King Alvis and his retinue fell silent as they gazed upon the young man walking toward them. They'd seen him before at the capital, but for some strange reason, the air surrounding him seemed to have changed.
How should they describe it? It felt as though his presence had gotten a lot heavier. A regal presence that even overshadowed the king for a moment.
Lark gave a passing glance at Mikael, before proceeding to kneel on one knee before King Alvis. To his surprise, the king grabbed his shoulder, preventing his knee from touching the ground. The king shook his head.
"There's no need for you to kneel, Lord Lark," said King Alvis.
The onlookers who heard felt something was amiss. Clearly, there was reverence and fear within King Alvis' voice. It seemed to some that the king was horrified by the very thought of Lark kneeling before him.
Lark studied the king for a moment, before nodding his head. He placed a hand on his chest and lightly bowed his head. "I greet His Majesty, the sun of the kingdom."
The king looked uncomfortable.
Lark added, "Apologies… for not coming out sooner to greet His Majesty."
"No, no, it's already an honor that Lord Lark went out of his way to meet this old man," said King Alvis, not minding the crowd listening to them. He no longer minded appearances and made it obvious to Lark that he was subservient.
"Is that really His Majesty?" whispered one of the onlookers.
"It seems so? But why does he seem so afraid of the lord?" said another.
"That's right… he even prevented the lord from kneeling on the ground."
A buzz and murmurs filled the streets as the onlookers speculated on identity of the old man. Although most of them did not doubt the king's identity, they were puzzled why the ruler of the kingdom was showing such reverence to a mere lord of a town.
"It appears that news of His Majesty's arrival has reached the ears of everyone in Blackstone Town," said Lark, realizing that hundreds of people had now filled the streets to get a glimpse of King Alvis.
To a normal citizen of the kingdom, especially those who did not live in the capital, it would have been impossible for them to ever get a glimpse of a monarch.
"Although it might be lacking, I have a sitting room prepared at the mansion," said Lark.
The king glanced at the onlookers gathered on the streets. Thankfully, the guards accompanying him were enough to deter the residents of the town from approaching any further. Moreover, Lark commanded respect among the residents of Blackstone Town. The onlookers consciously left a path open on the streets for the king and Lark.
With Lark at the lead, the king and his retinue walked through the town's main road. Along the way, they passed by the Central Plaza. Since the Eastern District had yet to be fully expanded, this was currently the heart of Blackstone Town.
The Central Market. The newly built inns and taverns. The town hall and the school next to it. The developments this town had underwent during the reign of Lark Marcus was truly impressive. Even Elias Farsight, who held no interest in political affairs, knew how great this feat was. This territory felt like a small city, rather than a town.
Several minutes after passing by the Central Market, the group finally arrived at the mansion.
To King Alvis' surprise, the mansion was surprisingly small. Well, it was far larger than the inns and the taverns they'd passed by along the way.
But for a noble from a ducal house, it was incredibly lacking. Even the town hall was taller and larger than this one.
It seemed that the lord was living quite a modest lifestyle.
"Father!" a familiar voice was heard.
A woman in leather armor ran past the gates and jumped into the king's embrace. Her body was soaked in sweat, as though she'd been running around the town all day.
"Esmeralda?"
The princess, who reeked of sweat, tightened her embrace before letting go of her father. She grabbed King Alvis' hands and excitedly said, "I ran here as soon as I heard of your arrival! I can't believe you've come to visit Blackstone Town!"
King Alvis felt the princess' calloused palm and fingers—the hands of someone who'd swung the sword hundreds of times each day. The hands of a swordsman. Looking below, King Alvis noticed a sword hanging on her waist.
"I've come to meet with Lord Lark," said King Alvis as he began patting her head.
Princess Esmeralda glanced at Lark then mumbled, "To visit the lord? I see..."
The king smiled mischievously. "Did my precious daughter think that I came to visit her?"
The princess removed the hand patting her head and took a step back in embarrassment. "Of course not!"
