After entering the city, the prince finally crawled out of the trunk in a discreet location. The group bid farewell to the betrayed prince, who went looking for those still loyal to the king.

The group continued their journey, finally greeted by the sight of the castle after a long walk. The castle had foreign architecture, a pearly white building supported by dozens of pillars, simple but official.

The city itself was also different. It was much more organized and cohesive than the ancient capital of Cadra. Many of the roads were repaved and rebuilt, and the buildings surrounding them matched the era. It was a much larger city with a focus on automotive transportation, the roads much wider than the streets. It was a whole new world.

Satie greeted the guards as the group passed the large gate, great statues greeting them. Satie explained that these were the statues of the past kings, all democratically elected since the era of Sacrosanct. After moving the capital of Championnat after the rebellion in Avangarden inspired the citizens of Championnat to incite their revolution, the constitution was set to try and create a better future and to protect the rights of its citizen, which were severely violated in the oligarchy.

The failure of the royals was also a big part of why elves were a popular product in the black market, some royals even took briberies to turn a blind eye. The victims were many and blood spilled on the streets, but the future seemed brighter than ever.

Now, after 63 eras, the future of Championnat was looking brighter than ever.

"Greetings, heroes of Avangarden. I am Gaius, the king of Championnat. I've invited you to personally thank you for your involvement in the rescue of Championnat citizen"

"It is my pleasure to meet you as well. I am Orchestra. My friends here are Poda-Bruss and Sacrosanct"

"Sacrosanct... It is my honour to meet a great of history such as yourself"

"Th-thanks..."

"There are many things I would like to discuss with you heroes, but first let me introduce myself properly" Gaius signalled the guards to leave the chamber, and the windows automatically closed themselves. After making sure that they were discreet, Gaius continued "I am Gaius, the 77th hero of Avangarden"

"Huh? You're also a hero?!" said Sacrosanct

"There is no profit in hiding it. Now, you may be wondering what I am doing here in Championnat and I have the perfect reason to. You see, I was reincarnated in Championnat a familiar country to I. However, the country was not the pillar of the world it once was. It was filled with corruption, evil and treachery. The kingdom was degrading back to its state before the era of yours, hero Sacrosanct"

Gaius took off his crown and held it in his hand. Suddenly, the crown melted into gold, then transformed into a much larger crown.

"This was the crown the previous king wore on his head. It may seem luxurious and grand, but it is filled with metal, only the outer shell being gold. The precious stones in here are fake as well, the king deceived. You may wonder how such an incompetent king, not even having a true crown, can become a king. The truth is that democracy is flawed. The hearts of the people can be swayed and manipulated, and the information controlled. The king was part of a larger, more powerful party, rotting Championnat from the inside. There never was a hero of Championnat, the closest were the rebels who destroyed the previous oligarchs. I hail from Avangarden, but as a hero, I have a duty to eradicate evil, and that is what I did"

"What... What did you do exactly?" asked Orchestra

"Oh, no worries. I did not hurt a single soul while doing so. I simply emerged victorious in the recent election"

"But how is that possible... You only woke up a few months ago right? How is it possible that you earned the trust of the citizen all across the country to become a king?"

"...Did you know? The kings in Championnat are also known as the presidents, though it is far rarer in use. This might be your first time hearing it. The previous king preferred to be called a king, his excuse being that the title put him on even footing with the other leaders of the world. However, he simply idolized the oligarchs of the far past and wished to be like them. I, on the other hand, prefer to be called the president. I do not wish to be equal with the world leaders. I simply wish to be equal with my fellow people. That is the simple reason I've won"

"That's a good story but... I know people aren't like that. We, intelligent creatures, are near-sighted, foolish and prone to make mistakes. Even if you were a messiah, I don't buy that they were convinced by mere words"

"...You make a good point. The people of Championnat made the mistake of electing the previous king. That is why I've made their decisions for them"

"What do you-"

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"⌈Incubus Eye⌋"

Suddenly, both heroes were instantly charmed by the king, rendered immobile and unconscious, and made standing dolls.

"If the people cannot make the right decisions, then I will for them. No matter the method. I hoped that I didn't have to resort to this, but it seems that it will take some further convincing. ⌈Memory Wi-⌋"

Gaius was struck by Sacrosanct, skidding toward the far wall as he blocked the attack in the last second.

Gaius vs. Sacrosanct

"H-how?"

Thanks to the royal heirloom Sacorsanct was wearing, he was immune to most mana-based attacks, including attacks on his mind. Mind spells were simply spells that emitted mana like any offensive spells, but were focused on disrupting the mana flow of the person. The flow of mana in one's body was dictated by one's state of mind and emotions, and mind spells relied on the fact that the vice versa was true. Though mind spells could be perfected by accessing the realm of Psyche directly, it was almost impossible to do so for most. Not that Sacrosanct knew any of this.

