The blue banners of the eastern empire were raised above the hundred horsemen marching towards Oakbrook, at the front was a dignified knight above his snow white steed, his long silver hair and deep blue eyes reflected the sun's rays as he approached the city's gate.
"The first knight Robin has arrived, alert the elder!" A guard called out from above the gatehouse as the gates were opened to greet Robin, a couple of his knights rode past him and into the gate first before he quickly followed, it was protocol to make sure that there were no traps nor ambushes set for an important guest like sir Robin that was executed even when visiting the imperial capital, so it wasn't taken as a gesture of disrespect.
"Hmm" Robin sniffed the air scanning the crowd around him before his eyes landed on the guest house, "Interesting" he mumbled before Cedric appeared accompanied by his knights.
"I greet the first knight to my humble estate" Cedric bowed before Robin got off his horse.
A stable boy quickly came to grab the horse's leash and lead it back to the stables as most of the horsemen dispersed into the city securing the streets that led to the castle, leaving Robin with only 5 knights as his escort.
"Its not so humble anymore" Robin stared Cedric down before approaching him.
"Well that's all thanks to his Majesty the emperor and his care towards his subjects" Cedric replied raising his head as he accompanied Robin on their way to the castle.
"I have just heard the news about Thaddeus, my condolences, he was a fine man, your father" Robin said in an apologetic tone before Cedric bowed his head lightly in gratitude, "May I ask how he died?"
"He died in battle fighting some slavers to the north" Cedric replied.
"A warrior's death, I never taken your father for a warrior" Robin said before Cedric appeared visibly agitated at Robin's statement, he maintained his composure before smiling at Robin.
"Well, the more you know"
"I'd like to head to his grave to pay my respect"
"I'm sure he'd be honored, Sir" Cedric said before they changed their direction heading to the church.
After Robin paid his respect followed by his knights, they made their way to the castle where a reception ceremony was organized using some of the Oakbrook elite guards, Robin didn't show any emotions as usual, it was not his first visit to Oakbrook and so Cedric was quite acquainted with him at this point.
Before entering the castle, Cedric looked back to the guest house noticing Sylvora and her elite guards who were clad in high quality armor and showed extreme signs of discipline as their eyes didn't budge nor they looked at Robin except for when he passed by the guest house's gates.
"I see you have an important guest" Robin said to Cedric as he kept his eyes on Sylvora.
"Oh yes, his majesty the second prince of the western empire have been staying here for quite a while, he's also donated over 100,000 gold pieces to help develop Oakbrook, in addition to training the garrison and taking care of a lot of problems that arouse by the city lately" Cedric smiled as he talked about the mines incident and Fangmaw as they were making their way inside, "He's also a dear friend of mine"
"Hmm, how old is that second prince exactly?" Robin questioned as he sat down at the guest room in the castle while maids started setting down some food on the table in front of him.
"Well, it's quite complicated if I may say" Cedric rubbed his head with an awkward smile, "Well, in human years he's around my age, his appearance gives that away too, but he said he's around 48 to my father when he first arrived" Cedric answered.
"Mhm" Robin thought to himself for a second before standing up without touching his food, "I'd like to meet him right now"
"Sir Robin I'm sure you're exhausted after your trip here, you can eat and rest up a little and we can arrange to meet him tonight" Cedric tried to say but Robin ignored him and walked out of the guest room towards the guest house followed by a dozen of his knights who were now stationed at the castle.
As Robin approached the guest house Sylvora noticed his unnatural demeanour and sensed some killing intent so she quickly stood in front of the gate plunging her swords to the ground blocking Robin's path.
"Name and purpose" She said before Robin unsheathed his sword followed by his knights.
In an instant Sylvora's knights raised theirs and before the Empire's knights could react the Highthorn guards had their swords up their throats.
"Name.. And purpose.." Sylvora glared at Robin who didn't budge before she felt Rage's presence at her back.
In an instant all Highthorn guards sheathed their swords turning their backs and kneeling before Rage who approached Sylvora accompanied by Varon and the other Highthorn members.
"Sylvora is that how we treat our guests?"
"My lord, his killing intent was-" Sylvora tried to utter before she was silenced by Rage.
"Silence! It looks like I have been too linient on you" Rage yelled, "Are you a dog who follows her lord's commands or are you a dog that bites his hand"
"I'm sorry my lord, I'll gladly offer my life-" Sylvora tried to say again before Rage ignored her approaching Robin.
"Well first knight Robin, I'm sorry about my subordinate, she's very wary of humans" Rage smiled extending a hand to Robin who refused to shake it.
"What is a demon doing in the Empire" Robin glared at Rage who still extended his hand.
"Would you rather I don't come and let the adventurers who came here from my home turn this into their training field?"
