A Destroyed Throne

Arthur was speechless, even though he knew he was strong he didn't think he would finish them off so quickly.

"So... Where am I?" Safwane asked again sheathing his katana.

"You keep asking that..." Arthur muttered. "We're on Earth, where else would we be?" he added in a mocking tone.

"So you're funny huh?" Safwane said with aggression in his eyes and unsheathing the katana slightly.

Arthur felt chills.

"We're on the Korean peninsula!" he replied in despair.

"Korea...?" Safwane muttered without knowing what it was about.

"That's right... I'll tell you more as we head to the exit."

As they walked towards the exit of the ruins of what was once Safwane's palace, the young man explained how Earth had been invaded by strange creatures after celebrating the new year.

These creatures caused massive destruction on the planet, leading to almost complete destruction... but to prevent that, the slayers appeared.

People who managed to achieve enlightenment, allowing them to achieve supernatural abilities, thanks to them the creatures could be contained.

Arthur gained the ability to speak runic language, strangely the language that Safwane spoke, but that did not give him any advantage in battle so he was harassed by others.

"...The world is still in ruins, but we still have not lost hope that one day we will end them."

Safwane was puzzled, the same creatures that attacked his empire, had now attacked the entire world. Also, he was someone who lived on Earth, but had never heard of Korea.

'There are still more things I don't know...' thought Safwane.

While Safwane was lost in his thoughts, finally the light began to illuminate their faces.

The light was weak but warm, the breeze that entered lightly was enough to let Safwane know of its purity.

But when they came out of the broken doors of the palace, the emperor could not help but open his eyes in surprise.

A desolate world.

That was what he could see, in front of him there were a large number of strange destroyed buildings, the streets empty and full of garbage.

"This is Busan... one of the worst citadels..." Arthur said sadly.

The citadels were places where nightmares did not reach because the slayers defended them. Usually the capitals are protected, so the other cities were abandoned.

But to enter the safe citadels you must be a powerful slayer, someone of great importance or have been living there.

However, many people did not have those characteristics so they joined the abandoned cities trying to survive.

"...It seems that they have returned from that place..."

"But why are there only two people?"

"Besides, we haven't seen one of them before..."

The murmurs were constant from the people who were watching hidden among the destroyed buildings.

Their gazes showed great hatred towards the two young men, who were walking down the street.

"It doesn't seem like we're welcome." said Safwane.

"Well... After all, the group I belonged abused and extorted them constantly."

After finishing those words, a powerful noise filled the streets.

A building was collapsing into pieces, but when the remains fell to the ground they seemed to be swallowed by it.

"What's going on?" asked Safwane with doubt.

"What do you mean? After cleaning the ruins they disappear and since there's nothing left in that place..."

Safwane gulped.

The young emperor did not want to see his palace destroyed, the last memory he had of the place he tried to protect.

But it ended up falling just like him.

Arthur looked at the young man in surprise, he never thought he would see that person show a sad face.

And without giving any respite, stones began to be thrown towards them both.

"We don't want you here anymore!" people shouted.

"Stop treating us like nightmares!"

Arthur tried desperately to protect himself from the stones, but for Safwane it was like the citizens of his empire stoning him for the humiliating defeat.

"Hey, protect yourself from the stones!" Arthur shouted worriedly.

Safwane bit his lip hard, and blood began to flow to his chin.

Soon his surroundings darkened and the noise stopped.

"Why did you let us die, my lord?"

The young man opened his eyes and began to look around.

"My lord, why have you not protected us?"

"Shut up..." Safwane stammered.

"There was supposed to be no one capable of defeating you."

"Shut up..."

"You have let us all die but why are you still alive, are you not ashamed?"

Safwane gritted his teeth.

"You are the one who killed us."

"Shut up." the young man ordered angrily.

The strange voices disappeared and their surroundings returned to normal.

However, the people had stopped throwing stones and were frightened.

"There was no need for that..."

Safwane seemed to have unsheathed his katana and in front of him was a huge cut in a building.

The young emperor clicked his tongue and placed his hand on his face.

'I should have gotten over it by now, so why?'

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked worriedly.

"Yes... Call the leader of this place, we need to talk."

Arthur nodded and called the one who was the representative of the people.

A middle-aged man with a weak appearance approached them.

"What do you want...?" said the man.

"Tell him that I'm not trying to do anything to them and that I'm only staying here for a while, also tell them that your old companions are dead."

Arthur translated Safwane's words to the man and with doubt on his face the man raised his hand.

People began to emerge from the abandoned buildings and show themselves on the streets in doubt.

The people were thin and dirty, proof of their difficult life. Now that there was no work, those who were not slayers had no way to make a living.

But what was saddest were the children, who had to go through all this suffering without being able to do anything.

"How do you get food?" asked Safwane.

"Every month we have to send a quantity of soul stones to the capital, depending on the quantity they send us more or less supplies." explained Arthur.

"And what are soul stones?"

"They are the hearts of nightmares, which are used for artifacts, energy and maintenance."

Safwane stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Arthur.

"To get soul stones."

"Do you even know where to go..."

There was a silence.

"...You expect me to go with you, right?" added Arthur with a sigh.

After a while the two young men found themselves walking through the streets.

"The reason they left Busan is because it is a place with constant appearances of ruins and together with the fact that slayers do not usually come, it makes it so that no one can clean them up." Arthur explained.

"And what did your group do?"

"They were only interested in money so they could go to the capital, they did everything possible to avoid dangerous ruins." Arthur said annoyed while clenching his fists.

"And this one is dangerous?" Safwane asked looking up.

"Intermediate rank I would say..."

In front of them a huge door rose, the air around the massive door seemed to vibrate with an unnatural whisper, providing an enormous presence and feeling of danger. Safwane will begin a new journey, this time without being an emperor.