8 days till Odysseus, Dhijan Hero Nation, Royal Castle
“Hey, Seiko-kun. Can I become an adventurer?”
In the dining hall, Shiro randomly asked this question to Seiko who was partaking of his breakfast. Everyone in the room stopped eating and their eyes all turned to face Seiko and Shiro.
“No.”
He replied with little to no emotion in his voice.
“Come on, I’m pretty strong, right? I can take care of myself and you know it.”
“That is not the issue here, Shiro.”
“So, what is the issue? Let’s solve it!”
Seiko dropped his bread and looked Shiro right in the eye.
“Let’s see. First of all, you’re the heiress to a clan that is now being held hostage by a cult. Second, I was tasked with keeping you safe till we can get your home back. Third, having Tora to rely on doesn’t make you strong. It just makes you easy prey considering his pride. Fourth, having been pampered your entire life, you have no idea how the real world works and won’t survive a single day out there. Fifth, do you even have a proper reason for wanting to go out adventuring?”
He listed down some of the problems with Shiro running off to go adventuring. Everyone in the room groaned as they’d heard this very excuse from him consistently.
“Like I keep saying, that position can go to my younger siblings. Or if possible, you can take it. Second, you can keep me safe by coming on the adventure with me. Third, I don’t rely on Tora. He doesn’t listen to my summons unless there’s a monster of similar level, so you can rest assured I fight my own battles on a regular basis as a summoner would.”
Shiro countered some of his points and pouted at those she couldn’t refute.
“Besides. You’ve got everything you possibly need here. Your friends, three course meals, a bath room nearly as good as the public bath houses from Kyoto and best of all, a collection of humanity’s strongest individuals privately protecting you. There’s no need to go anywhere.”
“You see where the problem is with that, right?”
“No.”
“Come on! You were 13 when you first left on your own adventure.”
“I was 13 when I was sent here to learn about the modern world. I was 17, which is the legal age in Kyoto, before I could go out on my own adventures. If you were born in a different kingdom, you’d be allowed to do whatever you want now since you’re considered an adult.”
“Eh? 14-year-olds are considered adults?”
Shiro who had never heard of this was elated by the information. Her eyes dilated as she looked around. From the looks of things, everyone other than her was already aware of this. She pouted, realising this was evidence of the fact that she knew absolutely nothing about the outside world.
“When you’re 17, you can do what you want. But till then, you’re under my care.”
“No fair! I wasn’t even allowed to walk out of the house…”
“Oh, you used to hang out a lot with Senku-san from what I gathered.”
“No, no. It was more like I was learning from him. Can you even consider that as leaving the house?”
“You quite literally teleported miles away from the e- er hem, this isn’t something to be discussed here like this. Main point is, no. You can’t go on any adventures.”
“Bu-”
Before Shiro could argue with him, the ground shook mightily and the glasses on the chandelier clinked viciously like they were going to break at any second.
Outside the window, everyone managed to catch the sight of a white pillar emerging up into the sky and parting the clouds towards the east.
Shiro was unable to marvel at the sight for very long, as Seiko immediately rushed to her side and used himself as a sort of shield to protect her in case of anything. Feeling annoyed, Shiro pushed him aside to get a better look at the light pillar.
This continued for a few more seconds, then the pillar of light disappeared.
‘What was that?’
As soon as she asked that question, she noticed all the paladins in the room, Seiko, Jasmine, Veronica and Jeanne had nervous looks in their eyes while they looked out the balcony.
Shiro wasn’t sure why till a light spirit appeared before her.
“The Hero has defeated the Demon Lord! Rejoice for your hero has won!”
“EH!? What hero?”
________________________________
Inside the Hero Princesses Throne Room of the Dhijan Hero Nation, all three princesses sat in their thrones, facing one another in a triangle.
The thrones were mechanically fixed in the room, and were capable of movements according to the princess’ whims. This was courtesy of the Sotomura Clan of the New Kyoto Empire.
Usually, the princesses had their thrones heightened with respect to age, but as of this moment, the thrones were all at the same height.
The oldest member present, Neburis, sat with her legs crossed and arms folded. She had a very displeased look on her face, but she kept her rage silent.
