“Alien? Me?” Mike asked, and he let out a light laughter before asking, “What are you saying, sir? I’m human, see?”

He rubbed his hand across his other arm experimentally and pinched his skin to prove his point. However, Lakshman remained resolutely fixed on the idea that this stranger was the alien that had attacked them several days ago.

“Yes. You did surprise me with the way you were acting as well as how easily you blended in with everyone. Even I almost got tricked by your facade, but I’m not a fool,” said Lakshman with a serious look on his face.

Mike’s smile slowly faded away as he faced the Solaris Hero with an expressionless look on his face. It was difficult to guess what was going inside his mind, but Lakshman was ready to react to any kind of trouble in a heartbeat. Then, a few seconds later, Mike suddenly formed a sinister smile on his face and finally spoke in a rough voice that made it seem as if the gentle cheerful voice was all but an illusion.

“Really. This is really surprising. No! Truly interesting!” Mike said, his manner of speech drastically changing from before as he gazed at the Solaris Hero with a malicious look in his eyes. “How did you know?”

“If you want to know, find out for yourself,” replied Lakshman in a deadly voice.

Mike chuckled and said, “Yeah. I do want to find out for myself, and that’s why I’m here.”

Lakshman clenched his fists tightly and asked, “Why are you still hanging around in this planet? I expected you’d find a way to return to your home and bring an elite unit of forces to content with us next time!”

“Oh. I will do that, but before any of that happens, I’m on a mission,” replied Mike, and he began strolling around Lakshman while he continued to speak. “You see, you heroes, the so called Nine Heroes of Legends, are quite strong but are still in training. To top it off, I believe you to be the strongest of the lot, and my assumption was proven correct when the second prince told me about the overwhelming power that you showed off yesterday.”

“Yes. You should already understand by now that I’m far stronger than you ever will be! So, why bother sticking around… unless… you’re trying to learn our weaknesses!” Lakshman said, coming to the realizing in mid-sentence and sharply narrowing his eyes with seriousness.

Mike looked mightily impressed as he asked, “Wow. You’re definitely a sharp one,” and he clapped mockingly with a sinister smile on his face. A few seconds later, as he stopped clapping, he suddenly began releasing a dangerous aura towards Lakshman while asking, “So, what will you do? Are you going to kill me? Then, go ahead! I’m all yours!”

With that, his spread his arms out wide in a gesture of surrender, awaiting the death he was readily resigned for. Lakshman did not move and simply stared at him with a deadly serious look on his face while, at the same time, receiving verbal orders from Asura inside his mind.

“Lakshman! What are you waiting for? Kill him now! Kill him while we have the chance! Do it…!”

Despite the shouts from his past-self reverberating inside his mind, his present-self remained calm and composed. The pressure on him from Asura was intense, but Lakshman completely ignored him as he remained silent while staring at Mike with a serious look on his face.

As the silence continued to stretch between them, Mike dropped his arms with a triumphant smile on his face and asked, “Not going to do it? What a shame, and here I thought you’re the decisive type. Clearly not!”

The alien was purposefully saying hurtful words that would cause any prideful or egoistic person to snap and attack him right then and there. If that were to happen, the alien was prepared to deal with him by springing a trap on him. However, contrary to his expectations, Lakshman continued to maintain his silence while remaining resolutely calm as if none of it bothered him at all. This surprised the alien as he had not expected to meet such a strong hearted man.

“Your attempts are poor and stupid,” said Lakshman, putting on a bored look on his face while looking uninterested. “Let me tell you now; I’ve faced far worse opponents than you, and they all met their eventual end. You are next.”

Mike chortled with laughter at his words and asked, “Is that supposed to scare me? Is that supposed to frighten me? Did you expect it to do something to me?” Once again, he let out a laughter that was void of humor before calming down and saying, “You are sorely mistaken!” He pointed his finger at Lakshman and said, “I hate you! You are a thorn in the beautiful world the Overlord is trying to create!”

“By what? Killing innocent lives, destroying precious land and taking over planets?” Lakshman asked in a deadly voice.

“A small price to pay for the greater good!” The alien replied in a firm voice, his eyes flashing dangerously as if thwarting any sort of comment from Lakshman.

