14 New Encounters

Every Erezal warrior bowed as Leo rode past them. The wolf growled at the crowd and instilled fear in them. It was nearly three times the size of normal direwolves and inscriptions were visible on its fur.

"Look closely, this is our new ruler who will lead us to victo-

"I am neither your ruler nor your leader, is that clear?

"But you broke the seal, only a descendant of the first demon king is capable of doing that. You have the right and the duty to lead us-

"I have nothing to do with the demon king, the seal had nothing to do with this ritual in the first place."

"That's impossible, you possess a part of our power and an even greater one within you. I saw it on the battlefield, you must be one of us."

"Your power does not come from the Demon King, he borrowed it to achieve his goal. But when he failed, this power was transferred to his followers as a curse, your king lied and betrayed you."

At these words the Erezal became restless and angry, Leo had just insulted their first king.

"T-That can't be, he led us and guided us, only through him could we become so powerful. He would have never betrayed us so curb your tongue. If the other races hadn't united, we would now rule over everything."

"It was not the other nations that defeated and banished you, it was the mistake of your king who banished you in the end and put a seal on you. Through his greed, this ancient power became your downfall, instead of stealing life energy, it was stolen from you. With this power, you could have easily conquered this world, but it wiped you out and killed you like a disease. Can you even remember your own death?"

After Leo's words, the Erezal became dizzy and their heads burst inside. Not one of them remembered how he/she died. The last thing they could remember was a dark black prison in infinity. Shikur could not believe it, he did not want to believe it. Had his king and role model really betrayed them?

"But after death you did not end up in the afterlife but in eternal exile without ever finding peace. I have seen your past in detail, which made it possible for me to destroy your chains. You have the choice: Keep the blind hatred of other nations and the greed for destruction and use this cursed power until the curse catches up with you again. Or build your nation and wait for the rest of your people to awaken. What is more important to you: the conquest of other nations or the survival of your people. The decision lies with yourselves and not with a king who will lead you back to ruin. But if you get in my way or destroy my plans, I will crush you without mercy, but this time for good. "

"How are we supposed to adapt to this world without help, we are hated by everyone. You can't just leave. You are our savior, can't you continue to save us?"

This time it was not Shikur but Azura who spoke to him. She made a sad face as she begged Leo.

"How can I help you if I don't fit into this world myself? As long as you keep a low profile, there wont be enemy attacks. The other races will not attack you anytime soon, and they will soon have much bigger problems themselves. Either you start a senseless war yourself and kill everyone including yourself or rebuild your nation. You are the last of your kind, so make the right decision.

Shikur, Azura and the other Erazal were lost in thought, speechless. But before panic could break out, Shikur took charge and calmed his people. He once again thanked his savior who rode off with his wolf.

It was a long way to the capital of the human kingdom, but Leo had another goal. He wanted to go to the southern border to uncover a secret that could be very helpful to him later. As he was about to make camp for the night at the edge of the forest, he heard a loud shout coming from the forest.

"Stay here Metsu, I'll handle this on my own".

The huge wolf growled at Leo and lay down on the ground to sleep. Leo was surprised, Metsu was usually very stubborn and hardly left Leo alone. Slowly he obeyed the young man.

Leo took his sword and walked through the forest. The animals were completely quiet as he walked past them. After a few minutes, he heard whimpering beside him and saw a young girl. She just pointed forward, Leo looked at her briefly and kept walking. She looked familiar to him somehow. There were mercenaries scattered in the middle of the street and a person he knew all too well. He could hardly hold back but he waited for the right moment and struck. Ignoring the injured boy next to him, he brutally slaughtered one mercenary after another.

With every drop of spilled blood he became more furious, he enjoyed the screams of his enemies. Until only one person was left standing. It was the murderer of his entire squad, the mage who took everything he possessed: Grylias. Leos veins glowed orange and he paralyzed his opponent. Suddenly he heard a cry for help behind him, when he saw that the girl had bravely sacrificed herself for the boy he remembered back to the first battle with his friends. Slightly annoyed, he went back and helped the two. When he saw that the girl was dying, he asked the boy about her background. Hearing a familiar name, he gritted his teeth, cut his hand, closed his eyes and concentrated. His blood turned black, with every single drop their wounds healed but Leo felt a cruel pain in his whole body. After healing both of them he went back to his nemesis without a word.

"So you're still alive, or should I say alive again?"

"Only to see you dead. It seems a lot has happened in the past few years. Have you been banished by your troop or your mad king?"

"Does my answer matter? You're going to kill me here anyway, that's why you came back, isn't it? Hahaha."

