Arthur POV

  “I must say that I should retract my previous statement about your acting skills.” Regis commented as I stepped out of the portal I had created.

  Ignoring Regis I turned to Neoth who was messing about with some control panel that was decorated with glyphs and runes.

  “Give him some time to rest.”

  “Just gotta add babysitter to the list.” Neoth muttered under his breath.

  “Hey, he is my best friend. In both my lives.” I said.

  “Was.” Regis pointed out as he got up to his feet.

  I glared at Regis, sometimes I wished he had an off button or was just a simple asuran weapon. While I was thankful for his comments and companionship there was a limit to these things.

  “Don’t be so hard on him.” Sylvie spoke up from the chair she was sitting on. Despite her young appearance as the days went by she acted more and more like the elegant young noble lady her bloodline suggested. From the corner of my eyes I could see Neoth’s face turn into a grimace for a moment. It seemed no matter what, even a young dragon who wasn’t raised by asuras still brought the ire and hatred from the Djinn.

  “He is technically made from a part of you. It makes sense that he would feel such strong emotions.” Sylvie said as Regis trotted towards her and allowed her to pat his head while he stared at me with a large frown.

  “Aw Sylvie, what would he do to me if you weren’t around.” Regis winned, faking emotional pain.

  “If only you had the good parts of me.” I sighed as I leaned on my sheathed sword. Still, I was very grateful to have them both with me. I knew the mental effects of using aether so extensively so I don’t want to imagine how I could have turned out if it weren’t for these two who anchor me to reality. And it was nice sometimes to just have someone to talk to. But this nice warm feeling was undercut by what the future held for all of us.

  Peering into the great unknown that is the future was never an easy ordeal. It was also taxing on my body and mind. If it weren’t for my accelerated processing power and clairvoyance with King’s Gambit I would have already gone insane by this point.

  The visions were always murky, everchanging. As soon as I think I have a clear image it shifts and changes. Countless pathways all leading from this point in the present and stretching as far as I could see through the large dunes of sand. Only a few details were shared among them. Most were terrible, a future I must steer clear from. While others were more desirable. The problem was even if I could clearly see the destination the method of getting to that goal wasn’t any clearer to me.

  If this power that the Djinn Emperor had bestowed upon me was once his then I wondered how he had dealt with it. I could feel myself being drawn to the prescient visions. But I knew if I were to be consumed by them I could be nothing but a slave to fate. Forever walking a predestined path to my end. While I would have liked to talk to the Djinn leader, the Custodians even barred me from entering his throneroom unless it was absolutely necessary.

  I peered over my shoulder to find one of the custodians who had followed out. They said they tagged along in order to guard me. Stating they didn’t intend to lose someone the Emperor had chosen to be the acting-emperor. But even now I can tell from their gaze. They don’t completely believe or trust me.

  I knew if the Emperor were somehow able to walk and command once again they wouldn’t hesitate if the order was given to discard me. They would deem me as too much of a threat, I knew too much and held power even the gods feared. Or they would capture me alive to turn over to Varactor to be a test subject. Heck it might not even take the miraculous revival of their Emperor to do it.

  If Vago could muster enough support and convince them they would turn on a dime. They even said that the Emperor, their creator and master is the only one they would take orders from. There was no governmental body within the Djinn Empire that would hold them. They were completely separated from any laws. Not that laws really applied to them anyway. They worked directly under the Emperor. His word was their law.

  Even with my own enhanced senses and Realmheart I could barely perceive them. They emitted no natural mana or aetheric signature. It made me wonder just what went into their creation. That secret of course was something only the Emperor knew.

  If I couldn’t completely win them over to my side I had to tread lightly around them. I had half of them left on the Djinn throneroom to deter Demeptah from any funny business. But in truth I didn’t want all ten of them running around Dicathen freely. I had to come up with some plan in case of their turn. I could always outright kill them in combat but that wasn’t what I was worried about.

  “You sure like to worry a lot.” Regis said as he was now laying on his back getting bellyrubs from Sylvie.

