Rio stood up, channeling his magic to fill the massive crater he had just carved, restoring the devastated ground back to its natural state.
Meanwhile, Rin used water magic to thoroughly extinguish the remaining fires raging across the area.
Looking at the abandoned village with deep sorrow and utter despair, Rio began to weep. "You know, Rin... maybe we shouldn't have left our fortress after all..."
Rin offered no words, simply wrapping his arms around Rio as he, too, broke down, sobbing uncontrollably like a newborn child.
Three days passed, and Rio finally calmed his turbulent emotions.
"Come on, Rin, we shouldn't waste our journey! Let's go," Rio said, suddenly full of energy again.
Rin looked at him in sheer astonishment. "Are you absolutely sure you're doing okay?"
Rio replied with firm determination, "Don't worry, this journey will continue... We are going to uncover the true reality of this world. I will change this world... I will never allow injustice or enslavement to happen again. From this day forward, my name isn't just Rio... I am the King of Freedom."
Rin asked in complete shock, "Do you actually want to rule the entire world?!"
Rio flashed a spontaneous, confident smile. "Of course I do."
Rin offered no reply, simply staring at him in silence.
With that, Rio and Rin spread their wings and launched themselves into the horizon toward the Kingdom of Valorii.
"That kingdom... it is undoubtedly the nation I loathe the most," Rio muttered. He firmly believed that this kingdom was the entity that had stripped away the people he cared about, though he possessed no concrete evidence against them.
"I don't blame you," Rin replied.
They soared forward until they completely vanished past the horizon. Days blended into weeks. During their travels within the kingdom's territory, they crossed paths with a young girl named Yuri. Within a remarkably short period, she officially became a vital member of their party.
Months turned into years.
Eventually, seven years passed.
Rio was now eight years old, but he possessed the physical build of a 14-year-old youth. Rin, on the other hand, had grown into a 13-year-old.
"Rio, watch your back!!" Rin screamed, alerting his companion to an oncoming strike from behind.
Rio evaded the sudden assault with a flawless, acrobatic backflip, landing cleanly on the solid ground. Taking two swift paces backward, he instantly vanished from the monster's line of sight as though he had never existed in the first place. The creature began scanning the area in a frantic panic.
"Are you looking for me?"
Rio's voice resonated coldly from directly behind the beast, his sword drawn and aimed. He lunged forward at the monster.
A moment later, he landed back on his feet and smoothly sheathed his blade. The precise instant the sword clicked into its scabbard, the monster was cleanly bifurcated into dozens of tiny pieces, its blood erupting into the air like a fountain.
"Rin, you need to look out for yourself! Don't worry about me," Rio said firmly.
Rio and Rin were currently locked in a fierce battle against three massive dragons and their entire monstrous entourage.
Rio dashed forward with supernatural velocity, drawing his weapon once more. "Kagutsuchi... Sixth Verse."
An absolute, pitch-black darkness instantly enveloped the entire battlefield. A suffocating silence settled over the terrain, as if the land had been abruptly transformed into a desolate ghost town.
A single droplet of water fell.
Standing motionless behind one of the massive dragons, Rio spoke with a profound, deep tranquility: "Stillness."
The dragon's neck flashed with a brilliant line of light. Seconds after Rio fully returned his blade to its sheath—slash!—the dragon's colossal head slid off its shoulders, falling to the earth as effortlessly as a piece of sliced paper.
On the other flank, Rin called out, "Ice Wall!" utilizing his specialized ice magic.
A thick barrier of ice rapidly constructed itself around Rin. Sitting safely within his defensive perimeter, he began focusing his energy to prepare a massive counterattack. The surrounding horde of monsters wasted no time, shattering the ice wall to breach his defense. But before they could even comprehend what was happening, a devastating blast of absolute-zero breath erupted directly in front of them, freezing them entirely to their very core.
Immediately after, Rin let out a powerful, echoing roar, shattering the frozen beasts into countless fragments like fragile glass.
"Beautifully done, Rin!" Rio called out, praising his companion's flawless execution.
Rin smiled warmly at him and nodded. "Thank you." It was clear that Rin was finally beginning to understand and truly experience genuine human emotions.
Suddenly, an stray monster caught them off guard in the middle of their conversation. The beast raised a massive war hammer, aiming to crush them into the dirt.
However, Rin simply turned his gaze toward the attacker and opened his jaws wide. "Blue Flame."
A concentrated beam of brilliant blue fire shot from his mouth like a devastating cannon blast, striking the target with pinpoint accuracy. The remaining cluster of monsters rapidly surrounded them, but Rin lowered his head, spinning his body in a swift, sweeping circle while continuously unleashing his azure torrent until he completely annihilated the entire horde.
When the smoke cleared, nothing else remained.
"That was the last wave of the smaller monsters. Only two dragons left."
Rio charged forward first, closing his eyes. When he opened them, a majestic Roman sundial etched with ancient, profound patterns manifested vividly within his right eye. "Eye of Eternity..."
