Royal palace guards were about to surround the High Minister but Arlan commanded them to stay back.

"What is it you want?" asked Arlan.

"My plans to seize Midland's throne have been thwarted over and over again by you. First, I was going to wed Roy to the princess. But then you came along and ruined that. Then I tried to kill the royal family but Jin managed to hide the princess before I could enact the attack. And now... here you are," answered High Minister Elric with a different tone in voice. His old and frail posture was merely a lie.

"You're not taking the throne," answered Arlan as he readied his black steel claymore.

High Minister Elric fired out an arcane beam toward the King's Blade who rolled out of the way, but Arlan wasn't his target. Instead, the blue ray struck Roy. The Master of Finance was lifted into the air and the swirls in his core returned. His strength was now unknown to Arlan but there was something more powerful for sure.

Roy's body began to mutate into a monstrosity of human flesh. His limbs were replaced by lumps of flesh. His arms grew out blades made from bones. While he was unrecognizable, he was someone you couldn't ignore.

Roy struck Arlan first with both arms. Sending him flying against the wall. It was nothing Arlan had ever experienced. If he hadn't blocked last second with his blacksteel claymore, he would've shattered some bones.

Barely standing up, Arlan activated his Warlord's Regalia and empowered the royal guards in the room to third-tier white cores. Even Jin Albera felt the increase in his abilities.

The mutated Roy started clawing toward the royal palace guards who barely managed to put up a fight. Nobles in the back who couldn't fight started to cry and yell for help as they ran toward the walls and corners. The nobles who could fight drew their swords and joined the royal palace guards.

Jin casted a few mana barriers around his position. He wanted to help fight Roy and Elric but if he had left the King's side, the King would be easily targeted by a spell from Elric.

Arlan managed to get back up while bleeding from his mouth and nose. He watched as a few royal palace guards lost their stamina and got torn in half by the bone scythes on Roy's arms.

High Minister Elric started to cast arcane spells that obliterated a few nobles and royal guards. Even with the Warlord's Regalia, the unknown factor was too much. Arlan could probably take on one of them at a time. But both at the same time wasn’t possible.

The King's Blade jumped into melee with Roy, exchanging blows back and forth. While the battle raged on inside the throne room, the door that led out was still sealed by some kind of enchantment.

Jin was about to work on dissolving the enchantment when he heard a voice on the other side warning him to get back. The Archmage knew who it was and grabbed the King and motioned for the royal palace guards away from the door.

A loud explosion sent the doors flying open. While fighting Roy, Arlan noticed high density mana from the individual who had just entered the throne room. High Minister Elric had finished killing off a few royal palace guards in his way when he noticed someone strange at the door as well.

Even with the smoke in the way, a blue fireball can be seen being pre-channeled. The smoke subsided to reveal Marie was the one responsible for blasting open the door.

Arlan was too busy fighting Roy and couldn't manage a single word to Marie but he noticed her core was way different from when he saw her this morning. She had nearly double mana capacity and had a sixth-tier white mana core. Even with the Warlord's Regalia, it was still strong.

"The Balan girl? How are you this powerful?!" asked High Minister Elric as he pre-channeled a few spells.

"I don't answer to the dead," slyly stated Marie as she walked into the throneroom, "It's pointless."

King Richard and a few nobles managed to escape the throne room. Marie waved for Jin to stay with the King, while he wished he could help them with this battle, he knew he had to stay by the King's side incase of any other attackers. He also had to ensure Princess Emmeline's safety.

"Pathetic whore," said High Minister Elric as an insult, "I'll teach you some mannerisms."

On cue with his insult, High Minister Elric fired off [Arcane Tribunal] at Marie. The Embercaller simply stood there and received the attack. The runes circled around Marie firing arcane bolts every tenth of a second.

But the bolts never landed, they were absorbed. After the spell ended, Marie continued to walk forth and ignored every arcane spell thrown at her.

Arlan witnessed the exchange and was stupefied at the results. Marie was rivaling Arlan in raw power. The King's Blade activated his [Undying Zeal] and started to beat Roy back. Sparks flew everytime the weapon collided with the hardened bone scythes.

Roy had lost all ability to reason in his berserk. Arlan then sliced off Roy's mutated flesh legs after gaining the upper hand. Using his momentum, Arlan tried to finish off the former Master of Finance.

But Roy simply grew back his flesh legs and got out of the way just in time. Arlan couldn't believe what he had witnessed. This was beyond any monster or creature he'd encountered so far.