  I sighed and let out a small chuckle. “A sentient weapon created by a master asuran craftsman harnessing the power of destruction itself and here it is getting bellyrubs like an overgrown dog.”

  “I am a wolf.” Regis protested.

  “Sure buddy, whatever you say.” I replied as I turned my attention back to Neoth.

  “Your friend seems to be taking this better than I had expected.” He said as he created a large projection with mana for all of us to see.

  The image showed Nico in his small room I had just left. He was now sitting on the bed with an empty look in his eyes. Marks of dried tears lined his face as he seemed to be frozen in time. It was a lot to process after all. And I don’t expect our friendship to return to how it was. But having him on my side at all would be a massive blow to Agrona’s plan.

  But in case of his betrayal I did place certain contingencies in place if such a thing were to happen. I was taking no chances in this war, too many things hung in the balance and I have already sacrificed too much to back down now.

  ‘You sure do think a lot.’ Regis barged into my thoughts.

  ‘He carries a lot on his shoulders. But yeah, and there are things you keep even from us.’ Sylvie added, giving me a concerned look that made her appear far more mature than her age would suggest. In fact her expression reminded me of Sylvia, which sent a small pang through my chest. I had come so far, but still in the end I couldn’t do much to help her.

  ‘I’m sorry. There are some things that I just-’ Before I could finish Sylvie interjected, and from her I could feel the warmth of acceptance and understanding radiating from her emotions.

  ‘Through thick and thin we will always be on your side Arthur. Just, take your time. We know that both of your lives haven’t been kind to you.’ Sylvie gave me a small smile.

  What did I do to deserve you? The words almost left my tongue but I closed my mouth before I could talk. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them the truth. That the time we shared was far more limited than we all would expect. But I dared not mess with Fate and the future now by telling them.

  I simply smiled back. At the very least I could cherish the moment we did share. They were all that were left of what resembled my family after all.

  “Ehem” Neoth cleared his throat to get my attention.

  Turning back to face him I saw that he had gotten rid of the display that showed Nico and was now staring at the control panel full of Djinn glyphs and runes.

  “Isn’t there a party that you should attend soon?” He asked with his eyebrows raised. He was clearly stressed, which was understandable. He had told me that dealing with souls and memories in a non-destructive manner was a hard task as it is. Not to mention that Agrona had already tampered with Nico before so that was another can of worms that he had to deal with. I would like to award Neoth in some way for his work, but I wasn’t quite sure what.

  If I ask what he desired he probably would want to place me or Sylvie in one of his displays. He already viewed me as an interesting anomaly, along with the Emperor’s sword and blessing he had on more than one occasion expressed his wants to preserve me in his collection. As for Sylvie, she was of royal Indrath blood, the granddaughter of Kezess himself.

  Pushing that idea to the side for now I carefully approached Neoth. Trying not to tick him off even further from his already stressed state.

  “Before you ask, no. I am busy enough with all this shit on my plate.” Neoth said without even looking up at me.

  “And if I wasn’t asking?” I said with a small smile as I placed my hand on the sword that was on my belt.

  “Are you threatening me after all I have done for you?” Neoth glared. The air was tense for a moment as we both stared at each other. While Neoth specialized in Vivum and more specifically soul manipulation and could hop to surrogate bodies, the Emperor’s sword was no ordinary blade.

  And in terms of combat proficiency I was confident against all but the very best of Djinn and asuras. We both knew that if this fight were to happen Neoth wasn’t the one that would be winning. But if I were to kill him now it would only be detrimental to me in the long run. I would be losing a Djinn ally I could somewhat trust, at least more than the others and crucial information.

  I could sense Sylvie and Regis stand on the edge as they were preparing to leap into action if needed. I could sense Neoth’s mana swelling up like an oncoming storm before all the tension was released with a deep sigh.

  “Why are we wasting our time like this? We both know we gain more with each other.” Neoth said as I dropped my hand from the pommel of my sword with a smile.

