—Cole POV—
Escorting the Holy Knights to the gate, I handed them over to Meliodas and Zeldris telling them that the knights were their problem. Jumping back over the wall, L’Arc and the other Heroes were startled by my sudden appearance. Asking me who I was, I told them that now wasn’t the time for introductions and that later I would tell them everything. Turning my attention to the guards, the men took several steps back in fear.
“That is how gatekeepers and guards should act, don’t EVER turn your back on civilians. There were plenty of options you had at your disposal to handle the situation, and all of you chose the cowardly choice. You abandoned unarmed, defenseless families to die out there! If I were in charge I would have you all fired for this!”, I shouted at them, “In fact, all of you get the hell out of my sight before I break every bone in your bodies!”
“Yes sir!”, they replied as they scurried away like mice.
Taking a moment to cool off, my next priority was helping the people that the guards attempted to abandon. Covered in mud, tears, and snot all of the looked terrible but I wasn’t sure if anyone had a serious injury. After all, they were all probably still buzzed with Adrenaline and likely wouldn’t show signs of injuries till the crash came.
“Are all of you alright? I know you are probably shaken up about the surprise attack, but is anyone physically hurt?”, I said as I turned to the refugees, “If you are hurt, please step forward so I can tend to your injuries.”
“We…we have no money to offer you for healing.”, one of the men answered.
“Your money’s no good here anyways, I am offering my assistance free of charge. From one father to another, we have to help each other out in times of crisis.”, I told him honestly.
Taken aback by my charitable spirit for a moment, the man thanked me and motioned for his children to come forward from within the crowd. Seeing scuffs and bruises on them, it looked like they had taken quite a beating in the commotion. Quickly healing their injuries completely, other people also started coming forward for healing. Treating everyone that came up, all of them thanked me repeatedly for taking care of them and stepping in to protect them.
“You are welcome, now I am certain you have traveled quite far to come here. All of you should probably find a comfortable place to set up camp and get some rest. There are several temples dotted across the capital that offers meals at noon and 6 pm if you need it.”, I suggested looking to the King, “L’Arc, is there any specific place they need to check in or go for a spot assignment?”
“I uh…oh no they don’t, if the guards cleared them they can camp anywhere they can find an open spot.”, he advised with a confused look, “The way you handle the guards…are you by chance a nobleman or something?”
“I am the Archduke of Melromarc and King of Demoton.”, I said with a smile, “There are several other noble titles I hold, but let's go with those two for now.”
Nodding his head for a moment, he quickly stopped and looked at me in shock. Watching him reach for his weapon out of instinct, L’Arc stopped remembering that I had just fought and defeated their enemy outside his capital.
“If you are from Melromarc, you must be one of the Heroes from the other side…why are you here? Clearly, you aren’t here to kill us as you’d have assisted our enemy instead of us.”, L’Arc remarked as he crossed his arms.
“First off, I am not one of the Four Legendary Heroes or a Vassal Hero…by all accounts, I am a Demigod like Vermillion was. Secondly, I am here to kill the man you call the Living God, his actual name is the God of Deceit.”, I informed him, “Lastly, I think it would be wise to discuss everything else back at your castle. I don’t think given the current situation here that we should discuss your original plans in public.”
Opening his mouth to speak, he quickly closed it again knowing now wasn’t the time or place to speak about it. His plans to invade another world and kill their Heroes weren’t widespread, I was sure of that. If we continued this conversation out here, a lot of people would get fixated on him going to another world and not hearing his full story. As a result of that, there would likely be a lot of civil unrest as rumors would spread the King intended to abandon them for another world. I hadn’t personally dealt with the situation before but had seen the consequences of it many times throughout my life.
“I agree, let’s get the Holy Knights to the dungeon then we can discuss things further.”, he agreed before realizing I had chased off his gatekeeper.
“Don’t worry, I got this.”, I replied kicking the gate doors off its hinges.
Hearing it slam into the dirt, he demanded to know what I was doing. Telling him to shut up and watch, I quickly etched magic runes into the gateway with my Light Quirk to prevent enemies from entering. Not only that, it would disarm any dangerous devices that crossed its threshold meaning fewer guards would need to man the gate.
“I am honestly surprised you didn’t ask Merlin to do this for you months ago. Runes like this are basic enchantments that any novice would know how to use. Effectively anyone you deem an enemy can’t use this gate for anything anymore.”, I informed him, “Watch this.”
