“I don’t think this is reasonable, My lord,” Semiramis said, following closely behind me.
When I declared that I could handle the Heroes of Kastoria alone, everyone had been stunned. The nobles, in particular, seemed to be restraining themselves from outright calling me arrogant. They looked at me as if I embodied hubris itself.
But I wasn’t arrogant. It was simply the truth.
“What’s not reasonable?” I asked, continuing my stride without a pause.
“Fighting the Heroes of Kastoria alone. Did you really mean it?” she asked, disbelief evident in her voice.
“Yeah, I’m stronger than them,” I replied nonchalantly.
“Forgive me, Your Excellency, but you have never met them before, I assume? I do believe you have significant fighting experience and strength, but fighting several heroes at the same time is dangerous even for you,” Semiramis cautioned.
It was true that I hadn’t met them. I’d only heard bits and pieces from Khione about the Heroes summoned by the other kingdoms. At that time, I had been preoccupied with the Empire of Light, so I hadn’t paid much attention to the other Heroes.
But I was confident in my abilities to defeat these Heroes. The only question was how much time it would take.
And besides, I wasn’t exactly going to fight alone.
If the Heroes of Kastoria, who had been silent until now, started attacking the Demons, I could only guess it was because of the appearance of the Hero of Darkness. They probably discovered that a new wielder of Dark Magic, similar to the Demon King, had emerged and sent their Heroes to test me.
If that was the case, then it was very likely a god was involved in this.
And if a god was involved, I needed to be even more cautious.
“I won’t fight alone. Before heading to the western border, I need to go somewhere. Come with me,” I said to Semiramis.
“Your Excellency, this isn’t the time to go elsewhere. This is an urgent situation, and we have to—”
“You speak too much,” I interrupted, turning around and pressing Semiramis against the wall.
My eyes roved over her delicate features before my finger lightly brushed against her lips.
“Milord…” Semiramis looked at me, trying to maintain her composure, though I could sense her inner turmoil.
“Follow my orders,” I whispered in her ear. “Do you understand?”
“Y…yes,” she nodded.
“Good,” I said, stepping back. “Get me armor and a sword. There might be some bloodshed.”
During my time in the Empire of Light, I learned a harsh truth: I was essentially alone. Khione was an ally, but I didn’t want her involved in my conflict with the Divine Knights. She had the trust of the Divine Knights, and I wanted to keep it that way. Her role as a spy and influencer was too valuable to jeopardize.
So, I needed allies—loyal allies who would follow my orders without question. Unfortunately, Semiramis and the others didn’t quite fit that description.
I had no choice but to venture outside to find them.
The first person who came to mind was a woman Khione had told me about. I had heard of her on Earth but couldn’t quite recall the details. However, according to Khione, she was the perfect recruit for my needs.
Khione had warned me to be cautious, but I no longer had the luxury of time.
“Where are we going?” Semiramis asked, having quickly accepted to follow me.
“To the Achaean Continent, the City of Colchis,” I replied.
“Achaean Continent? That far?” Semiramis was surprised.
The Achaean Continent was essentially a realm ruled by the Greek gods, or Olympians as they were called here.
A war was looming over this continent, but it wasn’t imminent, so I had time to take her away.
“I don’t think we would have time to get back in time,” Semiramis said, concern evident in her voice.
“Then ask Kratos… no. Ask Laguna to deal with them until I arrive,” I replied.
Kratos was the strongest in my absence and should stay in the castle to protect the two Princesses.
“Yes… Lord Commander,” Semiramis noted reluctantly.
Understandably, Colchis was far from our current continent. But I had a solution for that.
‘Aphrodite, I need your help,’ I called out to her in my mind.
‘Already, Nate~?’ She responded quickly.
‘Yes. I need you to bring me near Colchis.’
‘You’d dare to step into the territory of Zeus and the others? As expected of you, Nate,’ Aphrodite seemed rather pleased.
‘Can you do it?’
‘Of course I can, but don’t forget that you are already indebted to me. This time, you will have to accept my request afterward.’
‘I will,’ I said without hesitation.
‘Wonderful! Just wait outside, I will take care of it!’
I nodded. It was pretty handy to have a goddess to speak with.
“Let’s wait outside the castle,” I said to Semiramis.
“But we need to take the boat—”
“Too long. I have a better way. Follow me,” I interrupted.
Semiramis, puzzled, followed me outside the castle. We waited for a moment until a golden flash appeared in front of us.
Semiramis drew her sword quickly, but I stopped her with my arm.
There stood a tall, incredibly beautiful man with short golden hair, radiating a divine aura. He was undoubtedly a god.
Semiramis was speechless as she looked at him. The man looked down at me, given his height.
“I am here on her behalf; I can’t refuse anything to her, after all,” he said with a smile.
“We need to head to Colchis,” I said shortly.
“I can easily bring you there in less than a minute, but I hope you won’t forget my face and that I helped you, Hero of Darkness,” he said with a grin.
I glanced at his legs, noting the two pairs of wings flapping on either side of his feet. If I had to guess, this guy was Hermes.
“Alright,” I nodded.
“Then fine, let’s start,” Hermes said, grasping both my and Semiramis’ shoulders. We both felt a floating sensation, something divine striking us. After a long minute, we found ourselves floating above the sea, high in the sky.
“Then good luck with your future endeavors!” Hermes said before disappearing, leaving us falling.
“A… at this rate we will die!” Semiramis was panicking a little.
I twisted my body mid-air, quickly wrapping my arm around Semiramis and pulling her closer. Her breasts pressed against my side. Then I stretched out my hand, and a surge of darkness sprouted out, covering both of us and slowing our fall.
When I spotted a boat peacefully moving below, I clenched my fist, and the darkness threw both of us toward it.
“Kyaa!” Semiramis let out a startled cry, completely caught off guard.
Still holding her around the waist, I landed strongly on the boat’s deck.
“Woah!”
“Who?!”
“What the hell?!”
All the sailors turned toward us warily, drawing their weapons.
“This boat is mine now. Set sail for Colchis,” I said in a dry tone.
Medea, the Enchantress famous for having killed her own brother and children in cold blood, was there years prior to those events as a princess.