"Uh…" Jonathan froze for a second as he had not expected to be hit by such a question moments after seeing one of his oldest friends and loyal duke die in front of his eyes for the second time.
Zack knew that bringing up the name of Jonathan's son was not a good idea but Zack needed information quickly to double-check a few things.
And if what he thought was correct, there was a chance that he could finally reach the core of things.
"I am fifty percent sure that Aizen is dead…" Jonathan murmured before releasing a sigh. "Over the years, a few of my officials have vanished and upon investigation, I was able to find out that all of them were taken along the same path."
"As to where they were taken?" Zack asked while narrowing his eyes.
"I don't know."
"You are telling me that despite the disappearance of many officials, you didn't bother finding out where they went or who took them? Come on Jonathan, either you are hiding something or you are just dumb."
For the first time, Zack talked harshly to the king of the kingdom.
Jonathan stood in silence with his eyes pointed to the ground. His chest rose and fell with his breathing yet he didn't say anything.
[ What are you trying to find out? ] Emma asked as she connected the entire party to chat.
[ From Akuma's memories, I was able to see a great portion of what was being kept hidden from us. I couldn't have expected that Jonathan was such kind of a guy. ] He replied bitterly without providing any sort of information.
Zack knew that if he started explaining to the party, he would lose the last chance to obtain the truth from Jonathan.
He already knew most of the things and all of the major facts yet he wanted the king to confirm a few things alongside admitting to a few of them.
"Are you going to speak or do I leave this kingdom and silently go sit in the corner?" Zack decided to play his last card by mentioning the kingdom.
When it came to the kingdom and its citizens, Jonathan had a very soft point. He would always look after their well-being and would even sacrifice himself for it.
As expected, Zack's lines worked their magic as Jonathan looked up and stared directly into Zack's eyes.
"They were taken away by a group of people calling themselves the golden dusk. I have tried contacting them but they only leave a letter saying that I need to stop looking for them because I will never find them."
"But you didn't stop looking for them which led to you meeting Akuma and Ezio, two teenagers trapped in a cave full of zombies and normal pale undead. You helped them without a thought and brought them to the kingdom.
You treated them like your own children and were surprised to see their talent. On the other hand, you started neglecting your child since you thought that he was not talented or worthy enough to be an heir."
Zack spoke before directly in front of Jonathan and stared directly into his eyes. He could feel the king silently calming himself on the inside to prevent chaos from erupting.
However, Zack was not going to stop anytime soon and make sure that he finished speaking everything he had seen.
"Your son got frustrated with your behavior especially when you were about to announce Akuma and Ezio as your officially adopted children and make them heirs. Your wife talked you into making them dukes but that just rubbed salt in the young teenager's wounds.
So when the coup d'etat happened, Akuma and Ezio were there to help you and you were happy. But you were so lost that you never realized that you could have saved your entire family by just talking to your son the day before.
Or perhaps you never thought that the two humans you trusted so much were just puppets being controlled by a higher power.
And those two converted your son into a puppet too who is well alive and watched everything over the years through Ezio and Akuma's eyes." Zack finished before sighing.
Jonathan, Emma, Hayden, Lisa, and Ken were left stunned by the entire revelation.
Even Pearl who was lying unconscious twitched as though she heard Zack's story.
"How… I…" Jonathan tried to reply but he couldn't form sentences. He simply couldn't comprehend what he had heard as Zack sighed once again.
"In this world, those who are kind will get their kindness sucked out of them. Those who want to help will be turned into the helpless and those who want who are hungry for power and destruction will do anything to achieve that."
Zack quoted someone he used to know before looking at Emma. She knew the quote as she had been the first person he had told it to.
"Akuma and Ezio were never close to you. They were simply controlled to appear as though they were close to you." Zack said before placing a hand on Jonathan's shoulder. "It's the truth you have to accept."
Zack's anger had vanished at the same speed it had appeared. After knowing the truth, he knew that Jonathan would break up but there was no other way to reveal it to him.
In the end, the king would have to suck it up and be ready for a war.
"Also, Akuma and Ezio were a special breed of undead called Mystlofiaco. The more lines they have on their face, later on, their bodies, defines how strong they are. To defeat or kill them, you just have to destroy all of the lines."
Zack added before he turned to stare at his friends and smiled. The activation of the third form had ended up giving him a set of fond memories with them.
The cost for activating the true third form had also not taken place since he had infinite mana.
"Let's go out." Zack then walked out of the throne room alongside his friends thus leaving Jonathan alone with enough time to digest what he heard.
However, no sooner had Zack stepped one foot out than a voice echoed around the entire Eizenburgh kingdom.
"By the sovereign of darkness and by the power of chaos, the cult of darkness marks the southern continent as its territory. The Eizenburgh kingdom is the only place still under the light's control.
However, that changes now. The darkness will rise once again and all will welcome its embrace!"
***
End Of Volume 3
***
Since I have been doing this for the past two times, I will do it again.
Thank you for your support and for sticking with me. See you all in the next volume.
Fourth volume: Night's Wrath
***
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