Pulling Dreyfus and Hendrickson over with telekinesis, I threw both of them at the gate entrance. Watching them sail through the air both men slammed into the invisible wall and slid to the ground. Doing this several times to prove my point, both men were pleading with me to stop as they thought they were going to die because of how hard I was throwing them.
“I don’t know what you mean!”, I chuckled as I threw them one last time.
“Haha can I give it a try?”, Ban laughed, “Oh Jericho, why don’t you come over here?”
Realizing that he was going to tease her again, she quickly ran to the back of her group to hide. Snatching her out of the group, Ban tested the barrier himself and tossed her at the barrier. Instead of throwing her hard enough to sail into it, she tumbled across the ground till she slammed into the barrier.
“Huh, it really does work.”, Ban said with a nod.
“I…I am sorry I tried to kill Elaine and you…”, Jericho sniffled.
“Did you do that…I must have forgotten.”, Ban remarked playing dumb.
Turning to Merlin after seeing the barrier work for himself, L’Arc asked if she could do this too. Nodding her head, she agreed with my assessment that it was novice-level knowledge. Asking why she didn’t make this suggestion months ago, Merlin stated that the system he had in place worked so there was no need to. She had been too preoccupied with other things to consider the fact that some guards would slam the gates shut on civilians.
“Can I request it of you for the other gates?”, he requested politely.
“Sure thing, we can do it after we talk with our friend here.”, Merlin said pointing at me, “Those magical creatures you summoned piqued my interest, I haven’t seen them before.”
—Sikul Castle, An Hour Later—
Explaining the situation to everyone, I told them how I became associated with Melromarc and about my origins. After telling them everything they needed to know, Meliodas looked at me with a sympathetic look. Having had Elizabeth taken from him dozens of times, he understood the pain I went through more than anyone else in the room. With the majority of topics covered, Kizuna got straight to the big topic.
“So you originally came here to beat the three of us? Now that we have had the opportunity to chat hopefully that is no longer the case. If possible, I’d like to get along with the Heroes of our neighboring world and focus on rebuilding our own.”, Kizuna stated with a friendly smile
“Agreed, at this point it would be wise to abandon our original plans to kill them. If you have personally trained them we will likely be killed by them fairly easily.”, L’Arc said glancing over at Melty and Malty for a brief moment, “What would say if I offered you a similar position here in Sikul? Given that many nobles have died throughout the war, I can offer you large swaths of land to govern. If you so choose, we can even help you marry widowed noblewomen here. There are plenty of them living here in the castle if you would like to get the ball rolling.”
I was about to chew him out for suggesting that similar to how Malty and her father had, but something told me there was a different reason for it. Taking into consideration the current situation, his status as King, and the fact he was unmarried…I realized what he was doing. Instead of trying to tie me down, he was likely trying to dump the noblewomen on me so he could avoid marriage for the time being. Remembering that he never really wanted to be King in the series, everything fell into place now for me.
“Oh no…you don’t want to suggest that!”, Malty stated as her face paled, “He almost killed my father and me when I suggested it.”
“It’s probably because you are nasty.”, Melascula remarked as she looked at Malty’s soul, “I have eaten many different souls before, but I have never seen such a disgusting looking one before. In my personal opinion, I’d rather starve than eat your soul…and that’s saying a lot.”
Backing her up, the rest of her Demon comrades nodded their heads in agreement voicing similar complaints. Telling them to go fuck themselves, she stormed off to find someplace to sulk in silence.
“I appreciate the offer, but I already have two large territories to manage. Once this is all settled, I have no problem establishing friendly relations and setting up trade routes.”, I replied knowing that Mirellia and Melty would have a heart attack if I even pretended to think about it, “Moving on, I would like to strike the God of Deceit and his groupies in two days. I know it’s not a lot of time, but you have bigger problems on the horizon. Once this matter is settled, we need to focus our attention on the organization causing the Waves. Dealing with them improves the lives of everyone on both worlds, can I count on your assistance?”
Looking at his companions for their input, all of them nodded their heads in agreement. I was certain they wanted a permanent resolution to the Waves, and that working with me was their best option. Getting the opinion of the others on the matter as well, all of them were for working together as we could turn things around quickly.
“Alright, count us in.”, L’Arc agreed.
