Arc 3: Zion Orb Retrieval
Part 1: The Long-Awaited Team
Chapter 112:
I fell from the sky. Once again, I had found myself here after defeating a major threat.
I thought.
I was relaxed by just being near the sky like this; it made me feel close to Belle.
Unable to recall how I had used my wings that one time, I closed my eyes as my head led the charge back into the world.
“I miss you already, princess…” I said to myself.
“That so?” a soft and exquisite voice whispered in my ear.
I opened my eyes, startled as I heard her, and my heart leaped at the mere sight of her face inches from mine.
“Belle!”
“What? You forget how to fly already?” she teased as she hugged me tightly. “You were right, that name is lame.”
I chuckled and held on to her. It was then she summoned her Sun Ring from somewhere in the Kingdom, and it caught us from our fall.
Floating above the colosseum now, I looked down in a panic—also finally remembering another thing I had forgotten about…
“Shit! Nash!”
Belle laughed, amused by my lack of preparedness after such a grand plan.
“He’s fine,” she said. “Jo caught him on the way down. You, however, were too high up. So, I came to get you personally.”
I inhaled and exhaled deeply in relief.
“I hope you’re ready,” she said as we got closer to the colosseum.
“Ready for what?”
“This.”
As we arrived to the arena, I was caught off guard by the sounds that rode the wind in my ears. I even questioned it, wondering if this had been some dream or if it was even for me as the Valley’s people applauded vigorously.
When I looked down, I saw everyone. My crew: Code, Ophelia, Star, Havoc, Brand, and Alice. My friends: Ryo, Rex, Snow, and Zeno. The others in the arena: Lance, Rok, Tubolt, Laylee, Alphonzo, Henza, Sirus, and Daz. I saw the other Guilds, the people… all of them looking to me and Belle as we flew back.
“It is well deserved. Accept it.” Belle whispered in my ear from behind.
I said nothing, and my face held no emotion as we finally reached the ground.
The cheers erupted again as we stepped off the Sun Ring, and the ones around us—Daz and the rest of the mages there, Ryo and the others included—rippling to the crowd up in the bleachers, all knelt to me and bowed their heads. I thought I even saw Tubolt do it, as against his will as it was.
Some of the mages in the arena even bowed to Jo and Nash. Jo was extremely uncomfortable from the gesture; she took out a popsicle and shoved it in her mouth to distract her from blushing. And Nash was lying on the ground, somehow having retrieved his comm, and taking selfies at it all.
People in the crowd even bowed to the rest of the Black Wolves crew as they all stood there awkwardly. The only one that took it to heart was Star, “As you should, mongrels!” I heard her say.
“Star!” Code corrected.
Back in the arena, I scratched my head as I said, “Um… This is weird.”
Daz chuckled as he lifted his head and stood, “It is how the Valley shows its respect. You cannot hide now, .”
“Is that my new moniker? If so, I hate it.”
“Your humbleness shows in unique ways.” Daz teased.
I took one last look at everyone, and I could tell they were waiting for me to make some grand speech. But instead, I nodded awkwardly, turned around and threw my hands in my pockets. And that’s when the Royal King appeared with his escorts.
“Greed of the Black Wolf Knights, if you have a moment, I would like to have a word,” the Royal King, Ezkar, said.
I looked at Belle, and she nodded, exchanging no words. I then did the same to Jo and Nash, but they were all too preoccupied with the attention to pay any heed, so I looked for Code instead, and, as I figured, he was paying attention. He held the bill of his cap and nodded as well. Signifying that he would also handle everything here.
“Daz,” Ezkar spoke to him informally, “Please tend to the people and clean up here the best you can. Then head to the castle once you have everything in order.”
“Aye, sire,” Daz replied.
I wasn’t a fan of the way the Royal King addressed him. Daz was the one who stuck his neck out and fought for the Kingdom. He was the first to act when Pride had shown his face. All the while, this guy just hid and let his people die.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Though I understood his role as the Royal King, that didn’t mean I respected him.
So, I walked over to Ezkar. And when I neared, he reached out a hand to shake mine; I saw the gesture, but I simply looked at it and then back at him and said, “We gonna waste time on formalities or you wanna speak now? To be frank, I’d rather stay here and clean up the mess than be away talking to a useless king.”
Everyone gasped when I said this, Belle especially as she nervously looked around and made a sort of sound.
“S-Sorry…” Belle uttered in a failed attempt to help me save face. “He didn’t mean to… uh…”
Daz laughed nervously, Sirus facepalmed at my rudeness, and Alphonzo just stared with his crimson dead eyes all the while.
Then Ezkar said something I didn’t expect: “You are right. There is no need for you to shake my hand; I was no help in this situation, nor was I any help in the last. You are correct, I am a useless king. My role is only to uphold the dignity of the people. It is you Arcane Knights who are the true rulers of this Kingdom, not I.”
I raised a brow as I stared at him sidelong. At least he was humble… I guess. My opinion of him didn’t change, though. Words are an echo of who people want to be. Actions are always the truth.
“There a toilet at this meeting location?”
“Only the finest at the castle.”
“Lucky me.”
And that was the last thing I said as Ezkar mildly chuckled and his escorts used unison teleportation magic to wisp us away.
***
When we arrived, we were in a grand room I had never been in. The colored glass windows were tall from the floor behind the stair-raised area all the way up to the massive ceilings of the place, and there were five thrones; each as elegant and eccentric as the next, each with its own unique design.
