~ Chapter 133: The bottom line ~

[Alkelios’ point of view]

When I first heard that I was in the Ten Swords Kingdom, not even for a second did I think that one day I would get to meet the Royal Family or even become friendly with Princess Ildeanussi herself. It was not something I thought to be possible in the first place because I was Duke Draketerus of Albeyater Kingdom. I was a half-draconian and an enemy of all humans by many standards.

Then again, I never would have expected to ever meet the long dead Prince Coshun and even discover a friend in another Human Hero who happened to lead a far more tragic life than I ever did on this world. When all things considered, I was truly lucky with everything that happened to me so far.

I was granted friends, power, a lover, and the hardships I encountered were more or less solved with ease. Yet, others struggled with each passing day, dreaming about power they could never have, while in some cases, just the chance to live a normal life accepted by those around them, without fearing the nightmares the day of tomorrow would bring them. There were those who wished to climb up on the social ladder but only saw themselves receiving the boot of those who saw themselves as superior to them. They could curse and pray to the gods for things to change, but it was to no avail.

How lucky was I to actually win the heart of a dragoness as beautiful as Seryanna and then the friendship of a powerhouse like Kataryna? If others heard me complaining about the hardships I went through my life, they would just scoff and then laugh at me in my face before pointing out at some people who truly had it hard.

I turned my gaze to the woman in the cage. Although wearing a cloak that hid her trembling body, the tears that flowed down her cheeks were like crystals that enveloped the truth of her world.

Chased away from a life of privilege, with the fear of death constantly eating her up from the inside, she, a Princess of the Ten Swords Kingdom, was forced to nearly starve to death on the streets like a common beggar. Then, when she was unable to hold on, when she was at her wit’s end, she committed a crime for the very first time in her life... The Princess of Ten Swords Kingdom stole a piece of hard bread just so that she would not die of hunger.

The people who once praised her as being the jewel of their country. The same people who looked up at her and saw only a privileged little girl, now couldn’t even recognize her and in the blink of a second, for the sin of trying to live, she was condemned to choose between death or slavery.

If, at that time, I did not step in and held out my hand to her. If I did not go forward and saved her from her fate, nobody would have known who died that day, and nobody would have cared.

Her mother would still believe that she was safe and sound, protected by the butler who was a blind sheep that knew only how to follow orders, and her father would still obsess like a madman, thinking she was out to claim his throne.

Years ago, when I was still a teenager who knew only the comfort of his own house and a life lacking any shred of responsibility, I would have thought, in my own foolishness, that by saving Ildea that day, I only forced her to experience more pain and hardship, or that maybe it was never my choice to save her... maybe I would have thought that it was wrong to side with the draconians in the first place because they weren’t humans.

I was foolish back then because I was young and knew not the other sides of life, the small things that made things worth it.

I saw Ildea smile after that day, so I knew that it was worth, but now that smile was being stolen away by her own father by showing her mother in such a deplorable state.

Yet, again, I found myself in the situation in which I could only ask myself Who am I to step in and try to fix this? 

As I thought about this, the King began his speech of grandeur, blame, and shame as he pointed out the flaws of his wife and daughter.

“Look at her, this so-called Mother of the People! Look at her and see that she is nothing but a dirty woman who crawls down at your feet for every single favor! She is a worthless wench who knows nothing but to please a man and even THAT she doesn’t know how to do!”

“Father! Please, stop it! Why are you doing this?! Why are you ruining mother’s reputation like this? Please... father...” Ildea cried from within the cage, while the audience, in general, remained silent with the exception of those who were on the King’s side and either agreed or laughed at these remarks.

The three Breakthrough-ers were no different, the showed big smiles as if they were enjoying this show.

Yeah, this world has always been a very dark and gloomy place from the start... People die left and right… The life of a peasant hangs on the thread pulled by a noble’s hand... There are no organizations to protect you, no powers to strive for peace and equality like back on Earth, they are all savages... medieval folk who know not better. However... I looked back at Kalderan who was on the edge, thinking of jumping in the arena and then at Coshun who was boiling with fury and trying hard to abstain himself from jumping up and comforting the Princess and then I continued Just because they know not better doesn’t mean that there are not those who will try to make things better! This doesn’t mean that there are not those among the vicious who will pray for the weak and those among the tyrannical who won’t cherish the just!

