Return of the Fallen Volume 2 Chapter 2
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch2
Garn thought for a moment before nodding for the young woman to continue.
“Your Majesty, as you know, after your victory over the two Magic Sky Beasts in the Mirian swamp, the surrounding thousand miles or so became an all-out battlefield for the remaining Magic Beasts. With the two strongest dead by your hands, a huge power vacuum was left. Thousands of tier 1 Limit Beasts, hundreds of tier 2 Earth Beasts, and nearly a dozen tier 3 Sky Beasts have engaged in multiple battles in the Mirian swamp. This has driven a massive horde of 9 million beasts and monsters to flee out of the swamp in fear for their life. Because of this, a few million had fled on a direct path to Sekou and have been attacking the city for a few days now.”
King Garn was getting impatient and rushed the woman along.
“Your point?”
The young woman trembled a bit but said what needed to be said.
“Your Majesty, the city is in dire need of reinforcements. I know we’ve already sent a hundred thousand troops already but we’ve not a single Mage. If the city doesn’t get some backup from magic, then the city might not fall but the loss of life will be devastating and the time to recover will consist of years. Your Majesty, even if just you alone went then this could all be settled within a matter of hours. I implore you to make a trip southeast and conclude this crisis once and for all.”
King Garn gripped his scepter tightly in frustration. He wanted to go put an end to the horde immediately but because of explosion from the tier 1 Limit Beast Core, Garn had been poisoned from all the excess energy and his Mage Core had suffered a significant amount of damage. If it were not for the fact that Master Garn was at the 5th level, the over-saturation of pure magical energy would have killed him within a few seconds.
Garn had been quick-witted though and as soon as the energy entered his body he had used King David’s scepter to absorb some of that energy, while at the same time Garn had continuously cast every magic he could possibly think of to drain away a large portion of that energy. However, even with all of that, his Mage Core had still been badly damaged. Every time he cast magic now it brought a deep pain, not to his muscles or any other part of his body but to his soul itself.
Not only would the pain be excruciating but it also left his Mage Core regressing. The only way to fix it would be to not cast any magic whatsoever and allow it to heal with time. In his case, it would be several months before his Mage Core was fully healed. So as much as it pained him, he could not go to Sekou and help, otherwise he would weaken further and that might weaken his rule. He had just become King, there was no way he would allow himself to degrade further and show an opening to any enemy waiting in the shadows.
“I will not be heading to Sekou and I will not be sending any Mages either.”
“But your Majesty…”
*Bang*
King Garn stamped his scepter interrupting the young woman.
“Do you not see what is going on just outside these walls? I need every Mage in Tresta to keep installing those magic slabs, so they keep absorbing the vast amount of excess energy. They are working day and night trying to build a perimeter around that disaster zone that my predecessor left for us. Otherwise, that poisonous area will continue to spread outward until it consumes this entire city. If this city is gone, then Treia itself is gone, do you understand? The Mages stay.”
“I…I understand your Majesty.”
“Good, if that’s all, then be gone, if not, then hurry up because I have more matters to attend to.”
The young women didn’t expect King Garn to simply brush aside the matter of Sekou city and the beast horde but there was nothing she could do about. Flipping through her reports, she scanned over one for reference and repeated the most important parts.
“I’ve gotten reports from within a thousand miles of Tresta and no one has spotted the heroes in any of the major or minor cities. I’ve even gotten word from all of the villages in the vicinity and they too have not seen even a shred of evidence that the heroes have passed by. After not finding anything towards the south, I first thought the soldiers at the gate were lying but after what you’ve told me about hero Ryuta, it seems he is a little more cunning than average. So I sent scouts additional scouts north, east, south, and west, and do you know what they found?”
King Garn’s eyebrows perked up in curiosity.
“Tell me.”
The young woman held up the report and flashed it toward King Garn.
“Nothing, not even a shadow. It seems the hero Ryuta knows how to hide at the very least.”
King Garn shouted in surprise.
“What!”
With a wave of his scepter, the report flew out of the young woman’s hands and landed in his. Looking over the report Garn’s emotions were in turmoil. On the one hand, he had now devised a way to stop the Azirians path forward and halt the Miasma dead in its tracks even without the heroes but at the same time, with proper training and guidance, the heroes could become a huge asset for the future growth of the kingdom.
King Garn could welcome all of the heroes back with open arms but Kazuki was another story. After King Garn found out Itsu was killed, how could he allow his murderer to get away with it scot-free. There had to be consequences and swift ones at that. If Kazuki really was to be an enemy of Treia, with his potential growth, he could be a deadly thorn in Treia’s side if things were not handled properly.
His whereabouts right now was the biggest issue. He, as well as the other heroes, had already been missing for over a week. That would be plenty of time in Garn’s mind for Kazuki to convince the other heroes to side with him and since they had fled with him in the first place it could already be considered that they had indeed taken Kazuki’s side.
Garn felt a headache coming on.
*Haa*
“Send out my orders. Any information that leads to the capture of Ryuta and the other 5 heroes will receive a reward of 10,000 gold Zeni.”
The young woman quickly jotted everything down.
“Your Highness, what about the half breed that left with them? Should we issue a reward for her capture as well?”
Garn shook his head in displeasure.
“For an abomination, no. Instead, we’ll offer a reward of 500 gold Zeni for her death.”
“Don’t you think this may pit the heroes against you. If this half breed is a friend, won’t this end up making enemies out of those 6 heroes?”
“Hmph, they just can’t see what that wench truly is. Once she’s killed, they’ll come to understand what little worth she actually had and that it was only proper for a sub-human to be eliminated. Even if they’re mad at first, I just need to properly explain the difference between dominant humans and lowly beasts, then they’ll come around, I’m sure of it.”
“And if they don’t, what will you do with them?”
“If after I explain it to them properly and they still don’t understand and come around to humanity’s side, I’ll simp[ly lock them away and nothing more. I’ll let them rot in a cell for the rest of their days, but if they turn on me or this kingdom, it’s not like they’re needed any longer.”
“Your Highness, what if they seek sanctuary in Jin or Maoudou?”
“They can try all they like but Jin and Maoudou won’t shelter them, not as long as I live. To protect them would be going against our agreement. For all sense and purposes, those 6 heroes belong to the Kingdom of Treia. If another kingdom protects them then I can simply claim that that kingdom is betraying Treia and to the outside world that is what it would seem like even if it’s not the case. Because of that, I and whichever of the other two kingdoms they didn’t go to, will declare war and march on the kingdom foolish enough to hide them away. But it won’t come down to that. Once Jin and Maoudou see me sitting on the throne, they will know I am no longer sitting on the sidelines. Were their experts to face me, hmph, all three kingdoms will fall that day. I’d like to see which of them wishes to commit suicide.”
*Bang*
King Garn stamped his scepter and the young woman bowed before stepping out to go fulfill her duties.
(Hmph, Ryuta, you’d better hope you’re captured by my men first, for once I’m healed If I have to personally come after you, the suffering you will face will make you wish you were truly dead.)
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