Chapter 7 - "Bow before my greatness!"

Act 1 - Crossing the Border

"You ready?"

"Uh-huh. Ready to set out."

"Well you better make sure, if we're really going to a desert, we most likely aren't gonna find anything to set up a portal back home."

"It's fine I'm ready."

Karis and Ren were at the Nexus, fixing their bags containing the necessary goods they need for their travel. It was already three days since the royal family had come over for a house visit to Ren's territory. As discussed, the two of them were to escort the king over to the neighboring country of Sahnper. Neither of them had went to that place yet so they were making sure that they were well-prepared for the journey.

"Alright, I'm setting up the Nexus now."

"Right."

Ren went ahead and used the pin on the map, piercing it at the mark near the capital. After a few moments, a portal appeared on the monolith, showing the scenery of the capital's outskirts on the other side.

"Are we going to head to the castle?" Karis asked.

"No need. Galen said he'd meet us at the capital gates," Ren answered.

"'Your highness' Ren, you have to call him that, at least for the duration of this mission," Karis reminded as Ren was still showing signs of disrespect to the king.

"I know, I know, but technically, the mission hasn't started yet so what's the harm?"

"Oh dear," Karis sighed.

The two then went over to the other side, carrying their luggage with them. They came out of the same familiar tree that they always used to go to the capital. The road seems a bit wider now though, compared to last time, and the grass have started losing their colors.

"Oh what? Is it nearing winter?" Ren asked as he noticed nearby trees had started growing duller as well.

"I think so," Karis replied.

"So there's no proper cycle huh? The season just changes randomly from time to time." Ren remarked.

The two then went on their way to the capital's gate, following the paved road. They passed through some travelling merchants, greeting each other as they do, even Karis. It seemed like the demons' presence are no longer something to fear among the citizens of Ironblade.

A few minutes later, they finally saw the capital gate where a fancy carriage was parked just past the entrance. It was the same carriage that visited their home a few days ago. But instead of horses, a giant reptilian creature was on its lead, its appearance resembled that of a dragon.

"I think we're late..." Karis said with a worried tone.

"Who's fault do you think that is?" Ren snapped back.

They then went and approached the carriage's body. Karis gave the ground dragon a small rub to which the creature happily accepted, letting out a friendly growl. The drivers smiled in return after the dragon received a nice pat. Ren then went ahead and knocked three times on the carriage's door. A few seconds later, the door opened, and inside waiting was King Galen alone.

"So it's really just the three of us huh?" Ren thought out loud.

"You took your time! What the hell is wrong with you!" King Galen exclaimed.

"It was only a few minutes, why make it a big deal?"

"I'm out here in the open with just my drivers! I could've been assassinated with so little protection out here!"

"I'm terribly sorry about that your highness, it was my--"

"I took to long to get ready. My bad," Ren said, interrupting Karis' attempt of putting the blame on herself.

"No matter, just hop in so we could finally go," the king urged.

"Alright hop on," Ren said, motioning for Karis to get on the vehicle first. He then lifted their baggage onto the carriage with the help of Karis.

"Hup!" he followed right behind as he jumped on the carriage. After that, he closed the door, and a few moments later, the carriage began to move.

"Fancy seeing a dragon out there," Ren said as he remembered the reptilian creature that is currently pulling the carriage they are on right now.

"Of course. A horse wouldn't survive the journey across Sahnper's desert that's why we opted with a ground dragon plus they only need water to keep going so we can travel nonstop from morning till night," King Galen responded.

"About how many days will it take for us to get there?"

"We should be able to reach the border within four days, assuming nothing goes wrong on the way."

"Four days huh?"

"And as for the trip to the capital, it'll take us five more days, again, assuming things go perfectly."

"And I'm stuck here with you for the meantime, this is gonna bore me to death," Ren complained as he lay down with his head on Karis' lap, and putting his legs up on the carriage seat.

"Hey you! This is a royal carriage!" the king shouted.

"What of it? It's wide enough to lay down, and it's just the three of us," Ren nonchalantly replied.

"I'm starting to think it was a bad idea to bring you along now."

"Don't worry about it, I'll keep my promise to watch my actions when we get there," Ren assured.

"But you know, this really is quite a boring trip. Not to mention, our precious evenings are going to be occupied for a few days. This sucks." he added, stretching his arm.

"Then let's play THAT," Karis suggested.

"Oh yeah, did you bring the cards?"

"Sure did."

With her suggestion, Karis bent over to pick something up from their baggage. A few moments later, she pulled out a stack of cards. King Galen looked curiously at the thing that she just got from her bag. Ren then stood up from his lying position. He grabbed the cards from Karis' hands, and started shuffling them.

"Let's go Poker this time?" Ren suggested.

"Anything will do," Karis answered.

"..."

"Umm..."

Karis and Ren turned their head to the king who was inquisitively staring at them.