Jeanne, the middle child, wore an uncomfortable expression as she found herself completely incapable of movement from her seat. It was obvious Neburis was the cause and she wasn’t confident in her current situation.
The youngest member, Rulis, had mixed thoughts running through her head at the scene. She simply sat quietly.
“Speak, Rulis. Explain what you mean by Jeanne caused this.”
Neburis ordered impatiently.
“I wouldn’t say she caused it. More like, ensured I could never get my free will back. It was for a good reason t-”
“Silence!”
Neburis cut Rulis off before she could even attempt to defend Jeanne.
“Why did you supress Rulis’ emotions and memories this entire time?”
“F-Funny… stor-argh.”
“I’m not in the mood for your tales, Jeanne. Answer me now.”
“Can’t sa-ARRRGH!”
“Don’t forget I can make you disappear to a place where absolutely no one would ever find you. I suggest you answer me before I lose my patience.”
“Neb-”
Rulis tried speaking, but her mouth stopped producing any sounds. She too found herself stuck in her seat and no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to move or make a sound.
“I guess you want to die here then.”
Neburis whose patience was approaching its edge willed the space around Jeanne’s arm to start twisting. She was going to crush her right arm into nothingness if she didn’t speak.
Knowing Jeanne and the kind of person she was, she would definitely react before incurring any physical scars on her “perfect” body.
“The church! It was an order from the church!”
Neburis stopped twisting Jeanne’s arm. Her eyebrow lifted in shock.
“What does the church have to do with this?”
The blonde returned to being silent. The paladin of space was not known for having a good personality. In fact, out of all the paladins, she was most likely the most ruthless when dealing with her enemies. Jeanne was very much aware of this, having witnessed some of the things the king, Excelcior had forced her to do. Now it was a matter of if she was willing to betray the church for her own life.
“Speak.”
With a simple clutching motion, Jeanne could feel her lungs being crushed. The pain was nothing like she’d felt before. All the air in her lungs was being squeezed out, reminding her of her cruel fate from before she woke up in this world.
Neburis stopped this and allowed Jeanne to take in more oxygen.
“If you’re scared of the church, I’d advise that you reconsider who is a worse enemy. Now answer my question. Why did the Seven Great Gods Church force you to keep Rulis as an emotionless machine?”
Jeanne was still taking in more breaths. It took a while for her to speak up.
Among the paladins, there were only 4 that were dubbed Natural disasters due to the sheer power they could display in battle. Neburis, the Paladin of Space, was one of these Natural Disasters. That was enough reason for Jeanne to even consider antagonising the church.
“I… It’s really complicated.”
“Explain for a simple-minded idiot like me then.”
Jeanne, sweating, gulped before speaking.
“Our younger sister, Rulis, seemed to have been possessed by a vicious higher being. A goddess, some texts would say.”
“So, she has one of the seven gods in her?”
“No. That’s offensive to the gods. Consider her more like an angel that serves under the gods.”
“Is that why you completely erased her personality?”
“Like I said, there’s more to it. I don’t expect you to understand me, but I’ll have to c-”
“I advise you choose your next words carefully.”
Jeanne tried resisting as much as possible, but the more she thought about it, the more it wasn’t worth keeping a secret.
She opened her moth to speak, but was interrupted by the room shaking thunderously. All princesses were alarmed and looked around the room. The reason for their shock mostly came from the fact that this room was in an isolated space Neburis had created. An earthquake wouldn’t affect this room in the slightest, yet the room shook mightily.
The only way Neburis could imagine such a scenario was if she was losing her ability to maintain the space and it was slowly collapsing. That wasn’t the case here, so what exactly was causing this.
Just as she was about to leave the room to find out, the voice of the world spoke to her. The very voice that told her she was officially a paladin and now bore a [Sacred], had now spoken to her. Every paladin knew that once that voice came, it meant something important was happening.
This time it was different. There were trumpets and loud drums.
