“As I said before, introductions are in order. I am King Antony. Off to my left is princess Maria, and the place you find yourself in is Annul Kingdom. We are a small but proud kingdom. I am sure you are wondering why you find yourself in this strange place?” To be honest I didn’t really care why I was here. I was trying to remember the beautiful face of my beloved. I knew that she would be in this world because of what that god said to me. If he is to be believed then I could find her here, but I also had to listen to this king. If I act out now I could kiss my hero persona goodbye.
“It is as you say, your majesty.” I answered his previous question. Princess Maria smiled at me beautifully. If I didn’t already have a beloved… perhaps, but my love would not wane because of some princess. My beloved was the most beautiful. “I figured as much. I shall have the prime minister explain the details of our situation, and what should be expected of you. Our cause is just, but I am sure you will want to rest before the prime minister explains the situation.” I nodded my head then I was led to a large room in the castle.
When I was left alone in my room to rest, I finally had time to myself. I flopped on the large red covered mattress, and I began to think about the woman of my heart. “I can’t wait for you to see me when I inevitably level up in this cliche world. I will make you see that I can be a hero. Then you will love me, and we will get married! Oh, I can’t wait!”
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“What do you think of the hero, your majesty?” The prime minister was currently having a discussion with the king. “I am not sure currently, but he does have fine manners for a young man. I just hope for our sake that he could stop the calamity that has been foretold.”
“You mean ‘The Black Witch’?” The king nodded his head. “The reports said she was killed weeks ago for her crimes, but the scholars predicted her resurrection. They said ‘with the coming of the black witch back into this world calamity shall follow’. Those were the words of the prophecy. It is pretty vague, and it doesn’t even address the main issue.”
“And what would that be?” The prime minister asked. “Is the black witch the threat that causes the calamity, or is it caused by her revival? In any case we need to find her before she can amass strength.”
“Surely the calamity is caused by the black witch herself?”
“Of that, no one can be certain.”
“How do we ascertain anything in this age? The scholars are our main source of information, but they tend to be secretive of most matters. Ever since Eliah was killed some few hundred years ago. There has been peace in this world. The only time there is fighting is a few border disputes and those beastkins. The church is beginning to amass a lot of followers though. They are starting to indoctrinate the banning of shadow magic. Eliah used it, and it is known that ‘The black Witch’ is a user as well.”
“You better watch what you say, prime minister. You know I was one of the kings that actually agreed with the banning. It goes against everything our gods preached. It is a cowardly form of magic that can manipulate whole crowds of people. It goes against the chivalry of our knights.”
“I do apologize for my imprudence, your majesty. It is as you say.”
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“Good, I don’t want to hear any more about this topic from you. You wouldn’t want what happened to Virner to happen to you.” The prime minister flinched at the mention of the traitor that was hanged in this very kingdom a fortnight ago.
“Surely you jest, your majesty.” The king started to laugh from his seat, but the prime minister had no clue whether the king actually meant his words or not.
“Well then, I do apologize, your majesty; however, I shall excuse myself.” The king nodded, then the prime minister left the room after bowing. The king continued the paperwork on his desk. He remembered how before the hero arrived in this world he sent 12 of his best knights to search for any remnants of ‘The Black Witch’.
They were all part of the highest order of knights in the kingdom. They were known for their exceptional sword play. Even other kingdoms feared the “Annul Knights”. Their sword play was better than most knights from any kingdom, and those very knights would return to report tomorrow. Then they would take the hero under their wing.
“Be it ‘Black Witch’ or Eliah herself, none would stand a chance against those guys with a hero in their midst.” The king was confident of this fact.
It is known that “The Black Witch” has a special power that allows her to revive at uncertain times, but no one knows the full extent of her abilities. They don’t even know whether she could control her revival or not. The person herself has never answered the question. Why would she give away the secrets to her powers? The king thought to himself. If it was known perhaps they could come up with a strategy to stop her revival.
No one would be stupid enough to just give away the secrets of their powers. It is especially true for those that would commit evil. The only thing that is known about her is that the longer she lives the stronger she will become. This is true for everyone, but her growth rate destroys even the most gifted prodigies. She is truly in a class of her own. This is why she is a calamity designated subjugation target, and it is recommended to kill her while she is weak.
The last time she was killed was a few weeks ago. Now she is reviving already. This is the shortest revival period that the calamity has ever been through. What is unknown about the calamity is why she doesn’t seem to have her powers when she revives. It is almost like she is a different person with each revival. Her goals don’t align with the previous iteration’s goals, and nothing she has done throughout history has made sense.
One time she caused a great flood. The next time she used shadow magic to manipulate a kingdom’s king to go to war with the neighboring kingdom. This ended in large losses on both sides. The next time she revived she awakened a great dragon, and the beast took years to be slain after causing disaster after disaster.
Just what is your deal? Why make people suffer unjustly? Surely you were once human like the rest of us?
If everyone including the king knew of the suffering of “The Black Witch”, then perhaps she could have been reasoned with. She is the calamity that is forced to suffer her own calamity.