"Yeah?" Ren asked.

"What are you two doing?" the king answered him with another question.

"Well, we're going to go play some card games. We can't just sit around twiddling our thumbs, can we? My sanity is on the line here."

"What's a card game?" the king asked once more.

Karis and Ren gave each other questioning looks as they heard the king ask them, then a few moments later, they both look at the king and smile deviously.

"Shall we get him addicted?" Ren suggested.

"Very well then, allow me to do the explanation..." Karis offered.

A few days later...

"STRAIGHT FLUSH! HAH SUCK ON THAT!"

"Tch."

King Galen aggressively laid down his hand, showing five cards with the same symbol, and with consecutive numberings. Ren clicked his tongue as he placed his cards down in defeat.

"Congratulations, your majesty. This marks your tenth win in a row," Karis said with a gentle smile, placing down her cards as well.

"HA! WHAT'S WRONG? CAN'T EVEN BREAK MY RECORD NOW CAN YOU!?" King Galen exclaimed as he enthusiastically mocked Ren for losing so many times in succession.

"You know Karis, I'm starting to regret my decisions here," Ren said with an irritated face.

"It's fine. It's just a game, we're here to have fun after all."

"Still, to think that this noble king is showing his childish side to us...I can't help but feel like I've lost even more."

"WHAT'S WRONG? IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE?! COME ON LET'S PLAY SOME MORE!" the king screamed as he gave out a hearty laughed, making Ren lose more of his patience everytime he speaks.

"I'm feeling murderous..." Ren whispered under his breath.

"LAY OUT THE CARDS COME ON NOW!"

"Enough. I'm tired. It sucks playing the same thing over and over again."

"HEH! YOU'RE JUST A SORE LOSER!"

"You know, I'm really trying my best to hol--"

"Excuse me, your highness," a window suddenly popped open behind Ren's head, and one of the drivers took a quick look inside, interrupting whatever Ren was about to say.

"What is it?" King Galen asked, returning to his composed self in an instant.

"We're about to make it out of the Sabre Mountain Range," the driver stated.

"Really?!" the king asked to confirm to which the driver replied with a quick nod.

With that, King Galen, Ren, and Karis looked out onto the window nearest to them. What met their sight was an endless expanse of a sea of sand, as far as the eye could see. There were some sand dunes on sight, and some cactus standing on some places. No clouds are seen up in the sky which means the sun was shining on them at its full power. Thankfully, the cover of the carriage was enough to shade both the drivers, and passengers.

"So we're finally here huh? Sahnper, the desert kingdom, and the center of trades," King Galen declared.

"I don't get it, why would such a place serve as a trade center, isn't it kind of inconvenient to get here, not to mention the dangerous monsters that you said were lying around," Ren asked.

"That's because Sahnper has less tariff to impose on these merchants than we do, plus there are less checkpoints for them to come through so it's a good way as well to sneak in some illegal goods."

"You know of this?"

"Of course, it's one of the reasons you went rogue remember?"

"Fair enough."

Ren then went ahead, and opened the carriage door on his side. The desert breeze seeped in through the opening, toasting the interior of the carriage in hot air.

"Hey! What are you doing!" the king asked but Ren didn't respond and just went ahead and jumped on the roof of the carriage. He stood all the way up, seeing more view that he did inside the carriage.

"I've never been to a desert before. This feels exciting," he said as he spread his arms wide open, letting the desert breeze brush against him.

"Gracious goodness, that guy is just so impulsive," King Galen said as he went and closed the carriage door. He was now left inside with Karis, a demon, the race that he once, and still, despised.

"Hmm?" Karis said, noticing the king's hostile stare pointing directly at her.

"I'm surprised you could still feel comfortable like this. Your protector is up there, while you're left down here alone. I can literally end you right here and convince the hero that you suddenly attacked me, and I just acted in defense," the king threatened.

"You won't," Karis replied with a soft giggle.

"How certain are you of that?"

"Ren isn't someone that's easy to fool. He's incredibly smart you know. Also, you're not someone who will betray the trust that other people gave you."

"..!" the king flinched after hearing Karis' kind words.

"Someday, I know you're going to show your filthy side, and become humanity's greatest enemy. And when that day comes, I will be sure even the hero won't have a chance to defend you."

"The only time I'm going to consider the human race my enemy, is when the day that Ren considers it his. No matter what happens, his decision are mine as well," Karis replied with a gentle smile on her face as she looked up at the roof.

"Even if we exterminate your entire race?" King Galen asked.

"If that were to happen, I will await my master's decision and act upon it. My priority in life is first, my master's life, second, my people, and lastly, my life."

"And if he decided to end your life?"

"I'll happily let myself be killed by his hands without regret."

"Such confidence to each other. Now I see why my daughter looks up to you so much."

A few moments later, Ren came back inside the carriage where he noticed that there was a strange silence between the two inside.

