Chapter 137

Arc 14 - Absolute Wish - Part 18

Tuesday, 29th of June - Manchester, UK:

Inside a small retail store, a red-haired and green-eyed busty woman stood behind a counter, with a gloomy and angry look in her eyes. Everything was perfectly fine in her life, but sadly, people always assume the worst since that’s how she looks.

And that was no different when a tall and handsome man came to the store.

Katie Campbell, the new superhuman who gained telekinesis, was crouching behind the counter, cleaning the place. However, when she heard the footsteps, she stood up and smiled her best smile, which looked very evil and stiff.

So, when the tall man saw her, his heart skipped a beat in fear and jumped back.

“Uh...”

“Ah-Ahem. Pl-please forgive me. I saw a mouse on the floor,” he lied.

Katie donned a concerned look, “Oh no, that’s terrible. I need to let the manager know. I am sorry about that.”

“O-oh, thank you.”

The man felt bad for lying, but it would have been worse if he told her he was scared of her face.

Now, usually, that won’t be problematic, but since he is someone special, it will ruin his image.

“Anyway, sir, how may I help you?”

She smiled widely at the customer, but the man did not see it any different than before.

To him, it was a cruel and angry and evil smile.

However, he pushed that aside and focused on his task.

“Oh.”

The man searched his inner pocket and produced a letter.

“My name is Patrick Lionel, I am a 「Knight Captain」, part of the 「Royal Knights of Britannia」.”

She widened her eyes. Her heart was about to burst open with worry and fear.

Has she done something wrong?

Or have they found out about her powers and want to imprison her?

So, she gulped.

“I...”

The knight noticed, so he smiled warmly.

“Please be at ease, you have done nothing wrong.”

“Is… I see.”

“This is for you,” he kneeled on the ground as he held the letter with both of his hands. He lowered his head and continued to speak with respect, “It is from His Majesty.”

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!

His Majesty, the king of the empire.

Just what does he want with her?

“Please read this and respond as soon as possible. I will come back in a week.”

Katie took the letter and smiled stiffly.

“A-alright.”

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Thursday, 1st of July - London:

In Camelot Palace, also known as Buckingham Palace, dozens of knights in full plate silver armour stood stiffly in two lines, opposite one another, in front of the throne. The knights were equipped with triangular shields, which they were holding with their left hand. And in their right hand, they were holding spears.

They raised their right knee in unison before stabbing it in the ground.

Then the knights slammed the butt of their spears into the ground once. Then twice. Then thrice. And so on.

The actions were in perfect harmony.

A large door opened opposite the throne and someone walked through, who was accompanied by other knights.

His back was to the light, so his face could not be made out.

However, they knew who it was.

It was a slender young man in his twenties with well-toned muscles to compliment his beauty. He had short golden hair and crystal blue eyes. His face was triangular-shaped, clean-shaven.

He was wearing a full plate white armour with golden lines at its joints. A golden ornamental spiked shoulder plate was mounted on his left shoulder. Very white - almost yellow - sabaton to cover his feet. A red cape hanging from his shoulders, which flapped behind him in the summer wind. There was also a light blue coloured coat, draped from the hips of his armour at ankle length.

In his hand, he was holding a long blue-glowing sword known as the 「Excalibur」.

As the new king walked towards his throne between the two lines of the knights, they kneeled down in respect.

Sitting on his throne, the young king smiled a happy smile as he tapped the ground with his glowing sword.

That tapping meant one thing; rise.

The knights rose to their feet in perfect harmony.

“Commander.”

From the knights, one man walked forward, who took off his helmet before kneeling.

He was a muscular and tall man with black eyes and a bald head. There was a scratch on top of his head as if it had been slashed with the tip of a blade.

He is called Knight Commander.

“Did the letters reach the right people?” he spoke with compassion.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The king leaned back in the throne and let out a relieved smile.

“Y-Your Majesty, please forgive me for saying...” the Knight Commander spoke stiffly.

“Speak freely, Commander,” he gestured with his hand.

“Is this the right thing to do?”