  “Come on, you know I was joking.” I said with both my arms up in protest. It truly was a joke, I had no intention of getting rid of Neoth as long as he didn’t hinder my plans. But I just wanted to see how he would react.

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  “Yeah yeah, I will divert a small portion of my effort to join you in your little vanity party.” Neoth waved my joke away.

  “You really are making me feel my age.” Neoth added as he straightened his back.

  “Shouldn’t you be dust by now then?” Regis asked as he laid back down. Sylvie had jumped out of her chair and walked up to stand beside me. As Sylvie drew closer I could see Neoth tracking her from the corners of his eyes. I could feel his entire body tense as Sylvie stood next to me.

  Neoth quickly recovered to snap back at Regis. “Then maybe you all should be a bit more respectful to your elders.”

  “Hai hai grandpa.” Regis retorted back as he laughed at his own joke. Neoth looked back at me with a look that screamed, “I am tired of this shit.”

  Suddenly a glyph on Neoth’s panel went red and emitted a strange sound. Whatever it was it didn’t sound like any positive sound.

  Neoth head quickly snapped back to the panel as he frantically tapped around. I joined me as I peered over his shoulder. From the quick changing runes I could make out some kind of alert system for a proximity security system.

  With me helping we were able to cover a large portion of Dicathen’s surface with aether rune arrays that all synced together to create a net of surveillance. We obviously didn’t use it to constantly monitor the entire continent, even with my massive reserves of aether from both my core and the device Neoth was working on it would be mere days before I was dry as desert sand. Now that I mention it I should ask about the progress of the main part of our plan, but now didn’t seem to be the most ample time to ask such a thing.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “A strong aether signature by the looks of it.” Neoth replied as his eyes glossed over, something that happened when he was tapping into his surrogate bodies and using them as his extra pairs of eyes. It was quite a useful skill I would say, with enough training and mental capacity you could possess multiple bodies at once. It was something I should ask him to train me in later.

  And if it was something that would trigger our array automatically with us knowing it was something worthy of our attention

  “A humanoid figure, possessing a mana core. With the markings of a Djinn.” Neoth spoke, more to himself.

  “Trouble?” I asked as I readied myself to head out. Regis also joined us as he got up onto his feet.

  “Perhaps one of Demeptah’s envoys? He does seem to have a passing interest in-” Regis asked.

  “No, he won’t waste time with such things. Maybe it is one of Vago’s.” Neoth before a look of recognition then confusing warped his face. His eyes returned to their normal state as he retrieved his staff from a dimensional storage.

  I could feel the mana and aether that was stored within it react, as if welcoming Neoth. All of the Djinn Highlords seemed to carry a similar weapon with runic markings as an item to show off their status and office. Some were family heirlooms while others were direct gifts from the Emperor himself when the Djinn joined his cause. And I would hazard a guess that Neoth’s one wasn’t one of the ordinary ones.

  “Well since you're here you might as well make use of it.That sword of yours could be useful.” Neoth said as he motioned for me to follow. I eagerly did so, as Regis jumped back into my core and Sylvie trailing behind me. I could also hear the heavy footsteps of the Custodian as he silently followed.

  ***

  “Do you mind actually telling us what we were dealing with here?” Sylvie asked as she walked in front of me. She had to walk a bit faster due to her shorter legs but I’d rather have that then leave her behind with the Custodians.

  “I would say she is an old acquaintance.” Neoth replied as we moved silently through the beast glades. I had originally suggested just teleporting us to our target but Neoth only said that it would alert her more than anything. And he had already placed a shroud of mana and aether around our entire group as cover.

  “You had friends?” Regis faked shock. But I would be lying to say that I was also thinking the same thing. Neoth was a kleptomaniac at the end of the day, there were already countless times where I had to stop him from capturing or have him return anything and everything he deemed necessary to place in his collection of relics from times lost to history. To put it simply he was a shut-in hoarder who seemed to hold disdain for anyone who didn’t share his interest in history and preserving it.