"...I don't know what your plans are but I heavily advise against it, 'my liege'," said Sacrosanct

"No matter. Let's see how strong the legendary revolutionary hero really is"

The battle began as Sacrosanct began blasting flame at Gaius, who blocked the attacks by turning the ground into gold, then into walls in seconds. The walls then turned into mounted machine guns, which Sacrosanct had never seen before. As the guns devoured its ammo, Sacrosanct found cover behind the throne.

"What the hell is that?!"

Sacrosanct looked around his surroundings and noticed a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Taking a potshot, the hero successfully dropped the chandelier, destroying the turrets.

"Oh, giving me more valuable materials I see. Then let me show you something in return"

Gaius touched the chandelier, which melted into gold and assembled itself into a battle machine, a walking tank capable of destroying armies. It was mounted with a turret as well as its own magical barrier. Its bipedal form meant that it could traverse all terrain and the machine was built to replace foot soldiers forever.

"Witness 'Patriot's Blade'. A version of a war machine I've been working on. It's still in development, but let's see how well it fares against a hero"

The Patriot's Blade began its attack, locking onto Scacrosanct as a hostile target immediately. It launched heat-tracking missiles, which Sacrosanct was able to destroy with minimal injuries with a barrier of flame.

"I suppose I'll go all out as well, ⌈Nuclear Starburst⌋!"

As the small ball of light approached the machine, it swiped the ball with its metallic hand, causing it to disappear into thin air.

"After further observation, I see that you have the ancient heirloom of Avangarden, I see how you resisted my spell. What a coincidence that it is also part of Patriot's Blade's design. Though it has already far surpassed the artifact. I suppose you could keep it if you wish to. Now I'll let you two be" said Gaius, now turning to the two hypnotized heroes "⌈Memory Wipe⌋. You two will head to the nearest hotel. You've had a great time at the castle and cannot wait to attend the celebrations held in your honour"

"Yes..."

The two heroes left the building calmly, while Sacrosanct was fighting for his life against the war machine.

"Well then. It seems that the Patriot's Blade will be enough to finish you off. It'll be difficult to explain to the heroes, but I'll come up with something. Goodbye, hero Sacrosanct" said Gaius, as he left into a secret room behind his throne.

Meanwhile, none of the flames he used seemed to bother the machine, as it had antimagic properties similar to Reginn. However, the machine's attacks hurt like hell as the bullets were physical, which went right past his own antimagic barrier.

Knowing that he couldn't possibly hope to beat this enemy, he vowed to return for revenge and destroyed a nearby wall, alerting the guards and Patriot's Blade to chase after him.

...

As Velvel was sitting in a hotel lobby at a five-star hotel famous for its proximity to the royals as well as its services, she was surprised to see that her targets had waltzed into her lap.

"...Hmm... Two heroes..."

Orchestra and Poda-Bruss - both of them still under the spell - finished booking their rooms, which they were able to do thanks to Gaius informing the hotel in advance.

Velvel was going to let the heroes go. It'd be boring to kill them too early into her trip. She also needed a good excuse to harvest more fresh corpses and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

She left the hotel, luckily having confirmed the existence of two heroes, though she couldn't tell which one was which. All humans looked the same to her.

After Velvel had left the premise, Sacrosanct came in, his clothes in tethers and wounded heavily.

"F-finally... Hopefully, they're here..."

Realizing that he was one of Gaius's guests, the staff quickly caught his collapsing body and treated him for hours.

...

When Sacrosanct woke up in the evening, he found the heroes sitting next to him while he lay on a hotel bed. They were having some snacks while a meal waited for him on the table above his lap.

"Oh, you finally woke up!" said Poda-Bruss "What happe-"

"Poda-Bruss, Orchestra. Listen, what do you guys remember about our visit to the royal palace?"

"Umm... I don't remember exactly but I think we just talked about Avangarden and the heroes. Other than that, I guess he thanked us?" said Orchestra

"Yes, not much seemed to have happened. Everything went quite smoothly actually" added Poda-Bruss

"...Look, This is going to be unbelievable, but the king, Gaius, is actually an incubus and he altered your memories of the meeting"

"What?!" said Orchestra "Then what happened?"

"I don't recall exactly what he said, but the gist of it is that he's a hero of Avangarden and he manipulated the public somehow into electing him the king of Championnat. I think he wanted our support but as soon as that failed, he mind-controlled you guys"

"Wait," interjected Poda-Bruss "If we were affected by the charm spell, how come you weren't hypnotized?"

"Here," said Sacrosanct while holding up his necklace "you guys remember the heirloom I was talking about in the labyrinth right? Well, I found it at my home. Thanks to the artifact I was able to withstand the attack"

"But then... What do we do now?" asked Orchestra

"I think they either believe that I'm dead or they're still looking for me, but Gaius might believe that you guys are still clueless. For now, it'd be best for you guys to go to the celebration while I do some more snooping around. It seems that the king has greater conspiracy in the works..."

"Alright then, you should leave in the cover of the night and we'll see what we can find on our end," said Poda-Bruss

"Let's just hope that it doesn't end in an international disaster..."