"Did something happened?" Ren curiously asked.

"Nothing," Karis and the king replied in unison.

"Huh?"

And thus, the silence between the two parties continued for the rest of the day.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Act 2 - Danger of the Sands

It had been two days since King Galen's envoy had entered Sahnper's territory. The journey so far had been quite tame with the driver's occasional switching up to let the other rest, and the people inside the carriage either taking quick naps, or playing games together. Although Ren avoided the latter option as much as possible ever since he knew of the king's overly competitive side.

It had been quite unbearable for him since whenever he wins, the king accuses him of cheating, or made up some reasons that will nullify the results of the game. If he wins however, he starts bragging, and acting arrogant over them. Over time, Ren had been getting fed up with the king that he let Karis handle all of their games at a certain point onwards.

"Congratulations, your highness. You won again," Karis declared with a gentle smile on her face as she lost against the king again for who knows how many times.

"YEAH! I'M THE BEST!" the king rejoiced.

"You really have quite the talent for this kind of activity, I'm positive you can make use of this and show off your talent to your colleagues one day."

"Right?! I'm so good at this right! Ah yes, such magnificent talent of mine!' the king happily accepted Karis' praises.

"Look at you two suddenly getting along. Also Karis, you're gonna end up making a conceited man if you continue treating him like that," Ren remarked as he laid relaxed on Karis' lap.

"You're just envious that you don't have much talent as me! Ha!" the king scoffed.

"Never knew having insane amount of luck amounts to talent," Ren snapped back.

"What did you say?!"

"You really want me to repeat it? Fine then, I said--"

Suddenly, before Ren could finish, they felt a random earthquake as they noticed that the carriage seemed to be rocking more violently. Ren went ahead and opened the window to the drivers.

"Hey what's with the sudden shaking?"

"We don't know, maybe it was just a sudden earthquake, the dragon already stopped moving if you haven't noticed."

"A quicksand maybe? No, we're not sinking," Ren said as he observed that they still remain at the same altitude despite the shaking.

"GROAAAARRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

And then, out of nowhere, Ren and the others heard an ear-piercing shriek that even made the ground dragon curl up in fear. The earthquake grew more violently as the second passed, until finally, something emerged from under the sands in the distance.

"What the hell is that!" Ren exclaimed as he saw a giant creature with a scorpion-like body, connected to a long, snake-like appendage that is connected to the ground.

"It's a Serpion!" King Galen replied as he watched in horror at the monster in his sights.

A few seconds later, more violent earthquakes were felt, and a mass of Serpions appeared, following the first one. There were about thirty of them towering intimidatingly over the carriage.

"Finally! Some action," Ren said as he leapt out of the carriage.

"HERO WAIT!" King Galen tried to stop him, but it was too late. As soon as Ren landed on the desert lands, his foot started sinking on the ground.

"What in the?!"

"We're still in a deep desert territory, the bedrock here is far lower than where the capital is so you will sink underground on foot!"

"Say that in advance!" Ren shouted as he tries to wriggle his way out of the sands.

"Wait Master! Don't move so much!" Karis said, grabbing Ren's hand and pulling him out. At Karis' word, Ren stopped flailing around and let himself be pulled up completely out of the sand, grabbing onto the carriage door to help a little bit. It took quite a struggle, but finally, Ren made it back inside.

"Shit that almost went bad. Thanks Karis," Ren said, giving Karis a short kiss on the lips as appreciation.

"Guess I have no choice but long-ranged combat huh?" he declared as he jumped to the carriage roof. Karis followed as well.

"Hey Karis, you're a melee combatant, you can't do anything here."

"I'll watch out for your blind spots."

"Fair enough."

The two then leaned against each others in preparation for battle against the Serpions. The ones ahead of them had thinned out quite a bit, and the earthquake from earlier resumed.

"Driver!" Ren called out to the people in front.

"Yes?!"

"Keep moving forward, we can't sit here for long, else it will be dangerous to us."

"R-right!" the driver replied.

He then commanded his dragon to move forwards, but the dragon was still too scared to move.

"Come on Topaz! Move forward! Everyone else will take care of those monsters. Just trust them," the driver said, trying to encourage the terrified dragon which merely whimpered in response.

"Come on now buddy, please. You can do this. You won't die I promise," the other driver said.

After a while, the carriage started moving forward. It seemed like the drivers' encouragement to the dragon worked well, although still not fully as the dragon's shaky steps transferred onto the carriage.

"GROAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHH!!!!!!" a Serpion erupted just from where the carriage had been a few moments ago. The surrounding sand got sucked into the hole that the Serpion came from. More Serpions started emerging left, and right as the carriage kept on going forwards.

"Shit, there's no clouds at all. I can't use my natural lightning spells."

"Master! Incoming!" Karis shouted as she saw a Serpion charging headfirst towards them.

"Oh well, good thing I prepared something for a scorching day."