"Don't make yourself more important than you are, this is just the beginning."

"You won't last long with your power, second by second you'll fade away until only a heap of misery exists of you."

"You talk too much."

He grabbed Grylias by the neck, his arm began to glow again and fire shot through the armor.

"Come show me this power, show me what you really are. I will be waiting for you in the realm of the dead."

Without another word, Leo burned his body down until only ashes were left of him. He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. The fire went out and his armor turned black again. Behind him he saw that the two were completely healed.

("Only in the eye of death is the truth revealed...bullshit).

Through his past he told the two where their village was and remembered them about death. Lost in thought, he walked on while cleaning his sword of the blood. At a familiar spot, he built a campfire and began to eat an apple. The longer he stared into the fire, the further he drifted from this world. Thieves, of all people, woke him up from his thoughts and threatened him. Still absorbed, he saw that the inscription on his sword was glowing.

("Oh dear, he doesn't seem to listen to me after all.")

"I am not your opponent, prepare yourselves. He seems to be pretty pissed off."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Attack him!"

The first soldier was about to hit Leo when a loud growl rang out. He couldn't even turn around as he was literally torn apart. The other men froze in fear when they saw the huge creature. It turned to the man at the campfire and roared at him, but the boy just sighed and nodded at the monster. One of the thieves had seen enough and fired a fire arrow at the creature, whose fur began to burn. The thieves took hope but the wolf hissed at the troop. The small flame suddenly turned black and spread all over the fur. The group was completely shredded until not one corpse was left.

"I had everything under control Metsu, so no need to be mad. I would never leave you behind."

The wolf turned to Leo and roared right into his face. It threw him backwards and lay down next to the campfire. Leo got up, smiled, and sat down next to Metsu, stroking his fur until they both fell asleep.

The next morning he cleaned his armor and traveled further south. On their journey they encountered many monsters, which the two killed without any problems. Suddenly the wolf howled loudly and pointed in one direction.

"So there they are Metsu... Go on, I can manage on my own. You know how to find me."

Metsu licked him and let Leo stroke his fur once more before he disappeared into the forest. Leo looked back once more and then continued walking. Suddenly he heard two arrows behind him, which he blocked at the last moment. When he saw that they had a pink feather, he sighed loudly before turning around.

"How long are you going to follow me, aren't you getting tired of it?"

A woman with pitch black long hair, long ears and pale face appeared from the bushes. She had her huge bow pointed at him. Her green eyes sparkled in the sunlight. She was a beauty in every way.

"Not until you give me the answers I want. Until I get the truth, I can't live a quiet life."

"As if you could ever live a quiet life. Just look at you, everyone can immediately see that you are a warrio-

Suddenly an arrow struck right next to him, the feather giving him a cut on his cheek. Leo took the arrow from the tree next to him and tried to break it. The arrow lit up pink and became indestructible.

"So you're still using that magic, after all, it's perfect for archery-

"Don't test my patience Leo!"

As Leo drew his sword, a large brown owl raced toward him. Leo parried its attack, the owl flew back and right onto the woman's shoulder.

"You should be more careful Irazel, you still judge your enemies too easily. You almost flew into my sword. Then Lynia would be even more angry with me than she already is."

The owl just screamed and turned around.

"One more wrong word and you'll regret it Leo."

"Oh how I long for the day when your temper will be calmer Lynia.

Both looked deeply into each other's eyes. Leo sighed and put his sword away.

"Ha, in the end you will never stop chasing me. I'll make you an offer Lynia, you accompany me to the southern border and we work together until then. When I get there I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"Who knows how much your word is worth? Why should I trust you?

Leo took off his armor on his arm and held it out to Lynia. The whole arm was full of runes and inscriptions that looked like tattoos. Her eyes snapped open at the sight and she became nervous.

"All right, to the southern border and not a bit further. You will answer any question I have.

"As long as it's within my knowledge."

Lynia put away her bow and walked towards Leo. He was about to put his armor back on when she grabbed his arm and looked at it more closely.

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

He just looked serious as he put his arm back into the armor.

"An idiot with a mission."

The two set off, Lynia keeping an eye on him the whole time so that he couldn't disappear.

"What do you want in the south anyway? Take a ship and travel on the high seas? Get drunk and be served by young ladies? Humans are facing the abyss, with their ruler they will soon be in the crossfire of the other nations so what are you still doing here?

"There's someone I'm meeting there, if he's really there. If I am right, he could be the key to the survival of this kingdom. The throne will soon have a new owner.