I might start going back and forth with Hardt and Hart since they're the same thing so if you see Hardt or Hart it's basically the same thing
***
Previously...
He was also on edge since Choi Han and the other's could come over here any moment. He just hopes it isn't now, but if it is he'll just have to pray.
Thankfully, courtesy to the God of Death the neckpiece he has on right now should block the scent from anyone who can sense ancient powers.
***
Deon looked to his right and spotted a group of assassins who were ready to attack him. Deon's heart started pounding even faster with the Unbreakable Shield ready to protect him. If he gets shot here it's over for him.
"Lofty Knights, we seem to have some guests."
Fuck it, he's not getting shot today. Getting shot hurts so why would he let the enemy harm him? Since he's already fucked up some of the plot he might as well fuck it up for real now.
"Make sure two are alive, we'll need to interrogate them." I also need to ask Jaykar if he was able to get any more information from the assassin.
"Got it!"
The Lofty Knights took out the drugs and swallowed them. Deon didn't really want them to use it but whatever works, as long as two people are still alive.
Afar from them was a group of two who were watching the conflict unfold. It was the King of Ileon and his close servant who watched the scene from afar in greed.
"That must be Deon Hardt right?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Judging by his white hair and red eyes it should be the third hero."
"If we file a complaint saying that they ambushed us we could be rewarded tremendously by the Empire..."
The King of Ileon was as greedy and prideful as his name suggests. He only did things that benefited him whether it was bad or good he would still do it.
"Your Majesty if I may."
"Go ahead."
"I believe it'd be best to get on the third hero's good side as he is one of the Emperor's favorites."
"Hoh... You are right. If we get on his good side we might get on the Emperor's good side as well."
The King of Ileon began to stare at Deon in greed, thinking about the mass amount of wealth and honor he would get from using Deon.
Unaware of the king's new plans, Deon shivered. He felt like something bad was going to happen to him.
'Ugh... Is someone praying on my downfall?'
Deon looked at the now bloody battlefield. He didn't like the sight of it but had to bear it since it was now recorded in his head.
"Captain we finished!"
The Lofty Knights rushed over to Deon who was still in clean clothes, surprisingly. They held up two of the assassins in their arms who were now tied up and threw them on the ground.
'Ah, what crazy ass people. They scare me.'
(They are literally loyal to you to the point they'd murder the emperor for you but go off)
"What is the meaning of this?!"
Deon quickly turned at the new voice to see the King of Ileon and his servant. Although they looked mad Deon could see a pool of greed in the king's eyes.
'Shit... This never happened..'
"Greetings Your Majesty."
"Hoh? You seem to recognize me, you may lift your head up."
Deon looked at the King of Ileon with suspicion. He knew something was up since the king had never gone down to the middle of the borders.
"Of course, I am a noble and citizen of the Empire. I should know common information." You're actually kind of irrelevant to me I just keep recording everything I see.
Deon gave out a bright smile which scared the Lofty Knights and Lianne as they'd never seen a smiling Deon that wasn't when he was murdering other people.
A creepy and wicked smile creeped up upon the king's face. Now that he looked at it, the king looked even worse than a dehydrated scrunched-up pig, maybe even worse than a boar.
That was how ugly the King of Ileon was, if he looked like the Emperor or the Demon King he would've understood the king's pridefulness but he was nowhere near the two men.
"You must be Deon Hardt of the Empire."
"That is correct." Please get away from me you look worse than Billos.
"Well, we must show some manners to our guests as you've been ambushed near our borders. Come and get them cleaned and treated!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The King of Ileon left with a smirk on his face that went unnoticed by the others except for Deon who noticed it right away.
***
"This is one of the palaces here, we will send you a carriage to go home shortly after a few days."
The servant excused himself. Leaving Deon and the rest of the Lofty Knights in front of a simple but sophisticated palace. Of course, it looked more shabbier than Deon's estate somehow.
"Why did that king even bring us here."
"For his benefit of course. If he develops a good relationship with us he could get a chance to meet with the Emperor and ask for a reward."
Deon drew the curtains, preventing any light from coming in. Doing this reminded him of his childhood.
"What's wrong, you seem dispirited."