The Serpion kept on charging headfirst onto the carriage, some followed as well. It seemed like they were trying to turn the carriage on its sides. If that were to happen, then the sand would swallow up the entire crew, and it'll be a feast for the monsters from that point on.

"GWAHHRRRR!!!" but the leading Serpion howled in pain as a projectile pierced onto its skeletal frame.

"Alright, time to test out my shooting skills."

The projectile's source seemed to have come from Ren, who was now holding an umbrella like a gun, with its pointed end directed at the Serpion that just got hit. More Serpions came in to lead the attack but all of them were getting pushed back by Ren. The armor-piercing(AP) shots seemed to be doing well at holding the giant creatures back, but it's not enough to kill them off.

"If that doesn't work, then how about this!"

Ren then opened up his metallic umbrella. It's canopy tips started generating electricity together with the middle tip, forming an energy ball in the middle. He then aimed the energy ball at the attacking Serpion, thanks to the inner canopy's transparency, he was able to tell exactly where the attacker is.

"GROAAAAAAAAARHHHHH!!!" the Serpion shrieked.

"Eat this you dumb snake-scorpion hybrid!"

Ren released the energy ball from the umbrella, and it shot directly inside the howling Serpion's mouth. The energy ball then travelled throughout the monster insides. After a short while, the Serpion's abdomen exploded. Gut juices rained down on the carriage but thankfully, Ren used his weapon as an actual umbrella, and covered both him and Karis from the gut rain. The Serpion fell flat onto the ground, motionless. After a while, the desert gobbled up the remains of the giant creature.

"There are still others."

"I know."

Ren did the same thing, firing late-explosive(LE) shots to the attacking Serpions, although he had to sneak in a few AP shots since the one that is working against the creatures required time to charge.

"Ren! Behind!" Karis alerted as a Serpion comes charging towards them from in front Karis' view. Ren quickly turned around and prepared to shoot another LE charge.

"GROAARHHHHHHH!!!" the creature growled as it charges headfirst onto the carriage.

"Move to the right!" Ren shouted to the two below, prompting them to guide the ground dragon to the instructed direction. The carriage swayed a bit at the sudden turn but thanks to that, the Serpion just barely brushed aside, and with perfect timing, Ren shoot the LE shot at the creature's mouth.

"GROAEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" the creature howled as it exploded, and dropped dead on the ground.

Ren continued the same thing over, and over again, shooting LE shots at the Serpions mouth to kill them off. Some of the shots missed but the external late explosion pushed back the attacking Serpions. He also gave occasional directions to the drivers for moments where they need to dodge an incoming attack.

Finally, after a few more minutes, Ren was finally able to kill off the last Serpion from the group. None appeared anymore after, and so Ren and Karis went back inside the carriage after confirming their safety.

"Damn that was fun!" Ren blurted out.

"Yeah, you were really enjoying yourself out there," Karis replied with a smile.

"Amazing, you were able to handle such a group of monsters with ease," King Galen commended.

"Damn, how were you able to get through this desert if you're fighting THAT, not to mention those merchants that travel here," Ren asked.

"I don't know exactly, this is the first time I've seen a group of Serpions attack. Usually it's just one or two, and those we can handle with my usual envoy. Merchants enjoy the risk since it's a win-all, lose-all situation for them but some do hire adventurers from the guild," King Galen explained.

"The guild huh? We haven't dropped by on one of those yet, have we?" Ren said as he looked at Karis to which she replied with a nod.

"More importantly, what the hell is that?!" King Galen asked, changing the topic as he noticed the thing Ren used to repel the monster attack.

"Oh this? It's just one of my toys. I created it with Creation-Tier magic, including the enhancements," Ren explained.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Didn't Phoros mentioned about the tiers of magic back then," King Galen said, remembering that day when Ren helped them out for the capital defense, and Ren declaring that he'll use Apocalypse-Tier to wipe out the demons.

"What about it?"

"Well, it's just that, don't you find it weird that an Apocalypse-Tier spell is somewhat ranked lower than Creation-Tier? Is it really that big of a deal if it's just a spell that let's you create something like...that?"

King Galen proved a point, as he witnessed the deadly power of an Apocalypse-Tier that even his most trusted mage, Phoros, claimed it to be a power that is enough to destroy the world. Yet it's inferior to the Creation-Tier which, so far, noticed that it's just a simple spell that can create some items, or weapon like the umbrella.

"Oh, I see what you mean by that. I agree that it is weird that Creation-Tier is superior, but the thing is... let me quote something from that old man's memory," Ren said as he searched his mind to look for the proper words.

"Ahh yes... there it is... let's see..."

"Destruction will stop once there is nothing left to destroy, but Creation will continue forever, for all eternity, and nothing can stop it. Whatever it lacks, it will create, hence, the word Creation," Ren recited.

"I... I see... that indeed sounds quite scary. But I don't get it, how does it work?"

