Great Losses and Arrival

King Theodor gulped and looked again toward his assassins, but they were just as frozen. His eyes next darted around the carriage, searching for a way out. Still, after the earlier display, with Seth teleporting freely around while simultaneously freezing other people in time, he soon realized Seth would catch up to him even if he could find a way out.

Sighing lightly, a resigned look appeared on his face as he slumped his shoulders and asked: “And what would my life cost me?”

Seth smiled and replied: “Everything. I want you and the Loss Kingdom to fall under my rule.”

Noticing that Theodor was getting ready to decline, Seth chuckled and continued: “Don’t be so quick to decline. Even if today ends up with you dying and one of your children inheriting the throne, the Loss Kingdom will still fall under my rule eventually.”

“What you have witnessed here is barely the tip of my abilities. I had the Oath king tremble in dread and the headmistress you all fear so much not dare make a move against me, so tell me, former king of Loss, what do you think will be able to stop me?”

“Bullshit. Why do you hide around like a rat if you are that strong? Why not use your strength to take whatever you want?” a trace of Theodor’s temper showed, causing Seth’s smile to disappear for a brief moment.

A light grunt followed as a half an inch hole appeared in Theodor’s arm, blood flowing freely towards the floor. Theodor’s face twisted in pain as he caught his arm to stop the blood loss.

Seth’s smile returned right after, and he said: “Sorry about that. It looks like both of us can lose our temper, but if you want to know, I’m not hiding like a rat, as you called it, but trying to sort things out with the least number of deaths possible.”

“All of you, the kings of Wrath, Loss, Hope, Sorrow, Curse, and Noth, had been allowed to act all high and mighty while freely pressuring Oath only because you weren’t truly shown the horrors of a true ascended.”

“If Iris was not tied to her stupid desire to protect Oath and the royals, second-guessing her every decision, she could have wiped you all off before you even had the chance to call for help. She’s severely underestimating her abilities, walking on eggshells, and allowing you fools to prance around like idiots.”

“You will agree to my deal and surrender Loss to me today, or you won’t be the only casualty. I’ll make my way to your capital and wipe your entire family off the face of the continent.”

Even with the slight smile on Seth’s lips, Theodor could feel his entire body shaking out of fear. Something about the look in Seth’s eyes made him believe every word that came out of his mouth.

Ignoring the pain from his arm, Theodor’s eyes landed on the knife stuck on the table, not that far away from him. Clenching his teeth, he quickly tried to reach for it, but Seth didn’t give him a chance as he teleported the blade away.

“I don’t know if you want to use it on yourself or me, but not even your life is in your control anymore. Are you still going to try my patience or bend the knee? You have three seconds to make a decision.”

“3.”

Hand outstretched and blood still leaking out of his other arm, Theodor’s vision was starting to turn blurry, but Seth’s words still clearly entered his ear, as did his countdown.

“2.”

Seth didn’t even reach one as Theodor’s knees gave way, and he knelt there, his head lowered and shoulders slumped in resignation.

“I knew you were a smart man.” Said Seth, freezing the time around Theodor’s wound to keep him from passing out. He then turned around and obliterated the bodies of the two assassins completely.

“Nothing happened here today. I answered your invitation, we had a nice chat, and then I left.”

“If you ever think about betraying me, just know that nothing in this world can escape my sight.” After his words, Seth bluntly recited some of Theodor’s deepest secrets, including some things barely anyone besides him should know.

Seeing Theodor’s eyes growing dimmer with each of his words, Seth chuckled and said: “You can still play king for now, but know that I’ll eventually come to claim what is mine. Treat that wound and remember what will happen if you die.”

After speaking, Seth turned around and walked out of the carriage, changing his looks to Otis’s. After returning to the staff carriage, he ignored the curious look he was receiving from the other girls and sat down, closing his eyes.

‘Damn, I almost killed him. What do you think are the chances he would try to do something stupid?’

<Over 60%>

‘Figures. He is too smart for his own good. Keep an eye on him, and let me know if anything seems out of order. Can’t wait to be done with - .’

“Did anything happen?” asked Katy, breaking Seth out of his conversation with the system, a worried look in her eyes.

