Act 1 - Hold it in
"What? They summoned another hero?!"
Inside the Ironblade castle, Princess Irina was currently taking her daily tutoring by their grand mage Phoros. As the two were talking about Sahnper's geography, the topic of her father's visit to the said country came up. Phoros decided to tell her about the letter, and its contents which influenced the king's decision.
"Yes. It was quite surprising. The secrets of the summoning ritual should only be available to us, yet somehow... they did it," Phoros mulled over.
"Did a spy managed to get inside our castle and steal the transcripts?"
"Unlikely, I had that hidden into my room's safe which was yet to be broken."
"So does this mean they created their own summoning ritual?"
"That's the nearest possible scenario, but the one and only tome that holds the true power of a summoning ritual is the one in my possession, passed down by my teacher which was passed onto him as well, all the way from the rule of the pantheon." Phoros explained, recalling the memories left behind by the one who gave him his knowledge.
"Then, does this mean that their summoning was a fluke?"
"That's the highest likelihood, then again, I can't say for sure. I can only hope that our Hero can handle whatever comes his way," Phoros said as he turned his head over to the direction of the Sahnper Kingdom.
Meanwhile, at the Sahnper capital's marble palace, the monarch had just introduced Arthur, the one who they claimed to be the Hero that they summoned from another world. To the people of Sahnper, the young man was their pride, and symbol of power. However, to the visitors from Ironblade, he was an enigma.
"What do you say King Galen? With the hero by our side, even your elite knights will no longer stand a chance against us. I don't wish to declare war on you yet though as appreciation for all these years that your country had protected us. I just want you to know that if you can no longer handle the responsibility, we will gladly take your place," Monarch Midas bragged.
"How did you learn the art of summoning a being from another world? The instruction to those should have been lost in time?!" King Galen asked although he knew to himself that this wasn't the case. The records was in the hands of his trusted advisor, Phoros, and even he himself had never seen the contents of the record.
"It's the gods' answer to our prayers! What else? Our mages received a revelation, and thus they followed the instructions sent upon them by the divine, and summoned our hero!"
"That's right! I am the answer to all of your problems! As I said, you no longer have to worry, for I will clean up this world with the power from above!" Arthur declared to further strengthen Midas' claim.
"As a matter of fact, I just got back myself from a successful crusade against the demons," he added as he went and picked up the bag that he left behind as he was called over. He carried the bag over to the throne, showing it to everyone in the room.
"Behold! The fruits of my labor!" he said as he sliced the bag open, spilling all of its contents to the floor.
Karis' whole body shook as she witnessed Arthur's haul littered onto the carpet that they are on. Countless demon heads lay scattered on their feet. They all vary in appearance, male, and female, old, and young, even Savage heads, they were all present.
"I cleansed a land that was infested with these vile creatures. They were nearing our territory so I did the most obvious thing and slain them all!" Arthur declared proudly.
"Ohh! As expected of the hero! You really are dependable!" Midas commended.
The sight of the lifeless demon heads made Karis sick to her stomach. Tears started forming in her eyes, and her hands shook so much that she was struggling to keep her kneeling position. She tried her best to hold it all in, but it was just too much. Ren subtly held her hand to try and calm her down as best as he can.
"Nearing your border... wait a second, your country does not share a border with the demon's occupied land!" King Galen exclaimed as he remembered the exact layout of the different countries' lands. Even Ren remembered it well as it was present in their Nexus.
"Your land only borders ours, two of the southern countries and the tribes of the north!"
"What are you implying, King Galen?" Midas said with a threatening voice as Galen raised his own.
"You trespassed upon our territory, and killed the demons there!" King Galen said as he angrily pointed his finger to Arthur.
"What of it? Didn't I tell you? I'm here to free you all from the grasp of the demons. You no longer have to uphold your gutless decree. I will end this war!" Arthur snapped back.
"As a matter of fact..." he said as he brandished his great sword.
"I can see that a demon managed to snuck inside the palace..."
"Hey! She's one of my--"
"Let's add her to my collection!"
In the blink of an eye, Arthur closed the gap between him, and Karis, swinging his great sword to cut her straight through the neck.
CLANG
"Oh?"
Thankfully, before his sword can make contact, Ren had stood up and intercepted him using Karis' katana. Karis, on the other hand, remained in her position. Even with an attack coming her way, she hadn't budged a bit.
"Hey, stupid king," Ren called out to King Galen who was surprised at Arthur's sudden attack.
"I believe this covers the 'if your lives are in danger' condition right?"
"Yes, I'm sorry it turned out like this," King Galen apologized.
"What is the meaning of this?" Midas said as he stood up from his seat.
"I gave them the go signal to act independently once their lives are in danger. I never expected a smooth discussion with you anyway."
"Why you! Arthur! Kill them all! We'll just make our own excuses later own," Midas commanded.