—Cole POV—
Escorting the Holy Knights to the gate, I handed them over to Meliodas and Zeldris telling them that the knights were their problem. Jumping back over the wall, L’Arc and the other Heroes were startled by my sudden appearance. Asking me who I was, I told them that now wasn’t the time for introductions and that later I would tell them everything. Turning my attention to the guards, the men took several steps back in fear.
“That is how gatekeepers and guards should act, don’t EVER turn your back on civilians. There were plenty of options you had at your disposal to handle the situation, and all of you chose the cowardly choice. You abandoned unarmed, defenseless families to die out there! If I were in charge I would have you all fired for this!”, I shouted at them, “In fact, all of you get the hell out of my sight before I break every bone in your bodies!”
“Yes sir!”, they replied as they scurried away like mice.
Taking a moment to cool off, my next priority was helping the people that the guards attempted to abandon. Covered in mud, tears, and snot all of the looked terrible but I wasn’t sure if anyone had a serious injury. After all, they were all probably still buzzed with Adrenaline and likely wouldn’t show signs of injuries till the crash came.
“Are all of you alright? I know you are probably shaken up about the surprise attack, but is anyone physically hurt?”, I said as I turned to the refugees, “If you are hurt, please step forward so I can tend to your injuries.”
“We…we have no money to offer you for healing.”, one of the men answered.
“Your money’s no good here anyways, I am offering my assistance free of charge. From one father to another, we have to help each other out in times of crisis.”, I told him honestly.
Taken aback by my charitable spirit for a moment, the man thanked me and motioned for his children to come forward from within the crowd. Seeing scuffs and bruises on them, it looked like they had taken quite a beating in the commotion. Quickly healing their injuries completely, other people also started coming forward for healing. Treating everyone that came up, all of them thanked me repeatedly for taking care of them and stepping in to protect them.
“You are welcome, now I am certain you have traveled quite far to come here. All of you should probably find a comfortable place to set up camp and get some rest. There are several temples dotted across the capital that offers meals at noon and 6 pm if you need it.”, I suggested looking to the King, “L’Arc, is there any specific place they need to check in or go for a spot assignment?”
“I uh…oh no they don’t, if the guards cleared them they can camp anywhere they can find an open spot.”, he advised with a confused look, “The way you handle the guards…are you by chance a nobleman or something?”
“I am the Archduke of Melromarc and King of Demoton.”, I said with a smile, “There are several other noble titles I hold, but let's go with those two for now.”
Nodding his head for a moment, he quickly stopped and looked at me in shock. Watching him reach for his weapon out of instinct, L’Arc stopped remembering that I had just fought and defeated their enemy outside his capital.
“If you are from Melromarc, you must be one of the Heroes from the other side…why are you here? Clearly, you aren’t here to kill us as you’d have assisted our enemy instead of us.”, L’Arc remarked as he crossed his arms.
“First off, I am not one of the Four Legendary Heroes or a Vassal Hero…by all accounts, I am a Demigod like Vermillion was. Secondly, I am here to kill the man you call the Living God, his actual name is the God of Deceit.”, I informed him, “Lastly, I think it would be wise to discuss everything else back at your castle. I don’t think given the current situation here that we should discuss your original plans in public.”
Opening his mouth to speak, he quickly closed it again knowing now wasn’t the time or place to speak about it. His plans to invade another world and kill their Heroes weren’t widespread, I was sure of that. If we continued this conversation out here, a lot of people would get fixated on him going to another world and not hearing his full story. As a result of that, there would likely be a lot of civil unrest as rumors would spread the King intended to abandon them for another world. I hadn’t personally dealt with the situation before but had seen the consequences of it many times throughout my life.
“I agree, let’s get the Holy Knights to the dungeon then we can discuss things further.”, he agreed before realizing I had chased off his gatekeeper.
“Don’t worry, I got this.”, I replied kicking the gate doors off its hinges.
Hearing it slam into the dirt, he demanded to know what I was doing. Telling him to shut up and watch, I quickly etched magic runes into the gateway with my Light Quirk to prevent enemies from entering. Not only that, it would disarm any dangerous devices that crossed its threshold meaning fewer guards would need to man the gate.
“I am honestly surprised you didn’t ask Merlin to do this for you months ago. Runes like this are basic enchantments that any novice would know how to use. Effectively anyone you deem an enemy can’t use this gate for anything anymore.”, I informed him, “Watch this.”
