Two people were sitting on the couch for guests.

  Riento turned to the guard next to him in the room and asked. "Who are they?."

  "Saint, they are the rulers of the Salud empire in the east." The guard replied, before finding that the rulers didn't even greet the saint. It was disrespect to the holy empire.

  The both guard's brow furrowed, they were mad, but can't do anything about it.

  Rulers of the Salud empire?, ah right. That empire in riento's memories, if I remember correctly they are corrupt rulers, then why have they come here?. He spoke silently, as he walked over to his desk. His face turned serious. "State your name."

  Riento ordered. They dare not greet the saint with respect?, this is why I hate corrupt officials the most!. Riento's brow furrowed.

  The rulers laughed, mocking Riento the saint right in his face. "Yeah yeah yeah, we are the rulers of Salud empire. We have come to collect tributes from the holy empire, even the legendary holy empire isn't exempt from this you know?.

  "Unless you want to wage war with the Salud empire, I suggest you cooperate." The Emperor of the Salud Empire smirked, while the empress chuckled.

  Hearing this the guards got even more mad. Their limbs trembled, veins bulging out, Their furrowed eyebrows creasing their forehead, Their hold on the spear tightened. It was clear what they were thinking. 'how dare these people treat the saint with such disrespect!.'

  "What?."

  "Did I hear you correctly?." Riento's jaw tightened, his hands closed to form a fist.

  Riento's eyes narrowed, his pulse quickened before he even knew why.

  "Yes, that's right saint. You heard us correctly." The empress of the Salud empire let out a sly smile, deliberately mocking Riento right infront of his face.

  "Pay us tributes, or we'll invade the holy empire, THE holy empire in it's entirety." The emperor laughed.

  The emperor and empress exchanged glances for a brief second, and smirked.

  "Didn't you hear my command?, I thought I told you to state your names?."

  "Don't make me repeat myself." Riento's rage flared up, veins popped out. He couldn't stand to see injustice, atleast the body instinctively reacted. These people don't deserve to be called a ruler!.

  "And why should we? It's YOU who should be telling us your name and bowing down." The empress mocked Riento even more with her sly smile.

  "You dare do this in the divine kingdom of god?." His hands rose, as he pointed to the rulers.

  Riento's eyes flickered over the emperor and empress's shadow, his eyes narrowing...

  "Guards, subdue them and throw them into the cellar below at maximum security." Riento ordered the two guards inside the room and the two guards outside.

  The guards like they were waiting jumped at the chance, and subdued both rulers. "What?!, you dare do this?!" The emperor growled, forehead creasing with wrinkles.

  "You!"

  "You will regret this saint!, the Salud empire won't forget this! We will burn you to the ground!" The emperor roared with might, as he resisted with all his might likewise with the empress.

  "And?, the wrath of god will blaze your Salud empire." Riento replied coldly.

  Soon after the two were taken to the highest security prison underneath the annex citadel of the main building.

  Riento's brow furrowed, resting his hand on his fist. Veins still bulging with anger. "They dare disrespect the holy empire like this?."

  "And they dare taint the holy domain of god with their filth?..." He growled underneath his breath, his body twitched with constrained wrath.

  He barely stopped himself from pouncing on the rulers, it was to maintain dignity. That was the fifth commandment in the sun deity's bible and the eleventh commandment in the moon deity's commandment.

  If it weren't for the commandments I would have ripped them to shreds already!. He complained silently with obvious irritation.

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  The one guard returned, as the other three were guarding the cell of the rulers. "Saint, those filth that tainted the domain of our god complained they wanted to meet you."

  The guard bowed with respect, hand to his chest.

  "What?." Riento spoke with displeasure.

  "Those filth called for me?. What gives them the right?." He stood up, hands trembling, veins bulging. His body obviously didn't like this.

  "Thank you for informing me sir?." Riento asked the guard.

  "Uhm—Uh, Ethan, it's Ethan. Saint!" He stuttered not expecting Riento to ask.

  "Yes, thank you for informing me sir Ethan. Now could you lead me to their cell?." Riento asked the guard, his eyebrows still furrowed.

  "A-Ah yes!." The guard stuttered once more. "It is my honor saint!."

  The guard saluted with delight, replacing the annoyance at the emperors filth with happiness that the saint wanted him to show the way.

  "Thank you sir Ethan."

  The guard led Ethan outside the office, into a spiralling staircase that looked like it goes down for ever. "Uh, be careful saint." The guard warned Riento knowing that he didn't have his old prowess anymore.

  "I appreciate the warning." Riento replied still fuming.

  The guard with his lantern walked down the stairs with reinto, passing by doors to the different floors of the cellars. Even passing by the floor where a rumored legendary sword was held at.

  Soon after, they reached the bottom of the staircase. My legs hurt! Why did the stairs have to go on for so long! Riento complained inwardly.

  as the guard opened the door, "after you saint." letting Riento walk in first as the guard followed suite.

  Seeing the two guard's standing outside a room. Riento approached and ordered. "Open the door."

  Both guard's bowed, hand to their chest.

  "Yes saint!." Guard on the right replied as they opened the door, revealing that the other guard was standing guard inside as he bowed seeing Riento enter. Hand to his chest.

  "Welcome saint!."

  The rulers were tied up to metal arm chair, blindfolded, and tied up to the chair. And the chair tied up to the floor. As their neck had a metal collar tied to the ceiling. "That bastard is here?!. Release me at once!." The emperor growled.

  "You do not have the authority to do this to me!."

  "Release us!."

  Both the empress and emperor complained.

  "You still think you can leave after insulting the holy domain of god and ruining it with your filth?!." barked Riento, his eyes narrowing over their shadow once more.

