Prologue: The unexpected decision

Chapter Text

After the seemingly ever lasting celebration by the populace, the cheery festive mood had finally died down by the time the moon hung high on the dark, starless sky, as the people reluctantly returned to their houses, broad smiles still visibly clinged on the joyful faces. Under this desperate situation they found themselves in, the people of Alsen, or rather, the free people of the entire Grasslands, now suddenly found their small rays of hope, all thanks to the coronation of the new King. 

「Wylan sama, the young lord of the House of the Horns and his companions are here.」 In the middle of a tranquil garden located inside the House of the Horns' main residence, the Alsen sentry reported to his newly crowned King and the two other Heads, before bowing and retreated to one side, allowing the group to walk up from behind him. With a nod from Wylan, the sentry simply took his leave since he fully understood that it was not his place to participate in such a meeting. 

「Kibadios sama!」Once the guard had finally left, the leaders of the 3 Houses quickly got away from their seats around a large round stone table and rushed to kneel down in front of the hybrid, who was still in his shota form. Their attendants, Kuron, Falkor, and Gyo, also quickly knelt down.

「Please stand up.」Ordered Kibadios, though any authoritative tone he possessed was rather overshadowed by the presence of a slime monster resting comfortably on his head. Before arriving at the meeting, Kibadios had been asked by his group if they could just carry Nu for him since having a monster latching on one's head might have been unseemly for a monarch like himself. But given how he has been neglecting his pet because of how busy he was, the hybrid decided to just let Nu enjoy laying on him for the time being. After all, he really cared not for how the other Heads and his father might be perceiving him.「I assume they have told you everything, father?」

「Yes. Ectharen and Wylan dono had explained to me what happened.」Kailos glanced at the beautiful boy in chains standing by his son before his gaze reverting back to the hybrid.「.... You're… really Zaeryn… sama?」There was a hint of doubt in the ogre's voice, which Kibadios could not have blamed him for. 「Though I guess that's not such an outrageous notion, given how you have a dragonkin following you around.」Kailos gave Ryuu a smile.

「Yes. I'm sorry I did not tell you before, but this reincarnation wasn't my first. Rather, this is the third time that I've been reincarnated into this world.」Kibadios nodded.「But please, father, just like what you've said before: it doesn't matter who I was, this life, I am Kibadios. I am your and mother's son.」

「Kibadios…」Kailos gave his son a faint smile before reaching out to him for a tight embrace.「Thank you, Kibadios. Of course, in this lifetime, you're still my precious son and I'm still your father. I should never have doubted it.」

「...」Kibadios froze for a second, then slowly reciprocated the ogre's sudden hug.「No… Thank you… fa…dad.」

「Chi!!!」Seeing people around it was hugging, the slime was also excited, jumping up and down on Kibadios' head before inflating itself to press against both its master and Kailos as if it was also trying to join in the emotional moment.

「Yeah, yeah, Nu. Of course you can join us.」Kailos smiled.

「Nu chan!」Maia reached out to pull the slime away from Kibadios.「Don't ruin the moment.」

「Chii??」

「Anyways, since we're all here, let me start by thanking the 3 Houses for accepting me as your leader.」Kibadios turned to Wylan and Ectharen.

「Please don't say that, Kibadios sama!!! To us, you're our god! If anything, it would be us who should be rejoiced at your return.」Brimming with excitement, the Yves Head grinned broadly. Although the demihuman inhabitants of Monas Kye all worshiped Zaeryn one way or another, the devotion of the House of the Eyes toward Kibadios' first reincarnation was on a whole other level. 

「With you leading us, we now have hope of victory!」Ectharen declared. 

「Though, there's still one thing I don't understand.」Wylan tilted his head.「Why did you let the people think it was me who won the trial?」

「Let's have a seat」Kibadios pointed at the round the table, waiting for the three other leaders to sit down before continue.「The reason is that my goal is still the same: I will carry out my duty and eliminate Wei Shimin and cause chaos upon the Yinese Army. We will seize that chaos and counterattack to take back our lands. And since I will be the arrow that aims at the Head of the Yinese forces, I'd like to have all of their attention be focused on someone else. And in this case, that someone else would be you, Wylan, the "King" of Monas Kye. I imagine the Wei Shimin would be closely watching every movement you make, which hopefully makes him blind to the threat that is posed by me.」

「You still want to personally take on Wei Shimin? That's really dangerous! You're our King now. You're the one who we will all rally around, there's no way we will let you carry out such a dangerous mission.」Kailos argued.

「Hmm, I would have agreed with you before, Kailos, but after witnessing the power our King possesses, I think he would be able to defeat Wei Shimin.」Ectharen smiled. 

「Yes, after all, he was able to go toe to toe against an Astral within the dungeon.」Wylan, along with the other three attendants, nodded. The ogre Head was still reluctant, but he knew there was nothing much he could say to convince the hybrid otherwise. 

