"Who's this Lady!?", Alex tried pulling away from her grip but it was of no use.
"What's the meaning of this, Phantom!? Release the princess at once!", Prince Zach ordered her.
Without warning, the butler took out a short dagger and aimed it the phantom's throat.
But in a blink of an eye, the phantom grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight.
"GAHH!!", Her grip was so strong that the butler had let go of the dagger while screaming in pain. Then she effortlessly threw him into the wall.
"Mr. Butler! Let go of me!", Alex exclaimed. She looked directly at the phantom's pale face. "What do you want from me!?"
"GUARDS!!", Prince Zach called out the royal guards that were stationed the first level. "Come here quick!"
Alex stopped resisting and took a deep breath. "I said-"
"-let go!", she swung her left arm with full force.
But the phantom easily blocked it with the palm of her other hand. "-Nice punch. So full of potential."
"Tch-! She easily grabbed my punch-," Alex stood quietly with both her hands held by the phantom.
"Say-, princess-, did you really meet Wade?", the phantom spoke with a very chilly voice. "What would she be doing in this continent-?"
"I'm not telling you anything.", she replied. "Especially when you're gripping my hands like that."
"Stop what you're doing at once!", shouted one of the royal guards as the surrounded her with their spears.
"Hmpf-", the Phantom chuckled. "Who am I kidding-, Wade would never be friends with a kid like you-. And I haven't seen him since the war-. You must've been talking about someone else."
She let go of Alex's hands and bowed.
"I beg for your forgiveness princess Alexandria. I am the Phantom. Hired by your family to make sure that the wedding will come through without any problems.", she looked up and smiled at her which sent chills down Alex's spine.
"Now then, I shall continue my rounds.", she said as she turned around and walked away as if nothing happened.
The royal guards did not stop her and even the prince just allowed her to leave in fear of her doing something again.
-
-
"Guards, thank you for responding. You may return to your stations.", ordered the prince.
"YES, SIR!"
Alex immediately ran towards her butler, sitting beside the castle wall with bruises all over his body.
"Are you okay, Mr. Butler!?", she worriedly asked.
"Don't worry about me princess.", he replied while holding bruised shoulder. "Please head to your room without me. I need a little bit of time to tend to my wounds."
"Who was that?", she asked her brother.
""The Phantom"- ", Prince Zach replied. "She was one of the heroes of the "Unification war". But for some reason, she doesn't want anything to do with the new organization running the demon continent and continuously accepts mercenary or assassination jobs."
"" Unification war"-, hmm. I think I've heard of that before.", Alex recalled. "It's the war the untied the five major countries of the demon continent, right?"
"That's right.", but Zach was a little confused. "Isn't your friend, this Wade, isn't he a high school student at your academy? If the war happened more or less than ten years ago, he would still be a child back then. What would she want with him?"
"Maybe she was talking about a different person.", She said while putting the butler's arm on her shoulder. "Father and brother Laz must be very desperate if they went out their way and hire her."
"Princess- ", the butler said in embarrassment. "Please put me down. I'll walk by myself."
"Don't worry, I may not look like it, but I'm pretty strong.", Alex smiled at him.
"That's not the issue h- ", he just stopped talking after seeing Alex's soothing smile.
"Alex-, hey- ", prince Zach tried to stop her. "-I can ask the guards to help him."
"Don't worry, brother. I'll see you later!", Alex waved her hand as she slowly walked away while helping the butler walk.
"Sheesh. See you at dinner!", Zach placed his hands on his waist and just can't help but smile. "I'm glad to know that you never changed. I just wished that you were not tangled in this huge mess." He thought to himself.
"Please settle down. Everyone return to your desks. Class is about to start.", said the male teacher as he entered the room. He was about 6'10 tall, short black hair and was wearing a thick pair of glasses. He had the presence of a clumsy oaf with his shirt only half tucked and his tie crooked.
The students of class 3-A quietly returned to their respective desks.
"Let's continue where we left off yesterday.", he took his text book but the book slipped from his clumsy hands. " Ach-!"
"There it is, Mr. Garby's butterfingers.", said one student in front.
"Hang in there, Mr. Garby."
"You'll never get married if you always act like this Mr. Garby.", said one female students.
Everyone in the classroom laughed and giggled. Mr. Garby laughed with them while scratching his head.
"Now then-, where did we stop yesterday-", he opened his textbook while everyone waited with their notebooks since the school has not released a book for this particular subject yet.