A butterfly landed on the top of a flower in the guest room Deon was using. It of course immediately sucked the vitality out of the flower, causing it to wilt. Deon sweatdropped as he saw the flower wilt quickly as the butterfly ate it. Sometimes he was glad he became a saint even if he didn't like it, at least he wouldn't die to these vicious butterflies.
"Meeting royals is so tiring. At this point, I might even join the Revolutionary Army..."
Deon sighed as he laid on the bed. Hell, even the bed was uncomfortable. He''d rate this bed a negative number even and never come here again, but sadly he can't.
"Can you send this to the emperor? You should know how he looks, he has blonde hair and gold eyes if you forgot."
Deon handed over a small note to the butterfly who clasped it between it's legs and disappeared off.
'I should also find a way to relinquish my title. That'll be a huge step to being a slacker.'
But first, he should really check his surroundings. He came here blindly and defenselessly so he has a higher chance of getting assassinated here too, the least he could do is find an escape route.
Walking outside, Deon could hear maids looking at him and whispering. He could tell it was something bad about him. But he was already used to this, he endured this as Kim Rok Soo and Cale Henituse, who's to say he can't endure it as Deon even if he's more emotional now?
That was when Deon overheard something terrifying from a group of maids that made him understand the whispers and concerned gazes.
"That must be the third hero, I hope he doesn't run into the second prince. Things would end badly for him if he did."
"That's right... The prince has an extreme obsession with rabbits and birds with white fur and red eyes. If he ever were to lay eyes on the third hero..."
"The last woman he saw who had platinum blonde hair and pink eyes was found dead too..."
'Ah fuck, what's with this world centering things around me? Are you that desperate for me to die?! Are you sure you're watching over me?!'
Deon internally cried as he quickly walked past the maids to the main entrance of the palace. The safest place to be would be the lunatic Lofty Knights, they'd at least protect him from that crazy prince.
He really should've ran away the moment he had a chance to...
***
"Captain?! What're you doing here?"
"To protect myself from a crazy ass guy."
The Lofty Knights sweatdropped at the choice of words their captain used while the Royal Knights looked at Deon concerningly the moment they noticed his features and realized what he meant by that. They could only pray that the second prince wasn't going to come train today.
"Don't worry I'll just sit over there and watch you guys. I'm kind of a bag of luggage right now anyway." I was always luggage for people to hold in the beginning.
Deon went over to the bench and sat down making sure to pull down his hood even more so the sun wouldn't hit his skin since he wasn't wearing a mask right now. Thankfully, he was in the shade so the chances of that happening were lowered.
He could see most people struggling to fight the Lofty Knights due to their extreme fighting techniques. Every time a knight got up another went tumbling down by the Lofty Knights.
Later the break time for the knights came and everyone immediately fell down on the ground, excluding the Lofty Knights, their endurance and stamina went beyond his imagination.
Deon could see a knight leave for a brief moment before coming back with a drink and handed it over to him. Deon picked up the glass of what seemed to be juice and drank out of it. He didn't know why the knight did that but if it did contain an aphrodisiac or any type of poison it wouldn't take any effect on him thanks to Vitality of the Heart.
'Oh? is this a sleeping pill? I'm guessing the second prince ordered him to do this but too bad I'm gonna stay here until I die.'
He could only conclude the sleeping pill came from the second prince seeing how the king only wants to build a relationship out of greed with the Empire. That second prince is a bit of a nut crack isn't he? Why is he trying to start a feud between two nations?
'I'm so thankful for the Heart of Vitality...'
He really was, it was the ancient power that helped him survive all of those years during the war with the White Star and to his imprisonment.
Deon looked up and could notice a red butterfly fly towards him and landed on his leg. It fluttered it's wings slowly as if it was tired.
'You must be hungry.'
Deon cut his pinky a little with the corner of the bench and held it out to the butterfly to feed on. The Lofty Knights picked up the smell of blood and immediately looked over to Deon but saw that nothing was going on.
Were they going insane? Why is there a faint smell of blood on their captain, where was it coming from, and why was it happening?
'They're probably thinking why there's the smell of blood here if no one here is hurt...'
Deon looked back at the Lofty Knights who were staring at him with a smile making the Lofty Knights shiver at the smile on their captain's face.
"My child."
'God of Death?'
"We've tried everything we could but, the world has already deemed them as wanderers. It will be hard to prevent them from coming here so please be prepared."
