All stand!

The royal castle was just as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside, with most of the halls and rooms being decorated with royal red, just like the carpet underneath my feet right now.

Walking through one of the many halls, Estador the fifth, the current king of Esna, had allowed us some time not only to reunite with each other but also some time to get changed for the banquet that was going to be held.

Not only had he been so generous to provide lodging for us inside the castle, with me, Olivia, and Stephanie sharing a room that was as luxurious as everything else, but he had also gifted us clothes suited for the event.

That was the reason why I was now wearing a frilly white dress that felt a bit tight around my chest, Olivia a yellow dress that flared outward from her waist, exaggerating how cute the petite girl was, and Stephanie a beige dress that hugged her skinny body, showing off just how slim she was.

It didn't take long until we arrived at the banquet hall in the castle, the same area that we had arrived in due to it being connected to the entrance. All around us, there were golden decorations and multiple round tables spread around the grand room set with luxurious silvery cutlery and glasses made out of what looked like crystals.

The whole room was also bustling with people, as the king had invited not only us to this banquet, but also the nobility of the nation, all to celebrate the other orders who had finally been prepared to face their destiny.

As we had arrived through an entryway on the side of the hall, we also got to see the splendid white stairs in front of us, where the king would most likely arrive from, and a large stage on the other side of the room where a band was currently playing beautiful, classical music.

"Selene, Stephanie, Olivia! You all look beautiful!"

Dressed in a traditional black suit, a brown-haired young man came up to us, smiling widely as he unhesitatingly complimented us. Beside him, however, was another young man whose head barely reached above George's waist, who was not as happy-go-lucky as his friend.

"I don't understand how you can just say things like that with a straight face, man. Shouldn't you be a little bit embarrassed at least?"

"Don't be like that, Jeffrey. Why should I be embarrassed about telling the truth?"

Though his face wasn't covered in a large bushy beard like one might think, it was still impossible to miss the fact that Jeffrey had gotten reborn as a dwarf in this world. Just as his body was incredibly short, it had also become extremely wide, with the arms beneath the black suit stretching the fabric to the point where it was surprising that it didn't burst.

Other than that, however, he was still the same black-haired man with a stoic face as always, and just like before, he and George got along incredibly well.

"Tch! Let's just find somewhere to sit down before the king arrives. Being around all these tall people is making me dizzy."

As we all nodded in agreement to his words, we took our place at one of the many tables, having already been informed that we were allowed to sit wherever we wanted. It didn't even take more than a minute before a server came to us and filled the glasses in front of us with red wine before leaving just as quickly to serve someone else.

Despite how surreal everything felt, seeing us in this kind of environment, my mind was still filled with enough dopamine from meeting everyone again that I didn't care much about it, simply spending my time chatting with the others about how their time here had been.

Suddenly, the music stopped, and a very fluffed-up, pompous man whose body told the story of someone living a very comfortable life showed up on top of the stairs.

"All stand for the king of Esna!"

As everyone else had also found a place at one of the tables, we were now all forced to stand, still keeping our sights on the small platform at the end of the white stairs where two large doors now opened.

From those doors, the king arrived, wearing royal garments with the signature color of Estador, and his brown hair holding the golden crown on his head. And then, he spoke with a smile.

"Champions from another world, I welcome you to Esna, the land of the humans!"

****

[Aldric's Pov]

Everything hurt. No matter what kind of part of me that I wanted to move, my body creaked painfully like a machine that had rusted for hundreds of years.

Above me, with me having landed in a rocky gorge in the mountain, I could see that giant bird circling the area, looking for the prey that had escaped it. Or rather, the prey that it had slammed down into the ground without thinking a step further.

Taking a second to inspect the condition of my body, still not quite able to move, it was pretty surprising that I was still alive.

'Well, shit...'

One of my arms had been twisted in the wrong direction, with the bone now sticking out of the pale flesh of my forearm, and from the painful beating in my legs, I could only assume that they were fractured as well.

The worst part, however, was that my upper body had unfortunately been impaled by a sharp rock, and though it had only penetrated my back and not my stomach, I could see it sticking up underneath my skin, creating a very repulsive sight of my gut pointing up into the air.

Underneath my body, I could feel the stream of blood caressing my body as it left its home, eager to venture out now that the gates had been opened.

Yet, I still didn't feel as if I was dying. Rather, I could feel the muscles and bones in my limbs start to move, creating a sort of crawling sensation within my body as they started to repair themselves. At the same time, I could feel my torso desperately trying to do the same, but due to the sharp stone embedded inside of me, it was impossible.

'So this is the regeneration that Tatiana told me about...'

Generally, demons were born with the ability to regenerate their bodies, an ability whose potency varied depending on the race of the demon as well as the amount of demonic energy inside their bodies.

*Crack!*

A disgusting sound was made when my arm cracked itself back into place, and as I started to regain sensation in my legs, I knew it was time to move, no matter how torturous the pain was.

"Grgg!"

Pushing myself up from the ground, experiencing the rock grinding against my ribs and my vertebrae, a smile inadvertently emerged on my face as I clenched my teeth.

"Hrrrnnnggg...! GAAAHHH!"

Rolling over on my side, curling up the bloodied wings on my back, I tried to regain the breath that I had no need for, with white dots still covering my vision.

"Huff...huff..."

The stone that I had been attached to was smeared with the color red, and a small pool of my blood had been collected within the cracks of the rocks, creating tiny rivers of red.

'So this is the world outside of the valley...'

If not for the fact that I had luckily fallen into this tiny, hollowed-out space within the mountain, there was no doubt in my mind that I would have lost my life due to my ignorance.

I had been stupid, foolish even. I already knew that this was the case, as Tatiana had clearly told me that outside of these walls, outside of the mountain range that was the edges of my pond, I would no longer be a big fish.

But I still didn't regret my decision to come here.

Forcing myself onto my feet, ignoring the slight sense of light-headedness in my body due to both loss of blood as well as my body using a lot of my demonic energy to keep me alive, the smile had still not left my face.

"He...hehehe...hahahaha!"

My body was yet again consumed by a never-ending sense of euphoria, thinking about the world outside, the world that I would someday conquer as well. The world that would be mine!

It was thrilling, exhilarating even, to imagine the point in time when I would return here, when I had grown strong enough to trample that fucking bird with my feet, making it quiver in fear as it lost its life to a superior being.

Staring up at the muddied skies, the skies that would someday also bow to me, that would have no choice but to acknowledge my existence, laughing hysterically, happier than ever to have been born into this world.