Arthur POV

I stood in front of a tall mirror, looking upon myself and the pair of clothes I had chosen for this occasion. Still, even all those thousands of years of life and I still didn’t have much of a sense in fashion. A bit of a shame honestly.

“Hey at least you know how to formally dance.” Regis reminded me, calling back to my training as king back on old Earth.

“Yes, and how many hours I wasted doing such. I swear I’d rather train for extra hours then learn under that bitch of a dance instructor.” I said as I readjusted my collar.

“Is this party really necessary?” Sylvie asked as she was tying her own hair.

“I must concur with her inquiry.” Regis added on.

“And you two won’t be the first, or last.” I said muttering the last part under my breath.

A party at such a time of war was not the best look, especially to the common folk who I have gained popularity in. And the fact that most of the party’s attendants will be of nobles houses and families won’t do me much favors either.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that many of the noble families hold disdain for me for not taking their best interests into account. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them will come just to see me person, heck maybe even the more ballsy ones will even try an assaination attempt.

If they did I’d have to applaud them on their courage and foolishness. But in truth I wanted to use this chance to show these nobles just what I am capable of. A show strength if you will.

“And a Djinn battleship and a dragon bond isn’t enough for that?”

“Not the mention the clean sweeps you’ve been making across this continent ever since you came back?” Sylvie added as she finished braiding her hair.

Turning from the mirror I face both of my bonds. So different in appearance, yet made from parts of me. You could even say that we are a single bound soul in separate bodies with tightly woven our threads of fate are.

Yet even in such peaceful and carefree moments like these I still can’t get the visions completely out of my mind. With each passing day this gift of prescience the Djinn Emperor had bestowed upon me seemed as much of a curse as it is a blessing.

It was the main reason why I didn’t sleep much anymore. Every time I closed my eyes I was engulfed by vision of what is yet to come, and every time without fail it fills me with dread. Of what will become of this world, and what will become of me and everyone I know and care about. Because of what I must do. Although the ability and the visions it gave did raise a few questions. There was a itching sense of something missing from them, as if I was only peering through a small keyhole into the ever changing pathways into the future.

Was this perhaps the reason why the Djinn Emperor failed in his quest? A limited vision of the future?

Still, I must push forward. Forcing a smile I tried a light joke, pointing fingers at both of my bonds I spoke. “You two have been getting real chummy these days.”

“Well, what can you say. We are like big sister and little brother.” Sylvie said as she lightly jumped on the bed Regis was lying on.

“Hey, technically I was born first. Not counting the whole timeline time travel nonsense I don’t even want to get into right now.” Regis protested.

“Fair, but 9 times out of 10 you are the one acting more like the younger sibling.” Sylvie pointed out. While she still had the physical appearance of a young girl no older then ten years old ever since I have seen sharing some of my memories and training her she was maturing at an almost alarming rate. It made me wonder just what was the natural life cycle and growth rate of an average asura.

“You are crazy if you still think any of us or anything we do is “average”.” Reigns chimed in again, reading my surface emotions.

“You know, I miss the times when I had some measure of mental privacy.” I said with a sigh as I slumped into a nearby armchair.

“Oh don’t be like that.” Regis said as he jumped onto my lap and sat like a dog. For an insensitive brute with no filter he could be a bit touchy sometimes. In moments like this who could imagine that this fluffy canine creature carried the edict the destruction.

“I would say the insensitive brute in this situation is you.” Regis said again as he curled up as if he was preparing to sleep.

“Still, Arthur doesn’t it concern you?” Sylvie asked as she kicked her feet up and down sitting on the bed.

“About what?”

“That the asuras of Ephetous still haven’t made any move on you?” Sylvie did bring up a good point. While both my companions lacked the ability of prescience that I possessed it didn’t take a genius to figure out that my actions would alarm at least the upper echelons of Ephetous. At the very least Kezess wouldn’t be too happy seeing me wield aether to the extent that I do. And he no doubt recognizes the Djinn technology and soldiers I employ.