The one in the middle was the tallest of the five, nearly matching the height of the colored glass windows. And all the seats were empty. I almost half expected the Royal King to make his way up there and talk down to me like his subject… but he did not.
Instead, he stood next to me as I admired the room.
“This is the Hall of the Chosen. The seats before you belong to the highest-ranked mages in all the Kingdom. Daz, Belle, and Ryoku all have seats here,” Ezkar said.
“And let me guess, the one in the middle is yours?”
“Actually, that is Daz’s seat.”
“Which one’s yours?”
“I don’t have one. I am not one of the Chosen.”
I didn’t expect this out of him. He seemed like the type that hid behind his wealth and royalties, but that didn’t seem to be the case here.
I didn’t even know the Valley had a ‘Hall of the Chosen’… and I had almost forgotten that Ryo was still only a Vice Captain. Talk about humble.
My voice echoed in the enlarged space when I finally asked, “And the other two?”
“One belongs to a knight not here currently, and the other… well… is vacant.”
I didn’t know where he was going with this, nor did I understand why I was here.
“I want to offer the seat to you,” he said, almost too casually.
I blinked. “You what?” I asked with equal casualness.
He looked at me with a pleasant smile and said, “When Daz and the others get here, they will approve. True leaders are chosen by their people.”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
“Daz said you’d say as much.”
“What else did he tell you?”
“That you’re stubborn as a rock, but to give you enough space to consider.”
I couldn’t argue with that. Quite frankly, I just didn’t want the seat—or more responsibility for that matter. Because once I accepted it, more people’s lives will be on my hands. And I didn’t know what I would do if I ever… failed.
“To any case, it seems the rest of our have arrived.” He said as he gestured for the double doors behind us and they creaked open.
When he said this, the large double doors behind us opened, and from them were all faces I was very amiably happy to see.
Ryo from the left, next to him was Arcane King Daz, and next to him was the love of my life, Belle.
“Ah, good to see you, Daz. I presume the reconstruction of the colosseum is in order?” Ezkar asked.
“Aye, a simple reconstruction spell from Sirus will do the trick. But he needs at least thirty minutes to charge his mana, he used a lot in that last battle,” Daz said, nodding to me after he had responded to the Arcane King.
Ryo simply stood formally there next to him and smirked at me, and Belle waved a shy hand from her side, trying to hide her eagerness to see me.
“Very good,” Ezkar said. “And the casualties?” The tone of the room lowered.
“We have medical mages attending to those who are injured. As for the calamity that the Apostle Pride has left us…” My face grew solemn then and so did Belle’s. “I sent mages to investigate the Zion Orbs in the Kingdom’s vault,” He paused and then breathed out slowly before continuing, “He really did take one. The Kingdom is left with only two, with one dying and the other meeting the same fate soon. As it stands, the Valley Kingdom has no barrier up and is vulnerable to outside forces at this time.”
Daz let us all brew the situation we were in before adding, “However, even after this unforeseen disaster, the morale of the people has stayed positive. After witnessing Greed and the Black Wolves disperse that massive creature, the hope of the Valley’s citizens has not yet flickered out.”—he faced me now—“And we have you to thank for that.”
Again, a compliment. I wasn’t used to all this praise. But when I looked at Belle and saw her so happy for me to receive it, the least I could do was be happy on her behalf.
“Don’t mention it,” I said, oh so awkwardly.
Belle giddied from where she stood, and Ryo put his hands on his hips, sounding off a joyous laugh.
“Which brings me to another important topic…” Daz said. “I’m issuing an urgent mission that needs to be effectuated.”
We all listened intently to his next words.
“The mission is the retrieval of a new Zion Orb. And I want Greed, Captain of the Black Wolves, to lead it.”
I blinked, again in disbelief, at what I was hearing.
“You want me to—what?”
“You heard me. The Valley’s most prestigious mission. One that typically occurs once every ten years… but times are different now… To any case, usually the Valley’s top five are the ones to see this mission out as the dangers you will run into are not like any you’ve seen before. Mages rank S and up are the only mages allowed to go, and we recommend a small group to lessen casualties.”
He made it seem like the chances for survival were dangerously low… I didn’t like the sound of this…
“Thanks to the Royal King’s most generous offer, you are among that top five. So I will have you be the head of this mission.”
“I still haven’t accepted the title…”
“Whether you accept it personally or not, does not discredit you saving the Valley twice.” He raised a brow. “This title is a bit different than your Acting Captain role. This is one you don’t need certification for. Just one that needs recognition from the Valley’s people and the Valley’s best.”
I looked at them all again at least once. Minus the fifth who was not currently present, I couldn’t argue that the ones here were definitely deserving to be the best in the Valley. And for them to see me as equals with them… I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t feel reassured by that.
It was time to stop fighting the recognition.
“Alright then…” I said in a drawn out way, “So, what does this mission entail?”
“I’m glad you asked.” Daz grinned and said, “For starters, you get to choose any Valley Knight—from here to the Forest, to the Desert—to join your team on this quest. Just make sure they are at minimum an S rank mage.”
“Any Valley Knight, huh?” I said as Daz nodded and Ryo closed his eyes with a confident smile—knowing exactly my thoughts,
“Then consider the team already made.”