"The start of the Unification War.", one student at the back answered.
"Ah, that's right. Thank you, Soru.", Mr. Garby took a piece of chalk and started writing on the blackboard.
"It's rare to see Soru getting interested on anything other than physical activities.", said one student.
"I always thought he was a muscle head.", said another.
"Hey! How dare you!", Soru shouted at them.
Everyone laughed interrupting the class. Mr. Garby wanted to calm them down but didn't have the courage to scold his students. "Um-, guys--,please—"
"Everyone-", said one student with a strict and stern tone. All the students immediately stopped talking. His cold and sharp gaze was enough to shut their mouths. "Pease save the chatter later at break. Class is still going on."
"Crap! Shin is ticked!"
"As expected from the student council president, strict at always."
"He's so cool even when he's mad."
The students murmured.
"Thank you, Shin.", Mr. Garby said as he continued writing on the board.
"Yesterday, we talked about the different monsters and races found or identified on the monster continent or "Teras". Today we will discuss the great leaders of the four continents and how the war came to be."
"As you already know, Teras had five major countries that ruled the continent. Namely: Telonio, Daimonas, Aptethanta, Magos and Anaxios.
The South part of the continent was ruled by the Goblin king, "Boush", the king of Telonio, the business capital of Teras, with their famous motto: "Everything has a price."
The Eastern part was ruled by the Demon King, "Lucifer", king of Daimonas. This side of the continent has very tall mountains covering the sun for twenty hours a day. Most of the monsters that live there are demons and creatures of the night.
The North that time was ruled by the Undead King, "The Lich", and his resting place was the city of the dead, "Apethanta". Eighty percent of the northern part of Teras is covered in snow. Thus, creatures with high resistance to cold weather ruled the area together with the undead. One example of those creatures was the Giant Silverback Gorilla that everyone witnessed during the recent Monster Festival."
"That time? So there's a new king of Apethanta right now?", asked one of the students.
"Correct.", Mr. Garby replied. "The Lich king died during the unification war after centuries of ruling the north and is now replaced by the "Undead Knight". But that is a story for another time."
"The western part if the continent was composed of the "Evolved Humans". We've discussed this yesterday, but as a recap, Evolved Humans are a higher species of the human race that adopted to the harsh environments of Teras and obtained abilities that could stand their ground against the monsters that ruled the continent. Example of these races are the Samurai race, the Ninja race and the Assassin race. But the race that commands most of the area and said to be the strongest evolved human race were the Mages, with their country "Magos", on the center part of the western area.
The mages didn't have a king, instead they created a council to successfully run the western area which was composed of the strongest mages in the country. Actually, the principal is one of the core members of the council."
"Seriously?"
"No wonder he's so strong."
"So the principal is a big shot in his country."
"Yes. Indeed he is.", Mr. Garby replied to the students' comments.
"The last major country of Teras is located at the central area, "Anaxios". This country is also called the "Underground World" or the "Underworld Prison". "
""Underworld prison?"", one student repeated looking a little disturbed.
"Yes. This country is as ominous as it sounds.", his serious expression placed a heavy mood inside the four walls of the classroom.
"Unlike the other places of Teras, Anaxios is a wasteland area with nothing to eat and roaming with different kinds of monsters that was driven away from the other parts of the continent."
"But why would they call it a prison?", asked one student.
"Because-,
- ordinary humans from Anthropos with death sentences are thrown there to die."
The classroom suddenly become quiet.
"S-seriously?"
"That can't be true, right?'
"Who would do such a thing?"
"Actually, this book is written by the principal himself. So expect that all information that I am telling you came directly from him. He himself witnessed the war, the chaos and the oblivion that happened there ten years ago."
The students murmured and talked to themselves looking very curious and at the same time unsure. Unsure to what they would feel upon hearing that ordinary people same as them are thrown to a God forsaken place to die.
"Um-, Class-", Mr. Garby tried to calm everyone down, but his voice was to soft for them to hear.
*Tap* *TAp* *TAP*, the class heard three loud taps in an ascending volume. The students immediately went quiet.
Shin's presence was enough to calm the entire class. He clicked on his pen and calmly placed his hand on his notebook. "Please continue, Mr. Garby."
"A-as I was saying. The kings of Anthropos that time and before decided to throw people on death row to the monster continent. These people are left to starve or to be eaten by the monsters within the barren area. Those who manage to survive and escape the area won't have a happier fate. They are either turned into slaves, playthings, food or lab rats by the other races in Teras."