Robin looked at Varon, then Sylvora before his eyes landed back on Rage.
"Oh and it seems like your emperor doesn't really care much about his people, what would happen if everyone knew that he left some freelance human traffickers run freely in the north turning the entirety of Frostholm into a base"
Robin paused for a second before shaking Rage's hand, "First knight Robin of the Eastern Empire, I thank your majesty for what you did to our homeland" He said with an emotionless expression.
"Well, shall we talk inside then?"
Robin gestured for his guards to stand outside with Sylvora and her elites before accompanying Rage, Varon and Cedric inside the guest house.
"Cedric do you mind if I have a word with sir knight here?" Rage smiled at Cedric who took Varon and went into a separate room.
"Varon is it really okay for Prince Valerian to threaten First Knight Robin like that?" Cedric expressed his concern to Varon.
"Young elder, let me give you a history lesson about Highthorn" Varon sat down at a chair by a window opposite to Cedric.
"Highthorn his majesty's clan, you can think of it as his personal faction, it's head and sole leader is him, right under him are the 5 lords, the Highthorn guards are led by 7 knights excluding me, and it has the military might of well over 20,000 elite soldiers who can wield all types of weapons and use all types of magic, the weakest Highthorn guard is a 7-Star knight, and the strongest is a 12-Stars magic swordsman, being his Majesty" Varon looked back at Cedric, "Now who do you think is stronger? My lord or the eastern empire?"
"Well, the empire has well over 200,000 soldiers wouldn't that be overwhelming?" Cedric said.
"Then each Highthorn guard has to only deal with 10 soldiers, that's a joke to a Highthorn guard" Varon scoffed before looking out the window.
"But taking on ten soldiers is qui-" Cedric tried to say before he was interrupted by Varon.
"Are all the empire's soldiers at least 7-Star knights?" Varon asked leaving Cedric speechless for a moment.
"So quality beats quantity, despite Valerian being weaker than First Knight Robin at the moment, his military might rivals that of the empire, and he is using his status to pressure First Knight Robin to have a conversation with him since he's still a Prince of an empire despite being of demonic liniege?" Cedric asked, not looking for an answer.
"Exactly, if Robin executes my lord, not only will all his knights die at the spot, but he also might lose his life and it will trigger a war between Highthorn and the Empire, that's all thanks to the small show he put with Sylvora outside, if he was alone or only accompanied by the other lords, Robin would have never believed he was a prince"
"Varon, you have been serving his majesty for a while now from what I see, how was he before coming here that made you so surprised at how he reacted to different situations since he arrived at Oakbrook?" Cedric asked.
"His words were law and his judgement was divine, what he says is the absolute truth, even the gods trembled when hearing Highthorn's name, but he was just and merciful, Highthorn has a large territory back home, over 5 cities ruled by the 5 lords and the clan house where the vault is that has all their artifacts and riches" Varon answered proudly.
"But he's the second prince right? Don't you know anything about the first prince? Does he have anymore siblings? How is his father like?" Cedric started asking the non-prepared Varon, after all the "Second prince" thing was a bluff from Rage and so Varon had no idea how to answer.
"Ehm, its confidential information that you will have to ask him directly about" Varon cleared his throat avoiding eye contact with Cedric who started thinking for a second.
"Okay, but.. I knew you were not humans from the moment you arrived her, but other humans seemed to love and cherich all of you so I was at ease, but I never expected you to be of demonic descend.. Don't demons view humans as lowly beings that are good for nothing?" Cedric said.
"How much do you know about demons, young elder?" Varon asked.
"Well, demons are beings that come from a realm called hell, its a ruined barren land where they fight for survival that they become extremely powerful, they can use ancient magic and demonic energy and can enter contracts with humans to escape hell and descend into the human world, only demonlords are able to come to the human world without a contract with a human, so his majesty and the five lords are all demon lords I assume?" Cedric said.
"Well, back home its different, youg elder, the western continent is a whole different realm with its own rules and laws of nature, demons and humans live together and some even breed, but I guess the only universal thing is that demons do view humans as lowly beings, and so demons conquer the humans most of the time, demons come in all shapes and forms, from humanoid to complete abominations, humans and demons are the only two races that exist in our realm, its my first time seeing what you call an elf or a dwarf" Varon explained, "And yes, the five lords are indeed demon lords, they have the authority to summon and command demons as they wish, but his majesty isn't a demon lord" He continued.
"Huh, than what is his rank?" Cedric questioned.
"Before I tell you about the lords, aren't you wary of the fact that we are demons?" Varon asked.
"You helped me more than the empire bastards, you cared for my people and protected Oakbrook on multiple occasions, if anything I'm wary of the First Knight Robin" Cedric replied.
