"With the Grace bestowed upon us by the Gods, we grant you the title of Earl of Vermillion! From now on, you are Earl Richard Vermillion!"
I bow my head as I hear the other nobles sneering at me. This ceremony might sound good for the commoner but as a prince? It is not. I reincarnated into this world after dying of cancer. I had a good life back then, but I want more because I died at the age of thirty-two, and I spent most of my early time as an office drone.
To my surprise, I get reincarnated into this world as a prince. Sadly, I was born without magic and labeled a defective product.
That is the reason why they grant me nobility and territory. They cannot kill me directly because the gods of this world do not like kinslaying and will punish anyone who does that. However, they can kill them indirectly, which is one way to get rid of your kin without being cursed by the gods. Push the one you want to kill as the lord of a frontier land where demons attack them once a week.
"Secondly! We grant you the title of Defender of the East! May this position bring honor to the kingdom!"
I grunt a little at the pain in my hand and hold back a sigh. There goes my fate. As a kingdom born from the descendant of a god, each title has power and responsibility. Defender of the East is a title that lets me move around the kingdom freely and govern my territory without any input from the royal family, but in return, I shall defend the kingdom from demons who stay on the other half of the continent with my life.
That means I need to fight in the frontline each time demons appear in my city and fight them head-on. It is a death sentence to me to not get a full education because of my lack of mana. I try to compensate for it with strenuous physical training, but I don't think it is enough.
I hold back a sigh and say.
"I accept this honor and will defend the Vermillion Earldom with my life!"
The king, my father, nods his head, and I can see disappointment and disgust in his eyes. Well, fuck you too. You bring me here, and you try to kill me. Next time don't cum in my mother's cunt, you asshole.
"Raise, Earl Vermillion! We shall grant you ten thousand gold coins and one artifact from the royal vault to start your Earldom! Tell us what kind of artifact you want."
Without hesitation, I say.
"Grant me the Ring of Infinity, Your Highness"
I can see a flash of surprise in his eyes before his disappointment returns tenfold. I held back a sneer because he underestimated that ring.
Ring of Infinity is a ring with a pocket dimension to store all kinds of things that are not living beings. According to the book I read, the size of the pocket dimension is the size of this palace. That alone is enough to make this ring into a powerful artifact in the right hand. However, what makes it even better is the ability of the ring to return to its owner if it gets stolen or falls somewhere. Not only that, it can also prevent anyone but the true owner from using its ability. That means I can travel in small but powerful groups to avoid attracting bandits.
"Very well! We shall grant you the Ring of Infinity! With this, the ceremony is over! Go forth, Earl Vermillion, and bring honor to this kingdom."
Hearing my dismissal, I leave the palace and see the king's personal butler already waiting for me.
"Please follow me, Earl Vermillion. We shall go to the Royal Vault."
"Ah, can I also get the money at the same time? With the ring, it should be possible, no? I need to prepare to depart immediately."
The butler nods and says.
"Very well."
A few minutes later, I leave the palace with a ring on my finger and a fat load of gold inside of it. The butler will tell the others to prepare because I told him that I want to depart tomorrow morning. I know some or even all of them are spies for my parents, but I don't really care. I just want to survive.
It will take forty days to arrive at my new territory from the capital. I have that amount of time to train and prepare for my so-called duty.
####
This is it. I enter the carriage as we depart to my new territory. Fifty people came with me. Five personal servants, four maids, and one butler, and the rest are knights who will protect me. They are rather strong. They are not the best the capital ever produces, but they are strong enough to beat any group of bandits that dare to attack us.
I watch as we leave the capital city and ride through the road to the new Vermillion Earldom. While watching as the carriage goes through the road, I can see a blue panel appear in front of me.
[Congratulations! You have awakened your power!]
What?
[You can now visit another world to defend yourself! You will be given a mission for each world and need to complete it before you can explore that world. Lucky for you, if you die in that world, you can retry the mission the next day.]