In similar fashion, just because I could look away and close my eyes to these matters did not mean I would do it. Just because I deemed it difficult to solve or annoying to understand did not mean that I wasn’t going to try. At the very least, this was my choice, and I would have rather make it than deny it.

“For years, she has been a thorn on my side! Telling me to lower the taxes and think of the poor! For years she has tried to delude me with words of love and speak as though she was my equal when she was not! For years she has prayed on my happiness and like a leech sucked out the very life out of me! She was not by my side when our daughter thought of taking over my throne! She was not on my side when the Human Heroes tried to invade this land! No, she was never here! She always spoke of charities and giving and spreading words of kindness and hope as if that was what made a Kingdom strong!” the King spoke, but from the tone of his voice, I couldn’t tell if he was agreeing or disagreeing with his own words.

It felt as if there was a struggle, a battle that was happening inside him and the one who was going to win was not the King who approved of the Queen’s deeds but rather the other one.

“I wish this will end well for Ildeanussi, her mother, and the rest of us...” I spoke in a soft tone of voice, hoping that my 100 Luck was going to strike and help us solve this matter in the most peaceful and harmonious way possible.

“Father, but... you praised mother for those deeds! You told me... You told me that you loved her because she always thought of the people and did the best she could with the little she knew!” Ildea shouted in desperation from within the cage.

“Lies! She did it in order to plan a better rebellion against me! She wanted to make me look bad! She did! Look! Everyone is looking bad at me now!” the King shouted and then pointed at the nobles in the audience.

Well, of course everyone is doing that. This is not exactly the behavior of a gentleman. I thought.

“She cheated on me! She lied to me! All of you lied! But... But not anymore! Today, those who dare to cross me, those who dare to cheat me, those who dare to lie to me shall curse the day they did so!” the King shouted as he then took out a dagger and pressed the blade against the Queen’s neck.

A single act brought a moment of silence together with the attention of the entire audience on the King and Queen.

“Any last words, my Queen?” the King asked with the smile of a madman on his face.

With tears in her eyes, the woman looked down at her daughter and said “Please, whatever happens, live happily...” she then closed her eyes.

“Kill them.” the King ordered as he pressed the blade against her thin neck and then pulled.

Red blood gushed out forward and with a kick in the back, he tossed the woman off from the balcony.

“NOOO!!! MOTHER!” Ildea cried out as he reached towards her from inside the cage.

At the same time, the soldiers moved and Kalderan pulled the trigger, Coshun jumped up, ready to open the cage, and the three Breakthrough-ers took a step forward.

It was a split second, a moment within infinity, but my body acted before my mind did as my fists were filled with rage and my heart was filled with the will to save that poor woman that had been sentenced to death.

I took a step forward and the ground cracked underneath the pressure. Although they too were Breakthrough-ers, they felt slow and heavy while I was fast and light. My eyes were on the falling woman, but my fists were getting ready to punch at the annoyances in front of me.

I had never moved so fast since I fled from that entity I met a while back or when I was fighting against Kronius. There was an endless stream of energy flowing from deep within me, and at this speed, I felt normal, natural, unshackled. Everyone moved slowly around me as if time itself flowed differently for us.

At my next step, I was already next to the three. They could not react, but maybe only the samurai guy noticed me. Before they could do anything, I launched three sharp punches and the three were sent flying off the ring. Those weren’t attacks powerful enough to kill them, but they were enough to give me the time I needed for what was to come next.

Now, all I had to do was catch the Queen’s body, and so I jumped up.

I caught her midair and immediately cast a healing spell on her. While we were falling back down, time slowly resumed its normal course. The three crashed into the walls with a loud groan. The cage was slashed open by Coshun and then he jumped out with Ildea in his arms before a soldier reached the winch and pulled it, and at the same time, Kalderan unloaded his bullets on the guards who came forward with their swords unsheathed.

Within my arms, the Queen’s frail body felt thinner and weaker than I had initially presumed. The right terms would have been ‘skin and bones’. Yet, despite being on death’s door, she looked up at me with gentle and calm eyes, beginning me to take care of her daughter.

“I’m not going to let you die.” I said as I activated my [Black Hole] and then took out a healing potion from inside.

