~ Chapter 65: The stalker ~

[Reginald’s point of view]

 Of all the things I loathed in this world, my own flesh and blood brother had to be in the top ten on my list. Always so easy to quit half-way through anything, always eager to punish the innocent, always acting and thinking like an idiot without so much as considering what would happen if he were to give a certain unreasonable order. All of these things represented and identified my one and only brother Reynolds.

Initially, I went to the outskirts of our kingdom to see how our troops were faring. Although they survived in terrible conditions, I did not ask for their share of food or the blankets with which they kept themselves warm. I lived as they did to see what it was like, and at the end of this experiment, I understood one thing… A human cannot live under an oppressing rule for too long. They will go mad or revolt even if it costs them their own lives. At the same time, I gained their trust, and by now, most of the army listened to me rather than my idiotic brother.

As I marched towards Elora, the capital of the Aunnar Kingdom, I found myself plotting to form a coup and rip all the political power from my brother’s grasp. I would let him live merely as a simple noble, nothing more and nothing less.

I remembered this city as one harboring a very oppressing and sad aura. Everyone looked down, and no one dared to speak against the royal family. If Reynolds even so much as heard you speak ill of him, he would throw you to the gallows or turn you into a slave. It was not a very lively city because of this, but people still managed to hold their heads up high and maybe smile from time to time. This very fact was proof of the indomitable strength of my people.

“What’s this?” was my first question the moment I stepped through the gates.

The first thing I noticed were children running through the streets, and to my left, a slave merchant being forced by city guards to free his slaves. I was both surprised and dumbfounded at the same time. No one except for my brother had the authority to give out such orders!

“You there, young lad!” I called out to one of the children, a nekatar boy.

“Mew?” he looked up at me and tilted his head to the right.

“You were once a slave, weren’t you?” I asked him, pointing at the collar marking around his neck.

“Yes, sir…” he nodded and lowered his ears.

“Do not worry, I mean no harm. I am simply curious as to why are there so many free slaves here.” I asked him.

“I do not know of the rest, but I was bought by a rich man named Illsyore. He made slave master Deroak free us and take care of us until we are old enough to take care of ourselves.” he replied and then let out another mew.

“No, Tullos! That’s not right! He won us fair and square at the coliseum! Since old-man Deroak did not have enough goldiettes to pay him, Illsyore made him promise to take care of us instead of giving him the money.” a young human boy came over and corrected the nekatar.

Both were slaves, but to hear of such generosity in this city was amazing. I could not believe my own ears. This man deserved a medal!

“What of the other ones, the adults?” I asked him then.

“Oh, Illsyore destroyed the palace and forced Prince Reynolds to free all slaves. Since he couldn’t do it in the entire kingdom, the prince decided to first free them in the capital and forbid slave trading here.” Tullos replied with a big smile while waving his furry tail left and right.

“What?” I furrowed my brow when I heard him and looked towards the palace.

Even from here, I was supposed to see the glistening white towers, but there was no such thing. I was starting to reconsider the whole medal thing.

“Thank you, lads! You may return to your play.” I told them and then walked back to my group.

“Master, what do you think of this?” asked Zoreya, a very powerful and well-trained crusader of the Melkuth Order.

She was a beautiful, tall woman with blue eyes and blond hair. Many have called her a priceless jewel of indisputable quality. Both brave and smart, this woman was incredible addition to any squad’s battle force. To top it off, her Adventurer Rank was that of Mid towards Superior Supreme. Some tested her strength at around 2000. How exactly she became so strong, it was a mystery, but she did not use either boost or gear to raise her status. Despite all of these, she had the tendency to be a bit clumsy at times, like accidentally stepping on an obvious and easy to spot trap in the middle of a dungeon.

Zoreya was also my most trusted adviser and guard. She stood by my side ever since I first met her when she was sent to our kingdom by the Melkuth Order of Crusaders.

“I find my brother’s movements to be rather odd, but at the same time, I’m curious about this Illsyore fellow. Hm…” I looked back at the ten knights standing behind her.

There were two of them who were rather agile and well versed in the art of gathering information. I motioned towards them to come closer to me.

“Your highness?” they asked after they saluted.

