Saga of Slime and Devil (Remake)

Vol 3 | Epilogue

The king watched as the general moved and added several markers to places on the map as he explained where Tempest's armies were. In summary, they were everywhere, and there wasn't much they could do to stop it. They had no human in their camp that could annihilate everything all at once.

Waving his hand, Edmarius muttered, "If Rerugen attacks, everything will be alright..."

Rerugen and the Aerial Mage Battalion under his command were their primary hopes of pulling through. They were the elites among the elites within Falmuth's newly expanded and modernized army, capable of decimating hundreds within minutes. If there were any people who stood a decent chance at repelling Tempest's attacks and allowing for a withdrawal back to Falmuth, it would be them.

The generals and advisors went silent, nervously glancing around the room as General Kieth muttered, "My Lord... Rerugen..."

As the Kieth hesitated, the second general, this one a loyal noble to the crown named John, continued, "Rerugen has defected. The attack didn't take place."

The king sat in silence, his hand coming up to his glasses, shaking vigorously as he slowly took them off, placing them back on the table. After a few moments of further silence, he spoke, "The following stay here: Rayheim, Razen, Kieth, and John."

The room went silent as the dozens of officers left the room, leaving only the four ordered to stay, who stood in silence, staring down at their not-so-royal King.

Edmarius slammed his fist against the table, yelling, "That was an order! Rerugen's attack was an order! How dare you ignore my orders?! Is this what it has come to?! The military has been lying to me! Even the church!" The king stood up, slouching over as he continued to holler, "The generals are no more than a bunch of disloyal cowards!"

In the midst of King Edmarius' ramblings, Kieth interjected, "My Lord, I can't permit you to insult the soldiers-"

"-Cowards, traitors, and incompetents!" The King continued shouting, waving his glasses at Kieth.

Kieth again muttered, "My Lord, this is outrageous-"

"The generals are the scum of the Kingdom of Falmuth! No sense of honor! You call yourself general because you spent years at the academy, where you only learnt to use knife and fork! For years, the church obstructed me! All you ever did is thwart me! I should've had all the high-ranking priests kicked out of government as Blumund did!"

The king sat down yet again, rocking in his chair, visibly distressed as his voice toned down, though remained filled with anger, "I never went to any academy. But I got this far on my own... Traitors! I've been betrayed and deceived from the start! Such enormous betrayal of the Kingdom of Falmuth! But all these traitors will pay with their own blood. They will drown in their own blood!"

The king slouched down once more as he silently muttered, the others watching on, "My orders have been ignored. How can I be a king under these circumstances? It's over. The war is lost. But if you think this means that I'll leave my encampment, you're wrong. I'd rather stab a sword through my chest. Do what you want."

The king waved his hand as those around him slowly filtered out of the room. He sat in silence for a few moments, eventually standing up and staring at his sword leaning against the table. He picked it up and gazed at his reflection in the shine of the blade. His lord had offered him greatness, victory, an empire, all that he could ever want! Yet here he stood, surrounded and out of options, losing one pawn after another. His hopes of sitting as a mighty emperor above all by the will of the lord had been utterly crushed, decimated into smithereens. His death was inevitable, but he wouldn't give the damn monsters and traitors the satisfaction of killing him in their names of 'justice.'