Azekiel appeared in a barren land where not a single plantation could be seen. As far as the eyes could see, there was nothing except some bodies littered around in the distance.
The bodies belonged to the dead soldiers of the Estia Empire. Amongst all the dead bodies, there was also one person who sat on his knees. The man had his hands on his face as if he was crying. The most surprising part about the man was that he didn't have a shred of clothing on his body.
There was also one carriage which had broken wheels. Two horses were tied to the carriage.
"That must be the Prince of Estia Empire. He was probably attacked only recently, so if I'm not wrong, the people from the Empire of Dark Magic couldn't have gone too far," Azekiel let out as he started walking towards the naked man, who appeared to be in his early twenties.
The blonde man removed his hand from his face to reveal a tear-stained face. His face was already pale. He was disgusted at himself. He was a Prince, and he wasn't even brave enough to fight back.
He let his sister be taken by the enemy without even fighting back. He couldn't even imagine what was going to happen to her once she was in the Empire!
"A coward like me doesn't deserve to live." He declared as he stood up. He stared at the sword of one of the dead soldiers of Estia.
His tears didn't stop for even a second as he dragged his body to the sword. He picked up the sword and placed the sharp end of it on his heart.
He closed his eyes and looked towards the clouded sky. After taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and grabbed the Sword firmly.
Tap~
He was just about to stab the sword in his chest when he felt someone hit the back of his head.
"You're really an idiot, aren't you?" A calm voice came from the front as someone grabbed the hilt of the sword and snatched it. The person tossed the sword away.
Rowan was forced to open his eyes in fear as he pushed his body back, thinking the enemy had returned again.
"W-who are you?" he asked, stunned. The person before him... He didn't look like a soldier from the Empire of Dark Magic. All those people carried a staff with them and wore deep black cloaks. On the other hand, this blue-haired kid was standing calmly without anything in his hand. He was also wearing pretty ordinary clothes.
"I'm someone who is here to change your life since I couldn't bear to watch this stupidity. So many people out there fighting to live even one more day, and here you are, killing yourself?" Azekiel asked, sighing.
"What else can I do? Look at me! I'm but an ordinary human who has no strength. I'm not even a skilled fighter. I can't even fight ordinary Humans, let alone dark mages!" Rowan responded. Even though he still didn't know who this guy was, he was now sure that this guy wasn't from the Enemy Empire.
"So what if you're a human? I'm a human as well. Do you think humans can't fight back? You were already willing to die just now; why not die fighting then? The outcome will be the same, won't it? Or do you not even want to try? You want your sister to be used by them for as long as she lives? Because trust me, that's what will happen if they take her back."
"I don't expect you to fight and win, but shouldn't you just fight at least?"
"But they..."
"You know what, I'm tired. You stay here and just kill yourself. Take the easy way out. I'll go alone to save your sister. I'll remember to tell her how she was abandoned by the brother she cherished. I'm sure she would love it!"
Azekiel turned his back on Rowan. He knew he couldn't convince the man by just talking, so he decided to use some unusual tactics to influence him.
"Wait, you'll fight them alone? There are many of them! They are Dark Mages! You can't win!" Rowan called out.
"Who says I can't win?" Azekiel asked, flashing a bright smile. "I didn't come here to pick a losing battle."
As he talked, he moved over to the dead guards. Since they had recently died, he could still use them.
He placed his hand on the chest of one as he used, "Soul Snatch."
There were many guards who were responsible for escorting the young prince and princess. That's also one of the reasons why Azekiel picked this story. He basically received a bonus for doing nothing.
Rowan watched Azekiel, wondering what he was doing. Was he performing some last rites?
After finishing up, Azekiel stood up. He glanced at Rowan one last time, but he didn't say anything. He just turned his back on the man as he started leaving.
Watching the tall figure of Azekiel leave, Rowan couldn't help but think of the words that he had spoken. He was right. Since he was already about to kill himself, why not... Try.
"Wait!" He stood up and called out Azekiel.
"Yeah?" Azekiel glanced back.
"I-i am coming with you!" Only Rowan knew how much courage it took for him to speak those words out loud. He was still horrified inside at the thought of seeing those demons again, but he also felt some kind of motivation now that Azekiel was with him.
He didn't know why, but the confidence of Azakiel was making him feel like this guy wasn't an ordinary human.
"Now that's much better." Azekiel smiled. "Because I don't know how to ride a horse. You'll need to do it."
"I-i understand." Rowan nodded, only to start second-guessing his decision.
"Oh right, now that you've said yes, if you say no, I'll give you a death that is worse than anything you can imagine." Realizing Rowen's uncertain expressions, Azekiel issued a warning. "You'll wish you would've died at the hands of the dark mages instead in that case. So get those horses."
"I-i... Yes." With no room to say no now, Rowen cursed himself for saying yes. But now it was too late. He took clothes from another guard and wore them to cover his body before he ran to the broken carriage and removed one horse from it.
As he was a Prince, he had been trained in the art of horse riding, unlike Azekiel, who never had to do it.
Rowan climbed on the horse and brought it closer to Azekiel.
Azekiel climbed the horse as well, sitting behind the young man. "Now get us to the enemies as fast as you can. It's time we get your sister back with a bang!"
"I've been itching to grow my level and get new skills after all."
