NOVEL NEXT Side Story 2 – Hero King
"Your Majesty, the demons and beasts are on the moves. I believe that time is upon us again."
"Already? Time sure flies by quickly."
Approximately every fifty years, the world would be infested with turmoil that would last for years. In every cycle, major events would occur such as war, famine, and in rare circumstances even the rise of collapse of a nation. According to the remains of recorded history, there had been no exception for hundreds of years.
The Hero King was the most powerful human in the world. He might not be the best in terms of leadership, however, those serving under him were a group of elites that governed every aspect of the country known as Appallia. Every ten years, a tournament would be held to determine the strongest but for fifty years straight, no one had been able to defeat the current Hero King, Jaco Spiriard.
In ancient times, a Hero King was someone who stood tall in the face of powerful adversaries, be them demons, ancient fey beings, or other nations. He protected the humankind in this world from those who threatened his people. As with many positive intents, time passed and over the many generations of Hero Kings, the original message had been lost.
Currently, on the western side of the continent, there were two major nations and a small nation: the human Kingdom of Appallia, the reptilian Federation of Josken, and the elf Sovereignty of Mist. An alliance had recently formed between Josken and Appallia, both having chaotic histories with a powerful nation to the east.
Federation of Josken was situated to the north, across the Fulu Sea which is a body of water mostly enclosed by landmass. This nation was the most technologically advanced and most knowledgeable in the field of magitech. Much of their understanding of magitech came from ancient texts left by an earlier civilization that once thrived in their land. At this moment, due to excessive depletion of resources, they required other ways to obtain materials and knowledge to advance their crafts. Pollution was rampant. Diseases and famine were persistent issues. Not only that, natural disasters were annual occurrences in many part of the country wrecking endless havoc on the inhabitants. Their main reason for the alliance was to obtain fertile land and sustainable food sources for the populace.
On the other hand, Appallia was situated to the south, blessed with fertile land and filled with resources yet to be tapped. Since the humans had a late start with technologies, they had only recent years understood the advantages of using magitech, especially when applied to military. Even now, the humans were slowly but surely catching up, arming their soldiers with increasingly advanced magitech.
The elves lived to the west of Appallia within the Mist Forest. They were a reclusive race that rarely left their great forest. The Mist Forest to date had not been successfully invaded even once. One reason was that it was protected by natural barriers, that being great mountains and turbulent coastal waters filled with terrifying sea monsters. The other reason was the paralyzing mists that surrounded the forests. Only elves who knew of secret passages were permitted safe entrance into the Mist Forest.
On the eastern part of the continent, there was only one nation that stood unified. Ruling the Grusia Empire was the Highland Emperor, someone born of a winged beast race. The empire consisted of diversive small kingdoms of beast races from winged predators to those that resembled animals in humanoid forms. One example was Kanobi, a fox lady, who originated from this empire. Despite this nation being called an empire, it was about the same size or even smaller than the other two major nations that had formed an alliance. That being said, the empire was currently doing its best holding off the military forces from the alliance. Already, many fertile lands had been lost to the humans and reptilians due to the ongoing war.
"Who will the demons target this time?" One of the Hero King's aide asked.
"We have reports that Trolls were spotted to the southeast along with a suspicious report of a green fey being. I believe we should focus our efforts on the fey beings," another aide commented.
"Non-sense! Fey beings are weak compared to the beasts. We should take advantage of our alliance with the reptilians and wipe those savage beasts off the continent. They're nothing but a nuisance. With magitech, annihilating them is only a matter of time. Your Majesty, please!" A third aide raised his voice, in an effort to gain approval from the Hero King.
"No, please reconsider, Your Majesty, we must be more vigilant of those mysterious fey beings."
"Silence!"
Despite the Hero King's physical age, he appeared as if he was only in his late twenties. His physique could only be described with one word: strength. An aura of power and authority emanated from his being. In some circumstances, just his presence itself was enough to cause a room's atmosphere to become oppressive. For nearly fourty years, he had ruled the Kingdom of Appallia with an iron fist. None dared to stand against him, and those who did were swiftly silenced with no recourse.
Jaco continued, his eyes examining the expressions of everyone present, "Our history with the beast kinds have been long and bloody. In recent skirmishes, newly trained soldiers equipped with magitech have already proven themselves to outmatch those beasts in air, land, and water. My decision is final. We will cleanse the land of filth. Make preparations, their end draws near. Victory shall be ours!"
""All Hail the Hero King!""
Despite the unified chant, many aides who were nobles and elites of this country were dissatisfied with the king's decision. However, there was nothing they could really do about it. If they were to step out of the line too much, they would be met with an iron fist, not from the Hero King himself but from his "personal guards."
Over the course of his rule, unlike the previous Hero Kings, Jaco Spiriard had acquired masses of loyal followers that bordered fanatics. To name a few, those who specialized in information gathering called themselves "Black Eyes," and those who specialized in combat were the "Black Hands." They had infiltrated into every part of the country from the farmers to the high ranking nobles. In a sense, this Hero King had the entire country within the palm of his hand.
Back in the king's chamber, an individual dressed in black kneeled before the Hero King.
"Your Majesty."
"Speak."
"There are signs of rebellion in the western province."
"The usual."
"Understood."
"I want the magitech ship designs from the Federation of Josken. I don't care how it's done. Get it done. This must be accomplished with the utmost secrecy."
"It will be done without fail."
"Once we have air superiority, this world is as good as ours. Continue tracking the movements of the demons and any new species that show up," he paused for a moment, "For the Holy Kingdom."
"For the Holy Kingdom."