While Nefion caused a commotion showcasing his power, Arthur was in a peaceful state of mind as he practiced his skills. He slashed using his enchanted sword. And he also tried his best to get used to the techniques Nefion taught him.

Hily watched everything from the sides with a mesmerizing face. She was only a servant, powerless. But she wanted things to change. Hily dreamed of the day she could protect herself. Maybe a day where she would have similar powers as Arthur.

Arthur had no idea, but Hily wanted to flee with him after the mess. She hated being stuck inside the palace and working to the bones. There was a gigantic and beautiful world for her to explore.

“Hey, Arthur,” Hily said.

Arthur practiced his sword moves, and sweat dripped from his forehead. One slash, then another. The most important part was how one uses its feet to draw power to all of the attacks. Wisa said that to him, so Arthur was starting to understand.

“Hey.” Arthur needed some rest, and Hily wanted to talk, so it was a perfect time. He sat beside her as he drank a mug of water.

“I want to come with you.”

“What?”

“Before saying no, hear me out.”

Arthur stopped and listened to her carefully.

“Let’s assume our plan goes well. The other from the royal family will be wondering how that happened. They will investigate, and I’m sure they will find out I helped you.”

“I’ll be dead, Arthur. I don’t want to die before getting to know the world. All of my days are monotonous inside this damned place. You showing up shook things, and it was the best thing that happened to me in a while. Please, consider taking me in?”

Arthur gazed at her and pondered. Hily’s words were not pointless, and Arthur knew the royal family would find her in a matter of days. But if she went if him, dangers would still be at every corner. Hily wasn’t strong enough to help in battle, so what should Arthur do?

The first thing that came to his mind was to train her. But he was not proficient enough. Arthur needed to improve his strength.

.

Before Arthur could answer, Nefion appeared out of a sudden.

“Damn, you returned? How long has it been? one and a half hours? You know how to fly and did not tell us?”

“Brat, I went using these two bad boys,” Nefion slapped both of his legs.

“It is a shame kids nowadays had no resistance.”

“Anyway, you two, listen. I talked with that Marget, and we came up with a plan. Listen carefully.”

~~~~

Marget could not help them directly as fleeing with them. She had a place to run and a lot of students to teach. But that did not mean she couldn’t help her disciple, Jane.

There was a port near the palace. It would take them one day at maximum to get there. Marget gave Nefion money to get themselves a ship and use it to flee to the open sea.

Not only that, but two of the academy’s teachers quit and said they would go with them. Wisa, and Myria. Nefion brought the two of them with him.

“What? My teachers are the best. Where are they, anyway?”

“They went to the port to get us a ship and prepare everything once we get there. Kid, you’ll flee with Jane, Wisa, Myria, and,” Nefion got interrupted by Hily.

“And me, I’ll go too.”

“You? Hm. Come here.”

Hily was startled, but she still went toward Nefion. He grabbed her arm, and within a second, he said something spectacular.

“You have a talent for magic, kid. You have a small mana core of the ice attribute, and if you work hard, you can become a powerful mage.”

Hily’s knees got weaker, and she fell. Tears streamed down her face, and she was happy. She could learn magic and become strong enough to explore the vast world. She could go with Arthur.

“Oh, and Arthur, I was so focused on the teachers that I forgot something. Someone called Lilia also came. That’s right. This old man carried three beauties with his strong arms.”

“Lilia also came? That’s good news. But Nefion, will you come with us?”

“I can’t, kid. I’ll try my best to buy time for all of you. But don’t worry, there is no way they can catch me, so I’ll be fine.”

“Now, how should we attract them?” Nefion said.

“I may have a plan.”

Both Nefion and Hily went silent, waiting for Arthur to talk. But maybe he was waiting for some reply.

“Spill it out, kid.”

“Okay, okay. Most people inside this palace don’t even know about your existence.”

“Correct. In recent years no guard even saw me. I always stood in the shadows and ate once they left.”

“So, let’s say someone goes down the cell to check if I escaped and saw no one. The guard wouldn’t know you also scaped.”

“Hm, I see where you are going, but please, continue.”

“Hily can go to the guards and say I seek her out for help after leaving the cell. They will check the cell and will not see me there. They will also check my room and see most of my things gone. Once they catch me, it is your time to act, Nefion.”

“Wait. You’ll let the royal family get you?”

“Of course. You see, I was being locked up because I’m a suspect. If I ran, they will mark me as the killer. So the guards will not throw me inside the cell again but in front of the king,”

“No way only the king will be there, but also all of the royal family. You’ll have a chance to kill all the people corrupted by the demon.”

“That’s… You impressed me, kid. My old brain wouldn’t ever go that far in thinking.”

“But Nefion, did you find Jane?” Arthur said.

“Oh, I did. Jane is inside the west tower. Look,” Nefion went to the wall of his secret room and pushed another book.

“There’s a secret tunnel here that leads us outside, behind the palace. It is in the direction of the port, and we can have the upper hand. You, Hily, and Jane will flee using this place.”

“All right, let’s go.”