"It's quite simple really despite how powerful it is. I just have to imagine something perfectly, and it will come into existence. Keep note, I said perfectly, so no details must be left out. For example, I can create something like this umbrella, something very simple, but I spiced it out with some augmentations, but with this power, I can do something like create another sun, but since I don't know every single detail about the sun, I can't create it," Ren explained as he created a simple rock as a demonstration.

"Such a terrifying power..." was the only words that came out of King Galen's mouth. His fear for Ren's power had just increased even more, after all, with a power as great as his, it would be no stretch to say that he's like a god. The exact same being that they prayed to in order to summon him.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Act 3 - Sahnper's Capital

It was the morning of the ninth day of Ren's escort mission. The Ironblade carriage had successfully made it to one of the frontier villages, though it was not an easy ride. They came across some occasional Serpion attacks, but was able to successfully repel them. Now they are in a small town where people are going about their daily lives.

"Finally, we reached civilization," King Galen said in relief after he had been fatigued by the dangers of the desert.

"So I take it, it's safe here now?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, the bedrock here is actually quite high now so no Serpion can sneak within this area. They can still pull off an attack but the guards can handle them now with them having little room for burying."

Ren and Karis looked through the window, observing the lives of the people. There are some who looked their way in curiosity, while there are some who were too busy to care. The houses were small and compact, built from sandstone, matching the desert background.

"Why do I feel like the people here seemed unhappy about their life," Karis pointed out as she noticed that the citizens seemed rather lifeless as they go about, not to mention they're incredibly thin bodies. It's like they're barely staying alive at this point.

"This is a frontier village. They don't have much access to the goods at the capital. They live off of leftover goods that merchants sell to them for cheap amounts after a successful day at the main city," King Galen explained.

"Then, why don't they go to the capital then, and at least have a fighting chance for some fresh goods?"

"They can't. The monarch of this country isn't allowing these outskirt dwellers to enter the capital. They can't really disobey however, since he can say the word and their heads will get cut off no questions asked."

"That's terrible," Karis remarked with a pitiful look on her face.

Suddenly, Ren went and opened the door of the carriage, and hopped down onto the streets of the small town.

"Hey He-- I mean Ren! What are you doing?!" the king exclaimed.

"I'm gonna take a small walk, it should be fine from here right?"

"Yeah but still--"

"Don't worry, I won't get far from the carriage. Karis, wanna come?" Ren called out.

"Sure," Karis answered as she dropped down from the carriage as well.

"Jeez, those two just do whatever they want," King Galen said, feeling defeated.

The sight of the two coming out of the carriage surprised the nearby onlookers, but their surprise turned into fear once they saw Karis' horn, signifying that she is, in fact, a demon.

"A--a demon!" some of the onlookers shouted.

"It's been a while since I've heard one of those, takes me back to our first day in Warspite," Ren recalled.

"Yeah, it's weird but I kind of miss this interaction," Karis giggled.

Despite the cautiousness that the people are displaying against the two, Karis and Ren paid it no mind and just continued on their stroll. People that came near their path backed up in fear of Karis. Mothers carrying their children turned their heads away from the sight of the main street as to avoid scaring their kids.

An intersection was about to come ahead on their way. The carriage slowed down a bit to avoid any potential crashes on the incoming intersection. However, just as Ren and Karis were walking through the crossing, a group of children were running headfirst towards them. The children weren't able to stop their tracks, and the one in the lead bumped into Karis.

"Ouchie!" the kid said as she fell over on her bottom. She looked up at who she bumped into. Karis looked down gently upon the kid, but the poor child was frozen in fear after seeing the horns protruding from her head. The other children backed up as well, leaving their friend sitting in front of the demon. The adults in the area looked with fear and worry in their eyes, anxious about what's about to happen. Two people came running in shouting something towards the girl, seemingly her name, but the other adults stopped them before they could get close.

"No! Please! Spare my child!" the mother shouted.

"Turn your eyes away, it's done for. Just let it be!" one of the people holding them said.

"No! My child!"

Meanwhile, the girl still haven't stood back up from her position and was breathing heavily as fear took control over her body. Karis just looked over silently, and Ren stayed out of it. He tapped the carriage twice to stop it from proceeding, and King Galen watched the spectacle unfold from the safety of his confines.

Finally, Karis took the initiative to make the first move. She hunched over in front of the girl.

"No! Please no!" the girl's parent screamed once more.

"Are you ok little girl? Did you hurt yourself?" Karis asked in the most soothing voice.

"Huh?" the girl, who was about to cry, let out a confused noise.

"Come on now. Stand up. Your friends are waiting for you," Karis said as she extended her hand to help the girl up.

The kid hesitated for a while but ultimately accepted Karis' hand, holding onto it. Karis then pulled the girl up until she could stand.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"N-no, I-I'm fine. Thank you."

