Prophecy

My name is Reth Kennedy. I'm the first prince of the Kingdom of Anthropos. I have dedicated my twenty years of living to creating a peaceful place for humans and defending the honor of my father, the king.

I took the sword's path more as it chose me; my talent for the sword was undesirable. My little brother, on the other hand, was a genius magician, and his talent for magic surpassed my skill for the sword, but I didn't give up. I trained every day until I reached the age of fifteen. I tried to practice magic, but I had no talent for casting spells. The despair of my weakness weighed heavily on my shoulders. I became a failure and was stripped of my right to the throne. The nobles never liked me to begin with, and my failure reached the whole kingdom; I was humiliated every day for being a weak and pathetic prince.

Everything changed on my sixteen birthday. I woke up with the memory of an unknown person. He was from a country called Japan from the year 2021, and he loved to watch anime and read webtoons, and more information about his former home came to me. He was named Akira Li, and his favorite sport was the kendo. The memories of Akira began to guide me, and my swordsmanship improved quickly until I surpassed my father. My father was the strongest swordsman in the kingdom, and my talent for magic increased somehow, and that is how I became the first magic swordsman in this country.

"Prince," the noblemen told me, ignoring my progress, "you don't qualify to be a prince of this great nation anymore. We, the great noblemen, have voted for your brother to become the next king."

My father, unfortunately, had passed away the year before. He'd given his blessing for me to become the next king, but the snake nobles of the kingdom had another plan, and that was to make my little brother their puppet king and rule the domain from the shadows—they all, from dukes to barons, gathered here to dethrone me.

I'd never liked how my father ruled this kingdom. He was a kind and merciful king and relied on the heavenly noble faction, giving them too much power.

"I don't plan to step down from the throne."

A fat nobleman stepped out from the shadows.

"Prince, this is not a request but an order from above."

"Duke Gallimore, you dare to order me? Where did you get this confidence to face me, the crown prince?"

"I can't tell you that yet, but today you must step down from the throne, or you will die."

I got up from the throne, clutched my hand with anger, and said while releasing my aura,

"How dare you threaten me openly? Do you have a death wish?"

The rest of the nobles caved in fear and couldn't hold the pressure of the powerful energy I released, but Gallimore didn't even flinch.

"Prince, you are indeed strong enough to inherit the throne, but fate has another plan."

I was confused about why my intimidation didn't reach this fat noble. Gallimore had never had the power to resist me, but today he suddenly had the guts to stand up me, and I was genuinely fascinated to know the secret of this fat man.

Duke Gallimore was cunning and ambitious, and to begin with, he was a poor commoner. My father had rescued him from the fangs of demons and raised him and trained him like his own son; later on, my father found out that he had a tremendous talent for business and gave him a title. He then claimed his way through the ranks of nobility. Still, this ungrateful bastard wanted me to step down from the throne.

"Gallimore, stop playing games and tell me—who wants me to die?"

"It can't be helped. The plan has already succeeded."

Gallimore waved his hands and said,

"Lord Holnor, please come out."

The figure of a tall masculine man, wearing a mask, stepped out from the shadow, shaking his head and mumbling.

"I guess the time has come," said the duke. "

Everyone, let me introduce Lord Holnor, the Apostle of Death."

When the man's identity was revealed, everyone, including the prince, didn't dare to speak. Then Holnor said arrogantly,

"Human prince, would you not welcome me?"

When he spoke, the arrogant nobles bowed and, in unison, said,

"We welcome the great Apostle."

"Lord Holnor, what business do you have in my kingdom?" I asked.

"Well, I don't care about this weak kingdom, but I have business with you, Prince."

"I don't know your plan, but I don't want any part of it."

"Amusing. You sit in front of an Apostle and have no fear of the consequences of your behavior," he said while rubbing his beard.

The man in front of me was one of the Seven Apostles of Erebus, and they were the most powerful beings in the world. Some people even considered them Demi-Gods, and amongst the Seven of them existed a man known for his cruelty, who carried the chains of death—Holnor the harbinger.

"Lord Holnor, what's your goal for coming here?"

"We have received a prophecy, and it holds a tale of an evil man who will be born in the human kingdom, and he will change the system of power and destroy the world—and I believe that evil man is you, Prince."

This man was indeed clever. To kill me, he had to make up a story and accuse me of evil.

"What evidence do you have of me being evil?"

"Part of your soul is already corrupted by an unknown power, and the prophecy mentioned the name of the evil that will bring destruction to the world—"

"First of all," I interrupted, "I don't think I'm evil. The power inside me is my own, and no one can claim credit for the amount of time I have spent training to reach this level. Apostles have no say in what goes in my kingdom."

Holnor pulled out a paper from his pocket and started to read.

"An evil king will be born in the human kingdom and bring destruction and change the system of Erebus, and his name will be

Reth Kennedy."