What kind of power is this?!
[Your first world is… Campione! Your mission is to defeat the Heretic God Heracles and become a Campione! Do you wish to enter?]
I think for a second and nod my head. A second later, my vision darkens, and I appear to be in the middle of a mountain. I look around for a second before my eyes land on a massive man wearing a leather kilt and the skin of a lion.
"Hahahaha! There is a human in here! Good! You! Kneel to your God!"
I look at him for a second, take out a sword I buy in the market, and then take a battle stance. I can see a flash of anger appear in his eyes, but it disappears, replacing it with eagerness and pride.
"Good! You have the spirit of a warrior! Never kneel! Never give up! Come! My name is Heracles! Show me your spirit, mortal!"
I dash forward with my sword in hand and appear in front of him. I swing it down, but he deflects it by using the club in his hand. The attack is so strong my hand starts to tremble. However, instead of running away, I sing my sword again.
I continue to attack him, and I know Heracles starts to get bored. He uses more strength than before and swings down his club, crushing my head alongside my sword.
*GASP*
I gasp for air as I feel the pain before dying. As expected from a Heretic God. I cannot fight him at my current self. I need to train even more and maybe get a new sword. I take out the sword that returns to its original state and sigh. A normal sword will not work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|3rd POV|
Richard continues to try to fight Heracles for fifteen days. He trains his body continuously, and each time he arrives in a city, he hires a priest to heal his body to its peak before continuing to train until his body gives up.
On his 16th day, he managed to hit Heracles and even get praise from the God of Strength before his head got crushed by the giant club. Sadly, his attack does nothing to his skin. His sword is not powerful enough to cut through the skin of a Heretic God.
Richard leans over his seat and thinks of a way to defeat Heracles, the Greatest Hero of Greek Myth. He blinks for a second when he remembers something. He remembers how Heracles died from the poison of Hydra coated on a tunic, right? The poison hurt him even though it is only on his skin. The Heretic God in Campione is a God that forms from their legend, including their weakness.
With that in mind, he opens the small window to the carriage and talks to the butler holding the carriage reins.
"Sebastian."
"My lord?"
"The next city has an auction and market house, right?"
"Yes. It is the biggest city in the Galar Duchy."
"Do they have hydra poison for sale?"
He looks at Richard in shock before nodding his head.
"They should be selling them."
"Great! Let's stop there for a night. I need to buy a vial or two of Hydra poison."
"Hydra poison is not too expensive. Do you need me to buy them, my lord?"
"If you can, please. Buy the most potent one. Two hundred gold coins will be enough, no?"
"More than enough."
######
Richard appears in the middle of the mountain with a sword specializing in absorbing Hydra Poison in his ring. He takes a deep breath and walks forward. He can see Heracles standing there with his club in hand.
"Ah! Mortal! Tell me–"
Before he can finish his sentences, Richard dashes forward and swings his sword.
"Hah! I like your eagerness! Let's see if you can back it up!"
After getting killed multiple times, Richard knows that all Heretic Gods will not use their authority on normal humans. He will use this to his advantage. Because of his inability to use magic, Heracles does not use his full physical power or even his authority.
Richard moves his body and continues to release a relentless attack against Heracles. He ignores all the wounds that appear on his body from the club that hit his body. After fighting for fifteen minutes, he finally managed to hit Heracles' abdomen with his body, but in return, Heracles crushed his ribs, and the bones stabbed one of his lungs.
"You bastard! How dare you! ARGH!"
Richard watches as Heracles screams in pain as his entire body turns into liquid by the Hydra poison. No matter which hydra it was, he was weak against Hydra Poison. He chuckled as he bled to death on the ground. He looks to the sky and closes his eyes as he waits for his death.
However, instead of another reset, he sees a beautiful woman with violet hair and blue eyes.
"Fufufufu~ my new child has opened his eyes!"