342 Nowhere to go
The man in front of them, who said he was known as the Demon Emperor, was no ordinary person. Arthur looked at him and could not tell his level of power, and considering how dangerous the sea around the island was, there was no way that man was weak.
What could be the explanation, then? Well, it meant the man was more powerful than Arthur, and how much stronger was still an incognita.
“Who are you, if I may ask?” Arthur said.
“The Demon Emperor, just like I told you a few moments ago. Are you telling me I am a liar?” the bearded man said, appearing to be displeased with Arthur’s question.
“No, no,” Arthur said, moving his arms in denial, “I believe you. Oh, great Demon Emperor, what can you tell me about this island?”
Arthur had no idea if the man was telling the truth, but he still accepted the statement as accurate to not get into trouble with that unknown man.
“I will tell you just because you said I am great, okay? Very few people acknowledge that, so I know you are exceptional!”
“This island has no name, and it’s been so long since my arrival that I cannot remember it clearly. Well, not that I came here willingly; this is a special prison built to contain me!” the man said.
When the man said that, Arthur could feel a headache coming his way. It was a man whose power was immeasurable, and considering Arthur tried everything to break the barrier around the island, and it did not work, he was in deep trouble.
“What do you mean a prison? Are you a criminal? You look too awesome to be one,” Arthur said.
He understood the man liked to be flattered, and if that gave him answers, he would do it with no problems.
“Indeed, I did nothing wrong back then! All I wanted to do was clean the reputation of my continent and work with everyone else to make this entire planet a better place,”
“But no, they had to kick me out of my position and lock me in. They wanted blood and world domination, and all I wanted was a better world for my people,” the man said.
Based on what the man said, he was once the ruler of the demon continent. That was the place Arthur was going toward, and if that was true, then the man in front of him had much valuable information for him.
“Is there a way for us to leave this place?” Arthur asked.
Truth be told, the identity of that man mattered little to Arthur as he had no way of confirming it. The man could mean anything, and there would be no proof to back it up, at least not inside the island.
Now, leaving the island was something Arthur could do, and that was what he wanted to know the most. If he found a way to escape, then finding out the true identity of that man would be no problem for him.
“Perhaps. I don’t believe in unpenetrable prisons.”
“Out of curiosity, how long have you been trapped here?”
The man tried to count with his fingers, but then he looked toward Arthur and said, “I am not sure. I stopped counting when it reached around 800 years or so.”
Arthur wanted to cry, and his girls too. The man said he did not believe in unpenetrable prisons, yet he has been there for more than 800 years! So if a jail like that was not hard to escape, Arthur had no idea what it was.
“So you are saying you tried to look for a way out of here all these years and found nothing?”
“Sort off. Look, I stopped after a while and came to peace, knowing I would not leave this place so soon! Also, we are not the only ones trapped here; there are also some tribes here.”
So it turned out that man was not the only one there, and there were even tribes living on the island. The barrier which trapped everyone was not at the shore, but a little farther into the sea, so people could still fish for food, plant inside the island, and animals were living there too!
Arthur believed tribes had the means to live there, so he asked, “these tribes were here before you? Do you know if the barrier was here before you as well?”
“I believe so, yes. Why do you ask?”
“Have you ever tried to work with them to find a way out? If they are here longer than you, then they surely know more about this island,” Arthur said.
The crazy bearded man looked at him with a face of surprise and said, “I never tried to do that before. In my mind, if I could not leave, no one on this island would be able to, but what you said makes sense. What’s your name? You are wise for a youth. I am Zeph, by the way.”
Arthur wanted to punch Zeph in the face but restrained himself.
“I am Arthur, and these are my wives, Jane, Wisa, and Sybille,” Arthur said, pointing to his wives.
Zeph was not surprised to see someone with more than one wife, which was common all around the planet. He looked at them and said, “the tribes are deeper into the island. You can go there and see if they can help us. As for me, I will take a nap inside my cabin. See ya!”
He turned around, walked toward his little wooden cabin, and went inside to take a nap. Arthur thought he would at least go with him to check with the tribes to see if there was a way out or if they knew something, yet he was not so down to it.
“He’s been here for a long time, so I understand his tirednesses of seeking a way out of here. He probably searched everywhere throughout the years.” Arthur thought.
Arthur would not wait for that man to help him and was ready to look for a way out of the island alone. So, just like Zeph mentioned, Arthur went deeper into the island, seeking the tribes which were supposed to live there.
“Husband, do you think there is a way out of here?” Jane asked as they walked into the island’s dense vegetation. Wisa and Sybille had the same questions and were waiting for an answer.
They wanted to believe Arthur would find a way out of that predicament, but when they heard the man speak about many years trapped there, they could not help but feel worried.
Arthur grabbed their hands and said, “we will find a way out of here, do not worry.”
He spoke confidently, and his wives believed he was telling the truth. When did he let them down? Whenever a problem appeared, Arthur would find a way through it, no matter how unfavorable the odds looked.
With a positive attitude, Arthur led the way into the forest, looking for the tribes Zeph spoke about, and it did not take long for him to find them.
Arthur had no idea if there were more tribes or if the one he saw was the only one, but that place had to have information for him. So he looked from a distance, keeping a low profile, as he had no idea how these people would react after seeing him.
The tribe was primitive, as expected, and everyone had simply wooden houses with leaves acting as roofs, and most of them wore clothes made of fur or leaves, too, depending on the weather.
After some time hidden, Arthur could tell their strength did not exceed that of a rank one mage. Even if they were hostile toward Arthur and his wives, dealing with them would be no problem for them, so they walked toward the tribe, trying to look as friendly as possible without any weapons in their hands.
It did not take long for the tribe members to spot them, and all of them had spears on hand, mainly made of wood and stone, aiming at them.
A bulky man who looked like the person in charge of the warriors spoke to him in a strange tongue, and after Arthur used his spell, which had many languages stored for him to pick up at any time, nothing came out of it!
Well, it made sense. If Zeph said he was there for more than 800 years, and those people were there before him, then whatever language they spoke was an ancient one that was not available for the mages nowadays.
The man kept speaking, and Arthur could not understand a single thing, just like his wives. So he tried to use his hand to make signs for them, but it was not working as expected! Arthur was starting to get worried until an old shirtless man appeared to confront him.
Everyone stopped talking when the man came, and with that, Arthur could tell the man was the tribe’s chief, someone they all respected and would never interrupt him.
“Even if he is the chief, he will speak the same language, so what use does this have?” Arthur thought as he looked toward the old man, the only rank 1 mage inside the tribe.
But, when the man spoke, it was not the language the others were saying, but it was also one Arthur did not know.
“I cannot understand you…”
Arthur was feeling down, but then Sybille, behind him, said, “Arthur, I know this language! It is the common language spoken in the demon continent!”
Just like when Sybille read the runes to enter Karantis, she was again using his knowledge about that language!