"You may all stand " the king declared as they all stood. One of the guards restraining Val said, "My liege, this is the man." Val trembled, gazing up at the man, " Arthur le Sicuria, paramount head of the main family. I never thought I'd meet him," Val thought. "His aura is intensely daunting even though he's suppressing it. The minuscule amount seeping out could decimate an entire army. I'd never wish to engage him in combat."
The king glared piercingly at Val. "So you're the one called Val?" he interrogated. "Yes, sire," Val replied. The atmosphere turned extremely oppressive, barely permitting anyone to breathe. "Are you in charge of one of the progeny.....the one named Zoi?" the king queried. Everyone in the chamber trembled except a silver-haired woman seated beside the king. She smiled radiantly, eyes closed, with a mole beneath her left eye.
"Yes, sire," Val answered. "What transpired to him?" the king asked. Val answered with a trembling voice, "My king, upon my return to the residence, I informed the guards that young master Zoi had gone missing during his training and I was unable to locate him, my Lord."
He dared not even breathe heavily or drop a sweat as he stood before a supreme presence, a being capable of extinguishing his life at a whim. Suddenly, the pressure intensified as a murderous amount of aura radiated from the king, causing everyone present to fall to their knees, some even succumbing to the pressure and vomiting or laying flat on the ground. Yet, Val remained standing, the sheer force of the king's power pressing him deeper into the ground, but he refused to yield, knowing that to falter would end his fate.
The king's expression flickered with surprise at Val's unwavering resolve, his unshakeable composure. The only individuals immune to the pressure were the king himself and his wife, yet Val managed to remain standing, not even kneeling, his determination and loyalty propelling him forward. With great effort, Val raised his head, his eyes locking onto the king's, "If I may, I am prepared to accept any punishment you deem fit, my king."
Immediately, the king burst into laughter, the deadly aura dispersing. "Sorry for creating such a scene, anyways I like your resolve. It pains me to do this to an intriguing person like you, but the boy is also my son, so you have to suffer the consequences of losing him," the king said.
"The penalty for losing my son, whom you were assigned to watch over, is instant execution," the king stated. "But if this so-called son of mine turns out to be the one at fault for his disappearance, let's say for instance you gave him an instruction but he disobeyed or something, that kind of situation would make the penalty fall on him, not you. That is, if he returns or is found."
Val's eyes widened in shock as memories of how Zoi disobeyed him and ventured deeper into the forest. He suppressed the thought, closing his eyes, and sighed. "No, Your Majesty, I am the one at fault for his disappearance. Grant me your final judgement " Val said, surprising the king.
"I really respect you for your loyalty. I wish you were my guardian back in my days, but whatever it is, what it is," the king sighed, staring at Val intensely he said "You shall be executed on the day of the annual Awakening Ceremony, in front of all those present at the Thanatos residence's amphitheater, before the children start their game."
Immediately the guards grabbed Val about to take him away. "Oh right, and while you're still alive, take me to where you kept the so-called elf you brought." the king added as Val was taken away.
-ON MOUNT EGNOR-
The wolves' dead bodies were lined up before Zoi with Gunter and his other soldier beside him, each at both sides " good work guys, you did a good job clearing those other wolves " Zoi said as he patted their heads " alright let's begin.." Zoi paused as he walked forward towards the bodies "...AZON " he commanded as mana erupted from the wolves' bodies reforming them " congratulations you've resurrected ten grade 1 metal jaw wolves and one grade 2 as your soldiers, would you like to give the grade two a name." the system screen displayed " just put alfa " Zoi said " sorry I didn't get that, do you mean alpha or alfa. " " I said just put the fucking damn thing!!" Zoi yelled " the grade two metal jaw wolf has been registered as 'ALFA' and has been added to your elite forces." The system screen displayed " hey, why'd you write alfa like that?" Zoi asked " nothing, just wanted to emphasize on it " the system answered " you bastard you're trying to make fun of me aren't you!!" Zoi yelled.
Alfa looked bigger and stronger than before, now dragging strength with Zoi's cyber toothed tiger, it immediately began to growl and bark at the tiger attracting Zoi's attention, the tiger also began to bark back at the tiger " whoa, whoa, whoa, no fighting among my soldiers " Zoi said as he slipped his hand through them, separating them. The cyber-toothed tiger and metal jaw wolves are sworn enemies by nature, so there's no surprise there if they should fight with each other even after resurrection as Zoi's soldiers; the two ignored him, pushing themselves forward towards each other, still trying to go at it.
" I said no…" Zoi paused as he raised his two fists into the air and punched the two of them down into the ground "..fighting" he added, " the next time you fight each other …" Zoi paused as he stood straight "..you'll die a second time" Zoi threatened with murderous killing intent, instilling fear into their bodies, suddenly the two monsters nodded to each other, held themselves by the shoulder and gave Zoi a thumbs up "good boys" Zoi said nodding his head in approval, his killing intent already dissipated like mist before the morning sun.
Immediately the three soldiers melted like wax and went into his body through his chest " alright let's continue our mission " Zoi said a wide grin etched across his face
-SOME MINUTES LATER-
"Whoa seriously, it's already this late?" Zoi wondered as he stretched his hands, a yawn escaped from his lips as he stared at the moon. " The moon looks beautiful today, doesn't it?" Zoi asked, " yeah." The system answered " anyways, I'd say I've done a good job today, right, I might've actually outdone myself this time" Zoi wondered as he looked at his status screen.
He had finally reached level 15, Gunter was at 10, Alfa was at 8 and the cyber toothed tiger was at 6, with some other soldiers he newly gained, there were 9 cyber toothed tigers excluding his first, 2 giant wasps that were the size of an elephant, 5 metal jaw wolves and 4 undead knights " I really got a lot of things this time, I can use the materials to make some good equipment" Zoi chuckled " Lloyd just you wait, I'll kill you and your acquaintances in no time " he said as he rose his fist to the moon.