Seth frowned and followed her eyes, only to see a small bloodstain on his clothes. After cursing at himself for not noticing, Seth shook his head and said: “A small disagreement, but nothing bad happened. This is not mine.”

Katy nodded and didn’t ask anything else, but the worried look in her eyes still didn’t fade away.

The rest of the journey throughout the Loss Kingdom continued as usual, with both kings barely making any other appearance. Theodor tried hiding the wound on his arm while Icas continued his abstinence.

At the end of summer, the convoy reached a massive city, almost as large as the Oath capital. It was the second largest city inside the Hope Kingdom, next in size after the capital, and one of the major hubs for merchants and mercenaries from all the surrounding kingdoms.

The city was called New Hope, and it was also the place where the meeting was supposed to be held.

The girls all gathered towards the curtain and peeked outside, marveling at the size of the city and the number of people that could be seen traveling towards it.

Seth also opened his eyes, smiling slightly at the thought of once more seeing New Hope City. This was one of his first stops when traveling north in the past timeline.

Moving forward, he came right behind Katy and said: “If this looks impressive to you all, you should see the inside.”

Katy was startled to hear Seth’s voice so close to her ear, and she blushed, trying to avoid turning around as she asked: “Have you been here before?”

“A long time ago.” Replied Seth before turning his head towards King Icas’s carriage, having noticed him step out.

Icas motioned for the convoy to stop before addressing everyone in a loud voice.

“We have arrived at New Hope City, and an entire inn was reserved just for this meeting, meaning all the kings attending the meeting and their followers will be staying in the same place.”

“I wanted to let everyone know that fighting inside New Hope City is a major crime, and the punishment for it is death, so whatever happens during our stay, you better remember that, or I will be the one to deliver the punishment.”

Icas explained a few more things about the law inside the city and what was expected of everyone before ordering the convoy to resume their journey.

Due to the special occasion, the entire convoy was allowed entry at the gate. A series of streets leading straight to the inn everyone was supposed to stay in has also been cleared completely.

Once they had reached the inn, all the staff and soldiers were given standard rooms to share, while the kings and their advisers had private rooms.

The cooking staff was given two rooms, and the women offered Seth a room while they took the other one. Seth found no issue with that and accepted their goodwill.

After traveling surrounded by them for such a long time, he felt some alone time would come in handy. There was also the fact that he had to disappear once in a while, and if he was not alone in a room, the others would definitely take notice of it.

Laying on a bed in his room, Seth stared at the ceiling and asked the system. ‘What are Icas and Theodor doing?’

<They are currently being led to meet with the other kings.>

‘Are they all here already?’

<Affirmative. The last ones to arrive were the Wrath and Loss Kings. Even the king of Noth arrived two days ago.>

Seth chuckled, knowing he was mainly the reason for the delay, before saying: ‘That must really be awkward for them. When will the meeting start?’

<Three days later. With all the kings here, there will be some large festivities before getting to the main business.>

‘That’s good.’ Replied Seth before taking a deep breath and saying. ‘I guess I should go and look around the city.’

With that thought in mind, Seth was about to teleport outside when a notification appeared in his vision.

<Host, Katy is about to visit.>

Stopping his space source from rotating, he didn’t ask the system why she was coming and waited patiently. Not even five minutes later, there was a minor knock on the door.

Once Seth walked to the door and opened it, Katy was sitting there with a hesitant look as she asked: “Are you busy?”

Seth shook his head and gestured for her to walk in, but Katy shook her head and said: “The girls were wondering if you could accompany us on a walk around the city. Having you around will make anyone feel safer.”

Seth pondered for a moment before nodding and stepping out of the room.

“Sure. Why not? I was actually thinking about going for a walk myself.”

Katy’s eyes brightened, and she quickly followed right next to him. They picked up the other women before informing the guards of their departure and heading inside the city.

Since Seth had already told everyone he had been there before, the girls kept asking him for exciting places to see, so Seth spent all the way until evening showing everyone around.

Katy looked somewhat dispirited at having the others hog all her time with Seth, but there was nothing she could do other than blame herself for not having the courage to ask him alone.

Once the sun set, Seth sent the girls to the inn alone and started heading deeper inside the city.