Perhaps he believes I still serve some sort of purpose in his war against Agrona. But still, it is strange how he hasn’t sent any of his envoys to meet me yet. He should have a rough idea of what I am capable of through my little fight with Aldir. Was he just overly cautious after all I have done?

Knowing that I could wield aether better than even the dragons if he were to reach out to strike a deal I’m sure he will make sure that he was the one holding the reins of any meetings. Maybe he was preparing countermeasures to deal with me when I step out of line.

To be fair he should be thankful that all of my attention right now was on this war with Agrona. I am basically carrying this entire war effort for him at this point. But it will only be a matter of time before he sends Winsdom or some other lackey to contact me, or maybe he will even come himself? No, that lazy dragon won’t get off his ass unless he has to.

“Kezess will eventually make his move, but until then what else can we do? We can’t exactly attack Ephetous right now and wage a war on two fronts.” I replied. Me surviving wasn’t the problem. The problem was that if I provoke Ephetous now it won’t be me who pays but the people of Dicathen who will pay for it dearly. The possibility of Dicathen being reduced to a burning rubble is never zero when dealing with Kezess or even Agrona.

Despite peering into the future the threads the binds our fate is delicate and complex. One wrong move and my plans will all be for nothing. But it also locks me into only a few available pathways forward that ensure humanity’s survival.

“How do I look?” I asked both my companions as I stood up and turned to face them with my arms outstretched to show my outfit.

“With your eyes dumbass.” Regis joked as he landed on his feet and looked up at me.

“Fitting, for a young king.” Sylvie reassured as she took a step forward. Slightly turning my head I looked at the both of us. Dressing in similar styles only made us appear more alike. It was no wonder why some people wondered if she was some blood relative of mine. Though I suppose it wasn’t that far from the truth.

Sylvie slowly walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist and brought me into a hug. “You’re still my papa.” She said in a tone that imitated her younger voice.

My heart ached as I stared down at my bond. Her molten gold eyes staring back into mine with her pale blonde hair framing her face. Oh, how cruel fate was with what it had in store for us.

“Regis!” I turned my attention to my living weapon.

“Huh?” He said as he lied on the ground trying to sleep.

“You wanna get dressed too?” I joked as Sylvie chuckled, both of us imagining Regis in a small dog tuxedo.

“I can see what you guys are thinking about and if you try it I am going to burn this castle down.” Regis grumbled.

“So you aren’t going to join us?” Sylvie asked as she bent down and began patting Regis’ belly. Regis looked at Sylvie for a moment then towards me. I could see the gears turning in his head but I simply shook my head, rejecting his idea.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Fine, I’ll go. But there is no way in hell I am wearing any ridiculous getup.” Regis growled as he turned into a ghostly wisp and drifted back into my core.

‘Probably for the best.’ I thought, I don’t think having a literal wolf made of purple fire would put people at ease. Although it would be a good intimidation display.

‘Just wake me when anything interesting happens.’ Regis said, his tone already sounding drowsy.

“Are we still going deal with Dragoth the way we planned?” Sylvie asked as I put on the rest of my outfit.

“Well, it’s not like we can even get any useful information from him anyway. I doubt he would even be able to say anything remotely useful without having his runes cook him from the inside. Better to use him for a good show then let it go to waste.” I replied.

Indeed having captured a full-on Scythe would alarm Agrona as well as the rest of the Scythes. I at least hope that Seris sees me for the true threat that I am and plans accordingly. While I would love to actually reach out to her I still wasn’t quiet sure where Caera stood in all of this. And any communication between her and her Scythe mentor will no doubt be heavily monitored. It wouldn’t be a useless guess to think that Agrona already has some inkling of Seris’ true motives.

At the very least she would be a good distraction to keep some heat off of Dicathen when she gets her little rebellion up and running. Of course I have no intention of just leaving her high and dry. She is perhaps the one of the few Alacryans who I could somewhat trust and is important for my future plans.

