Will of a Prince

Jacob looked back at the group.

"Is this something the Monlo’s would do?"

Enny shook her head lifelessly.

"Never. Not even they would do something so cruel."

Jacob sighed and waved a hand.

"Follow me. Let’s visit the main palace."

After everyone regained their composure, they followed Jacob to the palace. What was more surprising than the gift waiting for them at the entrance was the condition of the buildings. Hardly anything was damaged, yet there were bodies piling in the street with rives of blood flowing from them. Not even animals were spared in the carnage that took place. Dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, rats, anything that had flesh was eviscerated.

Jacob pushed open the palace door. The interior looked just as pristine as he imagined. Chandeliers lined the celling as he walked deeper in the palace searching for a throne room. The carpet under his feet had gold tassels at each end, the glass panes had intricate art of people doing activities such as painting, and there were strange bulbs of glass on the wall of each doorway.

Finally, he found the throne room. He pushed it open slowly.

"Ah. So, my Fallen Empire wasn’t enough? You’ve come to take my head as well?"

The Emperor of the Monlo’s was sitting on his throne. His eyes were sunken as if he was on the brink of exhaustion. He was thin and pale like he hadn’t eaten in days, or possibly even weeks. He never expected the emperor to look so... weak.

Jacob took a step forward.

"Are you the Emperor of this Palace?"

A low dark chuckle escaped from his lips.

"Is that you, Slimo? My my have you grown. I’m surprised to see your sister by your side after... what you did and all."

Both Slimo and Avala charged at the Emperor, but Lidia and Gabriel held them back.

"Wait a moment! We need information from him!"

Slimo kept growling through his teeth.

"HE TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!! EVERYTHING!!"

Lidia held on to him tighter.

"I know. Just a few moments, Slimo. Please."

Slimo finally relaxed in her arms, angry tears streaming down his face.

"Oh my, it seems I’ve struck a nerve. It’s nothing personal, Slimo. In war, nothing is personal. I simply did what I thought would bring me an advantage. I could not have been more wrong."

Another chuckle escaped his lips.

"I mean, look at me. I’m sure you’ve all seen this kingdom by now. Possibly even my other kingdoms."

Jacob met the emperor’s lifeless gaze.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Oh? I was sure you would know considering you’re all buddy-buddy with those freaks."

Jacob’s heart dropped.

"You mean the Epigones?! They did this?!"

"Oh yes, ruthlessly so. I don’t know what you did to gain their favor, but you’ve done it. Congratulations. Now all of humanity will come to end without my people helping yours."

He sniffed the air for a few moments.

"I see. You are a part of those freaks too, huh? I can smell the corruption oozing from your pores from here, monster. Finish me off already, coward. There is nothing more you gain from keeping me alive."

"None of this was us. We didn’t send the Epigones after you, they left us for good. They refused to help Paria for anything ever since they kidnapped my uncle."

"And yet you bear their brand?"

"They branded me, but it wasn’t my choice."

"I don’t care. That still makes you connected to them whether you like it or not."

"Did everyone really die in this manslaughter?"

"Why should I answer you?"

"From the looks of it, you’re on deaths door already. You gain and lose nothing from sharing your information with the what’s left of humanity."

"You are truly a fool. You are asking the sworn enemy of Paria Empire to give up his secrets before his passing! My I may simply croak from laughter before I get to tell you!"

Jacob bowed his head.

"Please. I’ll give you anything you need. Just tell us if anyone else survived."

Emperor Zhou sighed.

"I had kids too, you know? Those freaks murdered them both right in front of me. They made sure it was nice and slow too. I’ll do anything to see them put into a grave, even if means helping you idiots."

Jacob then asked a question that shocked Zhou to no end.

"What were their names?"

He flinched hearing the words leave Jacob’s mouth.

"Why do you care?"

"I have a good memory. I’d hate for innocents such as them to be forgotten so easily. I will honor their memory when we win."

Zhou hesitated.