  Hmm… actually, I'm not too sure. After overexerting myself, I'm now in a withdrawal state that makes it impossible for me to activate my Ultimate Arte for quite some time.  Kibadios thought though he decided to keep the secret to himself.  But still, dealing with that man shouldn't be impossible, given how much I have leveled up after my battle against Ayer. 

「Worst comes to worst, I can always crush that Wei Shimin guy for you, Master.」Ryuu confidently pointed at himself. 

「Actually, no.」Kibadios shook his head.「If I'm the arrow that will pierce the Yin Empire's forces, you'll be our immovable shield that protects Alsen, our last stronghold.」

「Ahhh, I see.」The dragonoid nodded, before realizing something.「Wait, but does that mean I won't be joining you?」

「Yeah, but don't worry, I'll be fine.」

「Butttt….」Ryuu whined.

「Listen to me, Ryuu chan, and I'll make sure to reward you with something worthwhile.」Kibadios assured the dragonoid as he sensually licked his lip. 

「Okay, if I have to…」Despite the implicit promise of some intense fucks, Ryuu was still a bit dissatisfied that he would have to be parted from Kibadios for some time. 

「...」The three Heads looking at one another, before Kailos spoke up.「... There's something I have yet to tell you, Kibadios. 」

「What was it?」

「Earlier today, an envoy from the Yin Empire arrived outside our gate. They gave us a proposal that if we were to agree to it, they will pull back their army and enter a ceasefire agreement with us for a year.」

「Hoh? And what did they want?」

「...」Kailos remained silent for a moment as if he was debating whether he should tell his son. 「.... They… They want to have an audience with the last Princess of the Kingdom of Yue.」

「THEY WANT WHAT?」Ren shouted angrily, his arm instinctively raised to cover his sister「Ha!! Tell them to fuck off!」

「Yeah!」Maia, along with other fellow harem members, nodded in agreement.

「That's what I told them.」Kailos also agreed.「But they said they will let us deliberate on it for a week so their envoys are camping just outside the city. To ensure they're not doing anything funny, I have Teran spying and monitoring their movement now. Although we have refused their proposal, I figure you should know about it, since you're now our King.」

Unlike his harem's explosive responses, Kibadios has remained eerily silent for a while, deep in thought. Such a reaction, or rather, lack of one, did not escape Yue's notice. 

「Master, are you considering the offer?」Yue asked directly.「I don't mind having an audience with Wei Shimin if it means we can earn some precious ceasefire time to organize ourselves and prepare for a counterattack.」

「What are you saying? That is out of the question!!」Ren quickly shot down the proposal.

「Nii sama, we have promised to devote our bodies and souls to Kibadios sama. Our ultimate fate is for Master to decide.」The sister reminded her brother. 

「But!」

「So, what's the relationship between you and Wei Shimin? Did you not say he was the one who burned down your capital city?」Kibadios asked the obvious question.「The first thing that comes to my mind when he asks for you is that he wants to eliminate the last royal blood of the Kingdom of Yue. But then, why did he not ask for Ren?」

「Maybe he did not know I'm also here.」The former prince answered.「After all, didn't you say his generals only saw Yue when she performed the ritual to cast the protective barrier.」

「Yeah, but seeing her here, it would only be natural to assume you're also here since you guys have never stayed apart from one another, am I wrong?」

「That may be true…」Ren nodded, before realizing something. 「Wait a minute, you're really planning to let Yue go to meet Wei Shimin?」

「Aside from witnessing his ruthless attack on our city, I have no connection with him personally.」Yue answered. 「Though… both Nii sama and I do have some connection with his brother, the emperor of the Yin empire since we're technically his teachers once.」

「「「What?」」」

「Yeah, that was when he was a child some fifty odd years ago. Back then, despite the Yin Kingdom having already conquered two other kingdoms closest to it, our kingdoms still had some diplomatic ties so the Kingdom of Yin's crown prince, now the second emperor of the Yin Empire, did come and stayed as an esteemed guest at our capital for a few years. During that time, we did teach him the… basic… of Runecraft.」

「But you did not interact with his brother, Wei Shimin?」

「No」

「Then what's behind his desire to meet with Yue?」Kibadios asked rhetorically.

「It doesn't matter, right?」Maia interrupted.「It doesn't matter what his intention is, we simply cannot let Yue chan go to meet that man. It's like letting her walk into a lion's den.」

「...」Kibadios again, was deep in thought for a moment, then turned to the former princess with a guilty look.「Do you trust me, Yue chan?」

「Of course, Master.」The girl smiled.

「Thank you, my dear princess.」The hybrid finally reverted back to his confident self, a grin crossed his face.「Let's agree to their proposal. We will let Yue chan go to have an audience with Wei Shimin in exchange for a ceasefire.」Declared Kibadios, to the surprise of all who were present.