55 Kind Seniors

Grayson and the other friendly knights carried on with their explanations on how he should act now that he had become one of them. Clearly, this was not the first time they had given this explanation, though they did mention that it had been a few years since someone joined their ranks.

Apparently, there was a legend among warriors that propagated in the Demon Continent, Millis Continent and Begaritt Continent.

It went something like, "You who desire power, travel forth. You who desire power, set your gaze on the Demon Continent. Journey through the Demon Continent, reach Fort Necross. Journey through the Demon Continent, gain audience with the Immortal Demon King Atoferatofe. Display your power to the Demon King, and thirst for a greater power. You shall gain an overwhelming power that you have never seen the likes of before."

Many thought this to be true, and so there were several warriors that desired strength, fame and honour who followed the legend and journeyed to Fort Necross. It was said that the ones who went on this journey are never heard from again.

Of course, now that Rudeus was had inadvertently skipped the journey part and was directly transported to meet with Demon King Atoferatofe, he was told the truth.

Most of these martial warriors who pursued strength died on the journey to Fort Necross. The Gaslow Region that Atofe ruled over was perhaps the most dangerous region on the Demon Continent. There were swarms of extremely strong monsters wandering the lands. Perhaps the reason why Atofe chose to settle on these lands was precisely because of the overflowing monsters here, Rudeus thought.

As for the rare few who were strong enough to make it here, most of them were forced to join Atofe's private guards.

Atofe welcomed challengers. It was one of the sole methods to relieve her boredom it seemed. As an immortal demon who had lived for millennia, boredom was a huge problem. If she acknowledged the challenger as strong enough to amuse her, then they would be forced to don the black armour and serve her for life. Weak ones would usually be killed, unless Atofe felt particularly merciful that day.

Of course, there were a few who had willingly joined her private guard, hoping to learn from the Demon King and reach the pinnacle of martial strength. The title of 'Seven Great Powers' was one that most who followed the martial path viewed as their ultimate objective.

However, even for long-lived races like Demons, after serving for a few decades they would start to regret their decision to serve Atofe for the rest of their particularly long lives.

Sure, their personal strength would skyrocket after learning from Atofe for a few decades. But what was the point of becoming stronger when they were stuck here?

The knights at Fort Necross were strong. Saint-rank was the minimum requirement to join Atofe's private guards, apparently. Any one of them would be considered an expert in any Kingdom in the world, treated with respect and deference. Here, they were mere subordinates. Slaves, to be precise.

However, they still could not surpass the unscalable mountain that was the Immortal Demon King, Atoferatofe Ryback.

No matter how long they trained, and how hard they worked, there was still an insurmountable gap between their strength and Atofe's God-ranked strength. Reaching God-rank sounded theoretically plausible, especially since they were learning from a North God herself, but crossing that threshold was like trying to reach the moon with just a single leap.

Anyone who was able to achieve God-rank was a freak of nature. The stars aligned from the moment they were born; blessed with raw talent that exceeded 99.999 percent of the global population, were lucky enough to receive tutelage from the correct masters at the right time, and possessing a single-minded devotion to reaching the pinnacle of strength.

If someone lacked even one of these extremely stringent criteria, they basically had no hope of ever reaching God-rank. The knights of Fort Necross though possessing the latter two requirements, fell short of the first criteria.

It didn't matter the amount of blood, sweat and tears they put into their swordsmanship. They would still never be able to break through the realm of God-rank, and they would never be able to defeat Demon King Atofe.

Thus they were all resigned to remain lackeys for the rest of their lives.

"Hasn't anyone tried using poison? Or something else that can prevent Atofe from using her full strength?" Rudeus asked, already considering options other than pure combat ability to overcome the Demon King. He didn't fully trust Hitogami either, so he was very willing to test other options.

The knights responded, "Such a simple solution, do you think no one has tried it yet? Atofe is part of the Immortal Demon Clan. She has immortality that lets her regenerate from any injury, even after losing a head or getting cut into two. Even the strongest poison would only make her stomach ache a little, before she regenerates from the damage done."