"Isobel and Judith."

"Two girls?"

"Two women. They were extraordinarily bright. They got that after their mother. Neither of them was like me, fortunately."

"You never told me before, were there really no survivors of this onslaught?"

"There was only one. And he is stationed at the only kingdom left standing in all of Monlo."

"Who?"

"General Stone stationed at Iron Kingdom. There is something there he needs to protect."

’Iron kingdom... home.’

"I am aware of what it is. That is all we require of you. We will be on our way."

Slimo finally broke free from Lidia’s grasp. He pulled out his large broadsword and walked up to the emperor. Zhou smiled darkly as Slimo got closer.

"Thank you."

Without wasting any time, Slimo threw down his sword with all his might, cutting Zhou’s head clean off and splitting the palace completely in half where it landed. He panted heavily and threw the cracked sword at Lucy and Bart.

"Fix it please."

All of them ran away from the now crumbling palace with an unreadable tension between each other. Slimo had finally gotten his revenge on the man who had cursed him so terribly in the past. However, Jacob thought of it more of a mercy for a man in such a pitiful state. He had a feeling Slimo thought the same after hearing of the fate of the man’s children.

Orvo put a hand on Jacob’s shoulder.

"Where are we going?"

Jacob smiled and looked at the carriage they were now approaching.

"We are going home."

Most of them piled in silently. Jacob called up to Harold.

"Do you know the way?"

Harold nodded and prepared to kick off, but Orvo stopped him.

"I will have to tell the military where we are heading. I will not be far behind, so get to Iron kingdom without me."

Jacob nodded. Everyone appeared to be walking at different paces out of the kingdom. Jacob didn’t even realize how fast he left. More than half of the group was still hidden behind the walls of the gate. Around ten minutes had passed before Lucy and Bart were the last of the pair to make it on. Lucy was helping carry Bart by supporting his arm.

"Slimo’s attack caused some rubble to hit his leg. I got lucky that I heard him calling for help before we left. He was limping as fast as he could towards me just a moment ago. To be honest, the sight of it was kind of funny!"

"Hey, not cool."

"Sorry! It’s true!"

"You almost left me! Everyone practically ran out of the palace!"

"Well, it was collapsing in our defense."

"Oh, it was? I didn’t notice!!"

Jacob chuckled slightly at the clever sarcasm made by Bart. He never heard him speak much but he seemed to have quite the sense of humor.

"Alright, we should be good to go. Orvo went to warn the military where we are heading so they will be on our tail in no time. Let’s all go home."

Harold zipped southward towards Iron Kingdom. It only took him six hours before he saw the familiar dark forest on his right and drained lake on his left. They seemed to be approaching straight at the front gate.

"We’re finally home. It almost doesn’t feel real that we were here just months ago."

Jacob held Maria’s hand.

"A lot has happened since then. We are different people now. We are stronger."

Maria squeezed his palm.

"Is it weird that I’m nervous? What if it’s a similar sight to the other kingdoms?"

"I think my mom’s power is still active so it may have bought them some time. There’s only one way to find out."

Their cart was just about to reach the front gate. Everyone could see civilians through the guards stationed at the front. Their kingdom was still spared... for now. They all cheered loudly in the cart.

"We’re still here!"

"That’s Iron Kingdom for you!"

"YAHH!! I’M GETTING HEATED JUST THINKING ABOUT!!"

"Calm down Zoey! You’re going to burn hole in the roof!"

"I get to cut my own things again!"

"My beautiful farms are waiting for me!"

"This is a really nice kingdom, Lidia. I’m very happy to see it-"

Suddenly, the cart exploded into thousands of small shards. Everyone was sent rolling across the grey dirt, including Abby who was completely blindsided by the attack. Harold threw off his harness and zipped next to her.

"ABBY!!"

He picked her up and studied her wounds. She was simply knocked unconscious. Harold looked in the direction they came from to see what had attacked them.

Soaring high into the sky was none other than one giant stone pillar.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!