The Star Of Annihilation

The Star of Annihilation

Chapter 50 – Titanius (2)

Written by : Eleven

* * *

“So, what do you think of him?”

Sistine Ismenian asked the question to Count Mateo Lancer, her right-hand man, and Seventh Swordmaster of the Empire.

Directly after returning from the Imperial Palace grounds where the warp portal was, Mateo immediately went to report to the Imperial Princess of his findings.

“He’s a fool.”

“A usable fool or a complete idiot?”

“That…. I’m not sure.”

“Explain.”

Count Mateo started to recall the events of where he had met and encountered the boy known as Roy Stone.

“…So it seems like he’s likely to be a hot-headed fool, but I can see why you’re so troubled.”

“My apologies for my indecisive thoughts, Princess.”

“It’s alright.”

Sistine Ismenian, the Imperial Princess who was twelve years-old as of that year, waved her hand in a dismissive tone of voice.

“It seems he looks to be an unusable idiot in the end. But… I think with time we will know for sure. But the fact remains that he is the first documented human to have accumulated Demonic Energy.”

“Princess, I forgot to mention something.”

“Speak.”

“The Demonic Energy I felt from him, was much purer and more vile than any other Demonic Energy I have seen to date. That includes the Demon Kings, themselves.”

“Even purer and more vile than them?”

“Yes… I’m not sure how he did it, but it was incredibly concerning.”

“I see. I hope he didn’t stupidly reveal his cards in front of complete strangers like that, but if he has the brains to back up that incredulous magical talent of his, I’m sure he has many more daggers than we can possibly fathom.”

“….Princess.”

“Of course, he could just be a complete idiot. I will not dismiss that.”

Sistine was unsure of this boy her age, Roy Stone.

Her azure-blue eyes radiated coolness as she decided to brush over it.

“Well, I doubt an average person my age would be able to stay that cool-headed. If he remains to be a question in the future, we will have to dismiss him as something that can’t help us. And… if he can’t help…”

“Then he is against our cause.”

“You know well, Mateo.”

Sistine Ismenian was purposefully biding her time well. Although the Imperial Family had a tradition of not discriminating against who was the most fit ruler, that did not mean the rest of the Empire thought that way.

“Well, I should start getting ready for the start of my first term at that academy anyways. I wanted to be a swordsman in the first place, so it might do well to change the opinion of the other young nobles and see if I can bring us some recognition.”

“I wish you well, Your Majesty. Your talent is already incredible for your age. It should only be a matter of time before the rest of the Empire sees it the same way.”

Mateo was not just saying these words.

Although the Princess only had the amount of ki that rivaled a 3-star magician, as a swordsman, her technique and skill was practically unparalleled to kids her age.

Even though Roy may be a 4-star magician, Mateo was certain that in a battle against someone like the Princess in pure swordsmanship, Sistine Ismenian couldn’t possibly lose in a 1-on-1 confrontation.

But, the answer to such a thought, would only be if Roy’s talent or swordsmanship style was inferior to Sistine’s.

‘There’s no way the Princess could possibly lose with the swordsmanship style she has created.’

Mateo smiled as he tried to assure himself, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of uneasiness he had about when he remembered Roy’s odd and eerie blood-red eyes.

‘What kind of kid has those sorts of eyes?’

Mateo was still young as a Count, but he knew the kind of depth Roy’s eyes held.

The sense of loss, grief, and something fiery.

‘It was like looking at a war-torn veteran that had survived a war after being crippled but still vowing to kill his enemy.’

That was the kind of depth Roy had with his mere eyes, if his eyes displayed anything about his true nature, then what kind of ideals and tribulations had he put himself through?

Mateo shook his head as he bowed further to the Princess.

“Your Majesty, if there’s nothing else…. May I take my leave?”

“Of course Mateo, you must be exhausted.”

Sistine looked at Mateo with a bit of pity as she realized that this young man had just fought against a Demon King almost all by himself while retreating and managed to survive. There was no way he wouldn’t be exhausted.

As she said this, she casually turned around, heading back into her room from the adjacent meeting room from her sleeping quarters.

* * *

Vuuuuuoooshhh.

The mana lingering in the air was resonating clearly as the Warp Gate to the Imperial Palace was in use.

Roy, standing a few meters away with the now-awake Lucius, Ferneth and Elizabeth, felt a tinge of anxiety creeping through his skin.

In only a few more moments, his only other friend besides Elizabeth would be coming out.

Sssst.

The purple energy surrounding the warp started to morph as two figures from beyond the gate stepped out of it.

“What….”

Roy fell speechless.

Dante, the only Spear Master of the Empire, stepped through the portal followed by a young boy that was the same age as Roy.

Roy could easily recognize the features of Nate, but it was hard for even Roy to acknowledge reality.

“It’s been a while guys.”

“Nate!”

Elizabeth nearly jumped an entire meter as she rushed to Nate without missing a beat.

