In front of a magnificent palace, two groups of soldiers faced each other.

"The king is dead. Otherwise, why don't you allow us entry and greet him?" The Commander of one side said, looking from the angry faces of the soldiers to the nervous faces of the men guarding the entrance gate.

"The king is not dead. And your words can easily be mistaken for treason, Commander." The elderly man didn't move from the door. 

"Treason? Haha... Men, the mighty personal guard of His Highness is charging us for treason. Should we be afraid?" The Commander glanced at the men behind him and they all laughed. He had more people around the palace compared to the guards.

There was a minute of silent stares between the two sides before the general lowered his voice and said, "Look, Suleini, this thing is simple. Let us in and greet His Highness. If he is alive, I'll even apologize and leave. No one needs to die today."

"You would do well to stop addressing him as his highness. His Majesty, the king, has forbade anyone from entering his chambers today. It's a strict order and I can't disobey it. Why don't you go back and come back in a few days?"

"I want to see the order. By law, any order like this must be written and stamped. The king couldn't have forgotten about this law, right?" The Commander insisted.

"He is the king. He makes the law. Why do you think he will write anything he doesn't want to? I am telling you now he's alive and well. General, be careful not to anger him."

"Anger him? I don't think so. I think it's you who is in the wrong here. You have imprisoned the king and want to harm him. I just want to make sure the king is alive. Why don't you let us in if you are sure he's alive?"

"I will not let you in. Go back."

The Commander didn't seem angry. He was smiling. A dead king meant a free-for-all treasury. And he was sure the young king was dead. He just needed to make sure by seeing his corpse. 

"Suleini, do you want to fight it out? I'm Commander Kisa of the King's Legion. I'm appointed to look after the young king by High King Arion. His safety is my responsibility. If you don't move aside, I'll charge you with treason and imprisonment of King Armad."

The old guard was furious. "I want to see you try." 

Just before the two sides clashed, the gate creaked open. A figure dashed forward from the palace and whispered something in the old guard's eyes. His complexion improved and he looked a bit younger than a few minutes ago. 

On the other side, Commander Kisa didn't expect the gate to open so easily. He didn't know what to do for a moment. And then an idea occurred to him. "Men, let's go and greet His Majesty."

***

Meanwhile, inside the palace...

***

Armad found himself in an unfamiliar environment.

He could remember falling when he saw his mother's unconscious form but couldn't recall anything afterward. And now, he found himself here, wherever 'here' was.

The air around him was different from the one he was used to back home in the Third Lower World. It was much purer and easier to digest.

He silently examined his surroundings and was struck to find out that his clothes weren't the ones he had been wearing back home. Who had changed his clothes, and where on earth was this place?

At that moment, he noticed movement beside him, and a voice whispered in his ears.

When he turned around, he found an elderly man standing close to him. The man had a white beard and mustache and appeared to be about sixty years old.

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He was saying, "Are you sure you want him executed, prince?"

"Prince?" Armad repeated in his mind. When did he become a prince? The only thing he knew was that he was named Armad and was never a prince. He opened his mouth to protest, but a sudden headache forced him to swallow his words.

He squeezed his eyes shut and bit his tongue to stop himself from crying out in pain.

The man noticed this and quickly moved closer to support him.

"Is something wrong, prince? Are you alright?" He asked, but Armad couldn't even hear him at the moment.

As suddenly as it came, the headache vanished completely a few moments later. But then, a rush of memories filled his head. Memories that weren't his own. He suddenly became aware of a life different from his own.

It also dawned on him that his clothes weren't intentionally changed, but that the body wasn't his. He was currently experiencing something mind-boggling: his spirit had entered the body of a young man called Armad, his namesake.

He was a prince and also the second son of his father, High King Arion Wilberforce, the king of the First World.

For some reason, the now-deceased prince knew nothing about any Lower World apart from the first. According to his memory, there weren't any Lower Worlds.

How could that be? Armad was baffled. Was it possible that he, Armad Wilberforce, had traveled back in time, or was it something else?

His knowledge about King Arion was scant at best. Even so, he couldn't recall ever hearing anything about the king having a son named Armad.

Whatever the case, his spirit was currently residing within the body of this young man called Prince Armad, a prince born of Arion. Truly, the recent happenings were mind-blowing.

According to the prince's memory, he had been shot just a week ago. The arrow that was shot at him had merely grazed him and had drawn just a little blood. However, it was a poisoned arrow.

The poison had quickly spread throughout his body and rendered him indisposed. Soon, it had reached his heart, and shortly afterward, the prince had died.

It was at this time that the spirit of Armad had gained access to his body. By some mysterious means, his spirit had left his own body to come over and reside in the prince's freshly dead body.

The question was, had Armad traveled back in time, or was it just his spirit that had somehow found its way into the prince's body?

In his mind, Armad felt that the former scenario was more likely since King Arion had lived his life centuries ago, even before the emergence of the lower worlds.

If he was back in time to the reign of Arion, then it meant that he was in the pre-Ururu era, a time when the lower worlds were far off into the future.

The prince had gotten himself shot because of contention between himself and his brother, the crown prince, Ikenga Wilberforce.

Being the crown prince had earned Ikenga the support of all the king's ministers. He was to be the king upon the death of Arion, a position they fully supported.

But according to the law of the land, the second prince would also receive some compensation to cushion his loss. He would pick a city among the cities in the kingdom and build it.

The level of development of the chosen city would be assessed by the king and his ministers after four years. If favorable, the city would become his, making him independent from the rest of the kingdom.

But the eldest prince felt that this act would reduce his hold and power over the kingdom, and that was the beginning of their enmity toward each other.

Prince Ikenga felt so strongly about it that he met with his brother just before he chose any of the cities. He warned him to stay clear of the prominent cities. If he had to choose, then a village far away from the capital and closer to the swamp would be more suitable.

For the younger prince, he saw it as an insult to his rights. The same law that granted Ikenga the liberty to ascend the throne after Arion also dictated his rights. He had the right to claim and develop a city of his choice and subsequently build his independent empire.

This was the first point of contention that drove a wedge between the two princes.

Shortly afterward, High King Arion bid Armad farewell and sent him off with a part of the Royal Army, the King's Legion. As a rule, the Royal Army only took orders from the high king, but he was also growing older and would soon pass on. Some of them had secretly become Ikenga's loyalists and were beginning to take orders from him.

It was in such circumstances that Prince Armad was betrayed by one of the soldiers tasked with protecting and guiding him. The culprit discreetly divulged information about Armad to Ikenga, who was in the capital, thus thwarting any possible development of the city by Armad.

After a thorough investigation, Prince Armad discovered that it was a captain of the King's Legion who was leaking his secrets. He sent his trusted men after him, but the rogue captain killed twenty of them and initially evaded capture. He was eventually captured and imprisoned in the cell where Armad was presently standing.

The elderly man by his side was a judge who had come here with him. He was currently questioning the wisdom of executing the captain or allowing him to live.

Before he died, Prince Armad had already decided to execute the captain, regardless of the backlash from the main body of the King's Legion. He wasn't about to let the lives of his dead men go in vain. Unfortunately, he died before giving the orders after the poison had spread to his heart.

Fortunately, the spirit of Armad appeared just in time to carry on the legacy of the now-deceased prince.