"That's just awful."
"I feel sorry for them. I would rather die than slave away my entire life."
"And to think that that sort of inhumane activity was happening just ten years ago."
"I agree with all of you. But ten years ago, five people achieved what was thought to be unachievable. They united the five nations and stopped the inhumanity once and for all. They were called the heroes of the Unification War. These people asked the principal to keep their names a secret for the sake of their privacy."
The mood of the classroom suddenly turned around. Everyone seemed excited and very curious to hear what's next.
"One of them was half-human and half-dwarf. He had the strongest raw strength among the five heroes. With the strength of a thousand people he mowed through the battlefield with his giant hammer flattening anything in his path.
One was half-human and half from the samurai race. With his mastery of any weapon, he can cut through even mountains. His bloodlust and tenacity was unparalleled even within the five heroes. He once brought down an entire demon country with just his sword and left a mountain of demon corpses on his wake.
Another was a half-human and half-witch. She obtains the knowledge of more than a thousand spells without the use of any grimoires. With an unlimited mana source, she can cast out spells that can wipe out armies in an instant. Her power was so immense that even the strongest mages in Magos including principal Sebastian wouldn't dare get on her bad side.
One hero was half-human and half ninja race. He was the wittiest of the five. His strategies led them to victory every single battle that they fought. But he wasn't the weakest either. He has the control over his own shadow realm and surprisingly has the highest kill count out of the five.
And last but not least. A half-human and half-demon, the leader of the five heroes and needless to say the strongest of the five. He had the ability to control both light and dark energy. He led everyone to battle and conquered or befriended the four great nations of the North, South, East and West. "
"Whoa! They sound so cooool!"
"I want to meet them!"
"Those descriptions sound very exaggerated."
The students chattered and the classroom became noisy again. Suddenly, one student raised his hand. It was Shin. Everyone was surprised and curious at the same time.
"Shhh-, Shin is raising his hand."
"That's rare. He never asks for anything during discussions."
"Yes, Shin?", Mr. Garby called his name.
"I can't help but notice something weird with the five heroes, Mr. Garby.", Shin spoke.
"Weird? In what aspect?", he asked.
"Their race.", everyone listened carefully. "All the five heroes are half-bred. It seems intriguing to me."
"He's right. That does sound weird."
"And how did they even meet anyway if they were all from different races."
Murmured the students.
"Ah, that's right. Good observation, Shin.", Mr. Garby praised him. "You see, all the five heroes came from the same country when they were younger. They were all abandoned children from Anaxios."
"No way."
"Five children trying to survive a barren wasteland. I feel sorry for them."
"So they have been trying to survive ever since they were little. Poor kids."
"That's right. But they crawled their way to the top and became the strongest beings on the continent.
After they united most of the countries of the continent, they decided to create an alliance with the other countries and made laws to stop the inhumane treatment to humans. Then after a few years, the five heroes returned to their homeland and created a country in the center of Anaxios, called "Helen". With the heroes' strength and wisdom, they turned the once unlivable wasteland into a very large and progressive kingdom. The kingdom opened their gates regardless what race or standing. But more importantly, the country has been the homeland to many stray and heartbroken humans that were used as tools or slaves before the war.
The creation of Helen was so ground breaking with its fast paced agriculture and trading, even in military power, that it quickly became one of the strongest nations in Teras. Eventually, they decided to make the leader of the heroes as king and gave him the title: "The Central King".
"The Central King-", both Shin and Soru's ears twitched.
"Mr. Garby!-", Soru exclaimed after suddenly standing.
"Y-yes, Soru? W-what is it?", Mr. Garby and the class was clearly startled.
"Is it possible that those heroes that you mentioned would still look young even after ten years after the war??, Soru asked.
"W-where is this coming from?", Mr. Garby was confused by Soru's out of the topic question. "Hmm, if you are asking if they age slowly, then-, Yes. Races from the demon continent with strong mana tends to live longer lives. Maybe because their body adopted to the harsh conditions of the place that they became tougher; maybe their mana has the ability to control their cells to age slower; or maybe their body just adopted to live longer in order to practice and hone their abilities to survive better. Whatever case it is, it won't change the fact that the beings on Teras tend to live longer lives than normal human beings. A concrete example of this is our Principal Cross. You wouldn't believe me if I tell you how old he is-"
"Thank you, Mr. Garby!", Soru took his bag and ran towards the door and went out without excusing himself.
"Y-you're, welcome??", he replied with a very confused expression.