She missed him dearly this entire time, and it was clear to all that were present, that although the two were not intimate, it would only be a matter of time before either Nate or Elizabeth expressed their feelings towards one another.

Elizabeth ran into Nate’s embrace and hugged him tightly, taking in the fresh scent from the Forest of the Elves that lingered around his body.

Roy stood there, watching this moment with confused eyes.

“4-stars…”

Unlike Elizabeth who had been jumping at the sight of Nate, Roy looked at his old friend with a sense of admiration and respect.

Two boys at the mere age of twelve years-old, and both of them were the youngest to ever reach 4-stars in the entire history of the continent.

They had grown up in the same village. One was an apostle to a Neutral God named Varpulis, and the other being the contractee of a Spirit King.

It was natural that their growth rates would be incomparable to any other child their age, but even so, Roy was not the only one shocked at this development.

[Congratulations.]

“En.”

Ferneth spoke out, catching both Nate and Elizabeth’s attention, while Lucius nodded with a smile on his face, approvingly.

It was a sight to see for Dante, who smiled mischievously at Lucius, as if to say ‘look what I did’.

But Lucius, as he saw this, just scoffed and nodded in Roy’s direction.

Dante’s expression changed as his jaw threatened to fall off his face when it dropped.

He looked at Roy and then back to Lucius, continuing this silent charade of antics.

The childish nature of Dante’s, was surprisingly well-accepted by Nate, who seemed to be completely ignorant of the idiotic superhuman next to him.

As these two Transcendent human beings were acting like children, Nate let go of Elizabeth and turned his gaze towards a certain spot.

“…..It’s good to see you, Roy.”

“It’s good to see you as well.”

Roy felt tight-lipped.

It was hard for him to speak, but it was the same for Nate.

It was weird. They both felt as if they were looking at entirely new people and not the one they had called their friend.

Neither of them were the same people they once were; running around Kerto Village with sticks in hand, practicing magic and imitating swordsmanship.

“There’s a lot to talk about, but why don’t we head back home first and get some rest?”

Dante was the one who spoke this time.

Everyone present agreed with Dante’s words, and followed suit as they quickly gathered their things.

Roy strode up to Nate and picked up his small satchel for him.

“You’ve gotten a lot stronger.”

Roy spoke with a tinge of expectation.

It was hard not to feel excited when he had come back to change this life from having the same outcome as his last.

To have a friend that was now moving as fast as he was in terms of growing stronger, made Roy feel an indescribable sense of camaraderie.

Roy didn’t know it, but it was the fact that for the first time since regressing to the past, he didn’t feel truly alone.

His master, Lucius, and his mother were here, but he felt burdened with not being able to tell them about his previous life.

But Nate was different.

He was a friend that was unconditional in their friendship.

-it’s good to have people like the ones you have around you.


Ifrit spoke up as he felt Roy’s emotions through their shared consciousness from their contract.

-Friends are hard to come by, especially ones that will walk through your hardships with you. Keep him close. One day, you might be able to be there for him as he will be there for you.
Roy smiled as he heard these words ring out inside of his head.

“Seems like you have as well.”

Nate replied as he looked at Roy, cracking a rare smile.

Two years had passed, yet Nate still felt comfortable showing his true emotions around Roy.

“Hah- You say that, but yet it looks like you’ve also been putting more attention into your appearance towards the girls.”

Roy joked as he winked at Nate.

Nate felt flustered for a moment as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

It wasn’t like he truly did put effort into his appearance, but rather it was forced on him by Eria, the High Elf, who said she couldn’t let him go back looking ‘like Dante’.

Nate and Roy had nearly similar hair length and if anything… They looked like twins oddly enough.

Roy had a darker more oppressive aura around his look, as his dair hair that was tied up neatly paired nicely with his deep red eyes that seemed to gaze through anybody’s true nature.

Nate had his hair tied up in a ponytail, like Roy, but it was almost platinum-white due to the increasing holy powers he was receiving from Varpulis. His irises were also unusually colored to a pale white. Both him and Roy were more like animals from a zoo at this point with how many eyes they would catch just by walking down the streets of Lazarus.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me hahah! If anything, I hope you’re ready to spar. Otherwise, I’m going to have to get Elizabeth to nag you for one.”

“You don’t need to. Let’s catch up tomorrow after I rest, yeah?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Roy and Nate conversed while following Roy’s mother back to their residence where he and Nate shared their home.

Nate’s parents had been left behind in Kerto Village, and were scumbags beyond belief as they practically sold their only child’s talents for some extra booze money from the First Prince.

As they walked home, none of them knew or even noticed the presence watching their constellations in the night sky.

Hanu, Parish’s only son, the Heir to the Dragons in this world, watched them from afar as he dazed at the red and silver stars in the sky.

<Father will not be pleased…>

Hanu made a vague remark as he clenched his fist.

As he clenched his fist in the polymorphed morph, the mana fluctuated and reverberated around him like a cyclone, destroying the forest he was in with the mere hand gesture.

Chapter 50 – Fin

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