The overwhelming silence of the throne room made Alexander anxious, the stares of the nobles made him both angry and prideful. About 30 nobles were sitted in that room, and most of them only had hatred for the prince but some saw him as a leader who was just as corrupt as his father, so they liked him because they thought he would make them richer. Even though he felt fear he tried his best to walk with dignity and look like the prince he was transmigrated into. The thing that kept him moving though was the hatred he felt towards these same people. When he looked in front he saw a man sitting on the throne. This man had white hair like his and a scar on his left cheek. This man was king George the third, and he was the tyrant that sent him and his friends to die in a futile war, and he wanted nothing but to see this man dead.
"Presenting the great prince of Lunira, the slayer of dragons and heir to the throne, Alexander Ademus," a knight said with an overly exaggerated introduction. Every noble in the room stood up and bowed. This was a sight he never thought he would see in his lifetime, nobles bowing to him.
"You called for me, father?" He said as he got on one knee. The king leaned forward and the fear from every noble in the room could be felt, as they knew their king was an unpredictable fool who would kill anyone in a heartbeat, even his own son.
"How did the purging of Asmera village go? I hope you did not disappoint me, Alexander," the king said in cold, lifeless voice. Alexander did not know how to answer the question because he knew that the mission had failed and it got the original Alexander killed. But was the king willing to kill his own son? He thought to himself, but he didn’t want to find out the answer so he told him the truth.
"I’m sorry father, but I did not complete the mission. When I arrived at Asmera I found every villager dead, and demons were eating their corpses. I lost all my men and barely escaped with my life," he said, and all this was the truth. These were the last memories of the former Alexander before he died. Every noble in the room could be heard whispering as the very mention of demons frightened them.
"Demons? W-we haven’t seen demons in this part of the kingdom since Merlin banished Arakiel. What could they want now?" The king said in fear. Everyone in the room continued screaming at the top of their lungs out of fear, and the first suggestion they all agreed on was sending the peasants to fight this battle.
"Send the peasants my lord. We can not risk our knights being away from the kingdom at a time like this," a largely built man said, and the other nobles proudly agreed. Alexander could only clench his fist in anger. He stayed composed as not to alarm anyone in the room.
"If I may speak, father. If you give me a chance I can banish those demons from our land, with the help of the great wizard Merlin of course," Alexander said and everyone in the room looked at him in confusion. It wasn’t like him to volunteer to be on the frontline where danger lurked. Everyone knew him as the cowardly prince who only knew of drinking and sleeping with "whores" as they called them.
"I do not give orders to the great wizard. He does as he pleases, so if you need his help you should ask him yourself," the king replied. Who was Merlin that even a tyrant king could not order around? Alexander thought to himself.
"Alright father. I will do as you say. May I may be excused?" Alexander said, and the king gestured for him to leave. As he was walking out the door, he bumped into the wizard. "Ouch. Oh great wizard it’s you. Sorry for that," Alexander said as he rubbed his head.
"Why so formal, prince Alexander? Just call me Merlin," he said with a smile. The man had a different kind of aura around him, unlike all the people Alexander had met since he transmigrated into the prince, this man was actually kind. He had the eyes of a man who had experienced so much, but yet he chose to be kind.
"Alright, Merlin. It’s nice that I bumped into you, I was coming to talk to you. I need your assistance to get rid of the demons in Asmera village."
"Alright, my prince, as you wish. I will be on my way there," Merlin answered and started walking away before Alexander pulled at his silk robe. Merlin turned around in confusion. "Is there anything else I can help you with, my prince?"
"Yes. Firstly just call me Alexander from now on, and secondly I wish to accompany you on this mission," Alexander said and all Merlin did was stare at him in confusion and just smiled.
"Alright, Alexander. Do not slow me down and make sure not to get killed," Merlin said as he pulled his robe from Alexander’s hand and summoned a magic staff which was as tall as a full grown man. This man was considered the greatest wizard in the kingdom, a man who single handedly defeated one of the fallen, Arakiel the Duke of hell. Merlin was so worldly known that parents would tell stories about him to inspire their kids, and Alexander couldn’t believe he was about to fight beside him.
"Don’t forget to carry a sword and wear your armor," Merlin said to Alexander.
In his previous life, Alexander was considered to be a good swordsman, but he had never faced off against demons so this frightened him. The noble bloodline had something most of the peasants lacked and that was the ability to use magic. So this new body of his had magic, so he just had to learn how to use it. When he finished preparing his things he asked the wizard an important question. "Merlin, I seem to have hit my head a bit too hard. What class of magic user am I again? Augmenter or sorcerer?" He asked, hoping his question wouldn’t seem too suspicious.
"Oh. You are an augmenter. You have one of the greatest gifts, and that gift is to strengthen your body to superhuman levels, and you can even take down a dragon if you train hard enough," Merlin explained, and winked at the young prince. "Now let’s go. Hold on to my hand and don’t let go," Merlin said as he put out his hand for Alexander who hesitatingly took it, and as soon as he held Merlin’s hand reality started warping. In an instant they had teleported from the castle to the village of Asmera. Alexander was mesmerized at what magic was capable of, and Merlin could see the sparkle in his eyes and he couldn’t help but smile.
"We are here. Keep your guard u-" a spear flying at supersonic speed flew over their heads and interrupted Merlin. When they looked at who flew it they saw a demon, it’s skin was pale white, and two horns were protruding from its forehead and its face was just blank with no mouth, eyes or nose. The magical energy this creature possessed was enough to make the strongest of knights shit themselves, so Merlin was confused on why the ’cowardly’ prince wasn’t scared of this abomination.
’Weakness. What are weak creatures such as yourselves doing here?’ A voice echoed in the minds of Merlin and Alexander.
"How is it talking to us? It has no mouth to speak with," Alexander asked as he was slowly reaching for his sword strapped around his waist.
"These creatures have the ability of telepathy. Their creator wasn’t a kind being, and he didn’t want his subjects to question him so he made them without the ability to speak," Merlin answered. "They are known as the demonoids. Sinners who died in this world and now they are cursed to serve the fallen ones for all eternity, but lucky for us they are the weakest among demon kind."
"Weak? How dare yo-" Isaac vanished from sight and the creature was cut in half before it could even finish its sentence. When Alexander looked at his sword strap it was empty, and his sword had disappeared. Things happened too fast for him to even follow, and when he finally looked at Merlin he saw him holding his sword and the demon cut in half. What kind of wizard is this good with a sword? He thought, but nothing Merlin could do would surprise him anymore because the man truly lived up to his reputation.
Merlin handed the sword back to Alexander. "Don’t lose it again," he poked fun at the young prince.
Clicks of water droplets could be heard coming from one of the houses in the village, and when they got inside the house they saw a young boy lying on the ground face down, and his back was covered in blood and scars which seemed to have been intentionally carved by someone. The scars looked like symbols usually used in summoning rituals.
Alexander rushed to check on the boy but he was curious about the strange symbols on the boy body. "He’s still breathing. Did the demons do this to him? And what are these strange symbols on his body?" He asked, but when he looked at Merlin he saw a man who was horrified and scared. And he never thought he could see such a man look this frightened. Merlin was staring at the young boy like he was a demon.
"Carry the child and let’s go back to the castle," Merlin said. Alexander carried the child on his back and they ran outside, but as soon as they stepped outside they felt a great pressure of magic and Alexander collapsed to the ground. Merlin managed to stand firm and withstood that great pressure of magic, but when he stared into the sky he saw thousands of demons falling out of a huge portal and right down to the kingdom of Lunira.