Suddenly, Shin stood up and took his bag. "I'm sorry for the disturbance, Mr. Garby. We suddenly have an emergency council matter to take care of. If you'll excuse us."
Shin calmly walked out the door while Mr. Garby and everyone stared at him.
"O-okay?", he replied, surprised that Shin also had to leave.
Shin gently closed the door and everyone turned their faces back at Mr. Garby.
"What was that all about?", he said while scratching his head.
"I can't believe he's let in a very dangerous man into our school!", Soru exclaimed while the two of them were walking towards the principal's office.
"Calm down, Soru.", Shin said to him. "I think this is a very classified information. But we need to get the truth out of him, which I'm sure he will deny."
"I bet he will. But I will get it out of him one way or another.", Soru held his hand out as they arrived in front of the principal office's door.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*
"Yes-, come in.", Sebastian said while he was signing a couple of documents.
Shin opened the door and both of them entered the office.
"Ah, Shin, Soru, what seems to be the matter?", Sebastian glanced at his wall clock. "Don't you have classes? It's still time for your third period, right?"
"We excused ourselves early because we have some important matters to discuss with you, sir.", Shin answered him.
"Important matters? With me?", he curiously asked.
"It's something that has bothering us since the last Monster Festival.", Soru added.
"Hmm-, please tell me about it.", Sebastian put his pen down and placed his full attention towards the both of them.
Shin took a deep breath and fixed the words on his head first before speaking.
"The leader of the Five heroes of the Unification War, The Crowned King of Helen and the Central King of Teras-, is Wade- , right?", Shin spoke clearly and asked directly to the point.
The room suddenly become pitch quiet as the two of them was waiting for Sebastian's reply.
Sebastian stood up and walked towards his window and closed its curtains. He then looked back at them, "Yes, that's correct."
"We knew that you will deny it! But we have evide-", Soru stopped talking after realizing what Sebastian said. " –wait, are you serious?"
"Yes, I'm serious.", Sebastian smiled at them.
"We thought for sure that you would deny our claims.", Shin said.
"I knew sooner or later, you children from the student council will know his identity, given than you've been interacting with him a lot.", he replied. "Still I'm surprised on how early you've found him out."
"Interacting with him had nothing to do with it. He has zero presence whatsoever. He doesn't even try to put some effort on school activities.", Soru said with an irritated look.
"Really now? Then how did you found out his true identity?", Sebastian asked the two of them.
"Back at the Monster Festival- ", Shin answered him. "-when I thought for sure that I was going to die in the hands of the three headed demon. I lost all hope and the last of my remaining strength was fading away. But moments before I lost my consciousness, the demon began to tremble in fear. The last words I heard from him before passing out was- "Why are you here? Central King, -Wade". That's why when we heard the title "Central King" at class, we had to make sure if our suspicion was right."
"Hmm, stuff like that happened during the festival, huh. How careless of him.", Sebastian smilingly said.
"I still can't believe it, though!", Soru said out loud. "Someone like him, one of the heroes that united an entire continent and no to mention their "Leader". I can't even sense a tiny bit of motivation from him let alone strength. Are you sure that he's the same guy? Are we not mistaking him for someone else with the same name?"
"Now, now. Don't be so quick to judge. A lion's prey won't notice it creeping closer until it's time for it to strike. He may look weak, but trust me, he is the real deal.", Sebastian replied.
"There's only one way to satisfy our claim, and that is to ask him personally. And by that note, principal, we request that Wade is to be brought here for questioning.", Shin said in a persuading manner.
"Oh, that's right, I haven't told you boys yet. I've given Wade along with Rafaela and Ms. Melissa a special mission. They should be arriving at Orbsberg this noon or earlier.", he calmly told them.
"W-What did you just say?", Shin was dumbfounded.
"Unbelievable-", Soru was lost for words.
Sebastian just replied them with a smile.
"We're finally here.", Melissa said as the four of them arrived in front of the giant gates of Orbsberg.
"Remember, we're here to recover Alex. But before that, we must blend in with the crowd to avoid attention.", Wade said while tilting his sunglasses.
"If you knew that-, then why are you dressed like that!!?", Rafaela shouted at him. "You look more suspicious than anyone here!"
"Really?", he innocently replied while people passing by are staring at him. He was wearing a large straw hat, a pair of black sunglasses, a Hawaiian style polo, above knee shorts and slippers.
"Are we really gonna be okay?", Melissa asked herself while looking at the two arguing.
-End of Chapter 15-