A miracle was what the people of the kingdom felt when they defeated the specters. Even the knights felt the same way.
While the victory brought joy to the people, it did not last long. Soon, the announcement of the king's death brought grief to the entire kingdom.
Apparently, the king was loved by his citizens, and the capital fell into a state of mourning. Not only the king, but also the knights and the people who died under the attack of the ghosts were buried together.
Heero and his family attended the funeral. They wore all black and watched the funeral from the sidelines.
He could see the pale Gerard and Benjamin carrying their father's coffin together. The funeral lasted three hours before everyone returned to the royal residence.
Benjamin, however, stayed behind. He knelt at his father's grave with his head bowed. He remained there alone while everyone returned to the castle.
With the death of the king at the hands of the specters, the royal kingdom had to choose a new king. The kingdom needed a new king to replace the dead one.
Certainly the Crown Prince, William Gerard Kingsman, was the one who would inherit the throne.
On the day the old king was buried, Gerard also inherited the throne. Heero attended the coronation as Star City's representative.
The supposedly glorious coronation turned out to be a simple coronation.
That same day, Heero and his family planned to return to Star City. They agreed to end their honeymoon and head back. There was no way they could continue the honeymoon in this situation.
Capital City had suffered great destruction, but that was not the reason. They could go to other cities, but they could not enjoy traveling in such a depressing atmosphere.
Even the children were not in the mood to go for a walk. They were affected by the sad atmosphere of the city. One of the many reasons why Heero decided to return.
In a private room, Heero was alone with Guardian Knight Adrian and the newly crowned king, Gerard.
Adrian and Gerard bowed to Heero, "Thank you for your help! Without you, the capital would have fallen."
Faced with such an attitude, Heero did not know what to do. In fact, he felt a little guilty inside for not acting as soon as possible. He felt that he did not deserve the gratitude.
But he did not regret his decision. He did it so that he could catch the mastermind behind the attack, and even though he failed to catch them, he managed to get a clue about the mastermind.
Faced with such a dilemma, Heero also bowed to the new king in the end.
"I don't deserve the gratitude, only if I help the kingdom sooner, the kingdom would suffer less casualties. I am sorry..."
Heero shared the information about the culprit and the reason why he did not go all out right away.
Adrian and Gerard were surprised to learn that a human was behind all this.
"Do you know about Dungeon? My guess is that these people are from the Dungeon."
The king nodded his head and smiled at Heero, "Still, you deserve our gratitude for your help! Without you, the citizens would have collapsed. You gave them tremendous moral support!"
"Huh!?" Heero was confused.
Guardian Knight Adrian approached Heero and gave him a heartfelt hug, "Thank you, you are the miracle of the kingdom!"
*** ***
Many churches in the capital were filled with people.
Right after the funeral, the destination of many people was the church. They wanted to pray right after the funeral.
The reason was the Phoenix. The citizens thought that the flaming bird was sent by God to save them from the ghost. So the people who believed in God went to the church to pray.
They expressed their gratitude, prayed, and worshipped in the church. They believed that the phoenix was proof that God had never abandoned them.
They did not know that the phoenix was man-made. Unless you saw it with your own eyes, no one would believe that the Phoenix was man-made.
The higher echelons of the Regal Kingdom knew this fact, but they had no intention of revealing it to their people. They wanted the Phoenix incident to remain what the people believed it to be, a God-sent miracle. It would be a great spiritual support for the people who lost their loved ones in the battle.
The reason why King Gerard and his uncle, Guardian Knight Adrian, were truly grateful to Heero.
However, Heero himself had no idea that he had caused such a huge aftereffect.
"But why did the specters choose the kingdom as their target?" Guardian Knight Adrian changed the subject.
He did not want to explain the meaning behind his words. Besides, he also wanted to know this. Why did the kingdom become the target of the specters?
King Gerard also looked at Heero. He wanted to know as well.
"This is just my guess, their main target is not the kingdom, but the mutants! I heard that the kingdom is a place where most mutants gather?"