"Good, I'll tell you about the lords then" Varon adjusted himself to face Cedric, "My lord Jimmy, his title was the dark apostle, despite how ominous it sounds, he's a very kind and gentle soul, and he is very intelligent and smart, he is usually found making potions or coming up with spells he makes on his own, he was the pinnacle of magic back where we came from, and a role model for all mages" Varon said, "He was also the one who managed the clan's finances and regulated the expenses, beside being the vault keeper"
"Their names are so interesting, quite fitting for demons since I don't understand what they mean"
"Oh, I've heard the lords talk about the meaning of their names before, Jimmy means 'He who follows', I think he was given this name by his Majesty since he was a very loyal follower"
"Ah I see!"
"Next is my lord Sensei, his name means 'Teacher' or 'Master' he's the clan's guardian, he manages the clan house defense and is always by his majesty's side, he is older than my lord Valerian so I think he was his teacher at one point and that's why they call him teacher, I doubt it is his real name but I am in no place to ask of couse"
"Oh! I have trained with him quite a lot before, its an honor if he was His Majesty's teacher as well!"
"Then there is my lord Madeen, he was known as the Reaper back home, his name means 'In debt' I think he was saved by my lord and was given that name to remind him of where his loyalty lies, he doesn't have a certain position within the clan, but even the gods tremble when hearing his name, he is very bloodthirsty and yearns for battle all the time, I look up to him as he is a role model for all warriors"
"No wonder he's always scary"
"My lord Hunter is a quiet one, not much is know about him, he is usually sent by my lord on assassination missions, but he rarely speaks or acts independently"
"He's been helping train the archers lately, I'm still in his debt for that"
"Finally my lord phoenix, he's the oldest out of all of them, he's quite respected and feared among them, even my lord Valerian fears him sometimes, he's the second in command and the leader in my lord's absense"
"I have known him for a brief while before he left to go back with the fallen adventurers on that fight with the person you call Rivershade"
"And above all, his majesty, you may have heard a lot of people call him Rage"
"Yes that I did, it confused me"
"I never knew his true name either before he revealed it to you, but he is known as Rage among everyone"
"The name doesn't suit him, he seems quite calm most of the time"
"Uhhh" Varon had flash backs of the amount of people that were mutilated, mauled or killed when they did as little as breath by Rage when he was in a bad mood, "let's say he's trying to mange his temper"
"Tell me more about him, he's a very interesting person!"
"My lord was the founder of our clan, he built it from the ground up, he started it as a group of mercenaries and I was there, 6 years ago, he went around the world building his reputation before settling down and building the clan house, then he went on what the lords called 'Raids', a raid was basically the act of killing a demon lord, unintelligent and intelligent alike, he went around the world killing all the demon Lords that existed in our continent before gaining the title 'Monarch', he was known after killing his 15th demon lord as the monarch of all demons"
"He achieved all of that in a mere 6 years?"
"He's amazing isn't he, that's my lord for you, as a knight my pride comes from my lord's reputation and so I'm very proud"
"How about you Varon, you seem to be the only knight I can have a proper conversation with"
Varon let out a hearty laugh before answering "Well I thank you, young elder, and yes, that's because I am a demon who had a life outside of Highthorn, I was a low rank mercenary back in our continent before I was discovered and hired by his majesty through someone called a 'Companion Summoner', his job was to connect lowly mercenaries and adventurers like myself to respective knights like his majesty Valerian and the other lords, they took me in and gave me proper wage, they trained me and fought with me as their equal on battle before building the clan house, it was a small fort in the beginning with a small barracks and training grounds and so they hired multiple other demons and placed them under my command, they helped me gain experience as a leader and that was before his majesty gave me the blessing, I think he called it 'Enhancement Stones' they were blue stones that he created and asked me to eat, at first I thought it was a test to see if I would blindly follow orders even if it means eating a rock, but when I ate it, I felt a surge of power and energy run through my veins, he kept giving me a lot of these blessings until I became a 5-Star Knight, that's when his majesty obtained the power of creation, he created Sylvora"
"What? He can create living beings? Doesn't that make him a god?" Cedric questioned with a surprised expression.
"All of the soldiers and knights in our clan already worship him as a god, only me and my company of 5 were here before he obtained the power of creation, unfortunately I'm unable to summon them at the moment, but I can summon regular sentinels at will"
"Well, does that mean that Sylvora and the rest were created and trained at the clan house for their entire life?"
"Basically yes, only me and my company were ever dispatched on missions outside the clan house, its Sylvora and her knight's first time seeing the outside world"
"I kinda feel sorry for them.."
"Don't be, my lord gave them life, they are his property and they know that well, its their duty to use the lives he gave them to serve him"
"I wonder what they are talking about in the other room right now"