'That crazy woman. I would've been dead if it weren't for my regenerative powers.'
Alixandre woke up to a chilling sensation. There were sharp nails against his neck.
" Tell me what you saw. Lie, and you die here. My mother will forgive me later."
* Gulp*
' She's really going to kill me.'
" I'm sure you already know what I saw. I don't want you to relive that moment."
Blood began to leak from his neck.
" I didn't do it on purpose. The drawback of my healing ability is that I inherit the pain and trauma of the person I heal have felt. I didn't know that I would see that! I promise that I will keep my mouth shut. Still, I want to say that I'm sorry you had to go through that. Holding that in for all these years had to be hard. The bit I experienced was traumatic enough. Even though this is the second time you've almost killed me, you can talk to me and cry on my shoulder if you need to."
Tears formed in the corner of her eyes. Her hand slowly moved away from his neck.
" Will you really listen to me?" Amari said as her voice cracked
" Of course. I won't judge or blame you. "
Two hours passed before their conversation ended. Alixandre learned that her cousin Lucas had been doing that for years and that it got worse as time passed. She was too afraid to tell anyone out of fear she would be judged. She also didn't want to ruin her family. Even though he had only known her for a day, this was as close as she had been to a man beside her father in a long time.
" Get dressed. It's breakfast time," she said before leaving the room.
Alixandre wore a tan shirt, rolled up to his elbows with brown pants and black shoes, and made his way to the dining room where there was a feast. The table was huge enough to seat over twenty people. The Queen and her husband, sat on opposite ends, in chairs decorated differently to show the status difference between those present. Various beast meats and delicacies were spread from one end to the other. The aroma made Alixandre's mouth water.
" Do you guys eat like this every day?" he said while walking through the door.
" Of course we do. It's the benefit of being royalty," Scarlett said while sipping her wine.
Alixandre noticed there was a seat beside Amara and made his way toward her.
*Ehm*
Neymar got his attention. He was patting the seat beside him.
Alixandre ignored him and sat right beside Amara.
The whole room turned silent.
' My daughter is going to kill a man in front of everyone.'
Her father closed his eyes expecting the worst.
" You look beautiful in this blue dress."
" Thank you. You look handsome too."
* Crack*
Blood leaked from Scarlett's hand as the wine glass shattered into pieces. Her parents and the maids stared at Amara, waiting for her wrath, but nothing happened.
" So, how do you feel about participating in a subjugation today? The demons we're targeting should pose you no threat as long as you follow Brian's orders."
A confident grin crossed his face.
" I never intended to follow anyone's orders," he said while side-eyeing Scarlett, "I will not bring the team down. I feel like I shine better when I can be a little wild. Formations and plans really aren't my style."
"Just make sure you come back alive."
The conversations around breakfast were lively. The family still couldn't believe that Amara was friendly with a man outside of her father.
" Thanks for the food. I'll have to bother you for more when I return," Alixandre said before walking out.
" What happened between the two of you? Steffon said.
" I apologized to him and we talked. That's all father.
Scarlett leaned toward Amara and whispered, " So what do you think about him? Ready to give me some grandchildren?"
" Mom!" she said with flushed cheeks before running off.
*****
"I need to get better clothes and some armor. This robe is too fucking big too."
With his clothes on, he made his way to the exit where he was greeted by Amara.
" Please come back safely."
" Of course, I will. If you couldn't kill me, a few demons, damn sure can't," he said with a smile.
The door opened, and outside was the team he would be working with. It was an assortment of humans, demons, and beast-kin. The man leading them all was a short-haired blonde man covered in silver armor with a longsword by his side and a long scar over his eye.
" You're the new recruit Queen Scarlett recommended?" he said in a rugged voice while staring Alixandre up and down. " My name is Brian. I'm the Leader of the subjugation team. I can't sense your magic which means you're from a divine family. I won't treat you differently because of it, but she did tell me you thrive in chaos. I give you full permission to go wild, but only on my command. Understood?"
" Got it, captain."
" Yes sir."
The group of thirty men and women of different races marched toward the outskirts of the kingdom.
' The homes here have a Cape-Cod style similar to my textbooks on earth. '
Aeyeaseon Kingdom looked modern with brick roads. The town was lively, full of stores and commerce.
' I'll have to explore more when I come back. maybe I'll have Amara accompany me.'
They soon arrived at the outskirts of the kingdom, where a thick and ominous forest housed the demons who terrorized the residents of the kingdom.
" The demons here are low-level. They aren't humanoids, and they are strong. I can't guarantee everyone's lives, but I will try my best to protect everyone here. We're going to walk through the forest as stealthily as possible so we won't get surrounded."
" Mr. Captain sir," said Alixandre. " They already know that we are here."
Divine eyes showed over a hundred orange-colored demons looking at them.
" How do you know? This forest is massive."
" I can see them. You weren't wrong about their strength either, but as long as I am here, we should be fine," he said while heading toward the forest.
Brian put his hand on his chest to stop him.
" What the hell are you doing?"
" I'm about to cause some chaos," Alixandre said before dashing into the forest, leaving the team behind.
" That fools a dead man. Get in information. Protect the healers. Archers have our backs. Let's head in!"
********
" You guys have to put up a better fight than this!" Alixandre said after kicking the bald black head of a demon to its comrades. The demons' brolic figure towered over him, but he pushed forward with no fear.
Surrounded by three demons, an eerie smile crept upon his face as he charged at the one ahead of him.
The demon claws barely missed his face as he dodged and ended up behind it. His swords took off both arms before the head flew off its shoulders.
The other two rushed in at the same time. Due to Neymar's training, Alixandre was in complete control of his mind and body. He no longer lost himself in bloodlust. His sword had become sharper. No longer the sloppy movements of before.
" Boss, look at that dude fight! Those demons can't even touch him. It looks like he's gliding around!"
Brian thrust his sword out of a demon's head before witnessing Alixandre's battle.
' No wonder Scarlett recommended him. It takes two of us to take down one. He's toying with them.'
The demons attacked in unison. The claws clanged off his swords without leaving a scratch on the man wielding them.
" This is getting boring. Call the ones behind me, will ya?"
One of the demons screamed something that he couldn't understand, and suddenly, he was surrounded by five more.
" This is more like it!" he said while licking the blood off his sword.
Enraged, all five came at him. With every swing of his sword, a limb came off.
Two demons on his side aimed for his head. He bent backward, the back of his head touching the ground as they sliced each other's necks open.
" I could've sworn I was the enemy!" he said while laughing.
******
"What are the archers doing! Give us some help!" Brian said while holding off a demon with his large golden shield.
" We're trying our best!" said a lizard man.
" Brian! Watch out!"
A demon had the sword of one of the dead team members and took the chance to fight the leader while he was distracted.
'My little girl. My wife. I'm sorry I won't be there for you any longer.'
He closed his eyes and accepted his death, but something splashed on his face.
* THUMP*
" You were really going to accept your death like that?"
Brian opened his eyes and saw Alixandre holding the head of the demon who almost took his life with a murderous smile that sent chills down his body.