“For the greater good?” The Solaris Hero asked, and he burst into a hilarious laughter that puzzled the alien. After calming down, he looked sadly at the alien and said, “For ‘the greater good’ ah? Haha. I’m unsure what’s so good about it when you’re stepping over the dead and the destroyed.”

Upon hearing those words, the alien remained silent for a few seconds before replying in an icy voice, “The Overlord believes that the current system cannot be saved, so the best option is to destroy it and create anew from the ashes.”

This startled Lakshman because it was the exact same principle that Asura had once believed in way back when he first began his quest towards world domination. Because of that, he had stepped on many lives, destroyed countless lives, until eventually he succeeded in doing what he started out to achieve but his family paid the heavy price. So, hearing that this unknown person, called as the Overlord, made him understand a little bit of the kind of person they were.

“Stop sympathizing with the enemy and kill him!” Asura was shouting all the while, but Lakshman ignored him.

“I… really want to kill you… but… I can’t… Too bad…” said the alien in vexation.

“How come?” The Solaris Hero asked, trying to get whatever answer he could get out of him about his plans seeing that the enemy was struggling with his emotions.

For a moment, the alien seemed to want to say something as he opened his mouth to reply. However, he seemed to realize what he was going to do and shut his mouth while glaring menacingly at Lakshman. This made the king from another world realize he was not going to learn anything new from this person.

“Too bad, but you’ll have to find out for yourself,” replied Mike, using the same manner of speech that Lakshman had used on him previously. As he turned around and made to leave, he glanced over his shoulder and said, “A pity that I got discovered, but it’s also a letdown when your enemy doesn’t show much emotion. Well, do look forward to the many great things that’re about to happen from here onwards. I expect you will.”

With that, he let out a laughed without humor and walked away from him, turned a corner and vanished. Lakshman simply stood there, watching the back of his enemy disappear around the corner before letting out a sigh in tiredness. At the same time, there was an explosive voice in his mind belonging to that of Asura, yelling strongly at him.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHY DID YOU LET HIM GO?! HA?! WHY?! YOU COULD’VE KILLED HIM!!”

“Let’s go to our room first,” said Lakshman shortly, moving his legs and heading towards his room.

“Huh? To our room? Why? Can’t you just focus on talking in your mind? Come on! What is the matter with you? I can’t believe you let him go! Seriously! I’m unimpressed!”

Asura continued to berate him while Lakshman made his way to his room and, upon arriving, he quickly entered and closed the door, locking it with a voice command. In the next instance, he quickly caste a magic spell to ensure that no one will hear him as he finally decided to speak to Asura.

“So? Care to speak to me now about why in the world you decided to let that bastard go?”

Lakshman walked over to the bed, sat down and said in a serious voice, “Before I answer, Asura, I have a question for you. Earlier, when I was conversing with him, did you notice my emotions?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Your emotions?” Asura asked, sounding confused.

He thought for a moment and realized that Lakshman was filled with empty emotions during his interaction with the alien masquerading as one of the humans of this world. Now, as he realized that, he sensed a burning anger surrounding the Solaris Hero, who sat alone in the room in complete silence.

“This concentrated anger…” his past-self muttered in amazement.

“Did you seriously think I didn’t want to kill that man right there and then?” Lakshman asked in a cold voice void of emotion while the burning angry aura around him started to increase. “Did you seriously think I did not wish to see that man meet a horrible end for what he’s done? Ha?!”

His last word came as a snarl, startling Asura for a moment in surprise. This was the first time he was seeing Lakshman angry in this manner, which was completely different to his violent anger. It created a pressure so intense that he felt as though the entire room had started to get hotter all of a sudden.

“I wanted to kill him, I wanted to rip him to pieces, I wanted to watch him suffer, I wanted to do so many things that would make up for everything that he’s done to us!” Lakshman said, his voice full of ice cold warmth that could chill the bone, “because it’s not just the people of this world that he threatened; he threatened the life of my wife! For that, I will never forgive him or his entire race for invoking my wrath!”

“Then, why did you—?”

