Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill

William had known using that transformation would draw the demon prince's attention. But he'd believed the trial would end the moment the battle was over. Clearly, he was wrong.

He decided against fighting or trying to flee. There was no point. Besides, he was exhausted. The prince was in far better shape and would undoubtedly win if they clashed.

Not to mention he has the entire army backing him up.

The only option was to follow the prince like an obedient dog. Anything else was impossible.

The two of them walked together across the battlefield. The army remained, waiting for their commander's next orders.

When the soldiers spotted William, murmurs and questions rippled through the ranks.

"Is that the guy who wiped out half their army? You're a legend, kid! You won us this battle!"

"Hell yeah! You deserve a statue!"

They all began to cheer, raising their swords toward William. To them, he had become a savior—the one who had ended a bloody fight that would surely have claimed many of their lives.

The demon prince was still unsure how to proceed. On one hand, he wanted to extract information from William—to understand how the hell he possessed a transformation that, until now, had been unique to the royal family.

But at the same time, he knew William had become a hero to the troops. Torturing or, worse, killing him would be a terrible move.

I need to tread carefully here, what a pain. This bureaucratic crap is my brother's specialty. I'd rather just charge in and fight.

The two of them passed through the army, songs of celebration echoing all around them. The victory was significant enough that the city had already begun preparing a feast for that very night, to commemorate the win and honor the fallen.

The special guest would be none other than William. After just one battle, he was already being treated like a war hero.

The prince, Malakar, led him to the royal palace at the city's edge, at its highest point. It was the same temple William had visited before.

Along the way, no matter how much he wanted to question William, he held himself back. There was no reason to do it here. Their conversation would be private—something others couldn't even dream of overhearing.

As soon as they arrived at the palace, a group of people came to meet the prince. These were the advisors—people not focused on combat, but who handled the boring side of governing a city.

"We won the battle. Go organize the army, and prepare that celebration you're all thinking about. I have important matters to attend to," Malakar said.

William watched everything closely, trying to understand how the city's power structure was divided. He noticed something peculiar in that brief exchange.

"But what could be more important than organizing things after the battle, my lord? Don't you think you're just running from the boring part?"

They were pushing back against the prince's orders—subtly, of course.

Malakar ignored them completely and kept walking. William continued following him.

From a distance, he gave one last warning.

"When I return, I want everything ready. If not..."

Those were the last words he said to that group of advisors.

*

The temple was exactly like the one William had seen when he entered the inheritance. The appearance wasn't far off. Of all the buildings in the city, the temple had withstood the passage of time the best.

William even passed by the statue he had touched to enter the lineage, but unlike the temple in the future, in the past, the door to the lineage wasn't there.

Maybe they placed the lineage there before being destroyed by the army. As a last attempt to preserve it?

It was the only explanation William could think of at that moment.

Malakar led him to a room that had absolutely nothing—just a table with two chairs in the middle.

The lighting was poor. There were no windows, and the walls had been reinforced to ensure sounds from inside wouldn't be heard by anyone outside.

An interrogation room.

It was obvious what this was.

"Sit," Malakar said in a firm voice, pointing to one of the chairs.

William sat down in one of the chairs. Malakar did the same, and the two stared at each other for a few seconds.

"I'll get straight to the point, no beating around the bush. How do you have this transformation? It's meant only for those of the royal family."

William didn't know what to do or how to proceed in this situation. He decided to play crazy.

"I got this lineage a long time ago, outside this place. Right now, I'm taking part in the trials to gain the inheritance you left here—after all, you lost the battle. This is all part of my test."

That sounded like something a drunk would say after hours at a bar. How would Malakar believe anything like that?

But what caught his attention was the word inheritance.

"How do you know about the inheritance? I did prepare it in case we lost the fight—which wasn't the case—but it's something even my advisors don't know about."

The room fell completely silent, the only sound being their breathing. William knew he had to respond. If he didn't, Malakar might try to attack him right then and there.

"I know about the inheritance because I'm participating in it—I just told you. I arrived in this city in the future—completely destroyed. Who knows when. I entered the inheritance through the statue. I touched that statue we passed on the way here, and there was a door in the back."

Malakar stood up from his chair and began pacing back and forth across the room.

"No one knows about this except me. So either you're telling the truth and all this madness is real, or you can somehow read my mind and are deceiving me."

He eventually stopped and turned to face William again.

"There's only one way to find out if you're telling the truth. Follow me, now!"