~~~~

Hily walked through the hallway and spotted the chief of the guards. She decided to talk with him about Arthur.

“Excuse me, Sir captain. I have something to tell you.”

“Oh, hello, Hily. Sure, what is it?”

~~~~

“Captain, he’s not here in the cell. Hily is right, shall we prepare to catch him?”

“Yes, prepare all of our forces.”

Hilly told them Arthur sought her out for help, and she hid him in the kitchen. But she wouldn’t betray the palace, so she told them where he was hiding.

The guards busted the kitchen door open and ran directly at another door that led to the storage room.

“Arthur, surrender. We know you’re in here, behind these crates. Surrender now!”

“All right, all right. I’m here!” Arthur had his hands up, and he surrendered.

Arthur was right. They did not send him to the cell but to the throne room. The royal family was already there, waiting for Arthur. It was time to judge all of his actions and grant him a merciful death.

He had chains around his feet and hands. The guards shouted ‘move’ and pushed him to the throne room. It was a tense atmosphere with all of these looks on him.

“So, you’re Arthur?” Barion said.

“Yes.”

“You know why you are here?”

“Honestly, no.”

Barion tapped his fingers, examining Arthur.

“You did not kill my son, Jonan?”

“I didn’t.”

“Bullshit! He died right after you showed up in this palace. We locked you, and yet you ran. If you are so innocent as you say, why would you run?”

“I ran so you guys would bring me here, and I could see Eleonora’s face once again. Ahh, she is so pretty. Are you sure she is truly your daughter? I mean, your face looks like my ass.”

Barion got up from his throne and yelled.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY? You are a brave lad, to come here and say this to me. You know what, forget about the merciful death. I’ll torture you now, and you’ll regret your words.”

Everyone inside the room was shocked. Arthur was not afraid of dying to be able to say these things to the king. Eleonora watched everything and could not understand why Arthur was doing it. She thought he was innocent.

Nefion hid in the shadows while that happened, scanning both the king and the other prince. It was true, both of them had demonic energy within, and just the fact Barion was alive and well after Nefion killed him proved that something was up.

“Damn, this brat is good with words, HAHAHA. Don’t worry, brat, they will not torture you while I’m here.”

Barion had enough, and he ordered the guards to get Arthur and throw him in the cell and torture him. But as soon as the guards got closer to Arthur, all of them got cut in half, like tomatoes.

Blood spurted everywhere. The floor was filled with organs of those guards who got cut in half. Everyone had their hands on their mouths, afraid of what could happen to them.

Nefion next move was to kill the prince, so he did. It was a slash no one could see, and in the next second, the prince was cut into 28 pieces.

“It’s been a long time, son. Or should I say, demon?”

Nefion appeared, facing the king. His sword was painted with blood, but there was still someone he had to kill.