However, Arthur couldn't reply immediately as he was struggling from the clash between him and Ren.
"Hoh? You're not too bad after all. No one was able to receive the swing of my sword and lived to tell the tale!" Arthur boasted as he tried to push his blade against Ren's katana.
"..."
"Hey! What's wrong?! Are you mute?!"
"She's crying," Ren said in a soft whisper.
"Huh?!"
"SHE'S CRYING!" Ren shouted as he deflected Arthur's blade, and sent him flying towards one of Midas' statues.
"Hey! That costed five hundred gold!" Midas exclaimed.
Arthur quickly stood up from the rubble of the statue, scratching his head as he did so. He took a look back at his opponent, who was looking at him with bloodshot eyes. Behind him was his earlier target, trying her best not to bawl but tears still overflowed from her eyes, and dropped down onto the carpet. She was silently crying while retaining her position.
"I'll rip your fucking head off and shove it down your rib cage," Ren said with a monotone voice.
"You have a way with words huh? I like it! You're worthy of being my opponent!" Arthur replied.
"NO STOP! MY PRECIOUS ORNAMENTS!" Midas screamed before the two could attack each other.
"GALEN! YOU TELL YOUR GUARD TO STOP OR I WILL BE FORCED TO DECLARE WAR UPON YOU! LET'S SETTLE THIS IN A DIFFERENT WAY!" he said, trying to avoid further damaging his precious throne room.
"Ren, calm down. Your life is no longer in danger," King Galen requested calmly.
"I'll apologize and pay you the proper reparations in exchange for the trauma that Karis underwent," he added.
"No amount of money will ever be enough to pay for those heads on the floor, and Karis' broken mind right now," Ren replied.
"I'll do everything I can! Please! Just please let's hear out what the monarch has to say. I want to avoid going on war as much as possible!"
"Heh! How far you've fallen Ironblade, begging for your mere guard to calm down. Also, what is his relationship with that fiend anyway? Why is he so offended over a bunch of demon heads," Midas mocked.
"She is his wife."
"Wife--ppft! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Midas burst out laughing after hearing King Galen's answer. Everyone else present in the room laughed as well.
"Wife?! You're kidding me right?! A human with a demon wife?! I would've believed it more if you said sex slave but a wife?!" Arthur said as he joined on the laughter.
"Enough. Let's hear your way of settling this Midas!"
"Very well! I thought this would've been over in an instant, but obviously, this guard of yours seems to be quite strong as well. That's why I propose that we settle this in a duel," Midas suggested.
"A duel?"
"That's right! A duel between our Hero, and your 'Guild Acknowledged' guard. If we win, we'll take some territory from you and cut those two's heads off."
"Territory? Hmph. Fine, then what about if we win?"
"You state your condition. We'll gladly agree to anything," Midas challenged as he felt that he's already won the match with his confidence to their hero's strength.
"I want both of your hands chopped up like those statues you're so proud of. If you admire your decorations that much, then you should at least be exactly like them," Ren answered with an angry look before King Galen could say anything.
"Silence you impudent brat! Your voice has no weight here!"
"No, I'll go with his condition," King Galen said, supporting Ren's desire.
"Is that so? Well then, fine. It's not like you have a chance of winning anyway. Now come! Let us meet in the arena!"
Midas stood up and left the throne room along with Arthur, and his knights. Meanwhile, King Galen, and Ren stood by idly as they watched the first group leave.
"I really am sorry about this Ren," King Galen apologized once again but Ren gave no answer. Instead he knelt down beside his grieving wife. He wrapped his arm around her neck and brought her closer to his chest as she held back her sniveling.
"Hey Galen," Ren called out. Normally, King Galen would've pointed out his disrespectful addressing of him, but this time, he knew he was not in the position to protest.
"W-what is it?" he replied with a hint of fear in his voice.
"Can I just straight up kill that fat bastard?"
"I would like to avoid that as much as possible."
"I see."
"Like I said, I'll just pay you up with whatever I can as apology, I promise. In fact, I'll start looking after the demons now as well. These poor souls are supposed to have been from our territory, but we failed to protect them. That's why I'll atone for my short-comings."
"I see," Ren repeated.
He then raised his wife's head to look onto her face, and gave her a light kiss to calm her down.
"We'll give them a proper burial later," Ren said.
Karis did a silent nod in reply as she still couldn't muster the strength to speak. She needed them all into holding back from crying her eyes out.
Shortly after, the three finally stood up, and headed to the door to meet the monarch and his champion into the arena, and settle things once, and for all.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Act 2 - Hero vs Hero
"Now everyone! Gather around gather around! This is a match that you wouldn't want to miss. After all, it is not so often that we get to see our Hero in action!" the voice of an announcer echoed all over the stadium, followed by the wild roar of the crowd. Arthur waved his hands to everyone like the celebrity that he is, and the spectators, in return, cheered for him.
