Aloe Kingdom.
It was a kingdom that came into existence over 1000 years ago, when remnants of a fallen empire came together to create a country.
The one who became the first king, was a former General from the fallen empire that went by the name Shidou. Under his rule, the newly formed country quickly gain its roots and the foundation of a great country was set.
Shidou’s descendants would later come to be called royalty and the House of Shidou was created as the ruling house. This was the house Miko’s advisor, Mayumi Shidou was born in.
The current capital of the kingdom was called, Dou City and it was where the royal family resided.
In a mansion in the outskirts of the city, a dark skinned man with green eyes and brown hair, stood on the third floor looking through a window. This man was the former criminal who later became Luka’s righthand man, Human Blade Robin.
He looked out the window as if admiring the view.
“My lord.”
He turned around and saw a maid behind him.
“His Imperial Majesty, has sent for you.”
Robin smiled when he heard that.
“I see. Send word that I’m on my way.”
“Yes.”
The maid bowed and walked away.
“Now then, I guess it’s time for me to put an end to my mission.”
He tightened the tie around his neck and checked his appearance in the mirror and left.
When he exited his mansion, there was a black limousine waiting at the front door. He smiled and entered it after the driver came out and opened the back door for him. Shortly after he sat in the limo, he could feel it driving off.
As if he was in a good mood, Robin started humming and poured himself a glass of champagne, that was waiting for him in the back. He swirled the sparkly liquid in his glass, before taking a drink of it.
Once he was done, he filled the glass once again; but this time, instead of drinking it he stared at its golden color. After staring at it for a while, his mind was brought back to the past.
It was around 8 years ago. A young Robin was still a wanted criminal in the Dragna Kingdom. He was a notorious hitman for many crime lords and was paid to kill off their competition. Some of his targets were even his former employers. Of course, Robin had no problem in killing them.
It was all just business.
Because of his lifestyle, anyone would expect for him to meet a bad end. And that expectation almost became a reality when he was targeted by the Royal Corps led by the late General of Dario, Han. He was quickly cornered and was pushed to the brink of death.
Believing that his death was unavoidable, Robin laid on the dirty streets of the slums and let the rain wash away his blood. He was cold and felt powerless, it was then he had a thought.
“So this is what it feels to die. This is what I’ve made people experience over and over again, huh?”
Even at death’s door he didn’t feel the need to repent for his sins. He did what he did, and he was content with his actions and life he lived no matter how anyone else saw it.
Ready to accept death, he closed his eyes with a peaceful expression. However, he was soon woken up by the sobbing of a little girl. When he reopened his eyes, he saw a girl no more than 6 weeping for him. She was of course a total stranger, but she cried for him as if he was a loved one of hers.
To Robin it was a strange feeling, but he had to admit that having someone willing shed tears for him was strangely pleasant.
This was how he met the girl who would later become like a little sister for him, Luka Flameheart.
“Thinking back now, I never asked Lulu why she was crying for me back then.”
He said before taking another sip of champagne.
“Well, it could’ve been her Flameheart blood acting up.”
He said with a laugh.
After nearly 15 minutes, the limo stopped and the driver opened the back door for him.
He stepped out of the car with all smiles, as he looked at the castle of the royal family.
“Lord Robin.”
A different maid was there to meet him when he stepped out the vehicle.
“I’m here to lead you to where the king is.”
She said.
“I see. Please lead the way.”
He smiled at the maid and said.
The maid nodded and then began leading the way. With a small smile on his face, Robin followed behind her.
As he walked he sensed that they were several gazes on his body. They were all hostile and were filled with hatred and bloodlust.
Robin was used to feeling these gazes. He’s been receiving them from the time he became familiar with the royal family. He could discern several reasons for the hostility without even thinking.
First of all, he was someone from another country who sneaked his way into the kingdom. He was even a criminal before he came here. Not only that, he sold out his native land, which made him a traitor in the eyes of others despite his circumstances. He was also someone who came out of nowhere and was awarded the title of Baron.
These reasons were both logical and illogical reasons for hating him, but they still couldn’t deny the fact that he’s made some impressive achievements in his time in the country with his intel, and with his combat skills.
“Hmph, I’ll be out your hair soon. There’s no need to glare like that.”
Robin muttered with a smirk.
Soon he arrived at a private room on the fourth floor of the castle. Sitting in front of him was a handsome black haired man. He looked like he was in his early 20s but was actually over 100 years old and was a X Class.
This was the King of the Aloe Kingdom, Kaju Shidou. He was also Mayumi’s father who locked her up and sent her away to Grim City.
“King Kaju.”
Robin knelt in front of the king.
“You may raise, Baron.”
