Chapter 06: Where did they go ?

The novel 'God's grace' was a well written web novel that focused mainly on the journey of the female lead and the three male leads. The character development and the detailed plot with interesting plot twists managed to capture the hearts of many fans.

With the continuous support of the fanbase, the author prolonged the story into three volumes. It was inevitable that there was quite a number of villains introduced throughout the story.

The author promoted his story by including many iconic fight scenes between the male leads and the villains to highlight the male lead characters. There were so many fan arts that the fans set a trend of listing which fight scene was most popular scene.

The fight between the mage tower master who was as cold as the ice he wielded and the pirate who was said to be as ruthless as the fire he burned his enemies with, was one of the most voted scenes.

The contrast between the elements they controlled, the difference between the righteousness and the lawlessness of the male lead and the pirate was like heaven and earth. This fight was a chapter in the second volume that became so popular due to Enzo Hale's fanbase.

So it was a huge shock for Kai when that same lawless character appeared on the opposite ship, leading his comrades to attack their ship.

Kaiser Chesten.

The vicious pirate king that burned down his enemies who got in his way. It was said that he didn't even leave the ashes of their corpses. At the beginning the news about a pirate who had awakened the power of fire attribute started to spread through rumours.

The knowledge about special ability users had been quite common back then that everyone had ignored about the pirate. They forgot about him because it didn't matter much to the common folks about a criminal who wouldn't attack them. They thought Kaiser would be another thug that stayed in sea.

It was human nature to turn a blind eye to the sufferings of the others. Eventhough humans are capable of empathy, you can't understand the hardships of others until you go through them yourselves. But the calm atmosphere around the people shattered one day due to a rumour.

A fleet of ships had been sunken in sea and all the merchants and the traders had been massacred. A restless atmosphere settled around the people who lived near the ocean. Soon the viciousness of the pirate king spread among the people more one story after another.

Kai was shocked that he would see the villain mentioned in the novel.

******

Michael parried a blow from another pirate and swiftly delivered a kick to his enemy's guts. He ducked around another pirate and twisted his arm behind his back.

Michael was about to sleep when the whole ship started to shake and a loud noise had reverberated throughout the ship. He had quickly grabbed his sword and gathered his entourage.

He had led the knights and mages he brought with himself to the main deck of the ship. A group of pirates had descended on their ship and were been beaten brutally by a Kaithakandu citizen.

Michael had quickly grabbed Keith, who looked pitiful with a frozen stiff expression on his face. He must have been afraid, Michael thought sympathetically. There were around thirty pirates, so he had no time to dilly dally if he wanted to protect the ship.

Soon after he organised his party, the holy knights and the other Kaithakandu citizens had followed his lead, and started to subjugate the pirates.

The battle could have easily been won had it not been for the leader of the pirates. At first, Michael had thought that pirate was a mage because of the fire he wielded.

But he knew what mana was like. His childhood friend, Oliver was a 6th class mage. Moreover, ever since he became a swordmaster, he was sensitive to all kinds of energies.

After observing carefully, he could tell the pirate was another one of those awakened people. Michael checked whether all the other pirates on their deck had been subjugated and after confirming, he turned towards the still ongoing fight.

Enzo Hale was going toe to toe with the pirate leader. It was a marvellous sight that captivated the eyes and the hearts of the people watching the battle. A pillar of fire was extinguished by an array of ice.

The heat of the reddish fire and the cold of the ice clashed in the air, creating the people to feel as if they were trapped in a volcano being doused with cold water.

Michael walked carefully towards the battle and stood next to 'Keith', who was watching the battle with rapt attention.

Enraptured, Michael watched silently but remained alert. He looked at 'Keith' who tightened his grip on the handle of the sword to the point of his knuckles going white with tension.

Michael's first impression of 'Keith' was a sheltered young master, who ran away from home. He had probably run away to travel the world.

Unfortunately for 'Keith', the world isn't a place for a sheltered young master to wander around alone. The young master looked like he was trying to appear calm while he was actually scared. He looked so pitiful evoking his protective instincts.