"Besides, the cursed armour can only be taken off by Atofe willingly. And she will only acknowledge someone if they defeat her in a duel without any tricks. Trying to perform tricks behind her back will only lead to getting beaten into a bloody mess."

"What about the curse on the armour? Has anyone tried to break the curse somehow?" Rudeus asked.

The knights looked at each other with raised eyebrows before shrugging.

"Everyone who has come here are all martial warriors who only know how to fight. Something like breaking the curse on the armour, that's not something we would be familiar with."

'I see. All of you are muscle-brained idiots who foolishly listened to a shady legend in order to pursue strength, and ended up trapped here against your will after all.' Rudeus sighed internally.

"Only Moore is good at magic among the Imperial Guards. And though he has taught us a few magic spells that are useful when we are faced with a problem that can't be solved with our fists, I think even the best of us can only use Intermediate magic."

Rudeus arched an eyebrow, "Then Moore hasn't tried breaking the armour's curse?"

"I asked that same question when I first got here too. And he did try, but I heard that he gave up 200 years ago though. If Moore, the best magic user among us has given up on trying to break the curse, then there is no hope for the rest of us. Besides, although Moore isn't the strongest among us, he is probably the most loyal to Atofe."

Rudeus shook his head. After a few hundred years of loyal service, Moore has probably been slowly indoctrinated. What might have started out as forced slavery would have turned into true devotion by now.

Seeing the demoralized Rudeus, the friendly knights sought to cheer him up. It wasn't every day they got a newbie after all. And they especially pitied Rudeus, who was so young yet was already forced into a lifetime of servitude without having seen the world yet.

"Actually, to tell you the truth, though we are your seniors, we actually think you are our greatest hope of helping us leave Fort Necross."

"Eh? Why me?"

"Think about it. You are only 10 years old, but you are already a North Saint. And you can use magic without incantations as well. It is shameful to admit it, but we basically have no chance of reaching God-rank and defeating Atofe. But you, on the other hand, have the highest potential and best talent we have ever seen. If it is you, reaching God-rank and defeating Atofe is not an impossibility!"

They continued, "It may take a few decades, but we are confident that you will eventually become strong enough to take down Atofe. At that time, you can help us convince Atofe to let us remove our armour and allow us to return to our families."

'A few decades? I don't have that kind of time! By then, I would already be a middle-aged uncle!' Rudeus woefully thought.

"That is why, we have talked it through. We may be only a little stronger than you now, but we are willing to teach you everything we know and help you achieve our collective dream as quickly as possible. No matter what it is, techniques, dirty tricks, and Atofe's fighting habits. Everything we know will be at your disposal. The only thing we ask from you is to remember the help we have given you when you finally defeat Atofe, and release us from our eternal servitude."

The knights were a little teary eyed when Grayson finished speaking. Rudeus finally understood why these seniors of his were treating him so kindly. He thought they were just being sympathetic to a pitiful junior who had been forced into the same boat as them. Maybe this was partially true, but mainly, it was because they saw him as their greatest hope of being released from their shackles.

To this end, they were willingly to devote everything they had, stake all of their hopes and dreams on the small chance Rudeus could surpass Atofe. Because even a small chance was way better odds than no chance at all.

"I might be an old man when I am finally released from servitude, but even if it is just for a few short years, tasting freedom, true freedom, would let me die happily." Grayson sorrowfully spoke, though he had a faint smile that emanated hope - hope that he had long since discarded years ago after he started serving Atofe.

Rudeus lowered his head respectfully and modestly, "I understand. I cannot promise anything, but I will gratefully accept anything my seniors are willing to teach. And one day, if I am ever able to triumph over Atofe, I promise to break the chains that bind you to this place. I solemnly swear on this matter."

He received their intentions and offers of aid with open arms. Though he had no intention to stay here that long, he welcomed any form of help that could let him grow stronger quicker. He did feel bad that he was essentially scamming them, since he was planning to follow Hitogami's advice and escape within a year.

But he made a promise to himself, that even if he was able to successfully leave, once he grew strong enough he would return and defeat Atofe to repay the kindness of his seniors.