“Go and see what you can find out about this Illsyore fellow. Where he comes from, whom he has spoken to, what he ate, anything!” I ordered them.

“Understood!” they saluted again and then dashed off in different directions.

“Now then! Let us go and meet my brother! I feel like our time apart has brought some significant changes in both of us!” I smiled and looked back at the road leading to the palace.

This should be interesting! I thought.

Not even an hour later, we arrived at the gates of the royal palace. They were still standing, and the wall to my left was still under repairs. If Zedor, the Demigod Dungeon did not finish already, that meant the palace had taken considerable damage. This assuming of course that he was still alive.

“His royal Highness, Reginald D. Lagrange, has arrived!” announced the guards.

Followed by Zoreya and my other knights, I stepped through the gates and entered the courtyard. This place was a mess, but I could not understand how exactly it was damaged. I had seen many spells and ways of destroying a building, but the way the towers and walls were cut was unreal. It was almost as if some sort of hot blade was passed through the solid stone and melted away.

Fascinating! I thought as I looked at my statue, which was cut in half at the waist.

“WOW! Reynolds managed to piss off someone very powerful!” commented one of my knights.

“Indeed.” I replied and then made my way to the remains of the palace.

The soldiers and servants who saw me, immediately bowed down to show their respect towards me. I stopped only once, and that was to ask one of them of my brother’s whereabouts. Apparently, he was crying in the library at the second floor.

I made my way up there and entered the room.

Unlike the city’s library, the Royal Library held a significant number of books for the royal family’s personal use. Rows upon rows were kept on the golden shelves reaching all the way up to the ceiling. Surprisingly, this was but one of the few spots untouched by Illsyore’s merciless attacks, and this was only because it was located on the other side of the palace.

I could still remember how I came here as a young child searching for a book to bring back to my father to read for me. Now, in that same chair, I found my brother Reynolds looking up at the ceiling. His eyes were bloodshot and surrounded by dark rings, a sign of him having missed out on quite a few hours of sleep. On the table in front of him and all around him were countless books opened and marked at various pages. Scribble parchments and empty ink canisters could be seen on the floor.

I see he kept himself busy? Since when was this idiot brother of mine interested in reading and writing? Also… did he lose weight or are my eyes deceiving me? I asked myself as I walked closer to this mess.

“Brother, I have returned.” I announced myself.

“Hah? That’s good… fine… I’m doomed!” he said and then started to cry.

This reaction surprised me. I never saw my brother in such a deplorable state.

“The nobles are jumping on my back, the slave masters are cursing me, the world hates me, and above all… I’m cursed to die in one month one week and four days from now! Hah! Congratulations, brother, you will be ruling this kingdom alone starting from then! Hahaha!” he began to laugh hysterically before bursting into a loud cry again.

What is the meaning of this? I asked myself as I looked at him with a furrowed brow.

“Brother… do you know what I did?” he asked me without even throwing me a glance.

“No… what?” I replied shaking my head.

How could I know what manner of storm swept through the kingdom and dropped Reynolds on his knees like this?

“I angered a peaceful Godlike Dungeon Lord, and he cursed me!” he said and then laughed again.

“You did what?” I was surprised to hear something like this.

The strongest dungeon that I knew of was Zedor, the Demigod Dungeon with a level of 258. To hear that there was a Godlike Dungeon Lord roaming around cursing people was quite a shocking piece of information. I found myself at a loss of words.

“Hey, brother? I tried my best, but I cannot figure it out… I can’t figure out a way to get rid of slavery and not drop our kingdom to the bottom of a Merion dung pile!” he said as he lifted two books up “Look! Our entire workforce from the smallest to the largest are all dependent on slaves! You cannot even go to the barber shop to get a haircut without having a slave either take you there or helping you in some way. I don’t know what to do with them after they are set free either! For now, I left them do as they please, but… it will not last long. They don’t have a home, they can’t work… it’s hopeless I tell you, hopeless…” he dropped the books and then looked back up at the ceiling with tears in his eyes.

He’s trying to integrate former slaves? How did this Godlike Dungeon Lord manage to scare my brother so badly that he’s seriously thinking of this sort of stuff? And what’s with this thing about him dying in more than a month from now? I asked myself as I looked at him.

