Chapter 10-Emerald Kingdom

Three days after the burning of the small village outside the orphanage. Hebi has returned to the Emerald Kingdom. A horse and carriage pulled away as he approached a long stone house with a wood-slanted roof, and a rock path leading up to the front door. Surrounded by trees and wildlife, Hebi looked into the distance past the house where the tip of a castle with a flag hanging at the top could be seen.

The door was reinforced with steel but was mostly made of wood. Hebi reached the door and sighed before knocking.

" Knock Knock Knock..."

[" I know there's someone here, we don't leave the place unattended under any circumstance."]

" Knock Knock." Hebi knocked two more times, harder than before, and heard some movement approaching the door. The steps were heavy and made the wood floor creek.

Hebi heard the door unlatch from the inside and the door creaked as it slowly opened revealing a tall man with red spikey hair and sharp teeth. He was wearing a chain mill chest piece with a leather shoulder guard, and baggy leather pants with a boar hide belt.

" Ahhh...Oh bandage mouth your back..."

" Tch!" Hebi pushed his way past the man pushing his shoulder to move him since his shoulders were above his. " Don't call me that."

" Why not?... It suits you."

"It's disrespectful...Remember I am superior to you and more trusted by our peers so show me some respect. Bulcke.

Bulcke had a smile revealing his sharp teeth that signified his Walgo heritage. A species of non-human that dissolved 1,000 years ago leaving behind only the halfbreeds.

" Who cares about respect...All that matters is you know you can beat me in a fight so why should you care if I talk casually to you...Unless. You doubt your ability to beat me."

The door closed and Hebi continued walking ignoring Bulcke's remark. They both walked through a pair of open doors into an open dining area with a long table with 7 seats. 3 on one side and 4 on the other with 2 placed at each end of the table totaling 9.

" Is there anyone else here?" Hebi asked looking at a decolent table outside a pitcher of beer sitting in front of a middle chair. His eyes narrowed at Bulcke as that was usually his seat, but Bulcke only responded with a sly smile.

" They should be back soon...Why?"

Hebi walked to one end of the table furthest from the entrance. He pulled out a wooden chair and sat down, immediately a woman dressed in a maid's outfit came running out from a room behind him, he said something to her that Bulcke couldn't hear clearly and then went running back to where she came.

We. The eight swordsmen have something urgent to discuss." Bulcke's smile grew out of excitement showing off his sharp teeth, he walked over to the chair with a pitcher sitting in front of it and sat down.

" So...Should I finish this."

" Tsk. Do what you want." With a glee expression, Bulcke picked the pitcher up brought it to his mouth, and began to chug. " But you should no...Torikksu has begun to become annoyed with your constant drinking." Bulcke froze at this statement immediately bringing his pitcher down away from his mouth" I doubt he's someone you want on your bad side..."

Placing it back on the table he slowly slid it away from him and looked to Hebi who had a serious expression on his face.

" Guess I'll save it for another time then..."

" Good....The others will be pleased with your soberness along with Torikksu. Maybe consider staying this way for a while."

" Tch...Maybe."

.................

"....We've all arrived it seems." Hebi looked around the table with all the chairs now full. the seats contained a mixture of men and women with a ratio of 6:3.

Food was now placed down the middle of the table and some of the attendants had begun to pile food onto their plates along with wine to their cups. Hebi had asked the maid to prepare all of this in under an hour along with her staff and surprisingly they did it.

" Torikksu...Anything you would like to say before I begin." Hebi looked to the other end of the table where a man similar to his height at about six foot two sat. He had slick black hair with his bangs pushed up leaving a few to hang down to his forehead.

" I'll just listen for now...If I hear anything interesting I'll chime in." He picked up a silver cup of wine and brought to his mouth with elegence. He was wearing all-black baggy clothing making him look like royalty.

" Okay, le-"

" So Hebi, how was your trip to the Kingdom of Aces."

His gaze shifted to the right, where a blond-haired girl sat in the chair closest to him. She wore a red top with loose sleeves, resembling a noble wife. Her eyes were a pure blue, but they carried a sense of malice.

" Sanna. Let him speak...Tis rude to interrupt him before he can even start." 

Next to Sanna sat a girl with dark hair and a pale face, her eyes were covered in the shadow of her cloak's hood that Hebi had never once seen her without, and her voice was quiet but deep, especially for a woman.

" Now listen Calin." Across the table closest to Torikksu, a mature woman's voice entered the conversation. She was wearing a strapless black top that exposed the top of her chest and accentuated her hips, along with a three-part dress that revealed her legs." A pretty woman like herself should get to speak when she pleases...Aint I right Bulcke?"

She wrapped her right hand around Bulcke's shoulders and pulled him in. In her right hand, she twirled her cup of wine before bringing it to her mouth and taking a small sip from it. Bulcke desperately looked to his right for help but was met with a boy holding back his laugh.

" ...I'm sorry Bulcko...You're on your own...haha!" Grey hair ran down the back of his head and bangs covered his silver eyes, wearing casual clothing a boy no older than 17 sat failing to hold back his laugh.

" Why are you laughing Xavier, this isn't that funny!" Bulcke ripped away from the woman's grasp.

" Uh, what you don't like me..."

" Quit with the sad eyes Talina. Your little gimmick isn't funny...Plus your to old for me anyway."

" Uh!"

Hebi grew more and more annoyed but he knew if he said anything they would simply play it off. His eyes met with Torikssu's which were half closed at this point. As their gazes met Torikssu put one hand on the table and sat straighter showing off his height to the table.

" Silence."

"!!!"

