Katsu plunges his sword deep into The Emperor’s chest, information filled his brain one last time before—what he thought was another loop, took place.
「Countless Stars are grateful for your performance.」
「Multiple Stars applaud you one last time.」
The Emperor—for the first time in an eternity, sheds tears. Reaching up to him, coughing up blood as he tries and speak to Katsu—he feels his sword twist inside him, his senses dull, the twisting of the greatsword kills him instantly—The Emperor’s arm drops to the ground, the warm feeling of his own blood quickly turning into shivering emptiness, his eyes slowly loosing their light once more.
What feels like an eternity passes, the feeling of the rough, hard dirt below him instantly changes into the feeling of a soft, and comfy bed, his body feeling weak, stuffy, and unnaturally heavy.
Slowly opening his eyes, a blinding warm light engulfs him for a few moments. Regaining his sight, he sees an unfamiliar ceiling, suspicions in him rise as he's never seen a ceiling look like this in any of the loops. With his eyes focusing, he can clearly see the ceiling, made of raggedy, old wood planks, with a few clean, and new planks sprinkled in-between.
Turning to his side, he sees a window to the outside, the scene on the other side is that of a vibrant green plain, small hills scattered from place to place, some with trees of various sizes near them.
Attempting to stand up, he notices something off—he's in a huge crib, but remembering the weird feeling—he looks down at his lower body, seeing that it isn’t a huge crib.
Wha—Why am I a baby? He thought to himself. What did he do? He adds in extreme confusion.
Hearing voices from the other side of the door, he attempts to calm himself as they slowly get closer and closer. If I’m a baby right now, that means they’re my parents…I guess? Nothing to worry about. He thought to himself, trying to rationalize his situation.
The door knob creaks, opening to reveal a woman—presumably his mother—with an athletic, and toned body in as she talks with what sounds like a man—presumably his father.
“Yeah, sure, maybe our dear baby boy will—” She turns in his direction, letting out a gasp of surprise. “Honey! He's awake!” She exclaims in delight as she quickly walks towards him. She gently reaches into the crib, lifting him up into her arms, heavy footsteps quickly approaching.
The man quickly reaches the room, revealing a man with a toned and decently built body—both of them relatively the same height. Barging in, he witnesses The Emperor’s mother cradles him in her arms.
“He really is awake.” He sighs in relief, slowly walking closer.
“He's beautiful, isn’t he?” She says, her tone full of warmth and affection.
“…Yes he is, especially his golden yellow eyes, they’re just like yours.” He replies, gently hugging her from behind.
She lets out a little giggle after hearing his compliment.
“I know when he grows up, his hair will be just as soft and beautiful as the night sky, like yours, honey.” She compliments him, leaning back into his hug.
He places his head on her shoulder, moving his arms to support her as she cradles The Emperor.
As the blinding love in the atmosphere engulfs The Emperor, multiple thoughts come across his mind.
…They’re both really weird. He acknowledges, as both his parent continue flirting with each other, taking care of him in the process. But this feeling, it doesn’t seem too bad. He adds, commenting on the calming winds outside, and the wholesome atmosphere around him.
The mother lets out a small sigh of relief.
“I was so worried you weren’t going to wake up, my dear baby boy.” She says, leaning in, and kissing his forehead.
What? What are you talking about? The Emperor thought to himself nervously.
“The Mana Insufficiency, right?” The father asks, confirming his memory is serving him correctly.
“Yeah, but its surprising that he’s awake this early, they’re going to be so surprised when they get back.” She giggles at the thought of them coming back, their adventures to help them being for naught.
The father chuckle with her. “I know, right? They’re going to lose their…stuff.” He says, momentarily freezing after seeing her glare at him for almost cussing in front of the baby.
Their banter continues, slowly showing The Emperor their home, the outside, and playing with him.
Moments of peace, and wholesomeness occur throughout the day, giving The Emperor an uncomfortable feeling. His thoughts complicated, and tangled in guilt, and remorse. It feels uncomfortable. This peace, this calmness, it’s something I don’t deserve to feel. The Emperor thought to himself grimly. But, maybe…maybe I can try and enjoy this as long as I can. He added, giving in to his deep desires.
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A few weeks pass, small events occurring throughout the days, like:
Accidentally soiling himself and having his parents change his diapers, managing to crawl to the other end of the crib—his mother witnessing the whole thing, spilling food over himself while he eats at the dinner table with his parents, attempts at talking verbally with his parents—nothing coherent coming from his mouth, yet, and being put to sleep with a lullaby everyday as the night rises.
A few more days pass, some similar events occurring throughout the days, until rapid knocking is heard at the front door during the evening.
Knock—Knock—Knock—-Knock
“I’ll get it!” The father loudly exclaims, walking towards the front door calmly.
Opening the door, seeing a small group of people on the other end of the door—an elegant, and graceful female elf, standing just before the door way—taking up most of the father’s view, a tall male dwarf with a greatsword laying on its side next to him, a male half elf-half human sitting inside his greatshield, and three humans—one male, with a gigantic hammer, the other—a young girl with dual daggers, and the last, a male, just completely slumped over on the ground—all exhausted, breathing heavily—some on their knees, others simply trying whatever trying to catch their breaths, all with bruises and injuries across their bodies, some with torn clothing, and dirty clothing, others with blood smeared on their faces and clothes.