In order to resolve the earlier conflict in a formal manner, Sahnper's monarch suggested that it all came down to a one vs one showdown between their hero, and one of Ironblade's escorts, Ren. The venue was an open, square stadium, with a circular ring in the middle where the two parties will duke it out.
"Are you sure you're going to be fine?"
"Yeah. I'm not losing to this bastard."
The entire Ironblade group was standing by in one of the waiting rooms, discussing about the earlier matters to pass the time.
"I'm really sorry about earlier, Ren," King Galen apologized again as he felt that he was somehow responsible for this mess.
"Why didn't you tell me that another hero was summoned?"
"Because I'm not sure about it myself. Midas is well-known for his constant lying so I didn't think it was really possible that he did it. Why? Are you that concerned about another hero taking your spot?" King Galen asked.
"No. I never cared about my title anyway. However, I just thought that if there was another like me here, then who's to say that there are others? Also, I don't need your apology. You should give it to her," Ren answered as he looked at the still shook up Karis.
"Hey you, you're up!" one of the guards watching over them called out to Ren.
"Don't try to do anything funny, I will personally see to it that all your limbs are cut off if any one of my companions, at the very least, get injured while I'm out there," Ren said to the guard as he made his way outside into the ring.
"Heh! You don't scare me. Besides, it's all over once you lose this duel. I don't have to do anything," the guard snapped back.
Ren scoffed in response to the guard's provocation then finally made his way out into the ring where the roar of more than a thousand people met his ears. People thirsting for blood as they screamed their cheers for their hero, and curses for Ren himself.
"Now here comes our challenger from abroad! Introducing! The man who claimed to have a demon as his wife! Well ain't that just hilarious! Don't you think so!" the crowd laughed in response to the announcer's mocking introduction.
"This man right here is so desperate for affection that he would accept anything, even a wild beast's love! If you're that into those creatures, then you should've just screwed a monkey you dumbass!" the laughter grew wilder after the announcer's remark.
"Hey you little shit, I don't have the time to be hearing your stupid remarks. I got shit to do so can we start with the duel before I shove that mic up your ass?" Ren screamed to the announcer as he was starting to lose his patience.
"Wha-! WHY YOU! Fine then! Hero! Give that guy who insulted everyone's favorite announcer a painful death!"
"You're everyone's favorite? This country must have poor taste huh?"
"BEGIN! BEGIN THE DUEL!" the announcer shouted before he got to hear more of Ren's insults.
Ren and Arthur stood at the opposite side of each other, staring their opponent down from head to toe. Compared to Ren who was currently unarmed, Arthur is fully decked with his steel armor, his golden shield in his left hand, and his great sword at his right.
"Where is that blade you have earlier? In fact what are you going to fight me with? Or have you already resigned?" Arthur asked as he was getting ready for his attack.
"Oh don't worry about me. I have all the weapons I need right...here," Ren replied as he pulled something out from his pockets. He held his hand out to show Arthur the weapon he just pulled out. It was a pair of yoyos, nothing more, nothing less.
"Pfft! HAHAHAHAHA! Hey what's this? You really take this for a joke do you? Oh I know! You realized that you were dead anyway so you just decided to act cool and play around. I see, I see. Not a bad way to go out! I like it!" Arthur said while he laughed his heart out.
"Whoops what's this?! Ladies and gentlemen, our dear challenger here is about to fight our champion with a pair of toys? So he'd already given up huh?! Well, no matter! A blood bath is a blood bath!"
"Yeah that's right! Gut him!"
"Spill his brains on the ring!"
The crowd went wild as the announcer kept throwing more insults to Ren, but Ren didn't mind them one bit. He was too busy looking at Arthur with all the concentration he had.
"I'm not playing around you know?"
"Huh?"
"I'm dead serious."
With a swift motion, Ren whipped his right yoyo over to Arthur which he caught with his shield. The yoyo bounced off the surface of the shield and landed right back at Ren's hand with its string rolled back.
"Hah! I didn't even feel that!" Arthur remarked, but in the time that he took to speak, Ren already began his next move. He threw his other yoyo at Arthur, and again, it bounced off his shield. However, Ren did not let up. The moment one of his yoyos bounced off the shield's surface, his other yoyo was already on the way. Relentlessly, he whipped his yoyo over and over again to the shield, unleashing a flurry of attacks that Arthur can't even do anything but defend from.
"This is getting annoying!" Arthur said out loud as he defended from Ren's attacks over and over again.
"Wait a second, why am I scared of these mere toys? I should be able to tank a hit or two while I charge him. Heck, I can take as many hits as I can," he suddenly realized as he notices that armor that he's wearing.
After thinking about it, he deflected one last yoyo strike, and let go of his defenses as he charged head-on towards Ren.