Roy used the speed of his new flesh body to rush at Arlan, swinging wildly into the King's Blade as he was forced on the defensive.

Marie was countering High Minister Elric's spells with her own spells, matching his in impact. This allowed Marie to prechannel [Trueflame] but what she wasn't used to, was the sheer potency that was forming in her spell. She had never felt such a surge of mana in one cast before. Before her opponent could react, she fired [Trueflame] at Elric and it connected.

The blue flames incinerated Elric's right arm before he was able to create a high density mana barrier. [Trueflame] canceled out the mana barrier at a draw. As the arm was seared, Roy's right arm started to discombobulate.

"Marie! We need to strike them both at the same time with as much as we can!" yelled Arlan.

"You got it!" acknowledged Marie as she channeled a spell Arlan hadn't seen before.

The King's Blade was already at his limits and swung repeatedly at Roy who was also barely keeping up with Arlan's blinding speeds. Marie unleashed a dual cast of [Trueflame] at the High Minister as he prepared another arcane barrage. Both mages fired simultaneously.

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A torrential amount of blue flame erupted from Marie while blue arcane energy emerged from High Minister Elric. The spells collided in the middle but the arcane energy began to fizzle out. The Embercaller's spells had overpowered the arcane spells.

High Minister Elric was engulfed by the blue flames.

Meanwhile, Roy let out a roar as if he felt the flames. Arlan took advantage of this and unleashed [Trifecta] slicing Roy into three horizontal sections. The King's Blade spared no time and unleashed [Arc Flare] upon Roy, burning him in order to prevent the regeneration from happening.

A voice emerged from the torrent of blue flames,, "How...?"

The blue fire dissipated to reveal High Minister Elric Hans had been burned but not incinerated or killed. He had managed all of his mana into a barrier that greatly reduced the damage taken. But it wasn't enough. The burnt old man simply fell forth, his skin was fried to a crisp.

Marie walked over and held her palm up with another [Trueflame] ready but was stopped by Arlan's voice, "Don't kill him yet. We need to see what he knows."

The King's Blade had just finished burning Roy's remains and walked over to High Minister Elric Hans. Only twenty royal guards remained in the throneroom who were under Arlan's orders to stay back until needed. Everyone else had already evacuated.

"Send word to the King that the situation in the throne room has been taken care of," ordered Arlan to a nearby royal guard.

"By your command," acknowledged the royal guard.

Marie knelt down and held a steel dagger to the High Minister's neck and said, "Speak or die painfully."

"I... will not speak," uttered Elric weakly, "You'll kill me anyway."

Arlan nodded at the Embercaller, granting her permission. She took her steel dagger and started to flay the fried skin off Elric's chest. Cries of pain continued, as JD, Chrysta, and Jin entered the throne room. They watched without remorse as Marie flayed more of the High Minister's skin.

The King's Blade then raised his hand to pause Marie from continuing and asked, "What did you do to Roy and what was the purpose of this? The insurrection was going to fail, and you knew this."

The High Minister's will had been broken and answered, "Roy... Roy was merely a means. I transformed him with a drug and turned him into a mindless beast. This is something I've developed with the man to inject into the insurrectionist. All of this is meaningless anyway."

"Why did you betray the king?!" yelled Jin as he ran over.

"The King is weak, he will not be able to stand against the coming storm that looms over this world. The Malum Incarnate will have its way and the world will be thrown into an age of strife. He needed to be taken out," answered High Minister Elric as he coughed. His face was unrecognizable from the flames.

"Those people... in the lab," added Arlan as he grimaced, "What did you do to them and why?"

"We merely learned more about the anatomy of the different races and used their parts in the creation of this new mutation," laughed Elric as he coughed, "You're all weak and cannot do what is necessary. That is why, in the end, you'll fail..."

Arlan heard enough and had already figured the rest of the plot out from the documents he secured from Roy's estate. He gave the go ahead to Marie.

The Embercaller rose with conviction in her eyes and raised her left boot. The High Minister knew what was to happen and smiled creepily, he accepted his final moments.

Marie brought her left boot down with force, accelerated by mana, and crushed Elric Han's head into pieces. Jin grimaced a bit while noticing the other four were unphased. They were used to war and its atrocities.

The vengeance inside Arlan had subsided. He turned to Marie and asked, "You absorbed the monster core didn't you?"

"It wasn't a monster core," answered Marie.

"What is it? What did you learn?"

"Lady Dafni confirmed it was a demon core."

What? A demon core?! That would mean...

"But are you alright? That was a hasty decision. I don't think you should've absorbed it without consulting-"

"And if I didn't, we'd still be in here fighting the High Minister and Roy Vanders."