  “Please, as if I would stoop so low to be friends with that woman.” Neoth waved Regis’ mockery away. Seemingly not understanding that it was a jab to his character.

  “She is just a muscle head with anger issues. It’s a surprise that she even lasted so long in regular Djinn society.”

  “Then why is she here?” I asked. Most of the Djinn Highlords I have met all deemed dealing with lessers a chore at best. And focused all their attention in dealing with themselves or the asuras. Actually the Djinn council forbade any open contact with the material world and Ephetous. Deeming it any preemptive strike would only alert asuras to their survival and reignite their hunt for them. And while the relictomb’s defenses against asuras were in place, they weren’t foolproof. Even then I had heard that most of the notable Highlords were already captured, killed, or under Demeptah.

  I opened my mouth again to ask but Neoth placed an arm in front of me to stop us. In turn I activated Realmheart, as the particles that make up our world were laid bare to me. The motes of mana and aether, all flowing in tandem in a natural balance. When suddenly I noticed the spike in aetheric activity just up ahead.

  I pointed a finger. “There.” I said in a hushed voice. But before we did anything a concentrated blast of aether and mana struck us. Neoth and I were fine, with his armor and my body automatically reacted and took defensive measures. The problem was Sylvie, while she was growing fast in both strength and in size she still paled in comparison to any Highlord.

  I grabbed a hold of her before she was blown away but our target was already upon us. In a flurry of strikes she had already disarmed Neoth and stabbed him through the chest and with a sharp twist his body was in two. She then turned her attention to Sylvie, clearly recognizing her draconic features.

  She lunged forward, her arms and hand shrouded in mana and aether. I pushed Sylvie aside as Regis leapt out of my body to protect her. I went to draw my own sword but the two Custodians appeared in a flash of lightning in front of me. With motions I could barely track they had already tackled the rogue Highlord to the ground and had her head in between their weapons.

  “Wait!” Neoth shouted as he appeared in a new surrogate body, his staff and cloak materializing onto the new body.

  “Don’t kill her yet.” He said as he slowly approached.

  “Well well well, if it isn’t Erurda.” He said as he leaned down to look at her.

  “Neoth. So the rumors are true, I didn’t think you would care about the Emperor’s war.” She said as she looked up at both the Custodians.

  Neoth motioned for me and I complied as I drew the Emperor sword from its sheath. The entire world seemed to grow dim as the white fire of the blade was blinding.

  Erurda stared at it with wide eyes, being almost hypnotised by the sword’s fire before she demanded answers.

  “Who are you and why do you carry that weapon!” She shouted as she tried to rise to her feet only to be forced back down.

  “I don’t think you are in any position to demand such things. How about I just place you in one of my exhibits, don’t worry I can still let you keep your consciousness. Imagine that, frozen for an eternity with only your mind working.” Neoth threatened as he took out a sealing tesseract from his cloak.

  “I always wanted a Djinn Highlord to add to my collection. It was only our fragile code of ethics and honor that I refrained from such things.” He said with a wicked smile.

  “You wouldn’t dare! I will have you-”

  “What? From what I’ve heard your Realm was destroyed by Demeptah. And you could just as well be one of his agents. Why should we indulge you in anything but death?”

  “I was the one that clawed myself free from his grasps.” She sneered.

  “Really? I have a hard time believing that. Knowing that young general you would have either been instantly killed in an honor duel or turned into another one of his mindless slaves.”

  “I came here in search of your assistance but it would seem that you have already chosen a side.” She sighed as the strength seemed to leave her body.

  She then looked at me. “So, is this the new emperor? It clearly isn’t our lord. While he holds some of the divine fire he is not him.”

  “Acting-Emperor.” I added as I took a step forward.

  “If you were seeking Neoth why did you strike us first?” I asked

  “If you felt a strange presence you couldn’t tell what it was, wouldn't you strike first? It’s a kill or be killed world out here kid.”