Instantly, the precise weaknesses, strengths, and underlying energy pathways of the remaining dragons were laid bare before his vision.
Spreading his wings, Rio shot toward them with blinding speed. One of the dragons unleashed a massive fireball directly along his path, but Rio cleanly sliced the projectile in half, weaving right through the explosion. "You gentlemen really ought to hide your weak points better," Rio murmured, delivering a calculated, crushing blow directly into the energy pathways and critical vulnerabilities of the beasts.
The massive dragons collapsed heavily to the ground, completely defeated.
Rin walked over toward Rio, raising his hand for a high-five. "Excellent work, Rio. We should head back now."
Rio laughed, flashing a wide smile. "Yeah, yeah... we definitely need to get back. But first... how are you feeling, grandmother?"
An elderly woman stepped forward, her eyes brimming with immense gratitude and relief. "Oh, thank you so much, young men! I would have surely perished out here if it weren't for the two of you."
Rio replied with a proud tone, "Think nothing of it, milady. We are here whenever you need anything else."
The grandmother chuckled softly. "What wonderful, kind young men you are. It is genuinely comforting to know there are still people like you left in this world."
Rio and Rin smiled warmly at the old woman, bidding her farewell before launching themselves into the open sky.
"What a lovely lady," Rio noted as they flew.
"You're right," Rin agreed. Then, a look of genuine worry crossed his face. "Now, we really must hurry back to her. She is bound to be absolutely furious because we are so late."
Rio's proud, joyful expression instantly warped into a look of sheer panic and nervous tension. "You're right... she's definitely going to starve us as punishment."
Rio and Rin touched down within the Kingdom of Valorii, stopping directly outside the front door of their residence.
Before they could even reach for the handle, the door swung open violently. A beautiful young girl with shimmering silver hair and eyes as deep blue as the ocean stepped into the frame. Without a single word of warning, she wound up and delivered a furious, heavy punch straight to Rio's cheek.
"You absolute idiots... where on earth have you been?!" Yuri shouted, her voice dripping with rage.
Rio clutched his bruised cheek in a frantic panic, whining, "Why am I the only one getting hit?! Rin was literally right there with me!"
Yuri locked her gaze onto Rio with an expression of pure fury, a terrifyingly oppressive aura radiating from her silhouette as if she were a literal Demon Lord.
Rio flinched, stepping backward in sheer terror. "Okay, okay... I'll shut up."
Rin stepped in, attempting to de-escalate the volatile situation. "Come on, Yuri, there's really no need for all of this. We only went out to help people."
Yuri's intense aura finally dissipated as she calmed down. "Fine. But as your punishment, neither of you is getting any lunch today."
Rio completely collapsed onto the ground, looking thoroughly devastated and depressed. He dragged his feet, slumping over to the area behind the house. "No lunch..." he muttered under his breath.
Yuri and Rin exchanged a bewildered glance, blinking twice in unison.
"What is wrong with him?" Yuri muttered. "It's literally just food. It's not worth acting like the world is ending."
Rio screamed dramatically from behind the house, "Yes it is! Food is the absolute most important thing in the entire universe!"
Ignoring his theatrical despair, Yuri and Rin stepped inside the house, leaving Rio entirely collapsed in a heap on the dirt outside.
Three hours later.
Yuri grabbed her gear and turned to leave. "Alright, I'm heading out now. Rin, keep a close eye on Rio."
"You too, be careful on your way to the Guild," Rin replied.
Yuri made her way down to the local Adventurers' Guild, presenting the intact carcasses of the dragons and monsters that Rio and Rin had slaughtered.
The receptionist stood frozen in absolute shock, and the entire guild hall fell into a stunned silence. Everyone began frantically whispering, completely blown away by Yuri's apparent, monstrous power. Yuri simply flashed a proud smirk, clearing her throat with immense satisfaction. "Ahem..."
The receptionist quickly counted out the bounty, handing over a massive sum of ten thousand gold pieces to Yuri.
Looking down at the heavy pouch of coins, Yuri practically began dancing with pure ecstasy, hopping from foot to foot. "This is insane! This is amazing! Look at all this gold!"
She skipped out of the Guild building in absolute bliss, literally jumping for joy down the street. "Money... money... so much beautiful money!"
Suddenly, two towering, heavily built men stepped directly into her path. Their faces were thoroughly unappealing, twisted with arrogant, sneering smirks as they looked down at Yuri with utter disdain.
"If you want to keep that pretty little face intact, sweetie... you better hand over that coin pouch right now," one of them demanded.
Yuri didn't pay them the slightest bit of attention. With absolute composure and total confidence, she simply attempted to walk right past them.
Feeling deeply insulted by her complete lack of fear, both men lunged forward, aggressively clamping their heavy hands down onto her shoulders. "Hey! You wait a damn minute! Didn't you hear what we just said?!"
Yuri's demeanor instantly shifted. She locked her gaze onto them, her eyes narrowing into a piercing, deadpan glare as a terrifying, chilling tone bled into her voice.
"Take your hands off me. For your own safety."
To be continued...