"Bad idea."
"!!!"
Not long after he made his move, Arthur received a heavy blow on his face, the most vulnerable spot on his armored body. It didn't just stop with a single strike though as Ren violently smashed his two yoyos on Arthur's face over, and over again, and each successful hit mutilated Arthur's facial structure.
"Shit!" left with no choice, Arthur raised his shield again.
"Shit those yoyos actually hurt! What are those made of?!"
While Arthur was busy defending from Ren's attacks, the spectators watching was silence by Ren's amazing display of skill. Even the announcer that was badmouthing him earlier had his jaw wide open in amazement at the things Ren is pulling off with a mere toy.
"ENOUGH!" Arthur screamed as he swiped the yoyos with his shield, and raised his sword into the sky. He received some yoyo strikes on the head while he left himself wide open but he toughed it out with all his mind.
"Activate Mythic Spell: Unbreakable!" Arthur shouted as a ray of light descended upon him, and suddenly his entire body is glowing with a golden light. The yoyos stopped hitting his face and were bouncing off a few inches away from him, as if an invisible protective film was on his body.
"I'll kill you!" Arthur said as he began charging forward.
"THERE IT IS! THE HERO'S SKILL; UNBREAKABLE! BY INCREASING HIS PHYSICAL TOUGHNESS TIMES TEN-FOLD, HE CAN BRUSH ALL OF THOSE ATTACKS AS HE CHARGES FORWARD!" the announcer screamed as the the life came back to the spectators who were now cheering loudly.
After noticing that his yoyo strikes are no longer doing anything to his opponent, Ren retracted his weapon as he simply watched while Arthur charged directly at him.
"A mythic spell huh? Then, I'll answer it with this."
Ren whipped both of his yoyos at the same time. Arthur, confident that it was just a joint attack that will hurt twice as much, kept going onwards. With his times ten-fold defense, a two-fold enhanced attack should be nothing. The yoyos flew towards him, converging together in front of his face. Then suddenly...
*click*
The yoyos collided together in front of Arthur, and the collision resulted in a deafening explosion that engulfed his entire body, and the surrounding area as well.
"What!" the announcer shrieked as he was surprised by the sudden explosion.
As the smoke cleared out, the bloodied body of Sahnper's hero emerged. Parts of his armor was chunked off, and his head gear was totally destroyed. His shield and sword were still fine but since his face was at the brunt of the explosion, blood flooded down to his neck from his noggin.
"I-Impossible, unbreakable...got...dest-troyed?" he said with heavy breathes as he struggled to keep himself standing. He had taken too much damage to bear.
"This can't be..."
"This can't be."
"This can't be!"
"THIS CAN'T BE!" Arthur repeated as he completely lost his mind, charging aggressively at Ren, not minding the consequences.
"I AM THE HERO! I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE TO A NOBODY LIKE YOU!" he screamed. In his outrage, his great sword absorbed his golden aura, extending its reach with his fighting spirit. The sword's reach was now twice as it was before, which made Ren leap back to get out of its range.
"GET BACK HERE!" Arthur screamed while he charged forward and violently swung his sword without thinking about his target. His novice skills as a swordsman was being exposed, and letting the spectators see him as a kid with a tantrum.
"This is just pitiful. I actually feel sorry for you now," Ren said under his breath as he continued on leaping away from Arthur's attacks. The 'hero' was just chasing him blindly now.
"I'll claim my victory now."
Deciding to finish this short duel, Ren prepared his yoyos for his final attack.
"DIE!" Arthur screamed out as he barely hit Ren on the face, but Ren managed to dodge it with a perfectly timed, back step. While Arthur was being carried over with the momentum of his attack, Ren whipped his yoyo directly into Arthur's face, making it explode on contact, although weaker than the earlier blast.
The explosion sent Arthur stumbling back but before he had any time to recover, another yoyo was on his face. This time, the blast sent him falling backwards, and then another explosion occurred right below him, forcing him on his feet back up. As Arthur was being forced to stand up by the explosion, Ren gathered his yoyos and started swinging them around wildly over his head. He twisted his body with the rotations, like a skillful dancer, swinging around and around, and getting faster with each step. Finally, he smashed both yoyos straight into Arthur's chest, and a lateral explosion sent him flying away to the walls separating the ring and the spectator's area.
All of the people present went quiet as they witnessed their proud hero get handled easily by a nobody from another land. Midas especially, who was watching from the highest seat along with his knights was wide-eyed in shock. The trump card that he was boasting to King Galen was now knocked out by a mere adventurer that King Galen hired to escort him on his journey.
After letting the silence sit on for a few seconds longer, Ren walked over to Arthur's unconscious body, and started dragging him by the leg. He made his way and stood in the middle of the ring, took a deep breath, and made an announcement that will shook the entire stadium, and the monarch, to their cores.