  ‘Kid?’ I thought. I do suppose I could be seen as a child to these Djinn who have existed for thousands of years if not longer. The asuras didn’t really have a detailed record of their genocides, they tend to just bury that part of history.

  With Realmheart still active I peered into her. Her mana core was heavily damaged, there were traces that it had been healed but only to keep her alive. And from the strain apparent in her core and mana veins she had channeled aether directly. A feat that would wreck any mortal body.

  But still, how did she manage to escape in such a state from Demeptah?

  ‘She is hot. Who's to say that Demeptah didn’t want to keep her for-’

  ‘Regis.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘That is enough outta you.’

  “Why don’t we just deal with her and have this over with?” Neoth said as he leaned on his staff for support.

  “She could still be useful. She is still a Highlord after all.” I reasoned. I still needed allies I could trust. And this Erurda already held contempt for Demeptah, and she seems to not particularly like the Empire either. If I could reason with her and prove that I wasn’t completely on the Empire’s side then perhaps…

  “Let’s bring her back.”

  “Alrighty, finally a Highlord for my displ- excuse me what?” Neoth seemed flabbergasted.

  “We are bringing her back. And of course you will be the one holding her. And treat her with some dignity.” I said as I motioned for the Custodians to release her. They complied and she rose slowly to her feet. With a snap of my fingers I used the same spell that Kezess had once used on me and I had just used on Nico. A simple binding spell that was cast upon one’s core.

  Erurda clearly felt the discomfort around her core as she winced in pain as she recognized what I had done to her.

  “Just a precaution.” I reassured as I motioned everyone to gather around so I could teleport everyone. And she seemed to accept it willingly. Despite the initial animosity she seems to trust me in some sense, perhaps it was due to the Emperor's authority I wielded. This sword that I carried certainly had an effect on the common Djinn solider.

  “I can’t believe this. I am not some inn service that can take in all of your guests, you know.” Neoth complained.

  “She did come looking for you. Aren’t you at least a little bit curious as to what she has to say and her reasoning in reaching out to you of all people.”

  ‘And if necessary her being a part of your galleries isn’t out of the question.’ I added the last part in a mental communication and that seemed to shut Neoth up for now.

  I hoped that Nico could at least get back on his feet soon. Despite all our past history I still saw him as a friend in some ways. In both lives we were like brothers, and after all the thousands of lifetimes I had to suffer through all that was felt was pity for him. We both had our fair share of mistakes and shortcomings. But it would be reassuring to have a close friend who knows both my selves.

  I peered at Erurda. Remembering Regis’ comment despite her disheveled appearance now she was clearly very beautiful. But not in the natural effortless way that both Tessia and Caera did. She clearly cared very deeply about her outward appearance. Her lilac hair matched and complimented the various runes that decorated her body. And her face gave off the airs of a mature woman of taste. Like a seductress from romance novels. But what interested me more was the reason she was here. Having escaped Demeptah alive, he must have had reasons in keeping her alive. And for her to get away in a single piece wasn’t an simple feat as well.

  Perhaps I could have her work together with Neoth and create some sort of coalition that is separate from both the Djinn Empire and Demeptah. Vago was always nagging me about dealing with Djinn politics while my main focus is and always will be Dicathen. It was only a matter of time before we clashed on such matters, and I’d rather have some on my side when that inevitable conflict came.

  Author's Notes

  Hey guys, it's been a while. I've just been busy with real life stuff as well as writer's block. I had actually rewritten this chapter 3 times and I finally just figured that I need to get this out or I am just going to be stuck here. But I not really happy with this chapter but hopefully this writer's block shit gets better.

  This chapter Arthur meets with Erurda who had escaped from Demeptah but not in the same form as she was captured. Just know that it will be a plot point later on.

  I suppose the next chapter will be the small celebration party Arthur is holding for their war effort. Which could give some chances for the nobles who aren't so happy with Arthur's rule.

  Not much to add, as the chapters go on I am finding less and less to write about here without spoiling things.

  I just hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please feel free to leave any comments or questions.

  Thank you for reading and have a good day.