Dawn- An age of Darkness

"Are you serious!?"

No one said anything, they were serious alright. 

"You have one hundred days starting now and in this time, you'll be unkillable. You have 67 days till your showdown with the emperor if I'm not wrong. Since you won't be injured from now on, let's try to make a very effective training regimen. But remember, you might be immortal in these 100 days, but you won't be immune to pain, meaning torturing you would be quite fun for the emperor in case you happen to lose. " Ve was quite adamant and she looked utterly serious. "So let's make sure you don't lose."

"And I'm guessing that's why he made such an arrangement for you," Alisa sighed. 

The rest were just quiet.

I sighed too. This was only normal. After all, I just did something I shouldn't have. And I should have been prepared for the consequences.

But assuming I could win this with this power, there was a very good chance I could travel the world and search for a way to get rid of this too. After all, the world was big and I was desperate. 

"Alright."

***

We moved on to the garden next. 

Apparently, both the prince and the princess were there, having their tea. 

And since the prince- or rather the king wanted to have a chat with me, I had to show up, whether I liked it or not. 

I wasn't feeling that great though. 

"Your majesty." I made a small bow. 

"Your Excellency." He also bowed accordingly and the two of us took our seats. "I take it you've already secured the sword?"

There was an umbrella-like thing above our heads only the prince and the princess were here and some guards. My companions were all behind me, and that included Gorgon. 

Beatrine and Gorgon exchanged smiles and their looks suggested they were enjoying themselves quite a lot. 

None of my business. 

"Yes, yes I have. Would you like to see it?"

The sword actually came without any scabbards. And if I tried to put it into something, that something would have just gotten sliced. This thing wasn't that sharp though but it was almost like it had a mind of its own or something. 

So basically I was just carrying it around on my waist while keeping it naked. Yeah, so everyone was already seeing the damn thing. It was really black so it attracted attention as well. 

"Yes, please."

Well, wasn't he humble?

I took out the sword. And I could touch it even without the glove now. Wielding it or taking a swing was a chore though. Not only was this thing kind of dull, it was also heavy- like really heavy. SO just keeping it on me was basically like wearing weighted clothes. I'd rather have worn full plate armor if that was an alternative. 

This thing was still pretty good though. I had to be careful about how I could use it. If used idiotically, I could have just sliced the king in two pieces without actually wanting to. 

"This is the Mythic blade, the sword of Ashirnae- the god of the underworld. I'm sure you already knew that much."  And I made sure to keep the sword at least a meter away from him.

He smiled knowingly and took a sip of his tea. "I'd have expected no less from the man my sister trusts. Tell me, why did you go over to the side of the elves? You even got engaged. Are you truly in love?"

"Well, aren't those too many questions at once?" I chuckled. "Yes, I am in love with Lianne. And I'm acquainted with the current emperor- Jowy. He's my friend."

I had a feeling these guys were going to try some political ploy, so made my standing clear. 

"I suppose if love's involved then there's nothing left to be done. But- what about Xylax? I heard you are planning on wedding the princess of Xylax. Her name was Viola if I remember correctly."

"Yes, but currently I only plan on getting engaged with her and just keep it for appearance's sake till she grows up and becomes good enough to take over the throne. If-" I paused, took a deep breath. "I'm successful in my mission and she still has feelings for me, I plan to marry her and-" I smiled. The thing from this morning was still fresh in my mind. The words of that woman and my feelings. I was about to make a very stupid decision but- "And I also plan on marrying the three behind me- of course, I don't mean the elf. Well, that's assuming I can find a cure for my curse and I'm still alive at the time."

I gave a look behind me and- well, they all were surprised. 

Alisa in particular held a hand over her mouth but smiled a second later- she was glad. Ve smiled proudly. Biteria was flabbergasted and just stood behind me, not saying a word- wait, she couldn't talk. 

These three were okay with my decision. Convincing Lianne though, yeah, I didn't want to think about it. 'I'd better send her a letter and hope she doesn't come for my head.' Well, it was too late anyway. My face formed a grimace of its own accord. 

The king almost giggled but suppressed it. He did leak a bit though. 

"So in the end, you went that route?" Beatrine said. She was all smiles. "Well, it's not uncommon for kings of your caliber to have multiple wives. Though I'd assume the elf won't be pleased. Elves have a tendency to believe in monogamy."

Well yeah, I guess even if I survived she'd pretty much kill me, now that I think about it. 

I really didn't want to send that letter- but I had to see this through. I had to clean my own mess. And as my fiancée, she had every right to know about that. 

"It would seem so, yeah. Well, that's assuming I live and also assuming I could find a cure, and also assuming they still have feelings for me." I chuckled. "Wait, that's too many assumptions."  And yeah, then there was the thing about Lianne actually allowing me to marry other people. 

Yeah, way too many assumptions. 

Everyone chuckled. 

The king cleared his throat. "But can you win?"

Yes, that was the question, wasn't it?

"As I am, no. that's why I'm training and trying to obtain new powers. However, I'm fairly strong now and I believe I have a shot."

At least I wanted to believe that. 

"You mentioned they'd declare war on humans- or rather the world if you can't stop him. Assuming the worst-case scenario if you lose, what about then? What'll happen to your lands and the people?"

I actually hadn't thought about that. I knew the possibility of me dying existed and I knew I'd eventually die. But I never even considered what'd happen to the people and-

I took a deep breath and smiled. "I don't know. I'm very selfish."

He burst out laughing. "I've never heard kings being this honest."

"Well, I'm a different breed. But to tell you the truth, Lianne manages Helsing and Xylax is also in good hands. Alfeim already has their rulers. So in the end, I have little part in state affairs."

"That is true yes. We were already aware that the demons would eventually invade, so that's why it wasn't as surprising when you said the very same thing we heard for over ten years now." He finished his tea. "One last question. Why the wastelands?"

Ten whole years? What the hell was that moron of an emperor doing all this time?

I took out Boriosa's scepter from my ring. "This was the staff of the grand mage of six clouds- Boriosa. That wasteland was his father's birthplace. I have the severed heads of his mother and sister, I plan on burying them there and I plan on turning that place maybe something other than a wasteland. What that something would be- will be decided by the elf over here. She's a demigod and she was Boriosa's friend."

He smiled. "You've truly had quite the adventure. I wish to have a long chat with you but, it would seem you don't possess enough time. Would you like to have tea with me again, if you should succeed and-"

"Sure. I do have a request though."

"That is?"

"If a war should break out would you- would you be interested in forming an alliance with us."

If a large-scale war broke out and people just focused on their own survival instead of the survival of everyone, things would get ugly fast- like very fast. 

He kept quiet. Beatrine just smiled without a word. 

After a minute he and the princess started to whisper.

Alisa also started whispering behind me. "A bit rough but good job. Perfect timing."

The prince sighed.  He grinned. "Alright." He stood up and spread his hands towards me. "I can't make promises but I'll try my best. It's a deal."

"And it's sealed." I gave his hands a shake. 

We did chat for about ten minutes more and then we took off from the garden on Ve and finally headed out of the city.

I said my farewells. 

This wasn't as bad as I thought it was, but- my limited time just got a lot more limited. 

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