The king chuckled. It seemed that part of her remained unchanged. She was still easy to fluster.
Princess Esmeralda averted her gaze. She finally noticed the familiar faces standing behind her father.
"Lady Ropianna?" said the princess.
The Seer, who'd been taking care of the past two generations of the royal family, was a mother figure to her. After all, she'd never known her biological mother, who died after giving birth to the youngest princess.
Ever since, the role of a mother had been filled by this elderly female magician.
"It's been a while, Princess." Lady Ropianna smiled warmly. She also noticed the sword hanging by the princess' waist. "You've finally embraced the sword. I am glad."
The princess scratched her cheeks. "The lord told me I have no talent in magic. So, I decided that I might as well wield the sword instead."
"The lord did?" said Lady Ropianna, casting a glance at the Lord of Blackstone Town.
The king and the Lady Ropianna knew how much the princess detested the sword. Ever since she was young, she disliked wielding it, calling it a barbarian's weapon.
Who would have known that this time would come? That the princess, who was a natural-born genius with the sword, would willingly embrace her talent?
Noticing that the Lord of Blackstone Town was patiently waiting for them, King Alvis cleared his throat and said to the princess, "We'll be discussing important matters with the lord, my dearest daughter."
"Ah, of course." The princess nodded, the beads of sweat on her forehead sliding down her cheeks. "I'll see you later, father."
After parting with the princess, the group entered the mansion and went to the sitting room on the second floor. The king asked everyone to leave the room, save for General Carlos, Mikael Garios, and the two Royal Court Magicians. The moment the butler shut the door, the king prostrated on the floor.
"My Lord! I've heard from Mikael that you're the legendary magician, Evander Alaester!" the king said with heated desperation. "Please! I'm begging you! Save this nation!"
Lark was stunned. The king of the nation was prostrating before him, his head firmly touching the ground. Moreover, his body was quivering, as though afraid Lark would reject his desperate pleas. He'd never expected to see King Alvis like this.
Lark glanced at General Carlos and the two Royal Court Magicians.
Although they looked conflicted, it seemed that they'd expected things to turn out this way. They made no attempt to pull up King Alvis. Mikael, on the other hand, was clearly taken aback by the sudden prostration of the king. He repeatedly looked at the king, at Lark, then back.
"Your Majesty…" Lark frowned. "Please rise."
It felt painful seeing King Alvis in this state. In his past life, Lark had seen his fair share of kings, emperors, monarchs. Suffice to say, despite his shortcomings as a ruler, King Alvis was definitely among the virtuous ones.
This king was easygoing despite his age and frequently cracked jokes at his men every now and then. Lark could even vividly remember when King Alvis offered him one of the named swords of the kingdom in exchange for marrying his youngest daughter.
Lark could not bear to look at the king like this, his head touching the ground, quivering from fear. Even his voice was croaking, as though he was close to crying. Even during the war with the empire, Lark had never heard the king sound this desperate.
"Please rise," repeated Lark, his voice gentle.
Seeing that King Alvis was reluctant to stand up, Lark gently tugged his arms, ushering the old man up.
Lark sighed in relief upon seeing the king finally standing up. He glanced at Mikael, then said to the king, "Everything I've told Mikael is the truth. That's right. I am Evander Alaester."
The king and his retinue realized that, surprisingly, Lark had no intention of denying his identity.
Lark snapped his fingers and a magic formation, similar to the one he'd used to reveal his identity to Mikael and Gaston, appeared on the floor. It shattered into numerous particles of golden light, eventually forming the image of a middle-aged magician wielding a staff.
The king and his retinue silently watched as the magician cast his spell, summoned a colossal ball of golden fire, and destroyed an entire mountain.
A feat even Royal Court Magicians couldn't hope to achieve.
"Your Majesty," said Lark, gazing directly at the eyes of King Alvis.
"Please be at ease. I've already decided to protect this kingdom."