'Damn it... I don't want to meet them..'
Deon bit his lip harshly, causing blood to flow out from his lips. His mood was already bad with the second prince trying to knock him out for whatever reason there was and now his family were considered as wanderers that could come here any moment?
This might be his worst day ever.
"Haah..."
Deon sighed, maybe he should tell Cruel? Would he believe him, he wasn't sure at all. It might be best to keep this a secret though, he can't risk getting others involved in his problem.
(please just tell him for the sake of your life...)
'It seems the poison is completely gone. I can go now.'
Deon felt much lighter than before ignoring the blood that was slowly rising from his throat. He was used to this though, it was just the after effect of the Heart of Vitality working it wasn't that serious.
Deon quickly got up and exited the training grounds to return to his room. He should get out before he pukes up blood in front of everyone. He didn't feel like explaining everything to them either.
***
"Cough- cough!"
Deon spit out blood from his mouth as he sat on the ground.
'I feel more refreshed now.'
Wiping the blood that leaked through his hands, Deon was interrupted by a knock on his door which made him annoyed.
'Why does everyone interrupt my alone time? What did I do to deserve this, please I just want to have a peaceful slacker life!'
Deon felt like crying as he opened the door to see a brown haired man who had a similar eye color to the king.
'Fuck... Fuck my life, I hate you so much God of Death.'
This was definitely the second prince who had some weird obsession over rabbits. He doesn't even want to know why the prince had an obsession over birds and rabbits, just leave him out of it he isn't an animal!
"You must be the infamous Deon Hardt, third hero of the Empire."
The man smirked with a glint of creepiness in his eyes as he checked Deon out. This irritated Deon in so much ways, first off he hates people who act or talk like this. It annoyed him a lot.
"That's right, although I don't what that has to do with you though?"
It was an honest question, what did the prince have to do with him other than his crazy obsession over rabbits? What did he possibly do for the prince to be so hellbent on possessing him?
"I was just hoping if we could have some tea together."
"Is that so?"
'Tea my fucking ass.'
Deon looked at the prince with an emotionless face. Making hard for the prince to discern what he was thinking at the moment. This was an art Deon mastered in; masking ones emotions and face, appear as strong as you can be for survival.
Sometimes bluffing can even save your life.
"Well, I'm busy and have to return soon. I don't have time for tea." I just refuse to be around your weird ass.
One thing he knew was that people who try to knock others out with drinks are dangerous and he should get away from them as soon as possible. Too bad that wasn't a choice here.
'Reminds me of when I got locked in my room.'
Deon thought about the time when he ate food right after finishing the war with the White Star he immediately blacked out, only to open his eyes to his room except that there were restraints on his hands that restricted him from using his powers.
"That's such a shame, then I hope we can become friends soon."
Deon dropped to the ground right after the prince left. Holy shit, that prince was seriously batshit. He could see the malicious look just in the eyes alone no need to find evidence, his face is enough evidence for that.
'When will I be picked up...'
***
Eduardo was working in his office when he spotted a red butterfly in the room.
'This red color... a death butterfly? What is it doing here, did that duke manage to find a way to control them when even the Demon King couldn't?'
He looked at the red butterfly who flew right onto his desk then placed a note there and seemed to be waiting for him. This confused Eduardo, he could tell the butterfly was being commanded by someone but who was it?
Eduardo picked up the note and unfolded it to see the message.
At King Ileon's palace. Get me out.
He could tell who it was right off the bat just by the choice of words and handwriting. It was Deon Hardt, one of the most talented people on his field.
"He must've met that second prince already, I hope he makes it out without a marriage proposal being sent to my way."
Eduardo picked up a pen and wrote on the note. He should at least send some people to pick him up right?
'Hmmm, what about Cruel Hardt?'
He knew the two weren't on the best terms but he still decided to send him. He didn't know why but he felt like it might be a good decision.
Eduardo gave the note to the butterfly which then disappeared off as if it never existed in the first place, this made Eduardo think of Deon in a new light.
Did he perhaps find a way to control these demonic beasts? If so, they could maybe use it to their advantage.
Ah, he should call Cruel in now. After all the notorious Deon Hardt is desperately asking for help when usually he doesn't.
***
eughhhhh idk what im doing anymore......😔😔😔
does anyone know how to plan out a fanfic