24 Chapter 24: Throne Room Fun

Zelphyr and Narberal were escorted into the castle. As the progressed further, their escort party seemed to grow, with many Royal Guards following them. While he pretended to be oblivious, Zelphyr sneered inside his mind as he felt the hostility some of the men held.

'Looks like diplomacy is about to get a bit more fun'

They continued on through the castle grounds and inner chambers, without a clue of Zelphyrs thoughts and his rising expectations.

Meanwhile, Narberal had chosen to look straight forward with her expression cold. After all, had she looked anywhere else, there was a high chance she may be unable to control her anger.

This was not her fault, after all, anyone from Nazarick would be the same when their Supreme Being was subject of scorn from lower beings. If anything, Zelphyr was impressed by the restraint she had shown and promised that he would reward her when he got back, and may offer her the chance to release her rage on a few unfortunate ants soon.

Eventually, Zelphyr arrived at a long corridor with Royal Guards lining the edges and a couple guarding a set of large wooden doors. A devious smile floated upon his lips as he looked at the doors, but he immediately hid it before anyone noticed.

Their escorts continued on with issue and stopped just before the door.

The leader of the group turned towards Zelphyr and Narberal, nodded his head and knocked on the door.

A couple of seconds later, a loud voice sounded out, asking for them to identify themselves.

The lead Royal Guard declared his name and the name of his guests, causing the man on the other side to grant them permission to enter.

'This feels like such a drag... is this a security measure? Whatever it is, I doubt I will be using this at any point'

Zelphyr thought to himself as he watched the elaborate display from the two doormen. Nevertheless, he shook his head and followed after the Royal Guards who had slowly started to open the doors.

When they did, bright rays of sunlight shone through the opened doors, causing the guards surrounding Zelphyr to squint in irritation.

Zelphyrs back straightened slightly as he locked eyes with Narberal, silently sending a small nod her way. seeing this, Narberal smiled slightly and nodded back.

"Her Majesty is ready to see you"

The Royal Guard stood to the side and urged the duo to enter the room.

Without hesitation, Zelphyr strolled into the room with an air of confidence, followed shortly by Narberal who maintained a respectful distance, as a maid was expected to. When he reached a certain distance away, a stern looking man by the queens side held out his hand, signalling the two to stop.

Abiding by the request, Zelphyr stopped and waited.

Silence dominated the throne room as Zelphyr and Narberal remained standing.

The man standing beside the throne frowned. He had grey hair with a pair of delicate glasses on his slightly wrinkled face. His gaze and expression remained uncaring until he noticed the disrespect in Zelphry and Narberals attitude. Unlike Gazef who exuded an air of dominance due to his chiseled form, this man had a thin figure with his posture being unnaturally straight, however he still managed to exude an oppressive aura, similar to that of a snake eying its prey.

'Hooh an interesting one indeed, whilst he is not uncaring, it seems he does not place value on what other humans would'

Zelphyr thought as he felt the piercing glare of the man.

Moving his gaze away from the man, he eventually arrived onto the throne. This time it was his turn to frown.

Sat atop the throne was a small girl, approximately at the age of 13, wearing a luxurious purple dress. This dress complimented her dark purple hair and amber eyes. As she was a child, her body seemed to be underdeveloped and certainly not ready to shoulder the responsibilities of a kingdom.

This annoyed Zelphyr for multiple reasons, however he chose to squash his issues for now and see how things played out.

"You're being very disrespectful, Dear Guests"

A cold voice sounded out as Zelphyr was appraising the child on the throne.

This voice was accompanied by the sounds of quick movement as the royal guards lining the walkway, unsheathed their swords. Glares of hostility pierced Narberals and Zelphyrs bodies from all directions.

Yet, Zelphyr continued to smile pleasantly as he watched the mans face start to twitch.

"You were warned, Guards se-"

"Stand down Prime Minister."

A cutesy voice sounded out, cutting off the aggravated Prime Minister. With a sour face, the Prime Minister nodded his head and took a step back.

Zelphyr turned his amused gaze to the small child on the throne.

"Dear Guests, I would appreciate it if you did not start trouble"

Hearing the girl speak, Zelphyr chuckled before replying.

"That depends now doesn't it. We have been nothing but amiable, however I must apologise. I will not bow, neither will anyone in my service"

Hearing Zelphyr unexpected response, the childs eyes opened wide before a small frown formed. This was a direct challenge to her own authority in her own court.

"You do realise your situation yes? I would suggest you act cordially before I am forced to use other means"

Once again, Zelphyr laughed as he scanned his eyes around the guards, who were preparing to attack.

"Threats make no difference to me, after all, one can only be truly cordial when they're speaking to someone truthfully. I am sure you, yourself are aware of how far from the truth we're speaking"

His words caused confusion amongst the ranks of guards. After all, to the uninformed, Zelphyr was just rambling on without making any sense. On the other hand, the frown deepened on both the childs head and the Prime Ministers.

"I have no idea what you mean, however it is unfortunate. Guards, please detain these two, try not to be too excessive"

The child managed to squeeze the response out despite the sour expression on her face.

Following their liege's command, 20 Royal Guards launched into action and charged towards the duo.

Zelphyr smiled with his eyes staring at the child, not moving them an inch.

"You may remove two"

Zelphyr spoke in a clear voice, allowing Narberal, the small girl and the Prime Minister to hear.