Jin interrupted, "If it's a demon core, that would mean the demons are still at war with each other, thousands of years laters."

"Yes," acknowledged Marie, "Lady Dafni believes the same theory. The Malum Incarnate is likely fighting their own at the same time as us."

JD stepped forth with Chrysta and reported their findings, "We have something important to tell you, Arlan. It's about your past."

Arlan then started walking towards the door and ordered, "Jin, show us to a council room and bring the King. We need to get to the bottom of this."

The elven Archmage simply nodded and followed suit. That day, Midland's Master of Finance and High Minister were both killed and charged with treason against the crown, treason against the people, senseless abduction of the people, and other crimes. The news spread quickly in the capital and reached the ears of many, including the rebels who were hoping for a different outcome.

 

Inside a small council room were Arlan, Marie, JD, Chrysta, Emmeline, King Richard, Archmage Jin Albera, and Lady Dafni. They were catching each other up to speed about what they had learned.

Marie asked, "So wouldn't that make Arlan, thousands of years old at least? And he himself has no memory of these events."

"We're not sure," answered Chrysta as she scratched her head, "I hadn't figured that out yet."

Arlan was in a deep state of thought, he wasn't sure how to make sense of what he was being told. If what they had told him was true, he really would be thousands of years old.

Lady Dafni added her own theory, "If Adaneus was able to use a demon's body as a vessel... Then this is not Arlan's original body, correct?"

Everyone's eyes locked onto the King's Blade for his answer and he decided to let everything out.

"Correct," answered Arlan, "Back on my homeworld, Terra, I did not look like this. My real name is Rove Bernthal. When I first opened my eyes, I was in Arlan's body. I have no recollection of this so-called war between the demons though. I also have no idea who Arlan was... I was merely left with this pendant that says 'For our beloved, Arlan.'"

Lady Dafni continued, "Then there is a possibility that when you were brought back into that body, you may have lost your memories. Although it doesn't make any sense that you still remember your previous world."

"What if we find Arlan's parents?" asked JD, "They may be able to give us answers. They dropped you off at the orphanage that one night, right?"

Arlan shot down the suggestion, "There's no way we could know who Arlan's real parents are. I have no idea what they look like. It'd be nearly impossible to find them. Let's just focus on the pressing issue, the rebellion."

King Richard added, "The southern houses will not surrender. They would only demand my head or the crown in order to wage war on the Hanbi Sultanate. Do you have any suggestions, King's Blade?"

"My liege," answered Arlan, "Our objective is to pursue victory with the least amount of casualties, on both sides. Surrender is not an option, we would be going down a path of more deaths. In order for us to win efficiently, the Royal Army would need to mount an all out assault on the south-west region, opening a clear pathway for Duke Frank and Duke Louis to ride southeast. They would force Duke Kaiser to surrender."

"And Jin, what do you make of this?" asked King Richard.

Jin simply nodded, "The boy is correct, Duke Kaiser is the one behind the rebellion, forcing him to surrender would end fighting across all fronts."

"Will you be riding south as well, Arlan?" asked Lady Dafni.

"Yes," answered the King's Blade, "The Banner of the Claw will split. I will personally ride southwest with my cavaliers to assist the Royal Army while the rest of my banner will assist Duke Louis with breaking through House Beaumont's territory. After two weeks, I will meet back with the Banner of the Claw and we will confront Duke Kaiser and his banner. We will end the war then."

"You're not coming with us?!" cried Chrysta.

"He can't," answered JD as if he knew already, "For us to win, we would need our strengths split. Arlan is right."

Marie was confused and asked, "Did Arlan tell you this, JD?"

"No, he didn't. I've been around him long enough to know what he’s thinking," answered the Tempest Knight.

"Arlan, do as you see fit," stated King Richard, "Are you going to take over command of the Royal Army? Wouldn't you be more fit for it?"

"No," answered Arlan, "I would require an army that has undergone months of training with my stratagem and tactics. Right now, that is time we cannot afford. So I believe Grand Marshal Dink is the best man for the job. While I'm gone, Jin and Lady Dafni will see to your safety. I hope you can find a new High Minister and Master of Finance in time."

"It pains me that such atrocities went unnoticed," admitted the King, "If you hadn't been here, it would've gone much worse. Elric Hans and Roy Vanders were my most trusted men. For them to turn on us like so... My heart aches. You, Knight JD, Lady Chrysta and Baroness Marie, have my gratitude and will be rewarded."