“I haven’t finished!” Lakshman snapped in a dangerous voice, causing Asura to stop in mid-sentence in shock. Sighing deeply, Lakshman asked Asura, “Do you understand how difficult it is to control one’s anger, especially when their loved one was in danger? Do you understand that?!”

Asura remained silent for a moment before replying with one word of, “No.”

That response made Lakshman shake his head and sigh again before saying, “That’s exactly what he wanted from us; he wanted to see me react, he wanted the pleasure of disturbing me.”

“But that still doesn’t explain why you let him go, Lakshman!” Asura asked despite receiving a powerful warning just before.

“You would’ve attacked him without question, right?”

“Obviously!” Asura replied as if it was the matter of course. “Such a vile creature should cease to exist because their prolonged life will only cause nuisance to us!”

“You’re right to think that way, but… just… just stop and think about it for a moment, Asura. Think… whether the enemy was plotting something? Did he have a plan in place to spring a trap on you from the way he was so openly goading you? Think…!”

At Lakshman’s urging, Asura calmed down somewhat and thought about everything that Lakshman told him. To his surprise, when thinking in a calm manner, he realized that the enemy had been ready to spring a trap on him as soon as he let go of all restraint and attacked him. He also came to the realization that, in the worst-case scenario, the trap would have created a situation where he would be judged as villain and subsequently arrested.

“Wow…!” Asura muttered the one word that came to this mind at the realization of what could have happened. “That’s… actually dangerous for us.”

“Yes…” said Lakshman, nodding his head in agreement. “It was difficult to face such a man that I hate so much, but… I had no choice because he was clearly up to something. I mean, judging from the second prince sticking up for him, it’s plain and simple that he hoodwinked him fairly easily. In fact, for him to come this far in such a short time, I believe he had bypassed every authority by manipulating them with his strong magic prowess.”

“So… He was ready to put us in a disadvantageous position by using our anger against us!” Asura said, shocked at the realization at the cold calculated plan the alien had been prepared to spring on them. This made him remember what he shouted previously and made him immediately say, “I’m really sorry for shouting at you, Lakshman. I’m truly sorry.”

This made Lakshman shrug his shoulders with a small smile forming on his face when he said, “It’s fine. Besides, how can I come to hate you since that’ll be like hating myself isn’t it?”

“Good point,” replied Asura, sounding relieved that Lakshman’s mood was returning to normal.

Lakshman chuckled and said, “Right. Anyway, I’ll have to be vigilant with him and not get caught in his plans.” Then he sighed and said, “Damn. Knowing who he was suddenly blew all thoughts about Erza out of my head.”

“Oh yeah! Raze is Erza, so the current Erza is…?” Asura asked in a curious voice.

“Who knows, but I’ll have to find out eventually since Erza never said anything about this,” said Lakshman, not able to remember any detail of his wife telling him of how their encounter had occurred. “Anyway, I’ll focus my attention on Raze now since I finally know who she is and it appears she does have some sort of feelings for me. I should tell Engruat to thank his wife for granting me such a convenient Divine Protection.”

“Divine Protection of Love blessed by the Goddess of Love, Jena,” said Asura, sounding as though he recalled something about her. “I didn’t interact with her much but… as I recall… she is a lovely person, enjoying the smallest things and is just a lovable person, I guess.”

“Careful. Engruat will get jealous of you if he heard you,” said Lakshman with a smile. Then, as a sudden though struck him, he got to his feet and muttered, “Wait, if it’s Engraut, he should be able to find me here, right? Would he be spying on me as we speak?” He looked up at the ceiling and tentatively said, “Engruat? Engruat! Are you there?”

“How do you expect him to hear you with that soundless barrier being active right now?” Asura asked curiously.

This made Lakshman laugh and say, “He’s not the kind to be stopped by this measly spell.” When there was silence for a few seconds, he sighed in resignation and muttered, “Guess he’s not spying on us. This feels so strange that, for once, I did wish he was spying on me so that I can somehow communicate with my family back home.”

Asura burst into laughter and said in his mind, “This feels so strange to purposefully wanting to be spied on.”

Lakshman laughed and stretched his body while saying, “Ah! I suddenly feel tired from the surprise encounter. I think having a bath now is probably a good idea.”

