It was near midnight, Kai was sitting in front of the desk in the room provided for him by the empress. He was writing something on paper- magic circles and many other types. Kai actually had a bit of researching whenever he had free time, he got this during the other timeline because during the war, they had to improve themselves as much as possible. Although it was true that Kai was a valuable force in the war, he wasn't as indispensable as everyone else. His level during the war was at SS-class, one of the very few SS-class of the humans left but his usefulness was severely lacking compared to his peers.
He was better at fighting in singles due to his overwhelming power. He could be even be called the strategic missile of the human race but that was it, he didn't have the versatility of the others. It was only at the end of the other timeline did Kai finally become the hope of the human race- by acquiring the power to match the Gods but at that point, it was too late. The enemy forces had already mustered enough power and a single person on the level of the Demon King could only make so much of a difference.
That's why the human race only had one hope, to reverse time and gain that power before the war started. Kai knew it was impossible to stop the hero before that time even if he had gained the power of Gods. His grandmother, the Goddess of Frost is one of the strongest Gods but even she could not match the hero. Using every bit of power the human race had left, they managed to succeed in connecting to the past, they sent three things back.
Kai's memories, the most important variable, the crystal which contained the information of the future and lastly, a weapon.
"I need to test this tomorrow."
Kai put down the quill pen next to the ink bottle by his side and looked at the several dozens of papers in front of him before taking out a book from his pendant and with a snap of his fingers, the papers became pages of the book. The only reason he could use magic circles with such proficiency was because of his knowledge of the future, without it he'd be at most on the level of an amateur.
Even in the future, he was the only human who could create magic circles out of thin air due to his special body.
"Now then, shall I go greet them?"
Kai stood up and with a swipe of his arm, a black trench coat appeared to cover the white shirt he wore. He opened the door to his room and walked towards the garden.
What idiots would attack an S-class even if it was by a sneak attack? Kai wasn't the target, it was someone within the palace.
"Well, they're still idiots for attempting an assassination in my presence, as expected of demons."
Kai continued walking towards a small pond in the garden. There, the empress dressed in normal clothing was seated with her feet submerged in water. She wore a white one-piece dress and a hat, her white hair reflected clearly by the moonlight and the water. It wasn't strange for her to wear a hat, she wasn't wearing a veil after all. Her mother had told her in the past to only reveal her face to her future husband and no other man though it had become a habit instead of just following her orders.
Once Kai reached about ten or so meters from the empress, she turned around without forgetting to cover her face.
"Who's there?"
"Your Majesty, I must apologize for meeting you this late at night."
Kai spoke without alarm, he didn't try to conceal his steps.
"Sir Kai, what's the matter?"
After confirming the identity of the person behind her, she once again faced the pond.
"A matter of safety. I know that you have enough power to handle them but unfortunately, you don't have the leisure to keep them alive. That's why I've come here to subdue them for you."
The empress didn't ask who he was talking about, assassination attempts were extremely common.
"We are relying on you."
Kai bowed once and vanished from his spot.
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{The woman was sitting beside a pond, are we ready to attack?}
{The first squad is ready, the second squad is on standby outside the palace.}
Demon tongue. Two demons with bluish skin and long horns were conversing. Behind them were several demons with dark brown skin and shorter horns, the two with bluish skin were women while the rest of the dark brown skin demons were men.
Right now, they were at the edge of the garden and it would take them about five minutes of walking to reach the pond. Just as they were about to move out, they sensed mana far away and began to brandish their claws and weapons.
{What was that?}
{Could it be that we were spotted?!}
{That's impossible, we've been preparing for this assassination for months and have memorized the guards' patrols and days they switch routes, it's far too early!}
The second-class demons were causing a fuss while the two third-class demons calmly assessed the situation.
{We must move quickly. There's little chance that we were spotted, send word to the second squad to retreat. There must be other intruders aside from us.}
One of the second-class demons took out a crow from a birdcage he was holding and set it free. It already had a letter wrapped around its leg for convenience. It flew towards where the second squad was positioned. Once the demons confirmed that, they ran towards the pond while concealing their presences.
Kai saw everything on top of a tree. There was a saying for this type of situation, 'The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.' With the belief that the entire palace was busy trying to find the other intruders, the demons loosened their guards.
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"Bunch of amateurs. Why did they even try assassinating the Empress?"
Kai sighed once, he understood the entire conversation. If it was him without knowledge of the other timeline, he would be able to gain bits and pieces of what they're saying due to his demon blood but in the future, he had more than just a few interactions with demons.
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The empress heard the explosion but she didn't look nor did she try to figure out what it was. She trusted the S-class that had been dispatched to her country. She dipped her hand in the now rippling water, its former calm gone because of the explosion.
"O God, why dost thou allow war to continue? With thy power, to smite wrongs is but a trival task. Yet with thy boundless strength, thou hast turned a blind eye to thy subjects' suffering."
The empress repeated a line from a play she liked ever since she was a child. It was the same play that Erina and Kai had watched during their date, the betrayal against the summoned hero. It was a line from the princess contrary to her character in the play. It was the most out of place line in the entire play yet the empress had always thought that it was her true face- she believed so.
The empress hated war and conflict the most yet she does everything she can for her country, no matter the cost. This was what it meant to be a ruler. At that point, she heard footsteps. Ever since Kai had appeared, she had spread her awareness to the maximum. Because of her experience as an empress who's the target of many assassins, even the most skilled assassin- as long as they weren't using magic on the level of S-class, she was confident in sensing them.