“Of course, he is a citizen of this country, and every citizen, until proven guilty, will have my complete support.”

“But--”

“There is no proof. We are seeing images in our head, which might be new to you, but are not to me, Commander. Magic and power… They are alien in this world. But from when I am from, it was an everyday thing.”

The king leaned forward in his throne.

“It is true, he did not deny some of his crimes… But our world stands still, no? So, which world did he destroy? And even if he did… He denied destroying it, no? I will believe him more than images people see in their head. Furthermore, I did not regain such memories. Are you telling the truth? Is the woman on the news telling the truth? I do not know, neither do you. So, we should avoid coming up with conclusions such as this.”

The Knight Commander nodded.

“We have not witnessed his crimes, has he committed anything bad? Has he done anything good? No, we cannot know.”

The king stood up.

“If he is innocent, I will stand against the whole world alongside him. It is my duty as a king.”

He tightened his grip on the Excalibur.

“I am sure, he is innocent. So, I will stand by him.”

“But you must speak with the Prime Minister or to--”

His advisor, who was standing next to the throne, spoke to him, worriedly.

However, the king glared at him and shut him off.

“I will do neither.”

“B… bu---”

The advisor sighed and stopped speaking.

“Know this, if a citizen of my empire is in trouble, I will not only face the world but the heavens and hells too. I will face them all and save them.”

He raised the sword above his head in a majestic pose.

"This is my promise to my people, I will protect them no matter what!"

Everyone gasped at once, in awe.

What they were seeing was a new sight to them.

Every time they saw the legend, they couldn’t stop their chest from welling up in excitement and pride.

“So, swears I, 「King Arthur」...”

His majestic voice carried hope and courage across the room.

“...of Britannia!”

One year ago, King Arthur fell out from the time stream and soon took control of Great Britain as the rightful king. Not long after that, every Commonwealth nation became under his control.

And so, he formed the 「Britannia Empire」, the largest empire in the world.

“I… I was wrong,” the Knight Commander spoke heavily. “Thank you for reminding me what we are fighting for as the Royal Knights.”

Royal Knights are knights who use magic regularly to keep Britain and the monarch safe. The Royal Knights were among the small factions who still knew and used magic.

Britain had the highest use of magic, but it was all a big secret. These days, it’s not as big of a secret as it used to be but even then, the general public is clueless about it.

“It is not the old rule, where only the Royalty mattered,” the Knight Commander added.

“Indeed,” King Arthur smiled. “Everybody matters in this rule of mi-- Hm.”

BOOM!

Hearing a sonic boom, the knights strengthened their grips on their spears, but King Arthur continued to smile.

He knew who it was.

As the man landed, the whole castle shook.

With his chin, King Arthur gestured to open the large doors. And so they did.

Doors opened and a monster with white hair and red eyes walked in.

“Welcome,” he spread his arms wide.

Unlike the king, the knights grasped for breath tirelessly.

“I came expecting the worst, but this… is surprising,” Nazar glanced around.

He noticed the Knights who seemed one their guard but did not pay them attention because the King was welcoming.

“I am not sure how much Aarin has told you about me, but I will never be hostile toward any of my allies or citizens.”

"She did not say much, but I gathered as much."

"Fantastic."

"So, why am I here?" Nazar narrowed his eyes.

"Let us talk."

King Arthur walked down the few stairs and pointed at a door in the corner.

“I hope you have an appetite for lunch. We shall speak over lunch. When I was young, I was told this is the best way to get to know people, and of course, to reduce hostility.”

“Although, I did poison someone once,” King Arthur added in a barely audible voice with a sly smile. However, Nazar did hear it but did not care. After all, poisons have never worked against him.

“I am always hungry,” he joked.

“Great.”

“I appreciate the gesture, but… Why? I know your intentions, you want to stand by me and tell the world that I am innocent, no? But...”

King Arthur nodded.

“Why would you go that far?”

“You are Aarin’s brother, and she was a close friend of mine. I want to repay her.”

He glanced at the sword in his hand.