"I see, I'm glad you didn't get injured or anything," Karis said, flashing a friendly smile to the girl. The onlookers were bewildered at what they were witnessing. They suddenly started questioning their image of a demon since this was the first time they've seen one in person.

"Miss demon, are--are you going to eat me?" the girl asked, her voice shaking.

"Oh dear of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?" Karis chuckled.

"My mommy said that demons eat bad kids that play outside too much."

"Don't worry, I won't eat you at all. But you should follow what mommy says, there are monster out there as well who really will eat you. We just fought some on our way here."

"Monsters?!"

"I know right? Speaking of eating, what did you have for breakfast today?" Karis asked, attempting to strike a conversation with the terrified young girl.

"Umm... just our everyday bread and water," the girl answered.

"Is that so? Well, since you've been a good girl and did not cry, I will give you a little present."

"Present?"

"Yeah, Ren, we still have one of those lunchbox right?" Karis asked.

"Yeah there's still one."

"Great, can we give it to her please?"

"Yeah sure why not. We're pretty much done with our journey," Ren said as he opened the carriage door and grabbed what Karis requested from their luggage.

"Your wife is putting on quite a show huh?" King Galen remarked.

"Just her being her. Nothing strange here," Ren said after finally getting the lunchbox out and handing it to Karis.

She then held it out to the girl who was now looking at her with curiosity rather than fear in her eyes.

"Here."

"What's this?"

"It's extra food that I made for our journey. Since we no longer need it, why don't you take it and share it with your friends, and family. I'm pretty confident about my cooking skill so it should be pretty good," Karis said, still holding on to the box.

The girl then slowly reached out to grab the lunchbox from Karis' hands. She held it, and took the lid off and the aroma of freshly cooked food seeped out.

"It smells so good!" the girl exclaimed in joy.

"Is that so? Well, eat up a lot so you can have more energy to play."

"Right!"

After the short fiasco, Karis and Ren then moved onward on their stroll. The carriage followed soon after King Galen commanded the drivers to proceed onwards.

"Thank you! Miss nice demon!" the girl screamed off as they made their way forward.

Karis gave a small wave in response. Soon as the entourage left the area, all the adults came swarming on to the little girl. The scent of the fresh food that she received attracted the children as well.

"Wow! It's so delicious!" the girl said as she took a bite out of a freshly cooked fish.

"I can't believe it. Is that girl really a demon?"

"I thought they're just a bunch of savage beasts.

"Wait, I heard from a merchant the other day that Ironblade opened itself to the demons a long time ago."

"Really?!"

The people all muttered their own thoughts amongst themselves, meanwhile the girl was happily chowing on the contents of the lunchbox. It was the first time after all that she had tasted something very delicious. Some of the kids that were with her grabbed some as well to which she happily shared.

Meanwhile...

"That was a good first impression."

"You think so?"

Ren and Karis were still continuing on their walk alongside the carriage. The people that were seeing them were now less wary of Karis' presence after what happened earlier.

"Oh, is that the place?" Ren said as he saw an incredibly big city emerge on the distance. A great wall surrounds the city's perimeter. The buildings were more developed than the simple houses here in the boonies, and a giant palace made of marbles dwarf everything else in comparison.

"That is one fancy castle," Ren remarked as he opened the doors of the carriage.

"I take it that's the capital?" he asked to the king who looked outside to confirm the sightings.

"Yes, that would be it," King Galen answered.

Ren and Karis then hopped back onto the carriage which picked up the pace as they approach their destination.

After a few more hours of travel, the carriage finally made it to the Sahnper capital. The buildings were much bigger up close compared to what Ren and Karis had seen earlier. The bussing streets were filled with merchants, and other carriages going around the city. It was truly the sight of a busy market.

"Karis, Ren listen to me," King Galen said, calling out the attention of the two.

"Oh wow you actually called her by her name now. That's a plus," Ren pointed out.

"I-- well... nevermind that, I'm going to remind you one last time so listen up."

"I'm listening."

"Ok, from this point on, I expect the both of you to be on your best behavior. No going out on the streets either, we're not leaving the carriage until we're at the palace."

"Bummer."

"Best behavior Hero! We're starting now! Please, just this once follow your wife's example."

Seeing the king's serious face, Ren let go of his nonchalant attitude, sat straight up, and made the most unexpressive face he can create.

"Understood," Ren replied with the stiffest voice he can.

"Well look at that, you can actually do it if you tried. Anyway, remember. Unless your life is in danger DO NOT DO ANYTHING RASH. I will handle the situation for all of us, I promise on my name," King Galen declared.

"As of now, you two are Ren, and Karis, two adventurers from the guild that I hired as my personal bodyguard for this trip. Are we clear?"

"Yes," both Karis and Ren replied in the most serious tone they can.

"Alright. I'm counting on you two, we'll reach the palace any minute now."