"My name is Ren! I am a hero summoned by the Ironblade kingdom! And with my power, I will create a world where humans, and demons can live side-by-side with each other! This conflict that had been ongoing for years will see its resolution! And it will end not in war, but in peace! If any of you have a problem with that, step down here and take my life!" he screamed as he raised Arthur's body by his collar for all of Sahnper to see.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Act 3 - Humiliation
"Kill him! Take his head! Cut off his limbs! All my knights I command you all!" Midas started shouting unintelligible orders to his soldiers for the sake of eliminating Ren. All knights present in the arena began scrambling towards the ring as their monarch had ordered. Ren quickly made his way to the area where King Galen and Karis were.
"You two, come on. It's no longer safe here," Ren said to the two who were nervously waiting for him to return. The guard that was keeping an eye on them was knocked unconscious, presumably from Karis' actions as her blade was withdrawn.
"I wasn't expecting you to just up and reveal your identity like that. What were you planning?" King Galen curiously asked.
"This Midas guy is really getting on my nerves. I need to scare the hell out of him else this thing is never going to end."
"It looked like it had the opposite effect though."
"I'm not done yet. For the meantime I need you two to stick close to me since it's all chaotic now."
Ren, Karis, and Galen made it out of the waiting room to the ring, only to be greeted by squads of knights, cutting off their path. Ren easily blasted them away with the yoyo. It's explosive power was enough to send the weakling knights flying.
The three of them now found themselves in the middle of the ring, surrounded by Sahnper's knight order from all direction. Midas went down and surveyed the situation at a closer perspective.
"I'm sorry it had to end like this King Galen. Unfortunately, my pride is at stake. Don't you worry, I'll take good care of your nation after I'm done taking over it," he said mockingly as he looked down on Galen.
"You're not taking over anything. Didn't you hear what this man said earlier? He's also a summoned hero who destroyed yours in a fair duel. What makes you think you can take us out?"
"Silence! Only one hero can exist in a story, and that hero is ours! Your victory is just a fluke, and I will prove it!"
"What a hopeless old man," Ren scoffed.
The knights then began advancing toward Ren's group. He then readied his yoyo while Karis went on a fighting stance.
"Only protect the king, Karis. We don't want you being shown as a threat as of yet," Ren ordered.
"Understood."
The battle then began as Ren sent the advancing knights flying towards the stadium walls. Wave after wave of enemies kept approaching but none of them were able to reach a certain radius within Ren's range. The weaker knights survived about a round or two of being blasted by the explosion before they are finally knocked unconscious. Some of the more sturdier knights went again and again, brute-forcing their way as they stood up immediately after falling down.
"What are you doing! It's just one measly guard dog! Kill him!" Midas shouted impatiently as he watched his knights get toyed around like a ragdoll. Even the elite knights seemed to have started to lose their bravado.
Once the numbers had thinned down, Ren ceased on using the explosive feature and just bashed the knights with the yoyo's sturdy build. It was strong enough to attack Arthur's shield over and over again so it had no trouble smashing through the knights' inferior armor. Soon enough, all of the knights present on the ring had fallen down, unconscious. No one was able to approach the king's vicinity so Karis didn't have to lift a finger throughout all that.
"Oh, he's behind a wall. Just perfect," Ren said in a low voice.
He then shattered some pieces of the ring, and created a monolith with it just in front of him. He then created a portal on it, with its other side connecting with the wall just behind Midas. Ren reached out to the portal, grabbing Midas by the neck, and dragged him over to his side. The spectators made surprise noises as their monarch was suddenly transported to the attacker's hand.
"Let go of me you fool! Do you not know who I am! Let your dirty hands off of me!" Midas screamed as he flailed his arms around.
"You talk too much for someone who is in killing range. I can crush your neck right here for all of the people to see, you know?" Ren threatened.
"F-FOOL YOU WOULN'T!"
"Yes I would."
After his failed attempt of bluffing his way out, Midas felt that the grasp on his neck was tightening. His throat is beginning to collapse, giving him trouble to breath.
"Sto-- Sto hih you bahtar! (Stop it you bastard!)" Midas coughed.
"I don't care what your status is. Anyone who makes my wife cry will pay the price."
"Sto-!"
"That's enough Hero," King Galen cut in as he noticed that Midas' face was starting to go pale from lack of air.
"Please put him down. Let me handle the rest," he requested.
At the king's pleading, Ren let go of his grip and let Midas plop onto the floor as he struggled to catch his breath, coughing heavily. Midas grabbed his neck to soothe the pain of being almost being crushed by Ren's grip.
"I-I knew I could count on you King Galen. Now order him to cut open his stomach, and the relationship between our country will--"
"Shut your trap. Have you forgotten the fact that you just ordered to get me killed?" King Galen said as he withdrew his own blade, and pointed it at Midas' neck.
