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Chapter 48:

Arthur's Point of View

Lestrania Thousands of Years Ago

Aydan surprised me with how well he was doing. His clones would disappear upon impact, and his precision was something to be wary of. No matter how often I weaved in and out between the common soldiery, he never hit them, nor did he waste any of his magic. It was inspiring in a way.

However, I was correct in my assumption that he would be my biggest obstacle. While he didn't have as much magic as the Royal Family, his magic seemed far more dangerous. One barely grazed my arm, and it has felt numb ever since. Aydan's magic was by no means normal. It affected me in a similar way that Tor's attacks did. The wound wasn't healing right away, which concerned me.

"You've been running around a lot." Aydan commented from all over.

Frowning, I replied. "And you've been using a lot of magic, but it doesn't look like you're running out any time soon."

"I am The Great Sage for a reason."

Something was wrong about all of this. While he was casting spell after spell and keeping his clones up, Aydan's magic wasn't deteriorating in the slightest. I underestimated him, but no Elf should be able to do this. No normal Elf anyway. Regardless of his magical capabilities, I needed to take care of him. Moving to a soldier who was watching our battle in shock, I took his spear from him.

Another spell slammed into the floor, and it quickly disintegrated. Much like the wall and other spots the spell had hit. The room was looking more run down with every spell cast by Aydan, and it still confused me that it didn't seem to follow most spells I've seen. Perhaps he really is a master of magic like no other.

With a regular spear in hand, I focused my energy into the weapon and started to cut through Aydan's attacks. This surprised him as he stopped his casting and started studying me with his duplicates. Holding the spear back under my right arm, I kept my left arm out and steady.

"Never before has anyone been able to cut through my spells." Aydan informed me through his clones.

"There's a first time for everything."

As I scanned the area, I was starting to notice fluctuations in the magic duplicates. My eyes were starting to adjust to his weird magic and see the differences. As such, finding him was now way easier. In the middle of his clones was the real Aydan, but he was still wary. Figuring there was no point in playing the long game, I launched the spear at him, which made his eyes widened.

Bringing up a magic shield, he blocked the spear, but it left cracks across his barrier. He turned to the spear as it puttered on the floor, and I used the opening to rush him. Barreling through his clones regained his attention just in time to see me slam into his shield.

Aydan was flung back from the force of his own magic shattering like glass and into the wall. Moving over him was simple since he was dazed. His clones disappeared as well, and the alarm in the room grew when I grabbed him by his throat and lifted him off of the ground. A wide-eyed Sage looked at me in horror, wondering what I was going to do.

"That was more tedious than I expected." I told him. "Congratulations. You surprised me and surpassed my expectations." Aydan brought his hands up to my face with magic ignited, and I squeezed a little tighter. "This bout is over." My warning was enough to get him to raise his hands as he struggled to breathe. "Good." Dropping him, he immediately brought his hands to his neck as he fell to his knees and took a deep breath.

"So, you've bested me in combat. What now? Even you must be tired after all that." Aydan pointed out.

Crouching down in front of him, I shook my head. "Not at all." My tone was nonchalant, and he seemed surprised. "I also know that you are able to continue on as well, but I've let you go after proving that I can defeat you." Standing, I looked around the room and to the Royal Family one by one. "As I can do the same for everyone here."

Aerowyn stepped in front of Elias. "We won't just let you take over this Kingdom!" She told me defiantly.

"I'm not trying to take over this Kingdom. In fact, I want nothing more than for it to thrive, but you rulers are young and inexperienced." I explained as I gestured to Rudnurth and moved across the room before stopping in front of the King. "As such, your crown will be taken from you for the time being." Reaching up, I saw him looked at me in anger as I gently removed the crown from his head. "Until you've proven you can wear this with the respect it deserves, I will be holding onto this."

"You dare proclaim yourself King in my presence?!" Rudnurth seethed as he eyed me.

"Not really proclaiming myself King. I will act as a teacher and guiding hand to you and your siblings." Then I gestured across the room. "If these people are looking to you to lead them, do so with the care a new nation needs. I'm sure I'm not the only one that knows that if this were to continue, this nation would fall apart within a few years."

Several of the former rulers said nothing in return. "You have no proof that will happen, and you have paid me nothing but insults since you arrived." Rudnurth continued and turned to Arceana. "You brought this man here to overthrow me!?"

Arceana paled. "No!" She cried out to defend herself and gestured to me. "He saved my life. We brought him here out of-"

In response, Rudnurth lifted his hand towards his sister as magic began to gather. Launching spells at Arceana, Mara quickly responded by putting up a barrier as Rudnurth seemed to go mad. Fire filled the hall as he turned his attention to those who did nothing. Elias, Aydan, and Aerowyn were all targets as well, but they seemed used to this as they all quickly were able to evade.

The common soldiers quickly took cover, and the Elves that were present did their best to shield the non-magic users. In fact, this seemed to be a common occurrence for them that they had come to work together in these types of situations. While I was next to Rudnurth, it did amuse me that he didn't even think about attacking me but instead only aimed for those who he considered weaker than him. Then my eyes flickered to Aydan as I continued to watch. That, or they were so loyal they wouldn't never harm him.

Rudnurth roared as spells were flung from his hands and to anyone he could hit. "All of you will pay for this!" To my surprise though, no one retaliated.