With me making the defeat and capture of a Scythe fully public the people of Dicathen will receive a boost in morale while the Alacryans will begin doubting just how invincible their leaders are. If I am planning on taking over all of the continents it begins with undermining their current rulers. While I am obviously take them over by sheer force I do not wish to rule over a populous that fights my every order. But if left with no choice…

Suddenly my brain was filled with static and noise as I winced from the discomfort. With the noise eventually making itself clear with Neoth’s voice coming through. While communication within the same realm was fine enough with aether being in separate realms or far enough apart did seem to attract a lot more background aetheric interference. It did make me wonder sometimes how the Djinn empire had any form of good communication that didn’t involve messengers teleporting around.

“Grey.” Neoth’s voice crackled with interference as I placed a finger on one of my ears. Focusing aether through my fingers into my ears I tried to tone down the static that was assaulting my ears.

“This better be important Neoth.” I replied as I eventually found the sweet spot.

“You think I would bother contacting you like this if it wasn’t important?” Neoth said, his voice now much clearer.

“Just tell me.” I said, not wanting to gain a headache from this long distance mind link. I already had enough voices in my head, I didn’t need another one to add to the pile.

“Well, it’s about your friend.” Neoth replied, his voice unsure.

It wasn’t common for Neoth to sound so uncertain, so I grew a bit worried.

“Friend?”

“Your incarnate friend. The one with glasses.” He said.

“Nico?” I had handed off my childhood friend to Neoth since he had far more experience dealing with souls.

“He is stirring, far sooner than I would have expected. Whatever tricks that basilisk used it would seem it is kicking in in some defense mechanism.” Neoth answered as he seemed preoccupied.

Always Agrona causing me problems. That crafty bastard. Perhaps it was some fail-safe in case he lost control or contact with Nico, to forcibly reawaken his soul and unlock his previous memories. If so I wanted to be there when he awoke to set things clear.

Him alongside the Legacy are here partially because of me. Our fates bond tightly together, they are my responsibility to deal with. And if I could win over Nico to my side I be able to limit Agrona’s choices on dealing with the Legacy. Not to mention that Nico’s old Earth knowledge and skills would pair nicely with Gideon.

“I’ll be right there.” I quickly said as I took out the teleportation orb from my storage rune.

“Don’t you have a party that you need to attend?” Neoth asked but I stopped him.

“This is far more important. And his is still my friend after all. Despite everything we have been through. I should be the one to handle this.”

Indeed, I shall be the one handle both of my fellow reincarnates. And I won’t hesitate this time to put them down if they grow to be too big of a problem.

Erurda POV

My head tolled like a city bell. Pain was all I felt as my senses slowly came back to me. It felt as though my nerves themselves were on fire as groans of pain escaped through my open mouth. If I wasn’t dead yet I certainly wished for the sweet release of it now.

As time seemed to pass my strength returned to me, bit by bit I was able to move my limbs. I tried to move my arms at first as they were pulled up over my head. Only to be met by the sound of rustling chains as large shackles dug into my wrists.

I tried to force my eyes open, it felt as though they were made of stone as I struggled to move them at all. And when eventually I managed to move them my vision was blurry. As the harsh light hit my eyes I felt a distinct sharp pain from the back of my head. As if someone was slowly pushing a burning hot knife into my brain.

I squinted my eyes in pain as I let out a pained moan. I couldn’t keep together a coherent thought as the my brain screamed out in pain.

Instinctively I searched around for mana. Any small motes of it to calm my pain only to find none. And when I reached my sternum I was met with a cold and empty silence where I expected a reassuring warmth.

‘My core!’ I gasped mentally as my eyes shut open. The pain was still there was the shock and fear of losing the ability to command mana and utilize me runes was far more important.

When I opened my eyes this time I was met with a strange sight. I quickly blinked in an effort to adjust to the harsh light shinning down upon me. After a few seconds I was able to make a sense of where I was. Seemingly a large empty hall that was in pitch darkness. My mind, although still in great pain was my greatest asset. It was my wits and thinking that allowed me to rise to my position of Highlord.

I tried recalling my last comprehensible memories. Something to do with an attack upon my realm. I remember I made some dumb decisions thinking I could fend for myself instead of running away like a coward.