"Wha- What are you doing! Do you realize what this means?! Are you planning to wage war on us?"
"I don't plan to, but even if I did, it's pretty obvious what's going to happen. Look around you. All of these were done by one man."
At Galen's suggestion, Midas turned his head to look at the view around him. Countless knights lay unconscious on the ring floor, some were just starting to wake up, and most of all, his trump card, Arthur, was still unconscious and a bloody mess. His armor pieces which had been crafted by the finest blacksmiths in Sahnper were torn to shreds, and his shield had deep dents in them.
"Well? Still want me to wage war on you?" Galen threatened.
"I got! I got it! I surrender! I apologize for trying to kill you!" Midas apologized as he prostrated himself in front of Galen.
"I'll do anything! Please! Don't kill me!" he pleaded.
"Tch. What a pathetic display of your authority. This is not the way to surrender gracefully. Look at you. Look at how your people see you," Galen replied.
The people who came to watch their hero's duel were suddenly treated for the show of their lives as they witness their tyrant king bowing at the feet of another king from abroad. There were some faces that looked disgusted at the sight, while there are also some who showed wry smiles, presumably those that had a grudge against the monarch.
"Now then, Ren, he's all yours," King Galen offered.
"What? What do you mean?" Midas asked, confused.
"I can't really think of anything to force you to do so I'll let Ironblade's Hero decide. He's the one who did all the dirty work after all."
"What are you saying! I won't fall much further from grace than I already did. I won't let myself be pulled around by this fake hero!"
"Oh but he's no fake hero. Yours might be possibly. It's very clear since we both know who the victor of this little bout was."
"I-- Damn it all!"
King Galen stepped aside to make room for Ren to stand in front of the monarch. He looked down on him as if he was looking at a pile of trash. He then placed his left foot over the monarch's head as he continued to grovel. After a while, he hardened his press on the man's head, forcing it hard onto the ground.
"Hey Ren!" King Galen tried to stop him but he saw the look in Ren's eyes and decided to just back away.
"Stay calm. I won't crush his head even if I could. I'll just humiliate him in front of the whole kingdom," Ren said.
"In front of the whole kingdom? What do you mean?" Galen asked.
Ren didn't say a word and simply pointed a finger upwards, toward the sky. Galen followed Ren's direction, and also noticed in the meantime that everyone else in the arena were looking up at the sky. As soon as Galen spotted the center of everyone's attention, his eyes went wide in shock.
The image of the monarch being stepped on by a mere boy, and the unconscious bodies of more than a hundred knight was shown in the air as a projection. The image was way above the arena's highest point, allowing it to be shown for all of Sahnper's capital to see.
"You..."
"I believe you owe me a pair of arms."
"What?!"
SLASH
"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Midas howled in pain as his left and right arms were cut clean off. Ren used his yoyos' strings to severe Midas' hands which was the condition for his victory. Midas' scream was heard throughout the whole stadium, which shook all of the spectator to their bones, seeing their monarch get his arm cut off in person.
"From this day onwards, you will no longer be the tyrannical ruler that your people serve in fear. You will now become the public's servant to make this country better off than the shithole it is right now," Ren declared in a loud voice.
"If I ever caught wind of any unjust actions of yours, I will personally come to this city, and rip your head off for all of Sahnper to see. Are we clear?"
Midas did not answer as he was still busy screaming in pain.
"ARE. WE. CLEAR?!" Ren repeated in a loud voice.
"YES! I UNDERSTAND!" Midas screamed at the top of his lungs in a rather pathetic voice. His fear can be felt by all of the people watching the scene.
"Good," Ren said as he removed his foot from atop Midas' head. The monarch then slowly lifted up his head to gaze at the three people before him, however before he could fix his gaze, Ren's foot came crashing on his chin, sending him flying towards the arena wall. Some chunks fell off and landed on top of him but he was still conscious.
"Isn't that a bit too much?" King Galen said as he started to pity the monarch.
"I could've done worse," Ren replied.
"Are you sure that's what you want? What about opening this country for the demons as well?"
"Hmph. As if I can feel safe with the demons being here. I don't trust this guy just yet so I'm not risking it, otherwise we may have a repeat of what happened earlier. Also why would they want to go in this desert wasteland?" Ren answered.
"Good point. But still..."
As the two were arguing, the rest of the knights finally stood up, Arthur included, and their reactions were priceless after seeing their ruler, lying under a pile of rubble, armless. Ren made his way over to Arthur after seeing him awake.
"Please! Don't hurt me! I've had enough!" Arthur exclaimed as he stepped back in fear.
"Settle down. I won't do anything to you, well, not yet at least. I need you to answer some questions for me," Ren said.
"Yes!" Arthur replied with almost no hesitation.
