3 Chapter 03 : The Relus Empire

"What a speed !" thought the captain seeing Arkelus in front of him. It was as if he had teleported.

He quickly swung his sword at him to fend him off. It was his only option. Arkelus observed the sword which was about to touch him and with a sharp movement, he sent his left hand towards it.

*CLANG!*

The sword was deflected by a strike with the back of his hand and with the other he sent a punch to the stomach.

Arkelus' parry was so unimaginable that the Captain cried out with his eyes wide open, "WHAT?!"

*BAM!*

The fist slammed into the armor and it cracked like glass. He was thrown away vomiting blood.

*Bang Bang*

His body ricocheted off the ground before falling flat on his stomach. Despite this he was still conscious.

"I have to admit your armor is pretty tough," Arkelus commented, stepping towards him without hurrying.

Indeed without this armor, the captain would surely be in a worse state than this. The punch he had landed on her was comparable to receiving a multi-ton hammer in the stomach.

The captain desperately tried to get up, but it wasn't possible. All he could do was get down on his knees, his hands supporting his body on the floor.

He looked up at the enemy who had just broken the armor he was so proud of. So many questions crossed his mind seeing the young man looking down at him with a satisfied smile.

In a feverish voice he asked her, "W... Who the hell are you ? And how can a human possess such raw strength ?"

Hearing this, Arkelus looked at him and with a mischievous smile asked him in return, "And who said I was human ?"

" What ?!" the captain was chocked .But that was just the beginning. When he looked at Arkelus a second time what he saw made him speechless.

Sparkling blue pupils, thin like those of a beast and behind him, seems to be the silhouette of a creature.

The captain didn't know if he was hallucinating or not, but this form, this domineering gaze that sent an aura so oppressive that one could not help shaking, it was without a doubt...

"A dragon!," he cried as he identified the creature.

Arkelus smiled and said, "Looks like you finally got it." Then he added, "Now will you answer my question ?"

The captain was sweating. He didn't expect this. He had just come to capture the girl and now he finds himself face to face with a dragon. Plus he was now on his own without any help.

'What shall I do now ?' he wondered. He was thinking about how to get out of this situation.

Meanwhile the girl, she was there, staring at Arkelus like a child who had just come across something she had never seen before.

'He was a dragon ?!' she pondered . She couldn't believe her eyes seeing one of those legendary creatures she had heard about since childhood.

'I understand now.' She finally had the answers to her questions. From the attitude of Arkelus to these feats earlier, everything made sense.

Finally the Captain after a moment of reflection and rest confessed, "This armor... I received it from His Majesty."

"His Majesty?" Arkelus asked confused.

"Yes...his majesty August Relus, the ruler of this empire," he replied.

"What ?!" Arkelus exclaimed upon hearing his response. He frowned and resumed, "What do you mean by ruler of this empire ?"

Surprised, the captain looked at him. He saw confusion in his eyes and then he finally realized. He smirked and said, "You don't seem to know anything about the current situation."

He waved his hand to the left side of his waist and added, "Let me tell you something. Now that you've arrived here, don't expect to escape alive !"

The captain suddenly threw something at Arkelus. It was a red-colored gem like that of his sword.

Alerted, Arkelus sent his hand to catch it but it was a mistake. The gem began to glow scarlet red.

*BOOM!*

It exploded to his face but when the smoke cleared he had nothing.

"Cough Cough…What was that ?" Arkelus asked, clearing the smoke around him with his hand.

When he was able to see clearly again, he saw the captain escaping.

'I have to hurry and warn the others,' he told himself as he ran as best he could out of the street.

It was his plan from the start. He had tried to buy time to recover and then escape using the gem as a diversion.

Seeing the captain in the distance, the girl shouted, "Don't let him get away ! If he warns the other knights it will be over for us."

Arkelus turned his gaze to her. He was still confused by what was happening and what he had heard previously.

'I really don't know what's going on here.' he thought to himself. 'But,' his instinct was telling him the same as the girl, 'I can't let him go'

He raised his right hand towards the captain who was still advancing without looking back. He snapped his fingers and said, "Burn !"

It only took one word for a red magic circle to appear under the captain's feet. All he could do was watching the flames shooting out of the glowing circle, his eyes wide amazed.

*FWOOOOSH*

A column of fire took away the captain who was completely disintegrated. All that was left of him was the ashes scattered through the air as well as the armor remnants.

"So that's the power of a dragon ?!" exclaimed the girl who admired the scene. She was fascinated by this force.

'If we had such an ally maybe...' She suddenly stopped in her thoughts.

'No. we can only rely on ourselves' she then concluded.

Even if Arkelus was very strong, nothing said that he was going to join their cause. In addition they could not put the success of their plan in the hands of a single person.