"Seven, eight, nine. Nine different footsteps, where could Sir Kai be?"
The empress didn't turn around nor did she even try to use mana. She leisurely continued to move her hand on the surface of the pond, this was the only time she could be alone so having assassins attacking her at this time really gave her some displeasure.
{There she is. Surround and attack her.}
When the empress heard that, her eyes widened. She couldn't understand what language the assassins were speaking and it didn't sound like any of the human languages she knew.
Demons. The empress concluded.
The demons didn't know that the empress had already sensed them as they began to circle around her but just as they were about ten meters away, the ground glowed. It was a giant magic circle.
"Wha-?!"
Even the empress was shocked at what she saw. Five pillars of mana rose up from the pentagram-like magic circle and created walls to surround whatever was inside. Now, the empress was trapped with the nine demons.
The demons were alarmed but it worked in their favor, now the empress couldn't escape. But just as they were about to attack, they found their movements to be restricted- they couldn't walk even a single step forward. The empress saw all this and was surprised, there was nothing burdening her body at all.
"Forgive my impudence."
Kai suddenly appeared and carried the empress away in his arms. It only lasted about as fast as he talked and he quickly set the empress down once they got outside of the magic circle.
"Catching them one by one would've been quite the chore, I apologize if I touched you without your permission."
"I-it's fine. We are safe and that is something to be thankful for."
It definitely wasn't fine, it was the first time a man had touched her in her entire life. Even the custom of kissing the back of the hands as a sign of respect wasn't allowed yet Kai had touched her body but she couldn't lose her composure in front of someone.
"What are you going to do with them?"
"Interrogation, do you want me to escort you to your room?"
"No, that is fine. Though We would've liked to soak in the pond a little more, this is a situation that requires urgency."
Immediately afterwards, the empress took the edges of her skirt and bowed slightly. It was an act that shouldn't be done so carelessly by a monarch but she did it as if it wasn't any trouble.
"We bid thee farewell."
Finishing her words, she turned around without waiting for a reply and began walking. Kai looked at her departing back for a few seconds before turning his sight back to the demons caught within the formation.
"Now, you bastards, go ahead and spill all of the information you have."
Kai clapped his hands and the formation suddenly began shrinking. The pillars of mana became translucent violet chains that bound the demons together in front of Kai.
"Now, who'll quietly give me information?"
{Human scum, let us go this instant!}
{Go and die, human trash!}
"Ah, right. These bastards are just lackeys, they wouldn't know human language."
Kai coughed twice.
{Tell me who hired you.}
""!""
The demons were shocked at hearing their own language from the tongue of a human.
{What? Cat got your tongue? Go and talk already.}
{We will tell you nothing!}
Kai took out the gun from his pendant and shot the head of the second-class demon that talked.
This place was covered in a sound barrier so the gunshot couldn't be heard from outside but the demons who heard it were shocked. The sound of Kai's gun was probably a little less louder than a normal gun because it didn't really ignite inside the chamber but a tiny explosive force was still used to launch whatever was inside the chamber.
{Talk.}
{Even if you kill us, we'll never tell you!}
Kai felt a headache coming on.
{Alright, let's speed things up a bit.}
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
With that, all of the second-class demons were dead. Kai's bullets would normally destroy a huge part of the surrounding area but he intentionally used only the bare minimum amount of mana to fire.
{Let's have some fun, shall we?}
Kai had an evil grin on his face. To the demons, Kai looked like a death god placing a scythe right in front of their necks.
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Morning, Kai informed the empress about everything that happened. He destroyed the second squad with long-range magic and then interrogated the rest of the demons.
The demons weren't accompanied by any fourth classes but there were at least half a hundred third-classes and five times the second-classes. Although the demons didn't say how they managed to sneak into the continent without even a single piece of information spreading about them in the end, Kai didn't need to interrogate them to know.
Naturally, it was because of traitors. If it was just a group of people, it wouldn't be a problem but this was different. Three countries' governments were involved in this. The kingdom that held the largest port in the entire continent, Frauntz. The kingdom which held the reputation for being the one with the largest debt, Aeston and lastly, a neutral kingdom named Hythe.
Of course, Kai couldn't just speak about this information to anyone. Accusing other countries of betrayal without proof is a heavy sin.
"A group of fifty third-classes..."
The empress muttered to herself in worry. Although it was true that third-classes were on the level of B-class and occasionally, A-class and a single S-class would be enough for them, the damage they could deal if they spread to different parts of the country was enormous.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I may be alone but I have a multitude of ways of dealing with threats from far away."
"That is most comforting, Sir Kai but We wouldn't want to impose on you."
Kai quickly interjected.
"Not at all. I simply require to be at a high and open place, I'll be able to deal with any threats from here."
The empress was surprised. How would he be able to deal with attacks at the edge of the Empire? This made her curiosity spike.
"Then, We'll quickly have it prepared for you."
"My apologies for the inconvenience, Your Majesty. I shall take my leave."
Kai slightly bowed his head before turning away and leaving through the door.
Once he got to a certain distance, he relaxed his expression.
Acting that way was quite difficult for him who could speak casually to even a king. There was a good reason why he was speaking so politely and formal to the empress though- a reason that only a few others excluding Kai were privy to.
"It's been awhile since I took that out."
Kai had a slight smirk on his face as he continued walking down the hall. Unbeknownst to the demons who snuck in the Empire, this was the day that marked the beginning of their doom and despair.