And thus, the events at the arena were wildly talked about all over Sahnper, spreading like wildfire even to the frontier villages.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Act End - Questions
A few hours after the incident at the arena, the Ironblade party were guided back at the monarch's palace, or rather, they demanded one final diplomatic discussion before heading back home. Midas got his severed arm patched up before they headed back. Now he looked exactly like the statues littered in his room. The pain was still too much for him to bear but he did his best to put up a dignified face to his audience.
"A-alright, I'm willing to turn a blind eye on whatever happened earlier. Ahem, I'll cease with the idea of waging a war onto you as well since it would be a massive waste of resources for little to no gain. Yep, that's the reason."
"Hey."
"YES?!" Midas jumped on his seat after Ren called out to him.
"I'll need a private discussion with that hero of yours. Mind if I borrow him?" Ren replied as he pointed his finger towards Arthur, still in his tattered armor.
"Yes! Of course! Do borrow him for as long as you like, I won't mind!" Midas answered while wearing the most welcoming of smile, albeit forced.
"Calm the fuck down, you're not even worth threatening anymore."
After beckoning him over, Arthur followed Ren far away from the monarch's audience, behind one of the room's pillars.
"So, what would you like to talk about?" Arthur said, as he sat down seiza style. Ren merely leaned on the pillar with his arms crossed.
"You're from Earth right?" Ren asked.
"Yes! Yes I am! So that means you as well?"
"Yeah, I was summoned here about a year ago. How about you?"
"Well...aren't the days here different?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, right. Well from what I understood of this world so far, a month is about twenty-nine days exactly, and there are ten months in a year. Just from what I heard at least."
"Is that so? Then, I guess I'm here for around two months?" Arthur gave out an uncertain answer as he closed his eyes to recall his time in this world.
"Anyway, dude your pretty amazing! Is that from your experience of being a hero for a whole year? I can't even get mad now, knowing that you have more experience than me! Please teach me your ways! Allow me to call you Ren-senpai from here on out!" the young man said as he bows his head onto the ground, worshipping Ren like he is some sort of god. The arrogance that Arthur had from earlier was already long gone, and his face now resembles that of a child, admiring a hero in a television show with sparkles in his eyes.
"That's disgusting, get the hell away from me," Ren immediately shooed him off.
"Don't be so cold now Ren-senpai! I'm willing to listen to everything you say!" Arthur replied as he grabbed onto Ren's leg.
"I said back the hell up or do you want eleven more explosions to the face?"
"As you wish!" Arthur pulled back in an instant after Ren's warning.
"What was the last thing you remember doing before you got sent to this world?" Ren suddenly asked with a serious face.
Arthur, sensing the urgency in Ren's voice, put up a serious face as well and ceased his playful manner from earlier.
"Well, last time I remember I was in Earth, I believe I was having some late night gaming sessions with my friends. It was about 3 AM already when I stopped and went to bed, and then when I woke up, bam! I was already here. Of course, I've read about stuff like this and thought I was living the dream fantasy world so I played the role of the hero that was given to me," Arthur replied.
"3 AM? Not too far off from when I went to bed as well, then again there was a huge time gap between our summons, also the fact that we may not have been transported at the same day," Ren pondered.
"Mind if I ask why does this concern you?"
"Well it's just that if there's two of us here, there's the possibility of other people from our world being summoned here as well. And I certainly don't want to deal with any potential fools who acts like you and brings divine judgement or whatever to anyone in this world."
"Does it bother you that much? You must've really grown attached to this world huh?"
"Not really, although I do want to keep the quiet life I'm leading so I can't let idiots like you loose," Ren retorted.
"You're really hurting my feelings here Ren-senpai."
"And it won't be the last if you won't stop with this senpai bullshit."
"Hey chill! I don't know what to address you then!" Arthur exclaimed as he backed away from Ren.
"How old are you anyway. Don't you feel weirded out calling someone who looks your age a senpai?"
"I'm 17..." Arthur declared.
"Well...shit. Guess it's proper then huh? Damn, I hate this."
"Then it's ok if I--"
"Just for the fact that we won't be seeing each other that much, I'll allow it. I'll hate it, but I'll allow it."
"I'm extremely honored! Thank you Ren-senpai!" Arthur screamed as he literally bashes his head on the ground, causing a slight quaking within the room.
"Anyway, what do you plan to do now Ren-senpai?" he asked as he raised his head to look at Ren.
"Just keep living like I usually do. Ironblade was quite confident with their summoning ritual so I doubt there will be anyone out there that will be a match for me. Although, I still don't like your king so keep a close eye on him for me," Ren answered as he looked behind where King Galen, and Midas were having a conversation.
"Got it!"
"Also..."
"Yes?"
"Those demons you killed for no reason. Give them a proper burial. I better see them here in the palace's courtyard next time I come here else you're the one I'm burying."
"Yes of course!"