________________________________________________________________________________________

Act End - Hero

"We're here."

After a long drive through the capital's streets, King Galen's crew finally made it to the marble palace. Its enormous size made all the other, already fancy, establishments nearby look like normal houses in comparison. The palace had a wall running around its perimeter made of smooth stones, the palace itself was an elegant combination of white, and gold, clearly showing off the wealth that its inhabitant possesses.

"Hey, hey. There has to be a limit of how much gaudy one can get. This is just a bit too much isn't it?" Ren remarked as he took a look at the view outside.

"Sahnper's king loves displaying his wealth to everyone around him. Whenever he goes to visit other countries for international meetings, he would always dress himself in his most fanciest clothing filled with golden jewelries from head to toe. It's honestly quite annoying how dazzling his body gets when light happened to point his way," King Galen said, remembering the times that he had met the monarch.

The carriage made its way through the palace's driveway, heading to the front entrance of the huge building where a group of people stood, waiting for them. A few moments later, the carriage finally reached the end of the path, parking with its side facing the waiting personnel. King Galen opened the door and made his way out first to greet the people.

"Ahh, glad you could make it King Galen. Welcome," a plumpy man dressed in gaudy-looking clothes greeted.

"I apologize for the wait, and thank you for allowing me to set foot in your magnificent palace, Monarch Midas Sahnper."

King Galen, and the man he called monarch shook their hands after the short greeting.

"I take it you have received my letter that's why you came here?"

"Exactly, I was quite curious about it as well and went to take a look. There are also some matters I wish to discuss with you."

"Very well then. Let's head inside, and allow me to offer you some hospitality. By the way, did you come alone? I don't see your normal security convoy anywhere." Monarch Midas asked curiously as he looked behind King Galen, expecting some more carriage to be present.

"No, we're still a bit short-staffed today after the demon siege about a year ago. As for my security, I hired two local adventurers from our guild. Now come on, step out you two," King Galen called out.

After being summoned, Ren and Karis made their way out of the carriage in a mannerly way. They then bowed their heads together and offered their greeting.

"A pleasure to meet you, your majesty," they both said.

"I see, I see. You're adventurers eh? Good job on bringing Ironbl-- hmm?! YOU!" the monarch cut his welcoming speech off as he noticed something off about one of the king's escorts. A pair of horn was jutting out of her head.

"A DEMON! GUARDS! A DEMON HAD MADE IT INTO THE PALACE!" the monarch screamed at the top of his lungs prompting the nearby stationed guards to come running into the scene. They drew their strangely-shaped swords and formed a protective barrier in front of the monarch.

"Calm down Monarch Midas, she's one of my bodyguards," King Galen said, trying his best to defuse the tension as he can feel Ren's deadly gaze piercing him from behind.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS KING GALEN?!"

"Please calm down. It's like I said, she is one of my bodyguards. Haven't you heard the new decree that I proclaimed a year ago."

"Decree? Oh, that's right! You opened your country to those good for nothing savages!"

"Yes, yes that's right. And these two right here are the best the guild could offer for a nine-day long journey."

"I-I see... so that demon is at least on a leash is she?!"

"Yes that's right, both of them are contracted to not do anything unless I told them to."

"T-then...I guess it's safe. I trust you King Galen," Midas said, finally calming down. The nearby knights also sheathed their weapon back after the monarch motioned them to. However, he and his knights still looked with scorn in their eyes at Karis.

"Alright then...let's head inside. Guards, keep a close eye to that savage over there. Geez, what were you thinking Galen?" Midas said as they made their way inside.

The palace's interior was even more fancy that the outside. Tons of paintings were hanged onto the walls. Most of these paintings were that of the monarch himself. There were even some statues made of marble standing around, also with the image of the monarch. The entrance was like an art gallery filled with nothing but Midas' collection of artwork about himself.

"What do you think King Galen? I had these made about a few months ago."

"You're still the same as ever I see."

"Ha ha! You know it. What way to better spend my wealth than to erect statues of myself, showing my magnificence as monarch of this country."

The group made their way towards a hallway leading to a staircase, similar to Ren's, to the second floor. In the middle of the staircase stood a fountain with a naked statue of the monarch at its center.

"Yikes, what a narcissist," Ren said in his mind, trying his best not to show his disgusted expression.

After making it to the second floor, the group entered a fairly large door, fancier than the entrance to the palace itself. It seemed like every room they come through was just one-upping the previous one. Inside stood an elegant golden throne, with Midas' riches littering behind. A red carpet was spread out in between the throne itself, and the entrance, and extravagant marble pillars hold the throne room walls.

The rest of the crew walked just a few distance away from the throne as Monarch Midas made his way over and sat on his golden throne. Everyone else, except for King Galen kneeled in the presence of the monarch.

"Now then, allow me to formally greet you again King Galen. Welcome to my beautiful Sahnper palace. Let's have a nice discussion from here on out."