While true that I was already planning to overthrow him. The reason I wanted to do so was to start reforms in regard to the slavery system. After seeing and experiencing by myself the conditions in which my people lived, I wanted it gone, but since my brother was working so desperately on it, I was starting to have second doubts about my coup.

“Brother, are you serious about this?” I asked him.

“Serious?” he started to laugh. “He asks if I’m serious? Hahaha!” he got up from the table and walked over to me. Ripping his shirt open, he showed me a black, pulsing tattoo carved directly into his flesh “Does this tell you how SERIOUS I am? Brother dearest, this is a Godlike Dungeon Lord’s curse that will ensure I will die a most horrible death if I don’t bring a change against slavery in this country! As selfish as I may be, I do not plan on tossing my life away because of it!” he glared at me.

I had never seen such a strength, determination, and will in my brother. To be more precise, he never showed these qualities even once when I was around. His desire to slack off and not do anything was the most visible of all of his traits. Judging from my old impression of him, I was thinking that he was going to give up on this whole matter, go somewhere to live the rest of his days, or try to sleep with as many women as possible before the time was up, not actually try to do something about it.

I guess I do not know my own brother… I thought and then took a step back from him.

“Tell me, what’s the name of this Dungeon?” I asked.

“Illsyore, the destroyer of the Supreme Dankyun!” he laughed it off and walked back to his desk.

Where have I heard that name before? I thought.

“Your highness, did you just say Dankyun? As in Dankyun Alttoros?” Zoreya asked as she took a step forward.

“I don’t know. He only said Dankyun. How many Supremes with that name do you know off? Oh, and he’s a draconian too.” Reynolds waved it off.

“Draconian? So, it was him… Dankyun Alttoros… This means that my brother is dead…” Zoreya said as she gripped the hilt of her sword.

Now I remember! It’s THAT guy! I guess Zoreya is pretty upset right about now. I thought.

A few years back, she told me the story of her childhood and how she ended up becoming a crusader. Apparently, this Dankyun fellow was one of the main reasons she chose this path. I could not say I agreed with it, but I had no right in forcing her to change her mind. Even if I wanted to, I could not enforce my authority on her because she belonged to the Melkuth Order not the Aunnar Kingdom.

With a sigh escaping my lips, I looked back at Zoreya. Despite her earlier outburst, she regained her calm quickly and looked down without sketching any sort of emotion. No wonder she was one of the top Apostles of her order! No matter the circumstances, she had to remain loyal to her missions and complete them without fail. Straying from her path was an unacceptable offense.

While I admired this side of hers, I also understood just how much she wanted to go after the killer of her brother.

With a sigh, I scratched the back of my head and looked between my neurotic brother and her. Reynolds was laughing and looking at the papers in front of him, while Zoreya was gripping the hilt of her sword.

“Brother, you said that you were going to work towards abolishing slavery in our kingdom?” I asked.

“Yes! Of course! But it doesn’t have to be just for one day, but forever! If I do not come up with something fast, I’ll die!” he whined.

If I were like any other royal out there, I would have left you to die, but I’m not… lucky you. I thought and then walked over to his desk. “I’ll give you a hand with this… project of yours, since I was meaning to do it anyway, but you must agree to step down from the king’s position.” I told him.

Through this, I would know just how devoted he was to get rid of this curse. The reason why we were two ruling powers instead of one was because of his selfishness in the first place.

“YES! You can have the bloody thing! I’ll even wrap it up for your if you want to!” he told me without even so much as stopping for a second to think about it.

“Huh? Alright…” I said blinking confused.

This Dungeon Lord must have really scared him… I thought.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, brother!” he said with actual tears in his eyes.

“Ah… yes. That’s what brothers are for, right?” I showed him an awkward smile.

“Then I must show you immediately all that I have managed to accomplish so far! I’ll be right back! Erm, most of the documents are in my chambers!” he said and quickly ran past me.

When he reached the door, he stumbled on the spear of one of my knights and fell face first on the floor. I gulped and was prepared to defend my subordinate, but my brother got back up, dusted off his clothes and ran off without so much as shooting a glare back at him.