Guardian Knight Adrian and King Gerard did not expect such an answer. Guardian Knight Adrian frowned.
"But why did they try to impersonate the Crown Prince and kill the King if their target was the mutants? The mutant facility is in the north, while the capital is in the south?"
Guardian Knight Adrian showed his doubts.
"If they can get the whole kingdom, why not? I think they are trying to impersonate not only the Crown Prince, but the late King as well! However, my presence ruined their plan, so they killed the late king," Heero pointed at his eyes, "I can detect the Morphers!"
Guardian Knight Adrian and King Gerard looked at each other. They obviously still doubted Heero's words.
"That's just my guess. The specters needs the mutants to build a strong army. When the mutants turned into the specters, they could become a stronger specter compared to normal humans! Besides, have you checked the mutant establishment?"
When Guardian Knight Adrian heard Heero's words, he said, "Ah!? He immediately called the person in charge of the mutant facility to confirm Heero's words.
King Gerard looked at his uncle with concern. He shared his uncle's concern. The concern turned to reality the moment the call failed to connect.
King Gerard and Guardian Knight Adrian exchanged glances.
"I'm sorry, I can't stay with you any longer! I must go now!" Guardian Knight Adrian bowed to Heero and left the room.
Heero nodded understandingly as he watched Guardian Knight Adrian leave with a pale face.
Heero was left alone with King Gerard. He felt quite uncomfortable because the person before him was no longer a mere prince but a king of a nation.
King Gerard, however, had another concern. He looked at Heero with a serious expression and expressed his thoughts.
"Sir Heero, I have a request for you! Are you willing to help the kingdom to establish the same squad as the SES?"
This was the purpose of Guardian Knight Adrian and King Gerard to meet Heero privately. They wanted to create a force with a purpose to fight the specters. They did not want the same tragedy to happen again.
*** ***
The Hero League, Star City
As soon as news of the king's death spread throughout the world, the Hero League executives convened a meeting. The meeting was initiated by Moushe Eghian of the Star Consortium.
Star Consortium was an organization founded by one of the top ten martial arts houses in Star City, Star Martial House. It was one of the oldest martial arts houses in Star City.
From a Martial House to a huge organization that became one of the twelve largest forces in Star City, it was the Star Consortium.
Not only Moushe Eghian, but also Krishna Davale of Orient Consortium initiated the executive at the same time. Orient Consortium shared the same history as Star Consortium, but they were comparatively new to Star Consortium.
Eleven Executives and six GrandMaster Hero Instructors attended the meeting, with Heero as an exception.
Everyone's attention was focused on two people, Moushe Eghian and Krishna Davale, as the two who initiated the meeting.
"I believe everyone here has seen the footage of the Regal Kingdom and shares the same concern as I do!" Moushe Eghian was the first to speak.
Moushe Eghian was an old man in his early fifties. He had a thin build, large eyes, and gray hair. He was a person appointed by the Star Consortium to be their representative in the Hero League.
The footage of the Regal Kingdom was a video recorded through the satellite, a battle between the Kingdom and the specter. All the executives received the same video through the Hero League's intelligence team.
"As we can see, the specters that attacked the kingdom are stronger than the specters that attacked us before..."
Before Moushe Eghian could finish his words, Bai Xian Ming interrupted him, "Mr. Moushe, can you get to the point? As you said, everyone here has seen the footage!"
"Alright!" Moushe Eghian nodded and expressed his purpose for initiating the executive meeting, "You have watched the video, and I believe you have also witnessed SES's excellent performance against the specters!"
"Here, I would like to propose that we expand the SES and acquire the SES to be under the direct control of the Hero League, no longer an independent unit under the Chief Instructor!
"We need to be prepared in case the specters attack Star City again! And if possible, I want the Chief Instructor to share his technique, which is essential in specters Hunting!"
"I agree with Mr. Moushe's suggestion!" Krishna Davale immediately expressed his agreement.
Bai Xian Ming narrowed his eyes at the two executives.