[WORLD EVENT: [Demon Lord vs Hero] HAS BEEN CONCLUDED IN RECORD TIME]
[TIME LEFT TILL ESTIMATED COMPLETION: 132]
[LIST OF PARTICIPANTS]
[Demon Lord: [Champion of the World], [Heavenly King: Champion of Tyrannical Seas], [Heavenly King: Champion of Storms], [Heavenly King: Champion of Madness], [Heavenly King: Champion of Plagued Lands]
[Hero: [Champion of Endless]
[VICTOR: [Champion of Endless]]
[REWARDS SHALL BE DELIVERED TO THE DESIGNATED VICTORS]
She failed to understand something after hearing this. If such an event was happening, why were they not informed? Not a single paladin had received news on this particular matter and it was very concerning to see that.
Immediately, her instincts told her to question Jeanne who was very secretive. The look in the blonde’s face was more than enough evidence that she herself was completely unsure of what just happened.
“Hero? This is very wrong.”
Rulis grabbed her forehead in pain and collapsed on to the ground. Neburis rushed over and picked up the little girl.
“Wha- Ah?”
When she touched her, Rulis’ body was burning up. Horns of fire were on her forehead and her sclera turned black with blood red pupils.
“An anomaly has been observed. Observation and Judgement is required. I shall go atten- No! Stop! I refuse! Error. Host lifeform intelligence attempting to override- Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! It’s my body! Leave me alone! Mission has been compromised. Body destruction to find new host will now commence.”
Neburis was forced to leave Rulis’ alone when she blew up in blood red flames and floated briefly, arguing with whatever it was inhabiting her body.
“What the hell!?”
“Tch, see what you’ve done? The angel will now self-destruct to find a new host.”
Jeanne rushed to Neburis’ side and clasped her hands in prayer. A barrier of light surrounded the Lolita, trying to keep the flames from burning their surroundings.
“Not on my watch.”
__________________________________
The Winter Zone
A man sat cross-legged at the peak of a mountain in meditation. It had been about a month since he came to this particular place and all he could say was “Amazing”.
It was everything he could possibly dream of. A ruthless waste land, crawling with the strongest predators imaginable and no living conditions for humans. Any person who could last more than a week in this place definitely wasn’t human in his eyes.
About a month ago, he was lucky enough to bear witness to what he could describe as the most intense output of raw power he’d ever seen before. A knight in black armour that destroyed a mountain with a mere thrust of his sword, that being punctured the biggest hole in a mountain imaginable. Where did that stabbed through piece go? He still wasn’t sure, but from the looks of it, it went towards the Oxaivalon Empire.
Originally, it was his tracking that led him to that individual. The Black Knight was an infamous figure known fore razing down tiny villages, killing adventurers that partied with him and disrespecting several nobles which ended up with him gaining the ire of most people.
It wasn’t long till the subjugation of the Black Knight was offered up as an S rank quest, with the help of even paladins being required. This man, feeling bored, decided to take on the quest. It was months of tracking, but he finally found him. It was only then did he realise how truly out of his depth he was.
This man was strong. So strong some dubbed him a natural disaster. He’d successfully eradicated entire races from the surface of the continent and never lost an official battle or war in his life. Yet, he knew he was no opponent for the Black Knight.
Fortunately, that individual didn’t see him as anything worthy of fighting and ignored him.
Don’t get him wrong, he wasn’t scared of death. In fact, that was what made this so fun in the first place. The fact that if he was too weak, he could actually die. But there was something different about this Black Knight. Something that suggested a fate worse than death.
For that very reason, this man decided to stay in the Winter Zone and train. Train till the creatures of the zone looked no more than ants in his eyes. At this point, he could very well be termed the strongest human being. He had reached his level cap long ago and would never be able to grow stronger over the course of this training.
Still, he could work on his skill as a swordsman. That was what he told anyone who asked him about his level cap. He had secretly been working on something to solve the issue. Humans as a whole were quite possibly the worst species in terms of potential for growth. At least, that is what he would have said were it not for what he found during his time training in the Winter Zone.
It ended up resulting in something phenomenal. A discovery that should he share with the world would result in a grand change in perspective.
During his meditation, he received an alert. He opened his eyes just to be met with a pillar of light shooting out into the sky.
He closed his eyes again in meditation.
“This year’s Odysseus should be hectic.”
<A/N: Please give me your power stones, comments, reviews and golden tickets to motivate me! Thank you!>
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