The students waited in anticipation as Henry gulped down a swig of water.
My heart began clench up, realizing that the students animosity against Henry had essentially disappeared over the past 10 minutes. They were now hooked by anticipation, so hooked that they had forgotten the frustration catalysing the telling of the story.
If this prophecy truly gave a reason to remain here, then Henry's victory was absolute.
His position as leader would be solidified.
I needed to do something to change that.
But what?
Regardless of what I said, Henry would tell the prophecy to the students one way or another.
And besides, I'm supposed to be protecting them obediently, not starting a heated argument without any obvious motives.
And on top of that, how bad would it look if I, the despised prince, convinced the chosen heroes to set all their efforts on returning home to Earth?
I would be tortured endlessly!
Did I really have no choice but to sit back and listen?
"The prophecy goes similar to this." Henry declared suddenly, cutting off my internal thought monologue.
'"You will to the land of the Ithians, and will subdue it."' The Wandering Warlord spoke to Kalanthius and his men. '"You call that land cursed and forsaken, yet you do not remember your covenant. So build a fleet of longships, and go, for you have nowhere else to stay.
Your numbers will multiply and your past glory of your Empire will return by fragments. Your armies will number in ten of thousands once again, your cities will be flourishing, and the knowledge of magic will slowly return.
But hark! By the curse and the Covenant your people have forgotten, peril will once again overcome you. The Infinite Lines of Fate shall intersect again, and with it, an enemy will approach you from the East, from beyond where the ruined Six Towers lie. His sword will be a sign of terror, and his glance will be a sign of pain.
Just like the loss of the Empire, cities shall fall and its people will be massacred. Your armies will be trampled underfoot and once again, your future will lie in question.
But alas, your Goddess is gracious. Speak to the Eye of Cove where the moonlight meets the sunlight, and I truly I tell you, she shall send heroes from another world shall come to save you.
Their fighters will rival the Scythes of Elde, and their mages will match the Scepters of the Six Towers. Power and wealth will rest on their shoulders, and from their lips, fear and awe shall be known throughout your people.
Yet the power of the heroes is not absolute, and even I cannot predict the outcome of this farce. For from the Twenty, a Betrayer will set against them. With a face masked in darkness, and a blade coated with malice, the Betrayer will awaken under the name of the Covenant, and he will rival the Silk Tongue in both battle and mind.
Man will set out against man, and child will set out against child. With knowledge comes power, and with power comes destruction.
Atrocities unseen since the Great Dwindling will return, and an unforeseeable fate will wind around the Sword of Order, the pinnacle of the Beginning and the End."'
Henry paused for a moment, allowing for the students to consume the information he had just given them.
"And with that last statement, the king told me that the Wandering Warlord of the Sand rose his pitch-black sword over his head one last time, and rode off into the dunes to never be seen again."
I gulped as Henry completed his story.
Not out of frustration, but out of fear.
What did that all mean?
What did it truly mean to be the Betrayer? I had a face masked in darkness, and a blade coated in malice?
That seemed quite bleak, didn't it?
And despite many things being quite clear, I was still very confused.
The Scythes of Elde? The Scepters of the Six Towers? What the fuck are those things?
And what the hell was he saying about the Infinite Lines of Fate? Was Earth wrapped up in all of this too?
What was really happening here?
Was this just an attack from the Demon King on a kingdom on some random planet?
Or is this something far greater than that? Far more…monumental…than that?
"So what does all of this mean?" Henry proclaimed to the entire table, their faces frozen in confusion and shock. "Infinite lines of fate. A covenant forgotten by this kingdom's predecessor. What does this all mean?"
His question was answered with complete silence. My classmates had no idea how to answer. After all, their worlds had been shattered apart in the matter of a few hours.
They were so used to getting everything they expected. They were rich. They were popular. Whatever they wanted, they got.
Simply put, they were on the top of the world. Nothing could dethrone them.
But not anymore. That perception was shattered the second they entered into a new world. What did money matter if a single spell could kill them? What did authority matter if a single stab would incapacitate them?
In this world, despite being called heroes, they were now powerless. Death was just around the corner for all of them.
So it made sense for them to wish to return. Was there anything more they could gain in this technology-deprived world than their own? They were sure that the answer was no.
But Henry had shaken their views once again.
"I don't know what it means either." He continued, answering his own question. "But I do know that we will gain things that are far beyond what we could achieve back on Earth."
All eyes around the table widened.
They had thought nothing could entice them to stay.
But now they knew that they were wrong.
"A prophecy proven true cannot be wrong. We are the prophesied heroes of legend." Henry stated confidently. "We will grow stronger than what we ever thought was possible. We will ascend beyond human, and gain strength and magical prowess thought to be impossible even in this world."
Through one story, Henry had shown them that this world could bring more than what Earth ever could.
"On Earth, we were just powerful. But on this world, we will ascend…to becomes gods among humanity."