“I am a 「Hero」 chosen by the sword she created. I was supposed to battle the Demon but instead…” for a split second, his expression turned gloomy. “Instead, I am here. I couldn’t help her, but I can help you now.”

“Is… that so?”

“Yes, now let’s discuss your “crimes” and see how your country can help you.”

“Country…?” Nazar scoffed.

He might hold British citizenship, but he holds no bond to this country. In fact, at one point, he wanted to nuke it from the space because he was bored.

“I appreciate the thought, but I don’t think I need to prove anything to this world.”

“This world...”

King Arthur had known Aarin for a long time and she told him tales of other worlds. Tales of beautiful and ugly worlds she had seen.

He thought about what Nazar meant by this world. He deduced that the same must be happening to him on other worlds. Or if that’s wrong, then he might mean he doesn’t care about this planet either. He was leaning more to his former thoughts.

“I see, but what about your family?”

“!!” his body jolted as his carefree expression until now wavered and was replaced by a serious one.

“I did not have a family for most of my life,” King Arthur pointed to the door in the corner as he slowly walked towards it. “It wasn’t until 1 year before my "death" when I got married and had a child on the way. But sadly, both of them died. So, I might not know the importance of family as you do, but… Shouldn’t you want to protect them? The world is not against you solely, it’s against your loved ones too.”

“I know that,” he walked after him.

“Then shouldn’t you be doing everything to protect them?”

“They are safe.”

“Your idea of safety does not guarantee emotional and mental aspects of humans, does it?”

“No, it does. I am going to do everything in my power to keep them from feeling any form of emotional pain. But… I have asked them to give me some time. I will fix this problem no matter what, but I need some time.”

“Why?”

The constant questions frustrated Nazar a little, but he did not show it on his face.

“Two nights ago, I fixed the problem, but after a few minutes, it was back. So, until I kill them, I cannot solve it.”

“But will the problem go away if you defeat your enemy?”

That was something he never thought about before.

He was sure that it would go away, but what if it didn’t?

He is dealing with Gods, after all. They are capable of immeasurable feats.

What if they make sure that everyone remembers his crimes, even if they are dead? What if they have made sure nobody forgets his crimes, even if he mindwipes the whole universe? What if this cycle never ends?

“Until you fix that problem and we all forget, shouldn’t you provide peace to the ones you love?”

The door opened and King Arthur walked through it. Nazar followed slowly behind him.

“Forget?!”

Nazar was surprised at how on point his deduction was.

His sole idea of solving this was to erase the memories of everyone.

“It’s simple, really,” King Arthur turned around and smiled at him, “when someone remembers something terrible about us, we want them to forget it.”

“I see...”

This guy…

“This is our first time meeting, right?”

“Hm, we did see one another last year, but no, we did not talk.”

Well, I was doing damage control so nobody finds out about superpowers and magic, after all.

Nazar entered the door which was a dining room and nodded, impressed by it.

“I see. Please, let this be our first official meeting.”

Nazar smiled bitterly at the King of Britannia.

Arthur sat at the end of the table and pointed at the chair opposite him and Nazar sat down.

“Is there anything you do not eat? Allergies or religious reasons?”

Nazar tried his best not to laugh.

He found it funny that someone asked him a question like that. The religious part was especially hilarious to him considering his state of existence.

“As long as it’s not cheese, I eat everything else. Oh, and no mayo either. It’s possibly the worst food ever made.”

The same question King Arthur has asked many times before but never before has someone answered him as honestly as this, so he couldn’t help but let out a small burst of laughter.

“Alright, you shall taste the best British Steak of your life.”

“I will be the judge of that. I am a pretty skilled chef myself.”

Impressed, he nodded.

“Oh. that’s surprising.”

“Indeed, nobody believes me that I started cooking because of a manga.”

Nazar laughed, but King Arthur was confused.

“What’s that?”

“Manga?” Nazar leaned forward in his chair as he began explaining. “It’s a form of picture book produced in Japan. Unlike American and Korean comics-- Picture books, Japanese mangas are usually without colour.”

With his elbows on the table, King Arthur rested his chin on the back of his palms while he listened very carefully.