  "Execute them guards!." Ordered Riento.

  The guards started moving, as they readied to behead the emperor, a knight burst out of the emperor's shadow. Shadow Link Magic!

  Three more knights appeared in suite.

  "You shall not eliminate our emperor!." One of the knights of the Salud empire said, As the rest of the guards outside the cell stormed in fighting off the three knights.

  Woosh!

  Clang!

  Riento barely dodged a blade meant for him, the first knight that was summoned focused his attention at Riento. "You shall be the first to die saint."

  A cut formed on riento's cheek. It stinged!. Eek! It hurts! I'll die! I shouldn't have come here, why did I have to transmigrate!. He complained inwardly. Brows furrowing.

  The first knight flinched.

  "Tell me your name knight." Riento spoke. I need to know so I can atleast curse his name when I die! He spoke silently.

  Riento looked that of a calm quiet predator looking at it's prey.

  "I'm the first star knight of the Salud empire, Yurien." Yurien held his blade with both hands and introduced himself.

  Yurien's brow furrowed, as Riento stared him down with eery calm...

  Their lives are connected to the emperor and empress, that must be it... There is no way they would protect the emperor and empress this much. Riento calculated and took an educated guess...

  "Yurien..."

  "Guards of the holy empire!, attack the emperor and empress first!" Riento gave the guards an orderthem, after hearing his words, Yurien moved immediately as if hearing something he should have not heard.

  Mana flowed out his sword and covered it. Yurien's brow wrinkled.

  I was right! Their lives are connected to the emperor and empress!. He barely dodged another attack, an inch of his hair was cut off.

  His eyes focused on the mana covered blade, each strike just a milisecond away from grazing Riento, he moved away from the trajectory of each strike, anticipating where the strikes will go. Sweat dripped down reinto's body like rain.

  Blood trickled his cheek, Breathing slowed.

  Clang!

  Woosh!

  The mana covered blade barely grazed the fabric of riento's clothes.

  Riento's eyes narrowed, closely observing the blade of the first knight, how mana flowed into the blade, everything.

  Side stepping to the right, moving his neck back, then dropping to his knees. With robotic precision.

  His legs trembled, as he almost lost balanced, as his other leg barely managed to save him.

  Eek! I can't do this! That cut hurts bad! Riento thought, unable to counter attack. His legs still trembling from going down the long winding stairs.

  ———

  How is this saint able to dodge my attacks?! Is he showing me mercy? Why! Just get hit! Yurien chafed.

  Woosh!

  He stabbed his blade forward. Riento dodge the blade by an inch to the right.

  No ordinary luck would get you to barely dodge my attacks! Out of all the knights in the Salud empire I am the strongest! Yurien gritted his teeth, redirecting his blade to where Riento dodge, and like before, he squatted. Dodging by an inch.

  Just get hit! Damn you saint! Was the part about you being weak fake?! Why would our spy lie about this! Yurien's thoughts spiraled.

  Clang!

  Woosh!

  The sound of the knights and guards fighting filled the room, the emperor and empress being untied by another knight.

  Well, all that matters is the emperor and empress' safety. Yurien's brow creased.

  Regaining his composure. Our spy didn't lie, that can't be it... After all the spy had that planted in him, it won't let him lie.

  He contemplated, still trying to hit Riento with diagonal, horizontal, and vertical slashes.

  Stabs work the most!. He found out another piece of information as he observed riento's action's when dodging. He pulled back his arm, and stabbed towards riento with his blade.

  Yurien's sweat dripped down his brow, his eyes observed riento's calf. It was trembling. He can't last any longer! You're finished!.

  Yurien let out a smile of victory.

  Clang!

  Yurien couldn't hear anything happening around him, he was too focused on killing Riento.

  Stab!

  His blade pierced riento's stomach, riento's face visibly changed, as blood splattered from the wound.

  His eyes widened, pupils dilating.

  Soon after, blood dripped down riento's mouth, his breathing quickened. Eyes shaking. Riento coughed out blood, his hand grabbing the sword.

  "It hurts so..." He muttered, with all his might, Riento pulled back his leg kicking Yurien away the sword being pulled out right with him.

  Riento staggered back, blood gushing out the stab wound, He spat out blood, his eyes shaking even more.

  Now! Yurien with a smile on his face, jumped at the chance, the mana covering the blade surged with delight.

  He readied his stance.

  The sound of metal cutting flesh, the wet splurt of blood.

  Slash!

  Just as his blade reached riento's neck yurien stopped dead in his tracks, the slash directed to riento's head stopped abruptly. His body began reacting, as pain shot out from all around his body. Like thousands of needles stabbing into his body nonstop.

  "ARGH!!!" Screamed Yurien, as the blade met the floor.

  Yurien, collapsed onto his knees.

  His eyes shaking, he looked back with great difficulty, trembling, Vision blurring.

  The emperor's and empress's heads were on the ground.

  "W-what?." An instinctively response.

  Was it too focused? Why did I get into a trance against someone so weak!. Yurien was flabbergasted, only realizing now that he was in a 'trance'

  He soon collapsed onto the floor, body slowly disappating into dust. The mana covering his blade dispersed.

  Riento looked down on the ashes of Yurien, eyes shaking, breathing heavy and fast.

  Blood spurting out his stab wound.

  Strength quickly left his lower body, he collapsed onto the floor.

  Riento slowly closed his eyes. Muttering "it hurts..."

  "Saint!" The guards dashed towards riento, with urgency.

  "Don't die on us saint!" They stopped the bleed and quickly carried Riento back up.

  Riento's eyes fully closed, chest rising slow and falling fast.