The Requiem Of An Empress

"I do not appreciate you, pointing your finger at me, Lord Lemorak."

"I was trying to get away, you moron!", the female knight uttered with a straight face, oblivious of the fact that she interchanged her thoughts with her actual speech.

Leliel Geraint, 8th seat of the Rounds, and Rehael Lamorak, the 10th seat, were the two knights sent to the southeastern barbarian territory. Their main objective was to groom the savages into valiant warriors that the Empire can fully exploit. Arguably, it was a relatively daunting task for two individuals alone to accomplish, although Leliel and Rehael felt otherwise. Both were beaming with ardour when they were commissioned to, as they labelled, tame circus lions.

They began to effectuate the change in the Barbarians" system long before the current Emperor ascended to the throne, which was an aethras ago. At first, the approach they utilized reflected that the task was all purely for their amus.e.m.e.nt. However, the Emperor had enough of their disarrayed practices. Thus, he devised a concrete scheme that Leliel and Rehael was compelled to observe. The Barbarians" shift from mere toys to political tools happened over time, as the enemies, within the Empire, of the reigning monarch incessantly increased.

"Is that even a valid excuse?!"- Rehael raised his voice, abashed of solely being pinned down with a fault he partially perpetuated.

Leliel blinked twice while the realization of her tongue slip tardily catch up to her. The tips of her ears instantly turned red when she became aware.

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!", with Leliel"s tantrum came violence as she started to hit Rehael"s right arm with her palms, repeatedly.

"What are you doing?! It hurts!"

It is good to take note that this fight is being viewed as a petty squabble of two toddlers, courtesy of the other knights. And it appears that there is another rascal who wanted to join in the fight.

"Your inept.i.tude almost cost us a hundred thousand cunias. The both of you should be repentant instead of having the audacity to bicker in our presence."

"Shut up Zelel. Why don"t you mind your own business? The n.o.bles are complaining of the disparity of your budget allocation.", Rehael openly showed disrespect to Duke Claudas by calling him out.

Yes, it was the Prime Minister who was staring at Rehael with a false look of concern. He made sure that the latter would sense that he is pitying him. It was a sure-fire recipe to infuriate the knight.

Social hierarchy dictates that higher-ranking n.o.bles are ent.i.tled to be called with their t.i.tle preceding the name. In this case, Rehael Lemorak, who was previously a commoner, should have addressed Duke Zelel Claudas properly. Nevertheless, the Knights consider themselves as a tight-knit family. A member"s brashness to this degree will be tolerated, as long as the only ones gathered belong to their clique alone.

"I"m surprised that you know the words budget allocation, you oaf. Don"t worry, that"s all sorted out. Now, go play with your dolls like a behaved child.", Zelel tried to speak without breaking his composure, yet he cannot help but smile like a Cheshire cat full of mischievousness when Rehael"s face scrunched up like he freshly ate a very sour lemon.

"What did you say?!"

"I said, it was fun seeing you punch a n.o.ble during the Rhemdal Banquet. It was quite a spectacle. You have my grat.i.tude."

"Why are you bringing that up?! That pudgy old man smacked me with his filthy hands first!"

"Oh, isn"t it because you gallantly strode through their circle when they were having a conversation. You should"ve apologized, Barbarian King."

"What the-"

It seems that n.o.body was willing to interrupt the bickering of the two people who personified oil and water, substances that shouldn"t be combined in a heated situation. The rest of the knights "refused" to involve themselves in the pointless banter.

Leliel keenly mulled on the exchange happening in front of her while she is lost in her musings.

"I guess it"s fitting to dub Rehael as the Barbarian King. He did teach those heathens the customary living of civilized people.", Leliel rashly had this random thought. Then she connected the dots, and shock registered on her face.

"Did Lord Claudas just imply that I am the Barbarian Queen? Did he?! Fine! I will embrace my inner low-breed self!" She wanted to protest but determined it to be troublesome, so she took the insult like a champ.

She decided to turn to Countess Lauviah Lukan, 11th seat, for help. Unfortunately, Lauviah simply murmured "You can do it!" before avoiding her gaze. Leliel sighed heavily, reluctant to do the de-escalation on her own.

"You know that your intelligence is lower than that of average humans, right Sir Rehael? Why are you always so quick to start an argument with Lord Claudas, who is a lot smarter?" the woman uttered, throwing sympathy out the window. This remark earned her an unapproving glare from Rehael.

"Are you trying to take the side of this feeble hu-"

"Rehael, Zelel."

Rehael and Zelel promptly shut their mouths when their names were called, ire and joy dissipated from their visage respectively.

"Yes, Lord Iophiel." This time, a meek response was heard from Rehael.

"I do not mind witnessing the two of you get along even if it lasts the whole dier. Withal, we have more pressing matters to deal with."

The Knights of the Round Table is composed of either easygoing youngsters or folks that are too stiff for their own betterment. In a sense, it is a way to change their pace and to keep them from being rigid.

"I apologize for our crude behaviour, Lord Iophiel. This incident will not happen again.", Zelel duly asked for the man"s forgiveness.

"Do not apologize if there is a chance you will do it once more. For now, you"re forgiven.", Iophiel sternly reprimanded Zelel.

Duke Claudas let his head droop, bashful of the reprimanding.