The king's shoulders finally stopped quivering. More tears started forming at the corner of the old man's eyes. He'd been wanting to hear those very same words, ever since he'd arrived here at Blackstone Town.
The arduous journey through those monster-infested territories had paid off. They'd finally obtained the help of this legendary magician.
King Alvis repeatedly thanked the Gods above.
"Your Majesty, first, for me to help you," said Lark in a calm voice. "I need to know the current state of the kingdom."
King Alvis nodded. He looked at his companions for a moment before recounting everything he'd learned the past couple of weeks. The fall of Port Kalavinka. The fall of the Kelvin Duchy. The current predicament of the Marcus Duchy, the Leonard School, Rock Castle, and Quasan City. The number of demons, their appearances, and their apparent abilities.
"It took us half a month just to arrive here," said King Alvis, his face grim. "Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing the current situation at the front lines."
Lark silently listened.
One of the three duchies falling to the hands of the demons was a terrible blow to the kingdom. More than a hundred thousand people had probably perished during that time. Lark found it unfortunate that he hadn't fortified the defenses of the Duchy before the demon horde arrived.
"The demons have this strange ability to corrupt their prey," said Lady Ropianna. "Those humans… it's as though they've become walking corpses. They've lost all their freewill. They couldn't even die if they wanted to."
"Parasitized humans." Lark immediately came into a conclusion after hearing the story from King Alvis and Lady Ropianna. "It seems that the demons that attacked the Duchy belong to the parasitic demon tribe."
Lady Ropianna looked at Lark curiously. She hadn't expected to hear the demon's identity immediately from Lark.
"Parasitized humans?" she said.
Lark nodded. He cast the same magic as before and willed the golden particles of light to form a certain demon. A humanoid creature with serrated mouth, a single horn on its head, and several tentacles forming its lower body.
"This here is a parasitic demon," explained Lark. "Even the weakest members of their tribe is capable of taking over the body of animals—even humans—as their host."
The image distorted for a moment, before forming the image of another demon. A creature with an ovoid body, dozens of eyes, a large serrated mouth, and innumerable fleshy tentacles. A creature several times larger than the first parasitic demon Lark showed them.
"Although they're not that strong, the higher-ranking ones have incredibly fast regenerative abilities. This one's a high-ranking nest. A demon capable of giving birth to other lower-ranking nests. It's a creature with far greater regenerative abilities than a troll. It's practically an immortal monster. I doubt even the Royal Court Magicians could kill one of them in battle."
Everyone in the room shuddered upon hearing this. The image of the high-ranking nest alone was enough to give them chills. The monster looked so grotesque and disgusting, as though all of the hatred and filth in the world had gathered to form a single monster.
"Even if you cut its body into dozen pieces, it would not kill this monster. It will regenerate its body indefinitely, unless you destroy its core," said Lark.
He paused, looked at everyone in the room, and added, "Although high-ranking nests are extremely rare, if by chance you encounter one, run and enter the nearest barrier."
"Then… the barrier protecting the capital…" said King Alvis.
"Even a high-ranking nest isn't capable of destroying that one," pointed out Lark. "Even the flying demons you spoke of won't be able to enter the capital."
What a relief.
As expected of a barrier formed from a pinnacle-grade spell.
The king felt more at ease knowing his subjects would be safe inside the capital, at the very least.
Lark fell silent for a moment. He said, "Your Majesty, as long as their bodies are still alive, it is possible to save a parasitized human."
King Alvis and Lady Ropianna looked at each other. Although the alchemists at the capital were trying to find a cure for the parasitized humans, they believed it would take them a long time before they finally found a way to revert those humans to normal.
"L-Lord, are you saying that you know of a way to return those humans back to normal?" said Lady Ropianna.
"Medicine concocted from mandrake leaves," said Lark. "Fortunately, the town's herbalist has managed to successfully grow several of those mythical plants. Although the number of mandrakes is currently limited, we should have enough to concoct a few hundred vials."