“Ell, you’re finally—” He gets cut off while trying to express his surprise from their sudden arrival.
“Quick! Give this to Orion!” The member of the group giving off an aura of perfection, the one with the least amount of injuries, blood, and torn clothes—the elegant, and graceful elf, hurriedly exclaims. “It will save him!” She quickly adds, handing over a pendant with a blue stone fitted inside.
The father calmy reaches over for the pendant—taking it, and explaining the situation to the other member of the group.
“Calm down, he’s—” He gets cut off again.
“We don’t—” The elf—Ell, quickly interrupts him while simultaneously getting cut off herself by having a hand put over her mouth by the father.
“He’s fine, he woke up the day after you guys left.” He quickly continues what he was going to say before getting interrupted.
Silence fills the air, all the people outside immediately stopping in their tracks—having surprised and stupefied expressions—complete dumbstruck.
“WHAT!” They all—except the young girl—yell out loud in unison.
“That should be impossible!” The man who was slumped over on the ground quickly sits up. “M.I only affects newborns, putting them in a coma that can last weeks, even months! It would have only been half a week!” He quickly adds, in disbelief.
“I know, I know, but that’s what happened, end of story.” The father shrugs his shoulders.
The man lets out a heavy sigh. “You’re unbelievable, Tan.” He says, putting his hand on the ground behind him, leaning back against them.
A massive smile appears on Tan’s—Tanek, the father of Orion—face, raising his hand and pointing at himself.
“Of course he’s awake, he’s my son.” He starts bragging in front of the others.
“Just let us in.” The young girl retorts.
“Ah, yeah, my bad.” Tan says, awkwardly moving out of the doorway, fully opening the door for them.
Walking in, they all head into the living room, resting on the sofa, others having to sit on the floor in front of it.
“I’ll go get Ini, get some rest you guys.” Tan says, walking towards the halfway and entering the room at the end of it.
Moments later, he walks out with a finger over his mouth—signaling to keep their voices down—and Ini—Ingrid, the mother of Orion—cradling Orion—who was once known as The Emperor—as he sleeps.
“He really is awake.” The man—who explained M.I—says.
“Is it stable?” The elegant elf asks.
“Yeah, his mana is stable, incredibly so.” He responds, in awe.
“What do you mean?”
“Last time I saw him, his mana—at the size of an adult fist—was berserk—escaping, and destroying his body at the same time—but now? His mana is so stable, and refined that its merely at the size of a rupee.” He says, a cold shiver running down his back.
“Is that good?” The young girls asks.
“Normally, no. Having that small amount of mana would never be good. But, with his mana being so refined, he would be able to cast magic, and sorcery at only a thousandth the cost. That’s only if he can use it properly.” He responds, a tinge of gloom washing over his face.
“Don’t sweat the small stuff, Alex.” Tan says, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. “Who do you think are his parents?” He adds, confident in his son’s future.
Alex lets out a sigh of relief, knowing Orion is in capable hands. “You’re not wrong.” He says, lifting his head up to face the ceiling.
“The son of both, Daimōn’s Fists, and Daimōn’s Bane, huh.” The normal looking man, who wields the gigantic hammer—sitting on the floor—teasingly says, a grin plastered all over his face.
“C’mon, don’t bring up our embarrassing nicknames, Vic.” Tan says, scratching his cheek lightly in embarrassment.
“My bad, my bad.” Vic—Victor—playfully lifts his hands up, as if he had gotten caught red handed.
“Are guys okay with staying here? We really don’t have enough room all of you.” Ini suddenly asks.
“Yeah, we’ll be fine, the girls can sleep on the sofa, and we can bundle up together here on the floor. It’s no different than sleeping in a dungeon.” The tall dwarf responds calmly before getting smacked in the back of his head by the half elf-half human.
“Ah, I see, please make yourself at home.” Ini awkwardly responds.
“We will, thank you.” Ell bows to Ini, thanking her for her sincerity.
Ini gently stands up, walking towards the end of the hallway and entering Orion’s room putting him in his crib.
The evening quickly turns to night, as they all gossip with each other, catching up and telling stories after being away from each other for around a month. Soon, they all head off to sleep, tired, and exhaustion catching up to them after all the talking.
Waking up after their sleep, they all do their own morning routines. Ini, heads to the kitchen, making breakfast with Ell, for the others. Vic, and the half elf-half human spar outside in the fields—Vic’s gigantic hammer against the greatshield—far enough away to not be heard. The tall dwarf, and Tan also spar outside—The tall dwarf’s thick greatsword against Tan’s fists.
The young girl, and Alex spar together just like the others, just more emphasis on training for the inexperienced girl, as she has enough experience to keep up, but not enough to be relied upon during battle.
With breakfast done, Ell goes outside, shouting at the other to return inside for their breakfast.
As they start finishing their breakfast’s, Ini grabs a small bowl of baby food, heading to Orion’s room. Entering the room, she finds him awake, trying to climb outside the crib.