 

The next day, before their departure, Arlan and his three friends were summoned to the throne room where they had fought the previous day. The blood had been cleaned but the damages were still there.

King Richard Avens awarded each individual accordingly. Both Arlan and JD received a set of mithril armor, enchanted by Jin with magic absorption properties. Similar to the one worn by Duke Louis.

Marie and Chrysta were given Arcanaweave robes. Enchanted to allow efficient usage of mana. The robes would harden to near blacksteel properties when struck. It was an upgrade over their Aterhide leather armor.

Arlan was offered a mithril claymore but denied the weapon. It would've been an upgrade for Arlan except that it was one-sixth the weight of his blacksteel claymore. The Warlord's Regalia allowed Arlan to amplify his kinetic impact with the weight of his weapon. Meaning, the mithril claymore was actually a downgrade, despite the metal being much stronger than blacksteel.

Award ceremonies normally had a celebration or feast to follow suit but the time didn't permit. Arlan wanted to depart for the frontlines immediately and was going to join up with his men at the rally point, south of Auron.

 

In his room, Arlan stared at his worn down blacksteel armor while he donned his new mithril armor. The blacksteel armor had protected him through the many battles. The solemn feeling of retiring his old armor emerged slowly inside.

The dark colors reminded him of his Astrium Power Suit he wore back on Terra. It was hard for him to part but he knew the mithril armor would serve its purpose better. His silent moment was interrupted by a knock on his door.

"Come in," said Arlan as he tucked his mithril helmet in his left arm.

It was Princess Emmeline who emerged from the door, in her golden dress with her hair tied up.

"I'm here to bid you farewell," said Emmeline as she closed the door behind her, "When do you think you'll come back?"

"This war needs to end before the start of winter," answered Arlan as he stood before his betrothed, "I'm hoping the rebellion will end in two months. Maybe six weeks."

Feeling the cold exterior, Emmeline laid her hands on the mithril armor and continued, "This would be the third time we'll be apart. And I thought I could handle it... But everyday that passes when you're out there, I feel heart ache. Knowing that you're out there, putting your life on the line... I don't know if I can do it this time around."

"You can and you will. You have to. Not just for us but for the people and for your father. You are Midland's beacon of hope."

"I know but... It was so hard last time. I kept smiling for the sake of our people, despite my pains."

Arlan brushed Emmeline's tears away and realized how hard Emmeline was fighting as well. She had to sit back and hope that we would come back with success.

The King's Blade said, "Believe in me, Emmie. Believe in my ability to end this war. Believe in my return to you."

Emmeline's tears stopped and she took Arlan's words to heart. She added, "I thought about what you said. About how you're not sure if you would go home or not."

"I'm sorry Emm-"

"No, do not apologize to me! You have no right to," shouted Emmeline as she recovered and continued, "You're a coward."

"Huh?" uttered Arlan, perplexed.

"You heard me! You're a coward. You lack the backbone to follow your heart."

"My uncertain future will hurt you in the end."

"For someone who is so good at war, you don't seem to understand... I'm willing to accept the pains of losing you if you decide to go home."

"Emmie..."

"I'm willing to see it through to the end and that is my choice. I will live in much greater pain if I don't act in the moment. Whatever happens, I'm going to accept the outcome, regardless. Because I know it was worth it to be at your side until then. My heart won't accept any less."

Arlan didn't know how to respond. He was moved by her words and he realized she was right. His decision was selfish and he decided for her. He also chose the path of least resistance.

"You're right," admitted Arlan.

Princess Emmeline knew she was right. She locked onto Arlan's eyes and said, "We're in this together. Whether one day you go back to your world or stay... I will always follow you and stand by your side. And I don't care who you were in the past, I only care about who you are now. The bravest and most courageous man whose sense of duty to country is unrivaled. You are what I've always wanted in a husband. It would be a travesty to not enjoy our limited time together, despite what the future may hold. You may be Rove or a Demon Lord in the past, but right now, you are Arlan Reeve. And I love you."

"I... I love you too," replied Arlan as he dropped his helmet and held Emmeline close.

She had pierced his heart. She was ready to give Arlan the one thing he desired most and was ready to pay for anything that may come.

While holding each other closely, their lips met. And now instead of words, their hearts intertwined through their affection. They were eloped in feelings of euphoria. Arlan's cold exterior was melted by Emmeline's presence, once more.

Finally, Arlan decided it was time. He let go and bid his farewell, "I'll return, I promise."

"You've always kept your word," smiled Emmeline, "I'll be here waiting."

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