“There seems to be a lot of American products in this country. Odd, do you not think so?”

“Yeah, China and America seem to be at the top of the world these days. They pushed themselves forward at the right times and boom! Here we are.”

“Do you think I can push Britannia that forward?”

“I don’t know,” he shook his head with a faint laugh. “I failed my economic class.”

King Arthur could not help but laugh.

The more he talked to him, the more human he appeared compared to when he was on the television and how people described him.

“In any case, let’s enjoy this fantastic steak made by our top chef. Hope it is to your liking.”

Two waiters entered the dining room and placed two plates of steak in front of both of them.

“Please, enjoy.”

Nazar nodded stiffly as he picked up a fork and knife.

“Are you acquainted with many monarchs?”

His carefree question caused Nazar to freeze.

“You pasted a fake impressed look on your face, but you could not hide the disappointment behind it. And perhaps it’s your power… But meeting a King and acting very casual… It can only happen if you are well acquainted with someone of high stature. Or...”

Before Nazar could mention Aarin, King Arthur smiled knowingly and continued.

“Or perhaps it is because you have met the angel, and consider us, the royalty, no different than ants?”

Nazar let out a small sigh and started eating.

“I personally like to lean to my former train of thoughts. You do not seem like the type of person who would look down on anyone.”

King Arthur smiled thinly.

“Right?”

“Yes, you are not wrong. I am well acquainted with monarchs.”

Nazar took a bite of the steak. He nodded, showing he was impressed by it. This time, he was not faking it.

“Are you one by any chance?”

Nazar was not sure how he got to that conclusion, but he let his confused expression speak for him.

“No, a terrible guess, it seems. I have no basis for that.”

Nazar relaxed his shoulders as he leaned back in the chair.

“How could one even guess something like that?”

“When you said, "I don’t think I need to prove anything to this world", I thought perhaps you were living in another world, and since you are acquainted with monarchs… It wouldn’t be wrong of me to assume you are a monarch of a sort too.”

That was a big leap...

“But clearly, I was wrong.”

Nazar chuckled.

“Yes, you were.”

“Sorry about that. Perhaps I made you feel uncomfortable.”

His ever same casual tone and happy smile annoyed Nazar greatly but he tried not to show it on his face at all.

“Don’t worry, I can’t take any offence when you give me such good food,” he said jokingly.

“Glad you enjoyed it.”

“Although it is still not as good as my mother’s. Or mine,” he added with a smug smile.

“Haha. Is that so?”

For a split second, King Arthur’s expression wavered as he felt a little sadness. He did not have a family, so he had never tasted his mother’s cooking. In fact, could she have even known how to cook?

He scoffed at his thoughts.

Nazar noticed the change on his face but did not question it.

“Do you think I could marry an angel?” King Arthur did not want to think about the past, so he forced a new topic.

“I don’t think Aarin is interested in you,” Nazar looked down at his plate as he spoke.

“Haha, heavens no. She is a dear friend,” King Arthur shook his head. “I meant another angel.”

“No,” Nazar denied it immediately. “Angels do not have a desire for love or sex or family. There are some exceptions, but it’s rare.”

“Is that so?” King Arthur, too, began eating. “Disappointing.”

“Very,” he agreed. After all, he did find a certain angel very attractive.

She was red-haired, blue-eyed, busty, tall and muscular 「Angel of Lust」. Yes, that exists too.

“Anyway, let’s get back to how I can help you. Unlike your alien monarch friends, I don’t care much for politics. I do what’s good for my citizens.”

“Alien monarch friends…”

While “friends” was a term used loosely, but he was very serious about the alien monarchs. There aren’t many monarchs in this world and he did say that he did not have to prove anything to this world. That was enough evidence for King Arthur to think he was talking about alien monarchs.

But Nazar did not understand one thing.

“How did you…?”

“It’s simple. If you have something to prove on another world, that means that your acquaintances did not stand by your side. Not that they don’t believe you, but perhaps because of politics. The latter seems more plausible, no? Or did I leap to another wrong conclusion, perhaps?”