Nodding to the instructions, Narberal turned towards the charging guards and opened her palms. As she did, large amounts of electricity travelled between the two. Narberal spoke in a relaxed tone.

"Thunder Clap"

Bringing her palms together, Narberal clapped her hands, causing a wave of electricity to fly out, assaulting the charging soldiers. A loud explosion sound shook the throne room.

Visible blue electricity travelled across the air and crawled up the bodies of the guards. Strange liquids started to escape from the mouths of the guards, causing an unpleasant scene to unfold.

As he looked closer, Zelphyr noticed that two of the guards life energy had been completely extinguished.

"Well then, it seems it came to that."

Zelphyr spoke in a woeful tone, alas the smile on his face showed his true feelings.

"Wha-Wha-What was that-t!"

The Child spoke with disbelief.

"A simple 5th tier spell, 'Thunder Clap'. Now then, shall we start the introductions, Your Majesty?"

Gulping down the building saliva, the child nodded her head as a small shiver rand down her spine. Despite herself being much stronger than the Guards, she was still surprised to see her elite fighters get wiped out in a 30 on 1, with a single spell.

"My name is Lord Zelphyr, Ruler of Nazarick. This is my maid, Narberal."

The Prime Minister and the tiny Queen let out gasps of surprise as they heard the introductions, after all, the one who wiped out her elite force was not a champion or a sage, but a maid.

Of course this was only half true as Narberal was a member of the battle maids, however it was true that in the Nazarick hierarchy, Narberals strength was relatively average.

Recovering from her disbelief, the small Queen answered with a strained smile.

"My name is Draudillon Oriculus, the Ruler of the Dragon Kingdom."

Saying this, she turned her gaze to the recovering Prime Minister who coughs and resumes his blank expression.

"I am Carlton Heiger, Prime Minister of the Dragon Kingdom"

Zelphyr nodded his head and crossed his hands behind his back.

"Very good, it is a pleasure to meet you both. Now then, believe it or not, I came here with friendly intent. It is just as a ruler, I am not able to bow, especially when I am stronger."

Draudillons eyes widened once more at Zelphyrs words, as they were a bold claim to one who was descended from a Dragon king.

"I agree that your maid is strong, however that does not mean you're stronger. May I ask where such a senseless idea came from?"

Zelphyr released an exasperated sigh before turning towards Draudillon with a mysterious expression.

As Draudillon started to wonder what he was doing, a heavy pressure crashed into her, forcing her off of her seat.

The pressure created a physical restraint, as though it was forcing gravity itself to follow its will.

Gradually, she managed to move her eyes towards Zelphyr who were smiling faintly like before, however the smile never reached his eyes. The Queen immediately knew the owner of such a strong pressure.

To the side, the Prime Minister was laid on the floor, his eyes were white as his body twitched slightly.

"It seems that small amount of pressure was enough"

Zelphyr muttered as he retracted his aura. On the other hand, Narberal watched over the situation with her expression beaming with pride.

"I trust you understand, our positions were never equal. I came for a reason and you were lucky I did not enter forcefully."

Draudillon managed to pull herself up and nod her head.

"Yes, Sir Zelphyr. I apologise, it seems my heritage has caused my own arrogance to spiral out of control"

In response, Zelphyr looked at Draudillon with a hint of respect. This was because her words were filled with sincerity rather than fear, it seemed her inner dragon allowed her to accept the strong a lot better than a human ever would.

"I must ask Lord Zelphyr. I may be the partly human, however my heritage is part dragon, thus I am sensitive to the ways of the Dragons. May I ask, are you a dragon?"

Strolling towards the still unconscious Prime Minister, Zelphyr answered.

"Close. I am much stronger than those mountain Dragons. Maybe one day, your Grandfather will come down and be my practice dummy"

A shock ran down Draudillons body as she heard Zelphyrs way of speaking about the Dragon Lords. While she doubted he was as strong as them, she realised he had a lot more strength than she had thought.

"Surely you jest. Grandfather is a whimsical being, as are the majority of the Dragon Lords."

A chuckled escaped Zelphyrs lips as he inspected the condition of the fainted man.

"Never mind, the near future will be proof enough of my claim. For now, shall we start our discussion?"

The Queen smiled as she realised she had forgotten the original meaning of their meeting.

"Sure, shall we head to the private meeting room?"

Zelphyr stood up and nodded, turning his head back to Narberal, he remembered the 2 losses he had allowed.

"I must inform you now, so that our future relationship is not ruined. I allowed Narberal to remove 2 of your Elite Guards who attacked her. Whether you choose to believe it or not, they attacked with the intent to kill, while the others tried to detain. Thus, I felt it was only natural for the strong to dispose of the weak, right?"

He turned to Draudillon who was looking at the pile of guards with a complex expression.

In the end, she released a sigh and shook her head.

"It is fine, we started the hostilities. Now then, would you two like to follow me?"

With the previous situations swept under the rug, the trio left the throne room, heading towards the private meeting room, a trail of destruction left where they once were.

'Oh right, I forgot to let the Prime Minister know where we are'

Zelphyr pulled out a parchment and inked quill and started to write a short message. Once he completed it, he threw it into his shadow.

Sensing a curious gaze from Draudillon, Zelphyr explained his actions.

"It's a message for that Prime Minister of yours. We would not want him doing something stupid when he thinks you've been kidnapped"

Zelphyr and the Queen shared a small awkward laugh as they entered the office.

'Now then, it's time to see the real her.'