In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (3)

Looking through the windows of his personal office Naum felt tired.

Rain prickled the leaves heavily, maybe it was a sign of a bad omen. Maybe not. Still, It was infuriating to see that this day was always the same. A miserable day filled with the same bad news, the same people, and the same melancholic weather.

In the end, the only one who changed was his useless self, and it bothered him.

His constant failure was slowly breaking what was left of him.

He felt like everything in his life was so pathetic, deplorable, and worthy of pity. And although most of these feelings came from the melancholy of a recent defeat, his regrets never changed, in fact, they only grew stronger.

Every single day he lived under this borrowed time, further he regretted what he did in his original life. Countless times he wept over the way he treated his family, friends, lovers, and any of those who once believed in him.

And as time passed he found himself regretting things more and more. He was unforgivable, that was the truth. He wasn't here to seek forgiveness; he hadn't earned this right. He only hoped to amend his mistakes.

And now he was here once again inside his biggest mistake, the Kingdom of Otresh. A once prosperous kingdom that he led to ruin. Only the gods knew about how much he condemned what he did.

Whenever he slept at night he felt like he was betraying the good people of this land, betraying the good feelings of the farmers who moved his economy, betraying the devoted feelings of the soldiers who fought in favor of his useless resistance, betraying the legacy which was bestowed upon him.

He was a betrayer. He betrayed and betrayed, that was the story of his life.

He was unforgivable… and yet, he now had the obligation of being a good king.

'Would that even be possible?' He barely touched books about ruling in his lifetime, hell, he barely touched any book when he was younger. As a known good-for-nothing there was no doubt he was unfit to rule and honestly he was surprised he came into power.

For such a wastrel to become a king showed how politics worked.

In his last lives, he studied in hopes of surviving but even with it he truthfully doubted he was more knowledgeable than his younger brother, no he was sure. Sadly he only accepted he was incompetent after his 7th life, which would be hilarious if it wasn't tragic.

He digressed.

But the true question was that even if he somehow did good enough, what is a good king?

A good war leader capable of crushing their enemies?

A good diplomat with the ability to bring peace to the realm?

A great steward skilled enough to enrich the land?

A man great at the art of guile and trickery?

A man learned enough to please god?

Maybe someone with a golden heart who treats his people fairly?

Perhaps a merge of all of these?

It was a very subjective question, everyone would have a different answer and at the end of the day, there would always be someone displeased with his ruling. Living a life in politics would probably end in suffering and at this rate, he could see he would die for nothing.

"Ah!"

Or so he thought, but at that moment he remembered a journal he came across in his last life, 'What is a leader in different cultures.' Was its name if he remembered right.

His own culture was addressed amongst the few in that article, and that's why he got interested in it. But more importantly, if his memory still served him the culture of his enemies was also explained there.

< What is a leader for the Talshonds?

In my extensive research of the few remnants of this civilization, I found quite interesting facts about the brief rulers of the Northern Continent. In an interview with Ruslan Mukhtar, a former commander of the Nazgul Empire, he disclosed to me what his people envisioned in their leaders:

"For us who were oppressed for a long time, our chiefs were all we could believe. For us who were alone, we didn't seek mindless honor but instead, we valued valor.

You asked me what a leader is for us.

A leader is someone who is brave; one who doesn't abandon their people even in death,

A leader is someone who is willing to listen; one who treats their people as equals,

A leader is someone who is decisive enough; one that knows when to retreat,

A leader is someone who respects; one that knows when to respect,

A leader is someone who cares for their family; if one doesn't care for their own kin, why would they care for yours? It was a famous saying in our lands.

These are the qualities of a leader and I'm proud to say that the Khan I fought for had all of these…"

After saying it with satisfaction the man smiled proudly, reminiscing. As a scholar myself I couldn't completely understand his feelings, but it wasn't hard to see the genuineness of his words, even in his now precarious situation.

But knowing he was originally from a rival tribe intrigued me.

When I asked Sir Mukhtar what did make him believe in the emperor with such zeal when they were supposed to hate each other, he laughed and said:

"When I was younger…" >

Naum couldn't remember the rest of it, but that was more than enough. A plan was already forming in his mind.

Bravery,

Equality,

Decisiveness,

Respectfulness,

Care for family.

None of these were things he was known for, worse, he was well known as cruel, and honestly, he hadn't changed that much. But even so, what he had to do was clear, even for someone as dull as him.

"Feign."

When you don't know how to do something, feign till you make it. It was a phrase he once read in a philosophy book, it probably wasn't the best mindset but at least it was better than nothing.

And in the first place, the Empire wasn't his biggest trouble, unfortunately so. No, it was something more dangerous, otherworldly, something that none expected… Demons.

Demons were going to invade this continent.

1103

The following year,

The year where he died the most,

The year when the devil himself descended to earth,

The year when Theetonkral would start wreaking havoc on the continent.

That was the reason he had no interest in keeping being the king. He simply believed there was no way to save this continent. In his last life where he was disfigured and managed to live, he served in the court of a Count in the Eastern Continent and there he witnessed horrors that made his life seem futile.

Against these demons, everything was but a hopeless resistance.

At the time the rulers of the Eastern Continent took the threat seriously; this continent, the Northern Continent, was already ruled by demons. Demons who were far stronger than an average adult male, who knew how to use basic magic, and that reproduced at unimaginable speed.

And these were merely the fodder of the demon's army. Their Generals were so strong that it would only be possible to beat them with a swordmaster on your side, unfortunately, almost no one became a swordmaster in the last century.

While killing the Generals would be possible with a bit of luck, the devil himself, Theetonkral wasn't something he could see dying. Not with how strong it was.

He hadn't encountered the devil in any of his lives but what it did was more than enough to prove how strong it was. An outlandish being that was tougher than anything ever seen, proficient in magic like no human was, and always surrounded by its powerful minions.

Just how would one kill it?

One of the few swordmasters alive in this age, his enemy, the Emperor, apparently fought against Theetonkral and where did it get him? The devil was able to rule the continent easily because without their leader even the powerful nomadic people gave up.

"Damn it."

And now, to save his Kingdom he had to save the Continent. How absurd.

His to-do list was getting bigger and bigger:

The first thing he had to do was to bring people to his side, Nobles, guards, Common People, and his own family. He had to have all of them on his side to create a new reputation, the reputation of a man who is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of most.

Easier said than done.

But with such a reputation, the Khan, who seemed to respect bravery surely wouldn't kill him… or so he hoped. Well, he would work with the possibility of failure later.

The second thing he had to do if everything worked right would be to convince the Khan he wanted to serve him. Considering that if the man left him alive he would be stripped of his titles and probably imprisoned, if he was able to convince the man of his worth as a strategist, it would be perfect.

Though it would probably be impossible.

Third, bearing in mind that he would at most be free of imprisonment he had to somehow make the Khan ally himself with other kingdoms and maybe religions. The man was strong but alone no one could win.

Fourth, with all swordmasters and kingdoms together they would kill the devil!

Everyone would be happy and then he would finally be able to di-

*Knock, Knock*

"Your Majesty, I heard you called me." At the firm and cozy voice coming from the outside, Naum felt momentarily confused, but then he remembered he really had done so, "Ah, yes. You may enter General."

The rotund man saluted, closing the door, "Glory to the only god!" When the man started, Naum already knew the rest… as unfortunately, he was the one who started this procedure.

"Glory to Theetonkral!!"

Why was the noble worshiping such a devil openly?

The reason was simple.

'Coincidentally' Theetonkral was the leading God of the faith he publicly announced as his new belief just one month ago. Funny, isn't it?

Hahaha. He was dying of laughter.