Leonidas shot up with surprise and anger as he turned to look at who had stormed into his study. But he paused when he saw that it was his first son, the heir to the throne of the kingdom. However, it was no Kai, but Lynx, who was in control.
“Father!” Lynx’s eyes blazed with anger as he stormed into the room. He completely disregarded Richard who was seated to the side.
“Lynx? What is it?” Leonidas asked with surprise.
“I-” Before Lynx could speak, his body froze and his eyes glazed over. His dark hair gleamed and turned to its normal gray color as Kai seized control from his aggressive alter ego.
“Father, forgive me for losing control like that. Lynx is still angry about the loss he suffered.” After a moment, Kai cleared his throat and bowed his head, explaining why Lynx had stormed into the study like that.
“Hello, Uncle Richard.” He also greeted Richard who was staring with a raised brow.
“Loss? What loss did he suffer?” Leonidas placed a hand on Kai’s shoulder and asked.
“In the Despair Dungeon, we encountered someone else.” Kai began, but was cut off by his father.
“Someone else? But I did not grant permission to anyone. Who dares to go behind my back?!” The hair on Leonidas’ arms stood on end and his eyes blazed with fury.
“Calm down, father. Let me finish.” Kai raised his hands and said calmly. His tone naturally calmed the angry emperor. “The person we met within the dungeon was the rather famous Undead from Divinity’s Bout. He clashed with us, and we lost. Lynx suffered a rather embarrassing defeat at his hands, and that is why he is still angry.” Kai explained. He then went on to summarize the rest of the experience against Leon.
When he was done, Leonidas had a surprised look on his face. He gave his son a once over in order to reevaluate his strength. Kai was a Low A rank, while the strength that Leon had showcased in Divinity’s Bout was just Peak B rank.
No matter how close their two ranks were, the gap between a Peak B rank and a Low A rank was vast! No random person could just go ahead and cross it.
Another stunning part of the story was when Kai explained how Leon had also beaten the Mid A rank boss of the Despair Dungeon. That meant Kai’s power was at least Mid A rank!
How was that even possible?!
At a certain point, Leonidas had to take a break and settle down into his chair. He was trying to make sense of how Leon had grown so quickly.
“Hahaha…”
Leonidas’ head snapped up to look at Richard with a confused expression. The silver haired Werewolf was laughing to himself.
“What is so funny?” He asked, directing an annoyed glare to Richard.
“You are trying to understand how he grew from B to A rank so quickly, right? Well, don’t bother doing that. I have still not figured out how he went from High C rank to Peak B rank in two months as well.” Richard smirked and tilted his head back, emptying his wine cup.
“What did you say? You know this Undead?” Anger morphed to curiosity and Leonidas leaned forward, urging Richard to keep speaking.
“I met him at Fort Bender. That time, he was just a C rank mage with a dozen undead minions under him. Now, from what your boy is saying, he is an A rank being, comparable to myself.” Richard gave a short summary, including how he had fought Amelia Steelheart at Fort Bender.
“Those pompous idiots from the Empire of Light! Always thinking that they can boss anyone around because their Patron God is the God of Light.” Leonidas cursed under his breath when he heard about Richard and Gustavo’s fight against Amelia.
“She will surely strike again. I will need to travel south to the Desolate Lands to provide my strength. And also, I wanted to inform you, the Demons will soon strike.” Richard casually dropped a bombshell on Leonidas’ head, like it was nothing.
“…What did you just say?!” Leonidas shot up from his chair, his eyes wide.
“Yes, you heard me. In fact, I am here on behalf of Leon. He sent me a message through one of his summons, telling me that he was already setting up a proper defense along the shoreline of the Desolate Lands. I am to help him seek trustworthy allies.” As Richard and Leonidas were very close, Richard felt no apprehension as he told Leonidas all he needed to know.
The two spoke for a while as Kai listened from the side. After a while had passed, he cleared his throat, intending to speak.
“Yes?” His father turned to look at him. He had also noticed that Kai had not left his study, but he was still trying to digest the information that Richard was unloading onto his head.
“I did not finish the report I had for you.” Kai started.
“Yes, go on.”
“After defeating the boss of the Despair Dungeon, Leon also gained the approval of the dungeon.” He said.
Clink!
𝑶𝐕𝐿xt.𝔠𝒪
The glass wine cup in Richard’s hand fell to the ground, and the red wine spilled over the carpet. Leonidas stood frozen, unable to speak. His eyes seemed to be stuck in some kind of frozen moment, and he was not breathing.
Kai let out a sigh. He had expected something similar to this to happen. There was no way that his father would not react to this news in a big way.
The powerful emperor eventually snapped out of his stupor. His eyes were blank and vacant as he turned to take a seat beside Richard. Then slowly, his head drooped down, until it was supported by his hands. Deep, harsh breaths filled the silence of the room, and Kai closed his eyes, preparing himself for his father’s incoming outburst.
“WHAT?!!!”
.
.
Eventually, when Leonidas calmed down, he looked around. The entire study was in disarray. The sudden explosion from his aura had sent the castle trembling. It was so sudden that a few powerful guards had actually quickly rushed this way to check if he was under attack.
Kai and Richard had needed to pool their strength together to forcefully suppress his aura long enough for him to calm down.
“You could have ruined the castle.” Richard commented, using his strength to push the various block of earth that jutted out from the thick ground back into their places, while Kai smoothed it out with magic. After a couple of minutes, the place was back in order, aside from the few books that had fallen down from the shelves in the study.
“I apologize. But this is a serious matter. I need to convene a council meeting at once!” Leonidas stood up, oozing seriousness. Richard suppressed a whistle when he saw how serious his ‘little brother’ was. He rarely saw this level of seriousness from Leonidas back when they were younger. Leonidas was the loved little child. His father rarely, if ever rose his voice at him, and when he did, Leonidas’ mother always scolded her husband.
“Brother, please follow me.” Leonidas paused and turned back to Richard. He needed Richard to give a statement when the council meeting convened.
“Alright.” Richard shrugged helplessly and followed. Naturally, Kai also followed behind the two men. As the heir, and one of the principal witnesses to Leon’s actions, his presence was necessary.
Word quickly spread as Leonidas sent some guards to inform the other council members about the urgent meeting.
Although Leonidas was the Emperor of the Gublin Empire, he had a council backing him. They were mainly advisors and they met to discuss the future of the empire, and on certain occasions, the passing of new laws. Very rarely was there any reason to hold such an urgent meeting.
That was why the various council members, young and old, were startled and surprised when they heard that the emperor had called for an urgent meeting that needed their immediate attention.
Almost as quickly as they heard it, all the available council members put down what they were doing and rushed to the meeting hall within the castle. Only a minute after Leonidas, Richard and Kai had sat down, the doors to the meeting room opened and a number of people walked into the large hall, quickly taking their seats.
The meeting room was circular, and the seats were arranged in a raised semi-circular shape that made it easy for the council members to impose themselves on whoever might be questioned before them.
After everyone had taken their seats, Leonidas cleared his throat to get their attention.
“Ahem. Everyone, I apologize for calling you for this meeting on such short notice, but it is truly an important matter.” Leonidas spoke, his deep voice booming across the large room.
“If it is truly important, then we must hear it.” A respectable, old man said, his voice scratchy, but his eyes wise.