Kaju said.
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Robin stood up as he instructed.
“Have a seat. There is something we must discuss.”
“As you wish.”
Robin took a seat on a chair near the door he was sitting on.
“Robin, first I must thank you for all that you have done for our country in the last couple years.”
“No thanks is needed, Your highness. I was just doing what I felt was right.”
Kaju nodded.
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Kaju then took something out of his pocket and lifted it up in front of him.
“This is a document that will be passed onto the king of the Dragna Kingdom. If he signs it, the Dragna Kingdom will be recognized as a colonial state of my country.”
“What?!”
Robin stood up when he heard that.
“This isn’t what we agreed upon! I wanted you to destroy the Dragna Kingdom, not absorb it!”
“Yes, I know. But this is a golden opportunity. I would be a fool to pass it up.”
Kaju looked at Robin.
“To be honest, I can’t allow your personal feelings to get in the way of my Kingdom’s raise to fortune.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Robin said with a glare.
“I’m saying that you’ve used up all of your usefulness.”
Kaju snapped his fingers and a group of masked men appeared from out of nowhere and surrounded Robin.
“No hard feelings, Robin. But you’re nothing but a liability right now.”
The men closed in on Robin as kaju spoke.
“I see. All of you royals are just the same.”
Robin stepped back, while slow putting his hand into his pocket. Kaju noticed that he was up to something and immediately shouted-
“Kill him now!”
All the masked men moved in unison to kill Robin. Even though all of them were stronger than him and could easily kill him, Robin didn’t panic.
“Too late!”
He drew a black orb from his pocket and squeezed it.
*Bam!*
A sphere of emerald energy covered him and blew the mask men away. Robin then took that chance to squeeze the black orb again. This time a bike appeared out of nowhere.
It was MYTH’s Silver Chariot; one like the one Sapphire used to bring Miko to Grim City.
Robin quickly jumped on it and started it up.
“King Kaju, thank you for your warm hospitality all these years. But sadly I must go.”
He then flipped off Kaju and hit the ignition.
“Peace.”
*Boom!*
The next thing anyone knew, a loud explosion echoed out in the room.
When kaju came to his senses and looked around, he saw a giant hole in the wall and Robin was gone.
Robin had used the bike to smash through the walls and sped out of the castle. Kaju could see a trail of destruction in the city caused by the Chariot moving at its top speed.
“My king, should we give chase?”
One of the masked men asked.
Kaju clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“No. He was using a Silver Chariot. None of us can catch him without one of our own.”
He kicked away a broken chair in irritation.
“Whatever, after we’re finished with the Dragna Clan we’ll search for him.”
A thought then occurred to him.
‘Wait. Where did Robin get a Silver Chariot?’
On the outskirts of the city, Robin who was on the Chariot was quickly leaving the country. He didn’t have to worry about being caught because it was a well known fact that not even a XXX Class could out run this bike.
The only way to catch him was to teleport to where he was going and arrive beforehand and stop him. Even then there’s a chance that he would just speed blitz you.
Well, there was the option of blowing everything away just to kill him. But Robin was sure that Kaju wouldn’t do that.
He laughed while he put the bike on autopilot. He took out the orb again and smiled.
Before he left to complete his job, Luka had given him her mother’s spatial orb that had various stuff stored inside. One of those stuff was this Silver Chariot that Arsene gave to Lisa. There was also, Lisa’s pet monster Puu inside it as well. But while Puu should have the strength equivalent to X Class or more, Robin couldn’t used it, since it was only tamed by Lisa.
Anyway, thanks to this orb Robin’s escape was already assured from years back.
Robin wasn’t stupid, he already knew that when his worth was no more the Aloe Kingdom would try to dispose of him. As such, when Kaju sent for him he was already prepared to run.
“Now then, time to check on how Saika and others assignments are going.”
He said while speeding off.
Somewhere in the Secundus World.
Celina Mors-Dragna, wife of Rouge was standing in front of a broken tree, looking at what laid next to it.
It was her older sister, Kimiko.
Kimiko was covered in dirt and blood, looked pale and had her clothes ripped apart.
Seeing that, Celina stooped down and shook the shoulder of the unconscious Kimiko.
“Sister, wake up.”
Kimiko didn’t respond, so she shook it again.
“Sister, wake up.”
“….Ugh.”
It was at this time that Kimiko finally woke up.
“Celina?”
“Sis, what happened?”
Celina asked.
It was then Kimiko suddenly sprung to her feet.
“Sasha and Tessa, where are they?!”
She grabbed Celina’s shoulder and asked.
“I-I didn’t see them when I came here. But it looks like they left.”
“They left?”
As if her legs gave out, Kimiko fell on her butt.