“Your Highness, I’m not mistaken, but… that’s Prince Reynolds, right?” that same knight asked.

“Yes… or I think so.” I replied a bit dumbfounded.

I cleared my head for a bit and then walked over to my brother’s desk. He was researching the culture and laws of all our neighboring countries, everything from the first time the slave system was proposed. It was a rather interesting, complicated, and also very extensive piece of work.

Maybe I really had no idea what my own brother was capable of? I thought as I looked at one of the parchments filled with possible laws and their resulting effects.

“Interesting…”

After brother returned with his research, which could be easily described as a big pile of parchments, notes, and books, I began to regret my decision of helping him out. Those were a lot of documents I had to read… Fortunately, if I did this, then there was no need to start a coup. The people would probably suffer if divided into two opposing sides, so it was better this way actually. It was an option I never thought off because I was never showed anything but my brother’s disgusting and selfish side.

Of course, I was not able to look at everything shown to me, but I got the general idea. Reynolds was struggling with population management, legal rights, procedures, and all sort of things like that.

A couple of hours later, I took a break to from this and went to settle in my room. To my surprise, I discovered it was nothing more than a pile of rubble with all the furniture burned down and a big gap in the ceiling. As such, I occupied one of the guest rooms.

Afterwards, I called for Zoreya.

“Prince Reginald?” she asked after she entered.

“I’m over here.”

I was sitting in front of my window looking at the devastation brought upon my palace. Zedor was struggling to repair it, but this place was built over the course of many years. Every brick was enchanted with powerful spells. It wasn’t easy to destroy it.

“Theos and Zara brought me some interesting information about Illsyore.” I said.

“I have yet to receive word, your Highness.”

“Well, apparently, he came to this city on a peaceful quest. He disguised himself as a simple adventurer and stayed at Tannaor’s Inn. The slave merchant Deroak was his initial quest giver, but according to the Adventurers Guild, he didn’t make a correct judgment on the difficulty of his quest. Illsyore didn’t seem to mind it though, but he encountered a group of black magic users who overtook the Mehalom Ancient Dungeon.” I turned around to look at her.

“Black magic users? This deep into the kingdom? If I knew…” she asked surprised and also a bit conflicted that she let them slip past her grasp.

Her initial mission to our kingdom was to reduce their numbers and stop some devil-possessed mages. Her second one was to protect the royal family until a proper king was elected, and to be more precise, one who valued and respected the Melkuth Order values.

“Yes. Thankfully, Illsyore and his group dispatched them with ease. The Dungeon was cleared, and adventurers were regularly sent off to scavenge its remains. I came to understand that its core room was completely destroyed, so no chance of it reviving itself.”

“Why would this Godlike Dungeon Lord bother himself with something like this?” she asked me.

“I don’t know, but afterwards, he went to Deroak and apparently managed to win in the coliseum, but he didn’t fight.”

“Then who?” she furrowed her brow.

“Apparently, his wives and slaves were the ones who fought against Deroak’s slaves. The interesting thing is that all of them were far more powerful even than Dragnov. They might be just as strong if not stronger than you. Also, the way this Illsyore brought down the palace was with a strange weapon capable of shooting out beams of light. Witnesses reported that he could even shoot them out of his palms.” I explained what I was told by my knights.

“Beams of light?”

“Yes. However, the reason he attacked was because my foolish brother imprisoned and harmed his slaves without him having broken any of our kingdom’s laws. Illsyore didn’t kill him, and since he was partially justified in his attack, I cannot agree with sending out a hunting party after him. This is the first Godlike Dungeon I have heard of who’s not just the fictional character of an old story. He cannot be taken lightly, nor can we afford to lose him out of our sight. If by chance he were to join our enemy’s forces, then Aunnar Kingdom would be in peril.” I let out a sigh and looked out towards the window.

Zoreya remained quiet, but I knew what she was thinking about. Ever since she heard that her brother’s killer was the one who attacked the palace, she wanted to go after him, but her mission and orders prevented her from doing so. To be honest, I didn’t wish to let her run after the Dungeon either, but in our current situation, she was also our best bet against him. So far, our neighbors haven’t made any suspicious movements, so her power wasn’t needed here.