"Thank you Monarch Midas, it is my pleasure."

"Before we get onto the proper topic, may I ask you one thing?" Midas started.

"What is it?"

"I'm quite curious. What were you thinking when you accepted the demons into your country. It's quite worrying to know that humanity's defender, the proud Ironblades, had resorted to this option."

After taking it to themselves to be the frontline on their war against the demons, it really was quite a peculiar turn of events that Ironblade would be the first to let the demons to live with humans. However, what Midas did not know was that the king was basically forced into upholding it, and that the whole thing was never his idea.

"Monarch... it's as you said, we were humanity's defender against the demons for several years now, and it goes without saying that we are the ones who are in the know of how grim the situation was."

"Soldiers were dying, getting replaced by new and fresh ones who will die soon anyways. This cycle will never end unless one of us would be the bigger man, and gave way for the other. I no longer want my knights to be sacrificed to such futile conflict, after all, there's no telling how long this war is going to continue."

"The demons on the other hand, they only wanted a place to live. Sure there are some that really caused trouble without any reason at all, but some of us humans are also like that. So what's the harm? So far these demons had been a massive help in getting Ironblade back up after that war, as you can see some even became well-acknowledged adventurers like this fine lady over here."

Karis made a subtle smile as she heard King Galen gave her a complimented. Ren closed his eyes in satisfaction as, even though it was all an act, he was happy that Karis was getting recognized.

"Hmph! A demon is a demon. A human is a human. That fact will never change. Those creatures still remain as a threat to us. What will you do if your little act of 'kindness' gets abused, and they ended up tearing you from the inside? You've really gone soft on us King Galen, I'm disappointed."

"Well, think whatever you want, I'm not stopping you. At the very least, I can see that my decision made quite a positive impact in my kingdom."

"You let us down. No matter, we no longer need your protection against the demons. Even without the Ironblades, Sahnper will continue to defend its land against these cursed creatures," Midas declared.

"You're quite confident are you? I take it, the contents of that letter were legitimate."

"But of course, since when have I ever lied to you my friend. With my army of well- trained slaves, and our trump card, those demons don't stand a chance. We will fight for our borders and drive those savage creatures off of our land!"

A few moments after Midas' bragging, the door to the throne room gently opened, and a messenger came walking down the red carpet to the throne. The messenger bowed his head before delivering his words.

"Your highness, our almighty champion has returned," he said.

"Ahh yes, perfect timing, I was just about to introduce him to King Galen over here, very well, let him in," Midas commanded as the messenger went scurrying back to the door. The messenger then went ahead and opened it to give way to the person on the other side.

"Welcome back, how was your hunt?" Midas greeted.

"It went better than expected. That was a nice haul."

A young man dressed in steel armor came marching into the throne room. His build was similar to Ren, as well as his black hair. He carried a bag with unknown contents inside, and a pair of shield, and greatsword hung at his back, binded between his shining armor, and elegant golden cape.

"Ohh? Looks like I'm interrupting something here. Should I leave?"

"No no, it's fine. We were just talking about you, now come hither," Midas motioned for the mysterious man to come at his side. The man then went over, and followed the monarch's instruction, walking down the red carpet, and standing beside Midas. He then turned around, and face King Galen and everyone else. Ren, and Karis looked curiously at the new guy, raising their heads.

"My friend Galen, I would like to introduce to you Arthur, the kingdom of Sahnper's one and only summoned Hero," Midas introduce.

The mention of the word 'Hero' made Ren, Karis, and King Galen's eyes go wide in shock. Karis, and Ren weren't permitted to speak yet, but King Galen, himself was speechless at Midas' introduction.

"So...it is true after all!" he blurted out.

"That's right! We underwent a summoning ritual that granted us the savior of humanity, and the one that will end those demon's reign of terror once and for all!" Midas shouted.

"Impossible..."

The hero then assumed a ferocious stance against the watchers. He stood proud with his head raised in the air, looking down on everyone, including King Galen.

"HA! HA! HA! THAT'S RIGHT! I AM THE GREAT HERO THAT WILL SAVE YOU ALL FROM YOUR SUFFERING! MY NAME IS ARTHUR! A GREAT BEING FROM ANOTHER WORLD WITH THE POWER TO DESTROY ALL DEMONS!" the Hero boasted.

He then pulled his sword out from behind him and pointed it onto the ceiling.

"DO NOT WORRY O' GREAT KING FROM ANOTHER NATION! SOON YOU WILL NO LONGER HAVE TO FORCE YOURSELF TO COMPROMISE WITH THE DEMON'S DESIRES! FOR I, THE HERO ARTHUR! WILL END THIS WAR ONCE AND FOR ALL! NOW..."

He then stabbed his sword into the ground, and grabbed on its handle, assuming the stance of a steadfast warrior.

"BOW BEFORE MY GREATNESS!"