Zetsumei

Chapter 69. Excalibur's Chosen King

When we cross over the platinum kingdom, we were greeted by Mage knights who pointed swords and spears at us. The knight that commanded them had brown hair and wields a sharp spear. He was dressed in a clad of armor with a blue scarf draped to one side.

Brown-haired knight: Now...you can either come quietly or we'll do this the hard way.

I looked at Soren and he shook his head. Unaware of what's happening, we decided to not resist and follow these knights towards the platinum castle. Upon our arrival, a girl with long silver hair approached the brown haired knight. She was also a knight with a long sword strapped to her back.

Silver hair knight girl: Raymond, release them. He is not the one we're looking for.

Raymond: Captain, I have a good feeling about that Mage with the diamond mark. It has to be him.

Silver hair knight girl: (sigh) I dunno...maybe I should report this to the commander.

Raymond: Shall I also report this to the princess?

Silver hair knight girl: Mm..yeah, that would be best. Ingus, can you lead our guest to the waiting room.

Ingus: Yes captain.

The knight named Ingus guided us into the castle and into a empty room. He had black hair, blue eyes, and metal gauntlet on each arm. He was also a dualblader with two daggers. One blue and one red. Ingus closed to door and guarded it from the outside as if to make sure we don't escape.

Zelphi: Hey, Soren, any idea what going on right now?

Soren: If it's anything, I bet this has something to do with Merlin. I can be sure of that much.

Just then, the door slammed open and a man with gray color hair and blue eyes ran in and tackled Soren with a hug.

?? Man: (happy) Merlin! You're back! I've missed you man, where've you been?!

Soren: (struggling) (irritated) Please...get off.

?? Man: Aww c'mon Merlin, don't be like that. It's just like old times.

Just then Soren open his book and use his winds to force the man off. The man recoiled and fell to the floor...laughing.

Soren: Pardon my rudeness, but I dislike being touched by others.

?? Man: Hahaha!! Boy, you haven't changed a bit Merlin!

Soren: And another thing, does Merlin share the same features as I do? You've been calling me that lately.

?? Man: Huh? No way, you're telling me that you're not him?!

Soren: Do you not recognize Merlin even though you know him?

?? Man: No! I mean yeah! I mean-! Aw..never mind. It's just that, well, Merlin is call the "branded lie". He changes his appearance frequently so it's almost impossible to tell who he is. I sorta got excited when I saw the diamond mark on you, Merlin also has one too!

Soren: I see now, witches and wizards do tend to play tricks, and he is also a branded like I am.

Just then, two girls and a guy went into the room. The ?? Man turned around and smiled nervously at the girl with long gray hair.

?? Man: H-Hey there big sis..

The girl with long gray color hair and blue eyes looked at the ?? Man in disapproval.

Gray hair girl: Arthur, what are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be studying?

Arthur: I couldn't help it! Everyone was saying that they found someone who might be Merlin and I just had to see for myself!

Gray hair girl: (serious) Arthur, this is not the time to be goofing off. Zephiel has rise and plague this land with creature that will soon overrun this entire world. Your worries should be on formalities, studying, and practice on your swords play. Your coming of age is only a few months away. You have to perfect your skills in order to draw the sacred weapon. We'll deal with finding Merlin but you have to focus on what's important at the moment.

Arthur:...Alright Guinevere. (What use is it anyway?! It's not like I'll be able to pull out Excalibur. It can't be done! All of our ancestors failed! What makes her think I'll be able to do it when she failed as well!)

Arthur exited the room with Ingus escorting him. After that, the gray hair girl turned her attention towards Soren.

Guinevere: Do not lie to me stranger, and tell me..are you Merlin?

Soren: No.

Guinevere: How can I believe your words? Merlin is known for his lies and deceptions.

Soren: Even so, he can never cover up or hide the diamond mark on his body. That mark will remain there even if he changes his appearance.

Guinevere: I bid you good day then. Astrid, show them their way out.

Astrid: Yes ma'am

Soren: Just a minute, before we leave, might I ask you a question princess.

Guinevere: Speak.

Soren: I notice that the people here seem to accept "The branded", why is that? And also, why are you trying to find him?

Guinevere: You're mistaken, we do not accept the branded..well perhaps my little brother does....Arthur coming of age is approaching, on his 18th birthday, he will be granted a chance to wield our sacred weapon.

Soren: I've heard about the platinum kingdom's sacred weapon, Excalibur. The wielder is represented as the one true king. That sword can cut through almost anything. However, I've heard that Excalibur hasn't been used ever since Zephiel was sealed away.

Guinevere: Yes..all my ancestors have tried to wield it but Excalibur rejected them all, that includes me too. The sacred weapon is passed to the first born in line of royalty. If by some chance you are not deemed worthy, then it is passed onto the second born. However, Excalibur is rather picky, it's been 3000 years since it's been last used. King Uther Pendragon may as well be the first and last wielder of Excalibur.

Soren: What does all of this have to do with Merlin?

Guinevere: He appeared one day and offered guidance to us. He told us that Arthur will become the one true king that wields Excalibur once more like king Uther did. I refused at first but once I heard the news about Zephiel's awakening, I seek out Merlin. Once we found him, Merlin taught Arthur the ways of the king and Arthur became attached to him. But after the first portal opened in our land, Merlin suddenly disappear.

Soren: Did he say where he was going?

Guinevere: He left without a word and took a book along with him.

Soren: Book? What is it about?

Guinevere: Glyphs. It was a book that helps you translate ancient glyphs.

Soren: There must be a purpose to it. (Deep thought) Hm.....

Soren closes his eyes in deep thought, there was silence in the room. After a few seconds, Soren's eyes shot open as if he had discover something.

Soren: I have decided, we're going to the Genspenst Ruins.

Zelphi: Huh? Why there.

Soren: Isn't it obvious? We're going there to find Merlin.

Zelphi: What? Really!

Soren: Yes, but I'm not certain that he's still there. But did you know? The Genspenst Ruins is known to be a place that connects this world to the other side. But now, that place is reduced to ruins, Zephiel destroyed it 3000 years ago during his rampage. It's a very historical place but people believe that it's haunted so they tend to stay away from there. I believe there are some glyphs written on the wall so that must be where Merlin is.

Zelphi: Is that so? Then that's where we'll go next. Ghost and scary stuff don't scare demons anyway.