Besides, given her old age, I was starting to wonder just how many more years she had to live before she was forced to lay down her shield. Letting her go now would probably lead to her having some closure in this matter. As an Apostle, she could not dream of a family, so there was no one left waiting for her anywhere. At most, she would only have to return her shield to the Melkuth Order before passing away.

It was a decision only I could make as the prince and probably her friend. It was a decision between selfishness and egoism, a rather easy one for me.

“Zoreya, from this moment onward, you are free of any duty towards my kingdom. All that I request is that if you go after Illsyore to keep me informed of his movements.” I declared as I looked back at her.

“Your Highness… are you sure?” she asked.

I closed my eyes and nodded.

“Yes.” I replied after opening my eyes again and showing her a gentle smile. “You have been both my friend and ally for a very long time, Zoreya. I was never able to fully repay you for your help, that’s why I believe that letting you go would be the best reward I could possibly offer you unless, of course, you desire something else?”

“No, your Highness, but what of the kingdom?” she asked.

“Zoreya, you know just as well as I do that you never had a duty towards my kingdom. The Melkuth Order sent you here to protect its people, scout possible new acolytes, and to take care of the black magic users who at that time ran amok throughout these lands. The ones killed by Illsyore were probably the last of them. Besides, I am certain the Order will send another brave crusader in your place to take care of any aspiring black magic users. You only stood by my side both because of my father, who was your friend, and probably me because I also see you as a friend.” I spoke without regret.

Through my words, I was willingly parting ways with the only Supreme present in this country, but with the Melkuth Order’s backup, we had no fear of an outside invasion. At least, not for a long time.

“I understand, Prince Reginald. Then I will pack my things and leave right away! I also worry about this Godlike Dungeon Lord. As a crusader, I cannot leave him be! As Zoreya Eleanor Alttoros, I desire closure for my brother’s death! But my Order stands before my personal quest… Even so, it has been a pleasure and an honor to serve by your side, Prince Reginald. I will send word to the Melkuth Order of Crusaders to have one of their best Apostles sent to watch over this kingdom.” Zoreya said with one last bow.

“Thank you and take care, my friend.” I told her and then turned around to gaze at my kingdom.

“May Melkuth watch over your kingdom, Prince Reginald.” she said before closing the door behind her.

A few moments after she was gone, I let out a sigh.

“I know that this sudden separation from her may have been a bit abrupt, but I couldn’t allow this kingdom to depend on the Melkuth Order any longer. The people of Aunnar must be strong with or without a Supreme watching over them! That is why, I can only say my thanks to this stranger, Illsyore, who offered us this opportunity to be reborn from our own scattered ashes.”

[Illsyore’s point of view]

A month passed since we left the Aunnar Kingdom. To our left were the thick woods spreading all the way to the ocean, and to our right were the vast expanses of sand specific to the desert climate. The heat was a killer, but not enough to bring us down.

There was one problem though…

“Illsy? What are we going to do about ‘that’?” asked Nanya curiously and pointed behind her.

“Don’t look back, just ignore it.” I grumbled.

“Does no one know who she is?” asked Shanteya.

“I have no idea. Did any of you feed it by any chance?” I asked looking over at Ayuseya.

“Why are you looking at me? I do have a soft spot for animals, but not armor-plated knights.” the draconian retorted.

Peeking back, I saw a certain full-plated armored woman carrying a big shield ‘hiding’ behind a skinny tree. It was the same as trying to hide a modern tank behind a streetlamp. Or maybe she was like one of those NPC characters from an old RPG I used to play, where if you placed a bucket on top of their head, you could empty their shops without them screaming thief at you.

As long as I don’t see you, I am hidden from you. That sort of logic, huh? I thought.

“At my mark make a run for it.” I told them.

“Why?” asked Ayuseya surprised.

“Because I don’t want to take care of strays! Now run!” I shouted, and we all blasted off at full speed out of there.

Looking back, I saw the woman running behind us nearly as fast as we did.

“How the hell can she run with that much weight on her?!” I whined.

“This is fun!” Tamara said eating a fish on top of my head.

She was the slowest, so I had to carry her.