The never-changing happy smile, yet all-knowing smile, did not vanish from his face.

Nazar hated that smile on his face.

“Well, thanks, but you don’t have to.”

“Oh, no need for pleasantries. I would do this for anyone, but even then, you are special. I cannot repay my debt to Aarin, but it is a start.”

“Hm… I see.”

Nazar forced a smile on his face.

“I will take on your offer then, thank you.”

King Arthur nodded with the same smile.

“I will have you know, I have the purest of intentions, I merely want to help.”

Was he telling the truth? Perhaps. But Nazar was not sure about that.

He can tell when people are lying to him by looking at their face, gestures and hearing their heartbeat. But King Arthur's body suggested he was telling the truth.

Nazar could use his psychic powers, but he would rather not do that and trust the man.

Can't get worse than it already is.

So, he nodded in gratitude.

“Thank you.”

❢◥ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◆ ▬▬▬▬▬▬ ◤❢

Wednesday, 30th of June - Plymouth:

Back to the past, in front of Nazar’s house, the Knight Commander from the Royal Knights in a luxurious suit stood.

His hands were shaking in fear.

He was not sure if he should take another step and deliver the letter.

But he was personally asked by the monarch of the Britannia Empire.

So, there was no way in hell he would not deliver the letter.

So, he took a deep breath, the deepest breath of his life, as he straightened his shoulders.

“Ahem.”

In front of him was a large door, but anyone can enter it without knocking.

And so, he did.

He walked in the green garden and looked at the different flowers and trees, raising his eyebrows, seemingly impressed.

He picked up his pace and increased his speed.

Once he reached the main door, he realised how fast and loud his heart was beating.

I am the Knight Commander of the Royal Knights of Britannia, I have the greatest magical artefact 「Speed of Mercury」.

When Aarin tried to create a behind the scene fighting force against the Demon, she also created magical artefacts to help her fight better against him. She based the artefact on mythological gods and angels. She placed her energies within it, giving these artefacts great power.

These magical artefacts give the wearer the power of the god or angel it is based on.

I can do this.

He stood before the door.

He stood firm.

He clenched his fist in confidence.

He sucked in a breath.

He breathed out.

He relaxed.

And he...

I will--- NOPE!

Instead of knocking the door, he dropped it in the door letterbox instead of handing it to this person, as the King ordered.

However, he did not do that.

The moment he dropped it, he activated the artefact and ran at full speed.

He ran through the streets of Plymouth and then left to the motorway-- No, he wanted to but instead, he jumped higher and higher and avoided the ground.

In 30 seconds, in central London, he finally stopped running.

Breathing heavily, he crouched down and said, “Safe.”

But then a day later, when he was kneeling before his king, a monster walked behind him.

He could not see him, but he could feel the intimidating presence, a presence so big, it could engulf the very sun.

The Knight Commander sees the King every day, his presence too is intimidating, but this one is different. This feels more evil and cruel. It screams of…

Death and destruction.

His heart beat faster and faster.

Emotions run out of control and breathing becomes harder and harder.

The monster spoke casually to the King of Britannia, who is another monster in the eyes of some people.

He might hold the mighty Excalibur, but everyone in this room can tell that if the King fought this monster, he would lose instantly.

The Knight Commander tightened his grip on the sword fitted at his hip.

Can he save his king?

Can he fight against this monster?

Certainly not, and he knew that.

But even then, he forced down his feelings and stood up.

With the sword in his hand now, he stood on guard.

However, King Arthur gestured to the Knight Commander with his left hand, commanding him to get rid of his hostility.

The monster too noticed the hostility from him but brushed it off.

For a split second, he thought the monster looked at him with a cruel smile. Did it happen or was he imagining it?

Once the King and the monster entered the dining room, the Knight Commander let out a sigh of relief.

That was…

He glanced at his knights embarrassingly for acting like that. But he is human after all and cannot control himself as well as he thought.

“K-keep guard here,” he commanded his knights, who replied with “Yes sir!”

He left the throne room and went out for some fresh air.