Pulling Dreyfus and Hendrickson over with telekinesis, I threw both of them at the gate entrance. Watching them sail through the air both men slammed into the invisible wall and slid to the ground. Doing this several times to prove my point, both men were pleading with me to stop as they thought they were going to die because of how hard I was throwing them.
“I don’t know what you mean!”, I chuckled as I threw them one last time.
“Haha can I give it a try?”, Ban laughed, “Oh Jericho, why don’t you come over here?”
Realizing that he was going to tease her again, she quickly ran to the back of her group to hide. Snatching her out of the group, Ban tested the barrier himself and tossed her at the barrier. Instead of throwing her hard enough to sail into it, she tumbled across the ground till she slammed into the barrier.
“Huh, it really does work.”, Ban said with a nod.
“I…I am sorry I tried to kill Elaine and you…”, Jericho sniffled.
“Did you do that…I must have forgotten.”, Ban remarked playing dumb.
Turning to Merlin after seeing the barrier work for himself, L’Arc asked if she could do this too. Nodding her head, she agreed with my assessment that it was novice-level knowledge. Asking why she didn’t make this suggestion months ago, Merlin stated that the system he had in place worked so there was no need to. She had been too preoccupied with other things to consider the fact that some guards would slam the gates shut on civilians.
“Can I request it of you for the other gates?”, he requested politely.
“Sure thing, we can do it after we talk with our friend here.”, Merlin said pointing at me, “Those magical creatures you summoned piqued my interest, I haven’t seen them before.”
—Sikul Castle, An Hour Later—
Explaining the situation to everyone, I told them how I became associated with Melromarc and about my origins. After telling them everything they needed to know, Meliodas looked at me with a sympathetic look. Having had Elizabeth taken from him dozens of times, he understood the pain I went through more than anyone else in the room. With the majority of topics covered, Kizuna got straight to the big topic.
“So you originally came here to beat the three of us? Now that we have had the opportunity to chat hopefully that is no longer the case. If possible, I’d like to get along with the Heroes of our neighboring world and focus on rebuilding our own.”, Kizuna stated with a friendly smile
“Agreed, at this point it would be wise to abandon our original plans to kill them. If you have personally trained them we will likely be killed by them fairly easily.”, L’Arc said glancing over at Melty and Malty for a brief moment, “What would say if I offered you a similar position here in Sikul? Given that many nobles have died throughout the war, I can offer you large swaths of land to govern. If you so choose, we can even help you marry widowed noblewomen here. There are plenty of them living here in the castle if you would like to get the ball rolling.”
I was about to chew him out for suggesting that similar to how Malty and her father had, but something told me there was a different reason for it. Taking into consideration the current situation, his status as King, and the fact he was unmarried…I realized what he was doing. Instead of trying to tie me down, he was likely trying to dump the noblewomen on me so he could avoid marriage for the time being. Remembering that he never really wanted to be King in the series, everything fell into place now for me.
“Oh no…you don’t want to suggest that!”, Malty stated as her face paled, “He almost killed my father and me when I suggested it.”
“It’s probably because you are nasty.”, Melascula remarked as she looked at Malty’s soul, “I have eaten many different souls before, but I have never seen such a disgusting looking one before. In my personal opinion, I’d rather starve than eat your soul…and that’s saying a lot.”
Backing her up, the rest of her Demon comrades nodded their heads in agreement voicing similar complaints. Telling them to go fuck themselves, she stormed off to find someplace to sulk in silence.
“I appreciate the offer, but I already have two large territories to manage. Once this is all settled, I have no problem establishing friendly relations and setting up trade routes.”, I replied knowing that Mirellia and Melty would have a heart attack if I even pretended to think about it, “Moving on, I would like to strike the God of Deceit and his groupies in two days. I know it’s not a lot of time, but you have bigger problems on the horizon. Once this matter is settled, we need to focus our attention on the organization causing the Waves. Dealing with them improves the lives of everyone on both worlds, can I count on your assistance?”
Looking at his companions for their input, all of them nodded their heads in agreement. I was certain they wanted a permanent resolution to the Waves, and that working with me was their best option. Getting the opinion of the others on the matter as well, all of them were for working together as we could turn things around quickly.
“Alright, count us in.”, L’Arc agreed.