“So they’re alive? I was successful?”
She muttered absentmindedly.
“They’re alive?”
It was then Celina realized that something was wrong.
“Sister, tell me what happened.”
She stooped down to kimiko’s level and asked.
Kimiko hesitated for a while before answering.
“It’s a long story, but I forced Tessa to undergo early Spectral Molting, and then forced Sasha into the Valley Of Torment.”
*Pah!*
After she finished speaking, kimiko received a slap across the face from Celina.
“Are you insane? Why would you put your daughter and granddaughter through such ordeals?!”
“………”
Kimiko didn’t answer and silent rubbed her cheek.
“Fine, I’ll listen to your excuses later. What was the result?”
Celina asked with a sigh.
“T-They both died.”
“……….”
Celina wasn’t too surprised to hear that, because what Tessa and Sasha went through weren’t simply ceremonies. The chances of them dying were high, and they weren’t able to beat those chances.
“Tell me what happened.”
Celina asked.
“Tessa was the first to die. She spent months enduring the painful process and was only one phase away from completing it, but her heart gave out in the end.”
Kimiko had a painful look on her face when she recounted what happened to Tessa.
Kimiko witnessed the moment her heart exploded and watched as her granddaughter became a corpse.
“As if she sensed Tessa’s death, Sasha’s life force disappeared an instant after.”
While she was in the Valley Of Torment, Sasha was forced to face her own inner demons. Because of her conversation with Rihan and Kimiko before she was pushed in the valley, her inner demons were abnormally powerful. However, Sasha was still able to hold her own and was beginning to overcoming them one after the other.
But that changed, when she sensed that Tessa’s life force vanished. In an instant her inner demons grew even stronger and made her blame herself for her daughter’s death. It ultimately resulted in her death.
Realizing that both her daughter and granddaughter failed to evolve, Kimiko was hit by a great amount of grief that almost stifled her.
She quickly recovered their bodies and brought them before her.
“……….”
She stared at them with a feeling of helpfulness.
In actuality, Kimiko didn’t let the two encounter such danger without a backup plan. If one of them died, she was more than willing to resurrect them. After that, the one that died wouldn’t be put through the same experience again no matter what.
She would make sure of it.
However, one of them didn’t die; they both died.
Although she didn’t expect this, Kimiko still prepared for this. However, she didn’t want to use this method no matter what.
“Don’t tell me you….”
Kimiko nodded.
“I exchanged most of my life for theirs.”
She replied.
“Are you insane? If it went wrong, not only would you lose your life, all three of your souls would've been destroyed.”
“I had no choice. The normal resurrection spell could only bring back one person at a time, but they both died. It was my responsibility to give it a shot.”
What Kimiko did was to use a forbidden spell to forcibly resurrect two souls from the dead. This spell required a great amount of life force to be used. In return the spell will be able to resurrect multiple souls at once; and not only that, those resurrected won’t lose any strength when they’re revived.
In fact, the benefits of using this spell wasn't few. However, the risk wasn’t worth it. If the spell fails, the user and the souls they’re trying to bring back will be destroyes and lost forever. Even if it succeeds, the user will have to pay a severe price.
First of all, they'll lose ¾ of their lifespan. Second, they’ll be incredibly weaken for a couple years. The worst one of them all, when that person dies they can neither enter heaven or hell and will forever become a drifting spirit without punishment or salvation. As such this spell was considered one of the must cruel spells in history. Succeed or fail, the user will forever be damned.
If Tessa was a Beleth Vessel like her father Leon, or a demon successor like her brother Kristen, then Kimiko wouldn’t have needed to use the spell. That’s because she would’ve been resurrected as a demon on her own.
However, Tessa had more of Sasha’s blood traits than Leon’s. As such, if she died there was no rebirth without outside assistance.
In other words, Kimiko had no choice but to put the girls futures over her's and cursed herself, as repayment for basically killing them.
“……….”
Knowing this, Celina felt great pity towards her sister.
“I’ve succeeded, so there’s no need for that face.”
Kimiko got up and said.
“I’m a Demigoddess, my life span is almost infinite so I won’t die for another couple thousand years, just because I lose most of my life span. As for my soul becoming isolated from the afterlife, I’ll just roam the world as a ghost until my soul disappears.”
She said as if trying to console herself rather than her sister.
“More importantly, I don’t think there’s ever been a case where someone who was one stage away from molting early, has ever comeback alive. Nor has the there ever been a resurrection of someone who was killed by their inner demons.”
She said with a serious expression on her blood-drained face.
“I’m starting to worry just what will happen to those two and what will they do after experiencing death.”
This was a question she needed to know the answer to the most.