Everyone at the table froze, except for Hebi. Torikksu's voice, while not particularly loud or scary, carried a strength that shook everyone's soul. The table was now silent and everyone turned their gaze to Hebi and awaited his words.

"...My trip to the Kingdom of Aces was rather...Uneventfull...As I'm sure you all probably expected. Their military strength has grown but nothing compared to our own...From the mana I measured I would say theirs no one on any of our levels in that Kingdom."

Torikksu's eyes looked tired and bored as these statements were nothing new to him, he had expected this report, and Hebi knew that, and if that was all he wouldn't have called this meeting. He looked around the table and saw everyone had a similar expression looking back at him.

"However that changed three days ago." All of them showed slightly more interest " I picked up an incredibly large amount of mana further into the kingdom one night."

" How large?" Xavier asked.

" At least matching the King of their Kingdom."

" That isn't all that impressive...When compared to here at least." Talina asked while taking a sip of wine.

" True, but one thing about it was extraordinary...The one with all that mana was only 18 years old."

" PFFFT!"

Bulcko spit out his wine after hearing this statement, shifting his gaze quickly to Hebi. Everyone shared the same surprised look as they questioned if they heard right.

" Only 18 years old...Even in this kingdom, most don't reach that level until 23 years old" Sanna stated her eyes wide.

"Outside a few recent exceptions..." Xavier stated with one hand placed against his chin like he was thinking.

" Get to the point." Calin jumped in. " You wouldn't call this meeting simply to tell us this."

The table grew silent again as they anticipated the true reason. Hebi's eyes looked to Torikksu who showed slightly more interest as well as his eyes had grown slightly wider and were more focused. Hebi rested his chin on the back of his palm and placed his elbow on the table.

" I followed the mana and found a village in ruins...Burning to the ground, the culprit was the one I mentioned but he wasn't alone"

" Oh?" 

"There was another I didn't sense. I suppressed the mana I could and discussed the rest to get as close as I could and overheard a conversation they were having."

" What was it...Must be something interesting If it caught your attention." Talina exclaimed.

"...To put it simply...They were talking about overthrowing the king."

" Uh!?"

The whole table gasped and Torikksu rose in his chair and his eyes widened completely. Bulckes mouth hung open...the room was left speechless.

" Why...From what I understand the people of that kingdom like their king." Xavier stated

" This isn't about liking their king or not...Anyway, their reason is unimportant-"

"You're saying just the two of them are going to do it alone." Hebi nodded " Please....I know that the Kingdom of Aces isn't all that strong but they still need an army."

Hebi's eyes narrowed as he stared back at Bulcke with zero emotion in his eyes. He looked down to the sword on his hip remembering the battle he had with the both of them.

" I would believe the same but...I ended up engaging with both of them and trust me...They need no army."

" Uhhh!" [ " How strong are these guys if he's got Hebi talking like this."]

" Can you give us more details, please?" Calin asked

" The one with the large amount of mana...He's extremely skilled in mana control and detection. He has an advanced spell like mana wire and is capable of imbuing casts into other magic."

" All of that at 18 years old...Mana wire must be hereditary magic then." Talina stated.

" The other...Is strikingly similar to Yato Kikugire"

" Uh, the traitor from this very Kingdom...The one said to have nearly zero mana at all but still possessed insane physical capabilities." Sanna remarked with wide eyes...["A traitor to the Emerald Kingdom 30 years ago and disappeared into thin air."]

'Hm...He'd be an interesting matchup for you..." Xaviers' gaze shifted to a man wearing a white top and black pants sitting next to Calin who had yet to say a word the whole meeting...The secret ninth member of the 8 Deadly Swordmen. " Niko"

His eyes had no color no life, resembling a corpse....Eye bags hung from under them and he sat slouched in his chair but anyone could tell...They were the eyes of a killer.

" Want me to go after them?" He spoke with zero emotion.

" No."

Everyone was startled as the voice of Torikksu echoed throughout the room louder than they had ever heard it before...The past years he had seemed bored and carried the same expression on his face since the forming of The 8 Deadly Swordsman.

" Huh...Know that's scary...!" Xavier's eyes were staring at a sight he never thought he'd see...In fact, outside of Hebi, no one thought they'd see Toriksu with such an expression.

" Remember you our secret member...We especially need to keep it that way now." A smile had grown across Toriksuus's face, out of excitement or stress or pure insanity none of them could tell. " Hebi...What are the chances they attack us after?"

" Fairly high from the conversation I heard...I give it three years until the Kingdom is given a new leader...Then soon after that, we'll be up."

" Starting an all-out war!" Torikksu seemed to grow even more excited as he stood up from his chair and chugged the rest of his wine slamming the silver cup on the wood table.

They all stared in amazement as this was the most emotion he had ever expressed, but something felt off to most of them...Something seemed to lurk along with him but right now they couldn't dwell on that feeling.

" Should we warn the king?" Bulcke asked.

" No...He's too busy with his search for the remaining demons he insists exist." Hebis eyes narrowed at Torikksu who met his gaze with a firey look in his eyes. He walked to the pair of doors that were now closed and it seemed like he was about to exit but suddenly, he turned and faced them.

" Swordsmen!... In three years our part in this world will be solidified in history...Our skills will be remembered as the best of the best...The saviors of the world, and the creators of the perfect world alongside..."

Two images of silver-haired twins he had met only once, but their importance to the future war couldn't be mistaken, their importance to the future perfect world " Alongside the Unifiers of the New World!"

Torikksu turned back around and through the pair of doors open leaving the oom. Hebi quickly got up and followed leaving everyone else completely confused by what was just said.

[" The New World?"]