Derivan began to regain consciousness. When he looked around, he noticed that he was in some kind of cell.
"Where am I?"
"You've finally woken up," said an unfamiliar voice belonging to a young boy, not much older than Derivan.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Harry Wendo."
"Why are you locked up here?"
"As it happens, I'm a prince and I was supposed to become the king of this kingdom, but someone got in the way."
Derivan raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"One day, a man arrived in my kingdom who did everything he could to prevent me from becoming king. When my father fell seriously ill, I was temporarily appointed as his successor. That's when strange things began to happen robberies, fires. It looked as if someone wanted to show that I couldn't handle ruling."
"Do you know who might be behind it?"
"Most likely the current king had a hand in it. He appeared out of nowhere and suggested himself as a candidate."
"But didn't anyone find it suspicious that an unknown person would run for king?"
"Apparently there was some unknown man with him, wearing glasses. When he took them off, everyone started behaving differently," Harry added, surprising the teenager.
"A man with glasses… could that have been Borner?" Derivan thought.
"Did something happen?" Harry noticed the strange look on Derivan's face.
"No, nothing. It's just that the person you're talking about reminds me of someone I know. That guy also caused trouble in my city, Kasegi."
Harry was surprised to hear the mention of Kasegi. "You're from the Kingdom of Kasegi? Amazing. I was there only once with my father, when I was four," he admitted excitedly.
"I was from there. Unfortunately, I was exiled for something I didn't do, or at least don't remember doing."
"Really?"
Derivan only nodded. "Yes, and that's why I travel the world, trying to find a new place. One time I fell asleep somewhere in a forest, and the next day I woke up in Morez's hideout."
The name Morez surprised the prince. "You were at Morez's academy?"
"Yes. Have you heard of that place?"
"The academy was founded a few days after the new king, called Idejak, took power. He proposed creating an academy that would train kids into powerful warriors."
"That Idejak guy seems to be turning the kingdom for the worse."
"That's an understatement. He caused the city's name to be changed to Dedho, which literally means 'dead hope.' He also contributed to isolating our state from the rest of the world and breaking all alliances." Harry clenched his fists. "I would really like to overthrow him and take power to restore the Kingdom of Brekin to normal."
"I'll do everything in my power but first we have to get out of here somehow."
Meanwhile, Nohara began her training with Barkut. The girl was out of breath and had several bruises.
"You know, some mages had to come to the brink of death to awaken their potential. Are you sure you want to continue this training?" Barkut asked.
"Of course. I didn't come this far just to back out now," Nohara replied, making a smile appear on the man's face.
"Good. That's what I wanted to hear."
Barkut created a dozen magical circles, from which many magical spikes shot out. Nohara started running sideways, dodging the spikes. At one point, one of them grazed her arm.
"Damn it."
She couldn't afford to stop now. After a moment, the red-haired teenager noticed a tree. She decided to use it she ran up to it and performed a flip, causing the spikes to hit the tree instead.
"Good move," Barkut praised.
"Thanks."
"Alright, now let's see what you say to this."
Energy projectiles began firing from Barkut's magical circles. Using her ice magic, Nohara created a huge, wide pillar in front of her, using most of her chakra to do so.
"That pillar is good against ordinary attacks, but mine can easily destroy it," Barkut stated as his projectiles shattered Nohara's pillar.
"Damn, this old man is really strong," Nohara thought as she moved away from the area.
Nohara jumped into the air, extending her hands toward Barkut. She then created a dozen ice icicles in front of her and fired them at the man.
"You really handle your ice magic excellently. If your opponent were someone else, you'd surely win," the man praised, effortlessly destroying the icicles with his magical projectiles.
Then Barkut fired a shockwave. Nohara did nothing but raise her guard; nevertheless, the attack knocked her to the ground.
"Maybe that's enough for today we've been training for several days."
"No, I can still fight." Nohara barely managed, but she was still able to get up and stand her ground.
Her zeal and determination truly impressed Barkut.
"Heh, you really take after your grandfather. Well then if you still want to continue, we continue," Barkut admitted, once again firing a barrage of magical projectiles.
Nohara began running backward and dodging. Although fatigue was catching up with her, after a moment she reached a dead end.
"Damn it."
Barkut's attacks were getting closer and closer. Suddenly, Nohara's brown eyes turned purple with a strange symbol, and Barkut's projectiles became covered in purple crystals.
"So you finally managed to awaken it," Barkut commented with a proud smile.
A moment later, Nohara collapsed unconscious onto the ground. Fortunately, Barkut appeared in front of her at the last second and saved her from hitting the ground.
"Majok, you can be proud of your granddaughter. This girl has the potential to surpass the entire Hokane lineage in the future," Barkut thought, looking at the unconscious Nohara.
A guard came to the cell where Derivan was being held and took him away.
"Hey, where are you dragging me?"
"Shut up. You'll see."
Soon they arrived in front of the city hall, where a crowd of residents had gathered. The guard shoved Derivan in front of them. Then the teenager noticed the heads of the kids who had been with him in Morez's hideout, hanging on chains.
"No…"
"Look at them. These kids are deserters who tried to escape from my academy. Fortunately, they weren't hard to find. Let this be a lesson to you not to oppose the king. There is one more person to be punished."
The knights brought Marta forward and led her to the guillotine.
"Marta…" Derivan said quietly, clenching his fists as he watched the knights place the girl's head beneath the blade.
Marta spotted Derivan in front of the crowd, and a small smile appeared on her face.
"Do you have any last words?" Morez asked.
"No."
"Drop the guillotine."
Derivan's eyes widened as Marta's head was severed. "You bastard you'll pay for this," he said coldly.
A dark purple aura began to form around Derivan's body. His fingernails turned into demonic claws; fangs grew. His ears became more pointed, his pupils turned red, dark circles appeared around his eyes, and his hair stood on end. Suddenly, a powerful shockwave erupted, throwing everyone nearby away from the teenager.
"W-what is this power?" Morez commented in shock.
The king himself, however, seemed pleased. "It looks like my suspicions were correct."