After their short discussion, Ren and Arthur each went back to their respective sovereigns. With their country's hero at their sides, Galen, and Midas stood up as they prepare to bid farewell to each other.
"I'm terribly sorry for the events earlier."
"Me too, I wished I could've handled it better."
The two shook their hands, well King Galen, and Midas' representative did, as they gave their parting speech, although it seemed like Midas was forcing himself to speak such words. Nevertheless, his apology had at least an obvious tone of fear in it.
King Galen, Ren, and Karis all headed out to the palace's courtyard without any of the Sahnper knights escorting them away. At the front driveway stood their carriage, and the ground dragon pulling it. Karis gave the dragon another gentle pat on the head to which the dragon rubbed its head on Karis' face in return.
"Good job bringing us all here today, now let's head home," she said, and the dragon replied with a friendly bellow.
"Hey, aren't you two going to take a ride?" King Galen said from inside the carriage.
"Don't have to. You two lead your dragon to follow behind me," Ren said, pointing at the two drivers in front.
Ren, Karis, and the carriage itself made their way to the palace's perimeter wall, to which Ren created a portal on it, large enough to fit the king's carriage through.
"Now come."
The two drivers exchanged confused glances as they saw Ren create a huge whole on the wall, nevertheless, they followed his instruction and followed the two through the wall.
"What in the!" one of the drivers screamed in surprise as they appeared on the clearing just past Ironblade capital's walls. The main road leading away from the city was just a few distance away on their left.
"Unbelievable... nine days worth of travel, cut off in mere seconds... as expected of the hero!" the other driver exclaimed.
"I believe that's this escort mission done," Ren called out to the king inside the carriage.
"Yeah, thank you so much. Come collect your reward in two days. I'll need to make some preparations." the king replied as he stuck his head out the window.
After giving the carriage three gentle taps, the drivers led it away to enter the capital's interiors, back to the safety of the city walls.
"Alright that's that done. Karis, let's go home," Ren instructed.
"Sure but, aren't you going to build a portal to Sahnper?"
"I can take care of that later, I'm too tired right now. I want to take one long nap."
"Right..."
At Ren's command, Karis opened up the portal leading back to their Nexus at home. The two then went straight to their mountain house, carrying the leftover luggage that they have over. Future trips to Sahnper will no longer be a hassle, though there are still places that they need to travel to in the future in case they wanted to setup another destination.
"Ren, what about those demons. Aren't we going to bury them?" Karis asked, remembering those demon heads that scarred her mind.
"Oh, them. I asked that Arthur guy to bury it instead in their palace grounds. We can visit them anytime if you want."
"In the palace grounds?"
"Yeah, just a way to remind that stupid monarch that I exist, apart from the fact that I cut off his arm of course."
"I see... that's pretty brutal."
After their short talk, Ren and Karis went to their bedroom where the bed that was vacant for nine long nights stood waiting for them to use it again. Ren was the first to dive in, burying his face in the bed's sheets.
"Ahh, there's no place like home!" he said as he turned around. His gaze met with Karis who was staring at him with quite a scary look in her eyes.
"Karis?" Ren asked, his voice sounded quite concerned, not for Karis, but to his own safety.
"Nine days..." Karis whispered.
"What?"
"Nine days... I had to hold myself back. I hope you're prepared... Master~" Karis said in a playful voice as she licked her lips in the most seductive, yet intimidating way possible. Danger signals were appearing in Ren's mind, his mind worked ten times faster as he tried finding ways to mitigate the incoming disaster.
"Hey, wait, wait, wait, we just got back, would it hurt to--"
Ren tried to talk some sense into his wife, but like a tiger that spotted a helpless prey, the demon pounced on him with all her might.
From afternoon till evening, the Crescent Mountains were filled with the noise of Karis' passionate screams, and Ren's call for mercy.
Meanwhile...
"So they did summon a hero after all?"
Phoros and King Galen were having a discussion after Galen's return to the castle. The confirmation that another hero, was in fact summoned, concerned Phoros.
"To think that another nation had the knowledge contained in the ancient tome. How was this possible?" Phoros pondered.
"Well, it seemed like whatever summoning they did was imperfect. Ren effortlessly destroyed that other hero in a duel. It can't be even be called a fair fight," King Galen recalled the two's duel, although it might be a stretch to already call it a duel.
"Just because Sahnper's Hero is weak, doesn't mean their summon was imperfect. In fact, you can't summon someone if the procedures aren't perfect in the first place," Phoros rebutted.
"Well, granted that it was a perfect summon, the fact remains that Ren won so there's no trouble to be seen any further from Sahnper."
"Sahnper's hero is not the main issue here, your majesty," Phoros said as he stood up to take a look at the bright full moon shining high in the sky.
"Then what's the main issue?" King Galen asked with a worried look on his face.
"Are there more?"