“I’m sure the others are thinking along those lines,” replied Asura in his mind in agreement.

Thus, he took out a change of clothes and headed into the bath, but the voice activation control did not respond to his commands. It tried several more times but the bath remained unresponsive, so he headed out to request one of the Royal Guards to see what had happened. When he came out, he was surprised to find the other eight of his allies were standing outside with a change of clothes in their arms.

“Oh! Lucky!” Vikram said, the first to notice him and greeted him with a smile. “Had problem with your bath?”

Lakshman blinked in surprise and asked, “Then, did you all…?”

His question trailed away as they all nodded their heads in agreement with smiles on their faces. All except for Gram, who was muttering, “shameful,” repeatedly under his breath and looked as if he was ready to cry. Seeing this, Lakshman inwardly laughed and joined them by taking the change of clothes he had taken out from his room.

As it turned out, the voice control module inside the shower had malfunctioned and needed repairing, which would take two to four hours. Initially, the group were shocked and complained that they cannot wait that long to have their baths, so the Royal Guards allowed them to enter into the royal baths that are reserved for people of royalty, mainly the three children of the current king and his relatives.

Thus, they took turns in using the royal bath by forming into a line to wait while one of them used the bath. And so, one by one, they each had a turn entering the royal bath and returning with an amazing smile on their faces.

“Oh…! That bath is so big…! The water is so fresh…! The soap is outstanding…! Ah…! I wish I could use it daily…!” Vikram muttered, who took quiet an amount of time in the bath and returned while wearing a mesmerized look on his face.

Lakshman wore a dubious expression on his face because he could not understand what there was to be impressed from such a kind of place. He did not realize that, unlike him who was a king in his world, the rest of them were basically commoners except for Gram. So, being used to the royal bath in his castle made him become indifferent to other kinds of baths.

“It’s your turn, sir,” said one of the Royal Guards to Lakshman a few minutes after Vikram’s return.

“Right!” Lakshman said and took his change of clothes with him as he followed the Royal Guard, who led him through the castle until he came to a stop outside a large door.

He entered the bath and was quite impressed by the splendid architectural design of the whole place. In addition to the building, there were various assortment of wild animals decorated with glittering crystals that gave a sophisticated feel to the whole place. At that moment, steam was covering the whole bath and clouded his vision so he could make out everything entirely.

“I can see why this place is amazing,” muttered Lakshman with a wry smile on his face as he realized it was showier than the royal bath back in his castle. “Maybe I should enjoy myself for a little bit?” As he muttered that, he let out a light chuckle and began undressing himself.

After taking off his top, he was in the process of loosening the belt around his waist when he suddenly sensed the presence of someone within the bath. It momentarily shocked him because he thought he was the only one in there. Even though his Elemental Sense could not detect any malice from the person, he was on guard and ready to strike if the person turned out to be the alien masquerading as a human by the name Mike Druken. He was about to use Elemental Sight when, to his surprise, he heard someone sigh a few meters in front of him while splashing themselves with a bucket of steaming water. Then, as if they suddenly found out that they were not alone, they turned their head sideways to see who the other person was.

“Eh?!” The voice of the girl exclaimed as he too widened his eyes in shock at the realization of who it was.

He could not make out who it was, but he immediately recognized the person by their voice and became alarmed by it.

“N-No way! Raze? No! Erza? Damn! Which one is it?” He thought to himself, his mind becoming confused by the sudden situation he found himself in.

“Um…? Is that you… Lakshman?” The voice of the girl said nervously, a hint of surprise and awe contained in her voice.

Her words brought him back to reality and made him quickly turn around while shouting in a flustered voice.

“I’m sorry! I-I-I didn’t know someone was already here! I’ll take my leave now, so please enjoy your bath!”

With that, he quickly darted for the exit while Asura scolded him inside his mind, “Are you kidding me?! She’s your wife! Why are you escaping?!”

“Not yet!” Lakshman replied quickly inside his mind.

As he was half-way there, he heard the girl call his name.

“Lakshman!”

He instantly stopped, frozen to the spot and heard her make a request that blew his mind.

“Please stay and… um… would you like to join me? I wish to speak to you personally.”