Popping up the cork, I poured the life-saving liquid over her wound and then the rest into her mouth, making her drink it. As she did so, I used the [Heal] spell from my Light attribute and poured my Magic Energy inside her body, to help her recover.

The magic worked and the wound on her neck quickly closed up and then vanished without leaving a trace. She coughed up, spitting out the blood stuck in her throat and then she took a deep breath in.

“I promised your daughter that I would save you, and I intend to keep that promise.” I said and then helped her get back up on her feet.

Probably because I was too focused on healing her, I did not come to realize that the entire coliseum just went quiet, and everyone was staring at us. It was natural, since they all thought that she would certainly die, and maybe she would have if it wasn’t me who jumped in to save her at the last moment.

At this time, however, it did not cross my mind that maybe, just maybe, they weren’t that surprised about me saving the Queen but rather of how easily I defeated the three champions sent over by the Akutan Empire. All three of them were struggling to get back on their feet, groaning from pain.

“Mother!” Ildea cried out with tears in her eyes while she was being carried down by Coshun.

At some point, he took flight to avoid the soldiers on the ground. When I took a glance at them, I saw the whole bunch of them groaning from pain after being struck by an Earth spell. From the tribunes, Kalderan was also rushing to our side after he had finished off the other soldiers.

“Stay there.” I told the two and then walked over with the Queen, offering my arm as support.

The audience was silent like a butterfly in a graveyard.

“My beloved daughter! How happy I am to see you alive and well!” the Queen cried out as she went over to embrace her.

The woman was weak and barely could walk but she still took the effort to rush over to her as soon as the dragon landed. I stayed a few feet away from them just to act out as a shield between them and the King, the recovering Breakthrough-ers and the soldiers on the other side of this arena. The fight wasn’t over yet, we couldn’t allow ourselves to lower our guards even for one second and Kalderan was already watching out for archers and long ranged mages, while Coshun was pushing out his chest, making himself appear intimidating towards the soldiers who were now rushing towards us.

“They are surrounding us.” he said as he looked at them stopping just outside the ring.

“Yeah...” I said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep you all safe.” Kalderan promised as he looked at Risha, Amadeus and Drumora.

Roshelle was next to the Princess and the Queen, shedding a tear with them as she was genuinely happy for seeing them reunited.

“This... is outrageous! It cannot be! No! NO! NO!” the King then shouted as he held his head while looking down at us.

“I guess he didn’t expect me to save the Queen.” I scoffed.

“Alkelios...” Ildea called out to me.

Looking back at her, I saw her tears as they were rolling down her cheeks, but she was smiling. She was happy to see her mother alive, however, this situation was a bit bad for the two of them.

Technically, in the eyes of the soldiers and those of the nobles, we were in the wrong for going against the King’s orders. In this country, he was the law, and he dictated how everything worked. Akutan and all the other nations who supported him were in the right to call us terrorists and even declare that they are offering humanitarian aid to the King.

This whole fiasco resumed to the simple yet ridiculous idea that the Queen and Princess’ death sentence was rightfully justified by the King’s orders even if it was tyrannical in the eyes of foreigners. Yet, when looking at these two mother and daughter, I couldn’t allow myself to accept such a thing.

I was a Breakthrough-er myself, so thinking like that was... beneath me. Another draconian may have fled the scene or retreated, but I stayed and listened to the Princess’ words.

“Alkelios, I know that I may be asking too much, but please... please... save my father from his mortal suffering.” she said with tears in her eyes that quickly changed from joy to grief.

It was ridiculous how gentle her request to kill her own father sounded, yet she understood, no... we all understood that trying to convince the King to give up his madness was impossible now. He stepped over the line when he dared in front of all these people to mercilessly slash open the throat of his own wife and even order the death of his own flesh and blood daughter.

“I understand...” I nodded and then looked back at the King.

He flinched when he met my eyes. Like a wild animal, he understood that I had locked on to him as my target, but before I could reach him, there were three other insects I had to take care off.

“Ugh... what hit me?” Zeberan asked.

“A truck? Maybe two?” the guy with the two-handed sword replied.

“Ugh... that hurt.” the samurai groaned as he dusted off his kimono and stepped forward.

The three of them locked eyes with me and at this moment, we all knew that a fight was going to start.