3rd Person POV
After Cedric's quick trip to visit the holy son, it was quickly confirmed that he was the hero by the holy son himself and Cedric made a request for it to be sent to the king.
<Why hide being a hero when there are people in need?> he thought, <If my status is taken away because of this, then so be it.>
Word of his divine calling soon reached the ears of King Aldric, compelling him to make a decision to call back his order after Cedirc's request to halt the merciless massacre of slaves.
King Aldric recognized the potential significance of his son's revelation. With a slight hesitation, he decided to temporarily yield to Cedric's plea, issuing a decree to halt the bloodshed.
However, he ordered the slaves to remain chained until further notice as there might be a chance that this was all a trick. Maybe Cedric decided to use his position to ask for a favor from the holy sun, but even then, this is not something you can just ask out of the holy son.
*****
Perseus POV
Panic surged within us like wildfire, but we knew we had to fight back. I grabbed a nearby rock and hurled it at one of the mages' heads on top of a horse.
I activated the eyes of Ra and clad the rock with magic, the rock pierced through his exposed mouth and went straight through, sending him crashing to the ground.
[Level up!]
[After hitting level 10, expect leveling up to become more difficult. Prepare for more difficult challenges and increased requirements as you push toward the next milestone.]
"Run!" Yurd screamed and ordered the adult males to fight to delay it for everyone else, but it was hopeless as a sharp icicle of ice penetrated through his head right after, killing our best fighter immediately.
The fight itself was chaotic, everyone had either a knife or a sword out, but...we had no hope.
Everywhere I looked, everyone's expressions twisted from desperation to agony as they fought for their lives. But no matter how valiantly we struggled, it was clear that we were outmatched.
For every guard we managed to bring down, two more took their place, despite our best efforts, it felt like fighting against a relentless tide, with no hope of escape.
I fought with all the strength and skill I possessed, but it was futile. The enemy was too numerous, too well-trained, too... relentless. They showed no mercy, no quarter, cutting down anyone who stood in their way with ruthless efficiency.
I knew that we couldn't go down without a fight. We had to keep fighting, keep pushing back against the tide, no matter how hopeless it seemed. But we were outnumbered, outmatched, and outclassed. There was no hope of victory here, only certain death if we remained.
I then felt someone grabbing my collar and pulling me away, I turned with a dagger in hand to see Zenis.
"Run! Just run and don't look back!" she shouted before imbuing herself with mana and throwing me as far as she could.
I landed on the hard ground quite a distance away, but it was still within close distance as several fireballs were shot my way. I seized the fleeting opportunity to run, several other kids were thrown too and tried to do the same thing, but they were stopped in their tracks.
Screams pierced the air and I knew those screams, screams that were begging for mercy, screams that received no answers.
Why me? Why had the gods or whatever higher being deemed it necessary for me to save a world that despised me? What had I done to deserve such a fate?
As I turned back, I could see Zenis fighting within the group, and I think turning back was one of the worst decisions I've made since I saw an arrow piercing directly through her chest. No mercy, for even one of their own.
A horn then was blown in the distance...it means that Harold and the others should be...
"Stand down!" someone screamed, "The king has ordered everyone to stand down!"
What? But I could even see the disbelief in the mages' eyes, why would the king order them to stand down now of all times?
I had no time to think but to keep running, however, a chain materialized out of nowhere and wrapped around me, causing me to trip and fall to the ground.
I glanced up, my heart pounding in my chest, to see a blond man in a white robe standing before me. I can barely make him out, but I can see a man about 190cm tall, maybe in his 40s, with deep blue eyes glaring at me, he also has a small visible scar on his chin.
"To think they let a kid get this far, those fools really need tougher training." he then spat and his saliva landed on my face, "Consider yourself lucky, pig."
*****
As I was led back to camp, I couldn't help but notice the eerie silence. The air was thick with the stench of death, and the only sound that broke the stillness was the clinking of metal against stone as I was dragged forward along with one other boy.
Everywhere I looked, there were corpses, twisted and broken bodies strewn haphazardly across the ground like discarded cuts of meat. And among the survivors, there were fewer than fifty, it happened so quickly, and yet so many of us are gone.
As I was roughly thrown into the midst of the others, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong, that we were being herded like cattle to the slaughter.
I saw the same fear reflected in everyone's eyes, the fear of facing a fate worse than death. The thought sent a shiver down my spine, as I imagined the possible horrors that awaited me.
[A: He's nearby.]
Huh?
[A: The hero has arrived.]
"Announcing the arrival of Prince Cedric, youngest prince of the Southern Empire!" a guard announced.
Of course, if I was born like this, the hero would be some prince...if he's here, it means that the stupid prophecy was somewhat true, and he has himself confirmed to be the hero.