Grabbing his wrist and lifting it up over his head, he stopped and turned to me as he winced in pain as I started to squeeze harder. "You'd be wise to think before you act." Holding up his crown in my other hand, I let him go. "If you ever want this back, learn to play nice." Then I turned to the rest of the people in the room. "For the time being, I will oversee Lestrania. Think of me as an advisor of sorts. I'm not your king and if you are issued orders by the Royal Family, fulfill them."

"You cannot do this!" Elias cried out. "This is nothing more than-"

"If you want to contest this decision, by all means, feel free to bring it to my attention in the future. However, unless all of you want to truly see how a larger fight will turn out, I suggest you bend the knee." Then I gestured to Rudnurth. "Although, after that unsightly display, I'm not sure why any of you are even arguing this point."

"So, you just want to rule without any objections!?" Aerowyn questioned. "We don't even know what you look like because of that damn cloak! You think we'll just follow you blindly!?"

Groaning in annoyance, I pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance. "No. No, I don't. Unfortunately for you though, you have no choice. If Lestrania is to survive whatever war this is, you will follow my lead." Then I turned to Rudnurth. "And you will heed my words and teachings to be the kind of King this Kingdom needs." Moving closer to him, I looked down at him as he backed away slightly from the intimidation. "Otherwise, I'll give the crown to one of your siblings who deserves it."

"And what if we decided to protest your orders and rule?" Elias inquired in a low tone.

"Then you will be taught forcefully. Clearly, none of you are fit to rule aside from Mara. She was the only one to realize the situation for what it was. Although, I'm still not convinced given how Rudnurth attacking everyone seemed to be a normal occurrence..." Then I gestured to Aydan. "Sir Aydan, on the other hand, has continually appraised the situation more than anyone. He was wise enough to try and defend you all, but it wasn't enough."

The Great Sage wasn't fooling me with his little act. While I still believed myself stronger, he barely used any of his magic but stopped the fight on purpose. Whether he was testing me or not, I was unsure. Not that it mattered. He obviously realized I could've taken a hostage at any point, and it would've been my win. Maybe he has something else planned, or he was satisfied? Who could say?

Aydan moved through the few in his way and over towards me. "You truly wish to aid us, don't you?"

I nodded. "I do." Holding out Rudnurth's crown for him to take, The Great Sage studied me. "Although, if you want to consider this the strangest hostile take over you've ever seen, you're free to do that too." My playful comment got him to eye the crown.

Reaching out his hands, he took it carefully. "Very well. If you truly do not wish to keep the crown or take over Lestrania, and instead act as a teacher, I will support you." Aydan then turned to the Royal Family. "He has shown restraint and none of you have been injured. That is enough for me to trust him." The Sage quickly turned back to me. "For the moment. We'll see if that changes in the future."

"Good," I said with a nod. "Now that that is settled, I would like to go over a few things with Sir Aydan in private. Since he is the strongest of you and the Knight of Lestrania, I would like to go over some things." Then I looked at some others in the room. "Talking to each of you privately would also be grand, but I won't force you to."

Arceana and Mara were surprised by this turn of events while their brothers were seething silently. Ignoring them for the moment, I eyed Elincia and noticed her staring at me. It wasn't a stare of hate or disdain, but more of a curious look. She was young and clearly had more magic than she did in the future, which confused me. This entire situation confused me.

"Very well. I will see to it that things are returned to their natural order." Sir Aydan informed me, and then he looked around the room at Aerowyn and Robert along with a few others. "Others may not support this, but I will talk with them to make sure everything gets back on track. The soldiers will spread the word throughout the Kingdom, and hopefully, the citizens will take the news well."

Mara spoke from the other side of the table. "Sir Mordred!" She called out, and I looked at her. "Do you wish to speak with me in private as well?"

While that was strange, I nodded, nonetheless. "I do. In fact, I'd like to speak with everyone without the fear of being judged by their peers. Rudnurth, Elias, Aerowyn, Robert, Arceana, Elincia, and the former Elf Queen if at all possible." Gesturing around the room, I explained. "Each one of you has likely seen different things and has a different assessment on things. That's what I am after."

"You'll also need to be caught up to speed on several other concerns as well." Sir Aydan replied.

It was at this point I noticed Aydan was using some manner of magic that was flowing throughout the room. While I wasn't positive, I had a feeling Aydan was helping me calm the room. Otherwise, there was no reason this would've gone over as well as it did. Whether it was a spell or something else, it didn't come near me, so I wasn't too worried. It's also possible he was trying to set up a plan against me with everyone present, but I'd have to wait to find out.

"Of course." I nodded in return as I kept a close eye on him and gestured to one of the doorways. "After you." Nervous looks were traded all around as Aydan started to walk in front of me.

However, as we left the room, I realized it wasn't directed towards Aydan. Instead, I noticed many looking back and forth between Rudnurth and me. All of them had fearful looks in their eyes. Even his siblings, but it was mostly directed at him as he stood there silently without moving. It only dawned on me that they looked at me with some small tinge of hope. A hope that was almost begging me not to be the same kind of ruler Rudnurth was.

Frowning at that, I felt bad because the past didn't matter too much to me, nor did I care if it changed the future. After all, this world had been fucking with me since I arrived. Why should I care if I did the same in return? Although looking at their faces once last time, I felt almost guilty. Perhaps I was wrong, but this wasn't the worst turn of events that could've happened to them.

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