Arkelus after observing the captain's death thought, 'I wasn't really planning to do this but...' He then turned to the girl and requested, "Now can you explain to me what is going on here ?"

She saw him looking thoughtful and then asked, "You really don't know anything ?"

" No. I just woke up from a slumber of a hundred years," he announced.

The girl was surprised to hear this news, "A hundred years of sleep ?" It was a hard thing to believe.

She knew that dragons live very long and sometimes fall asleep when they are bored or have nothing to do but this was still surprising.

"If you've been sleeping this long, it's normal that you don't know about it," she concluded.

"What I'm about to tell you may surprise you but…," she paused for a moment before continuing, "the dragon empire had fallen a hundred years ago."

It was the first time that Arkelus had been so shocked since waking up. He couldn't believe those words.

"How can such a thing happen ?!" he said in a firm voice.

How could he accept that his empire was no more ? Especially since it was ruled by dragons who are known for their strength, wisdom and longevity.

"I know it's hard to believe but it's the truth. One hundred years ago the dragon empire was attacked by humans and was reduced to ashes. replied the girl.

But this response only amplified his doubt, "How did humans beat the dragons and why ?!"

To his knowledge there was no reason for humans to attack dragons because during his rule he made sure that each race was treated fairly.

Moreover even if dragons where not invincibles and humans had mages and warriors of incredible power, they could not overthrow the whole empire. Especially with his generals in charge.

All this reasoning made him even more worried. But he took it upon himself and sighed heavily, 'I need to calm down.'

He knew he wouldn't get anywhere like this. He then noticed that the girl was watching him. She had waited for him to recover from his emotions.

"Tell me everything that happened before I woke up," Arkelus asked in a serene voice.

"Okay," the girl replied before continuing.

"Soon after the Dragon Emperor disappeared, the humans declared war on the empire. No one expected this but everyone thought their defeat was inevitable.

Against all odds, they succeed in driving the dragons out of the territory and then King August Relus proclaims himself new emperor.

He then created the Relus empire whose capital, Regalia is located here."

Arkelus remained frozen listening to the story told to him. After a moment of silence he asked again, "What do the other races do after that ?"

When the girl heard his question, she clenched her fists and her face was filled with pain and anger.

"Elves, dark elves, beasts, dwarves all joined forces to stop them but they failed. There were many deaths in this war and those who were captured were enslaved.

After this defeat, they had no other choice but to retire, each on their side. Now we are constantly attacked by the empire which want to extend its territory."

She narrated the events with pain and sadness. But she remained strong and stopped herself from crying because of her pride as a warrior.

Arkelus who had been following her from the beginning had his head down, clenching his fists so hard they could crush metal.

'All this happened while I wasn't there,' he muttered to himself. He didn't know what to say about it.

He awoke with the intention of finding a world where the races would be united and work together towards a more advanced and strong civilization. But what he discovered now had shattered all those expectations.

"All because of one man's greed," the girl spoke furiously. Her expression had changed from pitiful to revolted.

This snapped Arkelus out of his thoughts. He then remembered the name he had heard from the captain before, "Do you mean August Relus ?!"

" Yes. He is the origin of everything that has happened until today. His thirst for power has no limit and he does not hesitate to use force to get what he wants." The more she talked about him the more her anger grew.

"How can he still be alive ?!" he asked. He knew King August but he was already old at that time. Considering the life span of humans, he should have already been dead by now.

The girl seeing his confusion revealed to him, "It is said that he found a way to prolong his life and since then he rules the Relus empire until today. He even received the title of Immortal Emperor."

'A way to prolong his life ?' Arkelus with his hand on his chin was analyzing those informations. As far as he knows, the only way to extend a being's life is through magic.

But it was not an easy task even for a high-level mage or alchemist. There were also restrictions and side effects that could occur.

'Is it Faust?' he wondered but quickly dismissed the possibility, 'No. He would never help August in his actions'

Faust was one of the people he had the most respect for. Knowing him, he would have done everything to stop King August in his ambitions.

'Who helped the king then ?' he mused. If it wasn't Faust, that means there is another mage or alchemist who was helping King August.

He suddenly turned in the direction of the castle in the distance and stared at it. His eyes lit up and there he finally noticed the ominous aura emanating from it. It was blood red and covered the castle and its surroundings. It was the same with the captain aura.

Arkelus grew worried thinking, 'Don't tell me it's them!' The idea shocked him for a second, but after careful consideration he declined it, 'If it was really them, the situation would be worse.'

Despite that, he still had doubts. He then decided to go to the castle, 'I must confirm that. '

Before he left he glanced at the girl and asked, " By the way, what's your name ?"

She stared at him for a long time and then finally revealed her name to him by removing her hood, "My name is Kali."