“So our lady Highlord finally awakens.” A deep voice echoed through the empty halls. From the way his voice bounced around this area I could assume it was massive and made of some kind of stone or marble. The voice also sent a cold shiver down my spine as very part of my soul screamed at me to run.

The man’s footsteps began to echo through the darkness as he seemed to be making his way towards me. As the sound of his approach grew louder and louder so did the feeling of dread and death that gripped my heart.

With every heave I let out in an effort to keep breathing sharp cold pain scrapped my lungs.

“I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever wake up. And your core isn’t gone, I’ve had my people take a look and patched you up. Your mana is merely sealed away at the moment.” The voice said again.

Demeptah, it was him. Yes I remember. My brain struggled to keep my thoughts coherent. He was the one who came with his war fleet. But why was I still alive? From how my mind was a cluttered mess he had already probed my mind for information so why was I still alive? And why did he go so far to heal my damaged core?

Then from the shadows stepped out the Grand General of the Djinn army. His blackstone armored fashioned into his very skin with his crimson red cloak of dragon scales. But this time his face was obscured by a mask that covered most of it. His deep purple eyes glowed with a fire-like glow as they peered into mine from the slits in his mask.

Trying not to give him any more satisfaction I managed a weak laugh. “Guess my plan worked somewhat.” I wheezed.

Demeptah didn’t respond immediately. Instead he seemed to study me for a while before he spoke again.

“Yes, you have given me an important lesson I won’t forget.” He said as his hand came up to caress my face. I didn’t know what sorry state I was in visibly but it couldn’t have been pretty.

“My creator and his tutors taught me very to war and battle. They instilled into me a strong sense of justice and honor.” He began to say.

“At first I thought it was because they wanted me to be better. To be the shinning beacon for the rest of our kind, to act as the model soldier and warrior who would lead us into the bright future.”

I would have laughed at such childish ideals if I could. Instead sharp painful coughs were all that came out of me. I could see my own blood I had coughed up on Demeptah’s hand but he didn’t seem to care. He seemed too focused on his own words.

“And what a fool I was. Like a little kid I was so starry eyes. I truly believed the vision my creator had for us. I would have followed him to the ends of the universe. Perhaps that was the purpose of my creation. To be an useful tool of war but with the just enough childish ideals to mold easily.”

“Your creator?” I croaked. As far as I knew Demeptah had no family connection to any Djinn noble or family. In fact he appeared just as suddenly as the Emperor did when he fully revealed himself… Oh. I see.

“Your creator? Your father? The Emperor?” I asked.

Demeptah pulled away as his eyes changed hues to a much brighter purple, almost pink.

“He is not my father! He merely created me. And the man who created me no longer draws breathe! That… that thing on the throne is not him, not any more!” Demeptah yelled as I could feel his mana wanting to lash out at me. But he didn’t, he clearly wanted something with me.

Demeptah took a moment to compose himself as he cleared his throat. He stared back at me, his eyes now having returned to there much darker hue, almost black.

“I believe you will know first hand how it feels to be an imposter.” He quietly muttered under this breath.

“Imposter?” I spat. “I have shed blood, sweat, and tears getting to where I am today!” I asserted, feeling the hidden rage begin to boil. I may have not been born into the highest noble family but I was the only one of those lazy asses who earned such a title.

But Demeptah didn’t match my tone, instead he merely shook his head. “I suppose I can’t reveal it now. But I know you will eventual discover the truth, and when you do you will come crawling back to me.”

“Don’t you dare pity me.” I sneered.

“Don’t worry, it will all make sense with time.” He said as he snapped his fingers. And as he did so my mind went entirely blank for a moment. As if I was actually stunned my brain refused to process what had just happened.

I had to blink several times before I returned to myself. It felt as though time had passed but it also felt like it didn’t.

“What have you done to me!” I demanded, ignoring the pain that filled every muscle.

Demeptah only gave me a small smile as he turned to leave. Leaving me with only a few words. “A kindness, a simple kindness.”