Michael unconsciously softened the look in his eyes as he stared at him. He spoke in a soft tone, belying a gentleness an imperial member shouldn't possess.

"Don't worry. Hale will win. He's holding back because he doesn't want to cause unnecessary damages to the ship."

           He expressed thoughtfully to reassure him and assuage the fear of the young master who turned to look at him. Michael wanted to erase the stiff expression from his face.

At the moment, Kai who was given unabashed attention from the handsome man could only think of one thing.

'Why is he bothering me ?'

          He was able to watch the iconic battle with his own eyes. His face was frozen stiff due to the excitement and intrigue he felt. But he was interrupted when he was watching the battle.

Kim Su-bin, who became Kai had a good memory. When he saw the imperial prince with a gentle smile on his face, countless words surged to the forefront of his mind, creating sentences with a crisp clear clarity.

              Michael smiled gently at the nobleman Benedict, who was accused of bribery. Although the surrounding nobles watched on nervously, afraid that the prince would retaliate, Michael only showed a gentle and warm temperament. He looked like a kind person that would overlook this misconduct...

      ...The nobles were in uproar. The dungeon that released a wave of monsters, glowed ominously. A crack had opened up on the ground because of a huge monster that came through the gate. Benedict was barely hanging onto the edge of the crack when a shadow loomed over him. Benedict raised his head amidst the chaos only to see the imperial prince.

"Your.... your highness."

         He was relieved and a ray of hope appeared on his face as the prince grabbed him. But he felt something was off and looked at the prince again. The prince obviously had the same temperament as before, same gentle smile as before. But his eyes were cold to the point of indifference.

Suddenly Benedict felt a sense of weightlessness. His eyes widened in horror and shock. Only then did he understand that the prince had dropped him. The prince still had the same smile, same kind aura. But Benedict's last thought was that the imperial prince was far more terrible and beastly than the monsters that tore apart the humans.

                Kai wasn't fooled by the gentle and soft temperament the imperial prince projected. But he wasn't foolish to make an enemy out of someone like that either.

Kai remembered the saying, you have to fight fire with fire. A flawless soft smile tinged with a hint of nervousness appeared on Kai's face.

"Really ? Then the fight will stop soon, right ?"

            Kai peered at him with wide innocent eyes. An uneasy expression crossed his face tinged with a hint of fear.

"I don't like seeing blood much."

      Kai lowered his head obstructing the others from seeing his expression, as if he was ashamed of showing weakness.

'I should have become an actor in my last life. I could have gotten as Oscar for my acting.'

           He thought a bit sadly.

Technically he wasn't lying. He didn't like seeing blood much. It would be bothersome if he got blood on his clothes.

The baby dragon who saw Kai get blood on his bare knuckles after thoroughly beating up the bandits stared at him silently.

"..."

Kai clearly remembered the character of the imperial prince Michael. He showed a temperament of a humble and kind but firm and confident person on the surface while he was a calculating and ruthless person inside. He was a beast who looked docile on surface that harboured murderous intentions in his mind.

Many fans criticised his character on the scenes before he met the female protagonist. It was a cliche plot of the cold male lead changing his ways because of the female protagonist.

But to Kai, he was neither a good person nor a bad person. He has always believed that the perception of goodness was subjective. Michael, who later became the crown prince, then the emperor was a ruler that the people of the empire praised and worshipped in the novel.

Kai more than anyone knew, you can't rule people without getting your hands dirty. If you want to be a competent ruler, it's impossible to not do so.

"You don't have to feel uncomfortable or ashamed."

Michael said in a soothing voice.

"It's natural for most people to-"

Though he didn't get to finish his sentence.

Bang. Bang. Boom.

A loud noise shook the whole ship. Dust scattered the main deck obscuring people's vision. The wood shattered and broke down. Splinters sprayed the deck.

Several people can be seen coughing and raising their heads. Oliver raised his head to look for the prince, only to find the place the prince and the petite boy stood a few seconds ago scorched beyond recognition.

Many people on the ship let out exclamations when they found out that the pirates along with Michael, Enzo and Kai seemed to have disappeared with the pirates' ship.

Where did they go ? How did they disappear as if they never existed ?