Chapter 227

Chapter 227

I was glad that Edlyn felt better about me now. She didn’t seem to hold the same fear as she did before. Although... it was hard to convince her that I wasn’t a monster.

She had seen what I was capable of. And even Noele thought something similar of me. But fortunately, Edlyn no longer thought I was a terrifying monster. That was a key distinction, and that was what I wanted.

I didn’t want her to be so scared of me that she ran away and quit her job. I wanted her to continue working at Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant and be happy. And I succeeded.

Now, she was going to see her family every weekend. While that meant that the restaurant was going to be closed on those days, I didn’t mind it that much. I was more than content with taking time off to relax and get another hobby.

I was sure that Arthur and Harlan would have been enthused to hear about that too. Jax as well, but for other reasons. Because I knew he was going to pester me to spar with him on those days.

I wondered how I was going to have to deal with that.

For now, I focused on the good things. Like how Edlyn had passed out as we were heading back to Wolfwater, so I couldn’t hear her screaming in my ears.

She did scream for about five minutes. But she must have been so exhausted from this trip, she fell unconscious. So as the night went on, I eventually arrived at the farming town. But as I passed a section of a forest overhead, I spotted the signs of a battle.

My eyes narrowed as I wondered what that was. At first, I had thought something had happened— that something had attacked Wolfwater. But then I caught a glimpse of two figures, lying and panting in the middle of a deep crater.

I recognized who they were immediately. The first was a green-haired elf. Jax the Forsaken Archer. I should have known he had something to do with this. But when I saw the man next to him, I stared in shock.

“Is that... Arthur?” I asked nobody in particular.

It was indeed my bartender. The former Lich King. And he lay there, the skin on his face partially burned off, showing a hint of his skull. But his flesh was regenerating, growing back slowly as the seconds passed.

I stared at the two of them as I flew under the moon. They were smiling, evidently exhausted as they lay next to each other.

“Uh, what happened to them?” I wondered aloud.

But I decided not to question it as I finally arrived back in Wolfwater. After all, for now, most of my problems have been resolved.

...right?

—--

Kallistus Kal sat on his throne as he heard the frantic voices coming from the outside hallway. Looking up, he saw the ornate double doors to his throne room swing open. A red-haired woman cursed at a guard, pushing him out of the way as she marched in.

“Get out of my way— I need to speak with my liege.”

“But Archmage, you cannot just barge in in the middle of a meeting—” one of the royal guards said.

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“What do you have planned, my liege?”

“Simply put, all we have to do is wipe out the Astrad Kingdom before they can intervene,” the [Hero King] said simply. “And that is why I will lead the charge to their capital city. Myself.”

“What...?” Melissa gaped at him in shock.

But he strode past her. The rest of the generals and advisors heard this. They processed this for a long moment. And then they began to protest, breaking out into a babble of voices.

However, the [Hero King] continued on.

—--

And deep beneath the palace, the real Kallistus Kal sat in a dark hall. He looked through the eyes of his clone, before turning to address the lone figure kneeling before him.

“Ammon,” he addressed his personal servant. “Ensure that my city is protected while my clone deals with this business.”

“Yes, my King,” Ammon said as he drew back.

Kallistus Kal shook his head as he spoke to himself in the darkness. “So the Sect of the Abyssal Thorns wish to take action against me. They believe that they can destroy me with their combined might. But they are gravely mistaken.”

He rose to his feet and strode through the dark hall into an empty room. There, he saw a rift into the void. A portal to the Fractured Realm. And he peered into the infinite darkness it held within it.

“But I will not falter. I will not fail—” he spoke.

And as he did, a voice resounded in his head. The voice of the void that came from the rift.

The Fal-Deus itself.

Bring me to this world, and I will fulfill your greatest desires...

Kallistus Kal’s gaze bore into the blackened world. The prison that held the True God of Vacuos. He listened to the voice as he fell silent.

I will give your power unimaginable— the strength which you possess even right now shall be greatly surpassed. Heed my words, and I will grant you salvation.

And the [Hero King] closed his eyes, remembering his family back in his world. He took in a deep breath and began to reshape the rift. It grew bigger and bigger with each passing day, being molded into the vessel that would hail the return of the Fal-Deus.

“I will return to my world,” Kallistus whispered. “And I will make the people of this world suffer.”

As he resolved himself, his clone marched out towards the Astrad Kingdom, leading an army that could bring down the Astra Palace in a single day.