Duke Iophiel Cynan holds the 2nd seat of the rounds, a.s.suming the position of vice-captain. This man has the tendency to be an authoritarian to compliment the captain"s unrestrained governance.

The Duke faced the Emperor, his mien communicating that an unforeseen circ.u.mstance has actualized. The ruler noticed the urgency in an instant.

"Iophiel, get rid of that illusion of yours."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

All of a sudden, two figures disappeared out of thin air. The illusion conjured by Duke Cynan was of the bodies of his comrades, the Percival brothers. His copied illusions are capable of replicating every "mannerism" of their original. He was responsible for creating the doubles of Leliel and Rehael whenever they are staying in the Barbarian territory. In consequence, there is no possibility of suspicions directed at them to emerge.

The whereabouts of the siblings was last known to be at an island, located in the northern part of the continent. They are in pursuit of adversaries that will invoke a devastating apocalypse if not dealt with, accordingly.

In this world, one has to be wary of several existences that poses a threat to the balance of peace; the wild barbarians who inhabit unclaimed lands; the tribes who practice ancient divination and metamorphosis like the dragons; enemy nations together with political rivals; superior species such as dwarves, elves, fairies and elemental spirits, giants, and others; lastly, demons that breed monsters.

Monsters are creatures with grotesque features, not belonging to any cla.s.s. They do not litter the lands nor stick around somewhere. They are the slaves who are brought as luggage when demons wander places. It is the main principle of the knights to annihilate a demon when sighted to prevent their minions from propagating.

Iophiel will serve as the harbinger of bad news to the Emperor. Khamael Percival let Iophiel know of the situation they were in right before the fight of Rehael and Zelel ended.

"We were several steps too late, Your Majesty. The demon n.o.ble has already integrated its seal and settled itself on the island. As observed, it appears that it was collecting the souls of the inhabitants, whether human or animal, who refuses to serve or befriend it, and even the weak ones who are cowering in fear. Presently, a grand total of twenty legions of minor level demons and monsters has been summoned and are slowly pillaging the lands of the tribes situated on the island."

Although minor demons and monsters attack in cl.u.s.ters, the knights can probably deal with a couple of legions alone without breaking a sweat. Still, it is a heightened danger altogether if the presence of certain demons are present, mainly the spirits of Solomon, the Demon n.o.bles. The Demon n.o.bles have a colossal number of p.a.w.ns at their disposal. Nevertheless, the problem lies not with the quant.i.ty of demons, but the Demon n.o.bles themselves.

Demon n.o.bles cannot be defeated by battling their physical bodies. The lone way to drive them out is to erase their personal seals. Regardless of that fact, the requisites to annihilate the seals vary from demon to demon. The sole technique to discover these conditions is through trial-and-error.

The room fell silent since they were in a plight. Thankfully, Duke Cynan"s following speech gave the knights a.s.surance.

"Fortunately, the two Lords were able to covertly scrutinize the demon n.o.ble and finally found some information about it, Your Majesty. Firstly, its appearance was sort of a primate with a towering height of almost three meters. It is always seen holding a staff that serves as its weapon. Its name was, I believe, Ro-"

"Ronove"

"I beg your pardon?"- The Duke could not hide his baffled countenance. As far as he knew, the point of contact between the two parties is him, yet the Emperor knew of one thing that he has yet to relay.

"How did he-" Duke Cynan shook his head, a poor attempt to find a reason for the Emperor"s awareness.

"I can inquire after this.", he thought, then collected his calmness prior to responding to the Emperor.

"Yes, that is correct, Your Majesty. The demon n.o.ble that drifted to our world is Ronove."

The Emperor tightly closed his eyes. After a while, he leisurely opened them apropos to his in-depth pondering.

"The ceremony for the Holy Grail typically stretches out for two cycles of the nine coitus. We are not in possession of Solomon"s seal.", as the Emperor spoke, he met the eyes of all of his knights.

Once he was done, his gaze returned to Duke Sarakiel Helian. He soughed, regret came out with his breath.

"Despite being forewarned of the essence of your sacrifice, I beg of you, Sarakiel, please take the matter in your hands."

Every single person in the room was perturbed when they ascertained the d.a.m.ning declaration. They forthwith suppressed their rumination of the aftermath. Still and all, even if they present themselves to be in a.s.sistance, they will only derail the specifics of the plan.

There were three missions when they clashed with a demon n.o.ble, and three times that a seat in the rounds had been emptied and reoccupied. Moreover, in those three instances, they watched their comrades fade into nothingness, petrified by the a.s.sailants" prowess.

Lauviah, who was inseparable to the initial group to occupy the seats, gritted her teeth in frustration.

"The Emperor looked as though it has. .h.i.therto been predetermined that Sarakiel will be sent. We cannot interfere with his decision. If we had acquired the Solomon"s seal, the Star of David, we would not be in trouble every time a demon n.o.ble visits. Except, we cannot even find a clue about it. I don"t even know if it is a relic that exists."- a lot of things were flowing in the Countess" mind.

Meanwhile, the subject, Sarakiel, accepted his fate. He traipsed to a spot directly in front of the Emperor, at the bottom of the steps, and proceeded to genuflect on one knee.

"There is no need for you to beg, Your Majesty. You only have to command. This is, after all, our supreme duty. My life doesn"t amount to anything if it is for achieving the harmony we profusely sought."