Episode 92
“What could a whelp like you possibly know about the darkness of Saxon…!”
The knight, known as the Night Raven, had reached the level of an Aura Knight. Yet, he was neither a “Knight of Dale” nor even a “Knight of Saxon.” Thus, there was no reason to show mercy.
Soon, this arena would transform into the “Black Prince’s Slaughterhouse,” and the butcher before him would be its first victim.
Clang!
Dale deflected the butcher’s black sword with his Peacemaker, and in a swift counter, the blades of his shadowy cloak surged forward. The butcher hastily retreated from the descending dark blades.
The knight had voluntarily distanced himself from the mage.
By then, Dale had already added a slicing spell to the shadow blades, crafting each shattered piece into a bullet form. From blade to bullet, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
With speed and precision far beyond his days as a 3rd Circle mage.
‘Was it always this easy?’
Even Dale was surprised by his own efficiency. He extended his arm, and the shadow bullets rained down.
Without even a chant, the barrage of black bullets was like a machine gun.
The Shadow Bullets were unleashed upon the knight who had willingly allowed the distance, and the outcome was inevitable.
Despite the aura-enhanced armor, it offered no resistance, and a pitiful scream echoed.
Countless shadows of malice rained down upon the black armor of Saxon.
“Ugh, ugh!”
“Let me ask again. Why did you break the oath?”
The butcher screamed, and Dale spoke, casting a soundproof barrier to keep their conversation private.
“Are you planning to confess about the darkness of Saxon that I don’t know?”
“I had a brother who fought for the Saxon family and died honorably!”
The butcher, now on his knees, shouted in fear.
“And that very brother was wielding a sword for Saxon’s oath until recently!”
”…”
Death Order. Unlike a Death Knight, which is temporarily revived for use, this was different.
Without continuous magical supply, it was the immortal army built since the time of Saxon’s founder, the Undying Duke Frederick.
“Even in death, he found no rest…”
The darkness within the Night Raven Knight’s oath to Saxon.
“Seeing my brother bound by the chains of Saxon, cursed with undeath for eternity.”
The butcher stammered in terror.
“I was so afraid!”
He must have known. The oath of the Night Raven Knights. The vow to serve the Saxon family in life and death, and the meaning of their black aura.
Yet knowing and accepting are entirely different matters.
“So you broke the oath and ran away?”
“To the Saxon family, we are nothing but material for Death Knights!”
“And what of it?”
Dale tilted his head, puzzled.
“An Aura Knight, afraid of such a trivial fact, turned his back?”
As if he truly couldn’t understand.
“Despite fearing Saxon so much, you couldn’t abandon our armor and black sword?”
“P-please…”
The butcher knelt and pleaded.
“Give me another chance!”
An Aura Knight is not a force easily found.
“Another chance.”
Therefore.
“I was foolish! I am now ready to accept Saxon’s resolve!”
“Do you swear to serve in life and death?”
“I-I swear!”
The butcher nodded desperately.
“I accept your pledge.”
Dale tapped his head and shoulders lightly with his sword, mimicking a knight’s oath.
“By my will, I accept you once more as a Night Raven Knight of the Saxon family.”
“Th-thank you! I swear my eternal loyalty! I swear it!”
Hope finally appeared on the butcher’s face. He struggled to stand, planting his sword vertically.
“Rise.”
Immediately after, Dale spoke. Rise. At Dale’s command, “it” rose.
From within the shadowy cloak, the fully formed 《Shadow Lurker》 emerged.
No longer lurking in the shadows, it revealed its predatory majesty to the world.
What creature could it be compared to?
A monster, that was the only fitting description.
A body like a several-meter-long snake, with eight legs like a centipede, each limb a large, sharp blade. Countless spiny tendrils writhed along its back.
It had no flesh or carapace. It was merely a creature made of shadows.
“Eek…!”
The butcher gasped, overwhelmed by the sight of the “Shadow Lurker.”
“This isn’t what we agreed!”
“No, the agreement will be fulfilled.”
The butcher questioned in fear, and Dale coldly dismissed his protest.
“You swore to serve in life and death.”
”…!”
“On second thought, you don’t necessarily need to be alive.”
Dale said, and despair filled the butcher’s face.
「Kieeeek!」
With the Shadow Lurker’s shriek, its scythe-like limbs swung. Not the spiny tendrils lurking in the shadows, but the eight scythes.
The butcher’s body was sliced into eight pieces. The Shadow Lurker’s scythes endlessly butchered his flesh.
Even the horrors the butcher had shown seemed like child’s play in comparison.
‘If I deploy a large number of Lurkers in a major battle, how much could I turn the tide?’
Now at the level of a 4th Circle mage, it was not an idle fantasy. As he dispelled the soundproof barrier, Dale turned away.
Just as his father, the Black Duke, had done, he would reveal the true nature of Saxon’s “Black Prince” in all its cruelty and terror.
Silence fell. Even the commentators and spectators who had witnessed Dale’s prowess were left speechless, swallowing their words.
But this was a festival stained with blood and madness.
“Wowww!”
“Did you see that? That’s the cruelty of the ‘Black Prince’!”
“Overwhelming, it’s so overwhelming there’s nothing to say!”
“All the stories were true!”
“The greatest genius on the continent!”
“Ugh, that butcher!”
It didn’t take long for the crowd to revel in the bloodshed Dale displayed.
“Rise.”
Immediately after, Dale murmured again. At his command, the “butcher,” clad in black armor, rose.
“The dead have risen!”
“Is that the black magic of the Saxon family?”
“Death Knight, it’s a Death Knight!”
A Death Knight wielding Saxon’s black sword. In Guild City, it was an immediate force to be reckoned with through necromancy.
It was an unexpected gain, and with the black-armored knight in tow, Dale spoke toward the waiting room.
“Next.”
In the end, Dale never faced his next opponent.
“You want me to fight that monster? No way!”
“I don’t want to die!”
“It’s impossible! I surrender, I surrender!”
After nine consecutive forfeits, Dale claimed his tenth victory and left the fight club.
The real battle hadn’t even begun yet, and it would start when the Black Market opened.
There were seven guild masters, but only one could become the City Master. If the master of the Calimala Guild took that position, the City Master’s ledger would become Dale’s.
It was then.
In the passageway leading out of the underground coliseum, a familiar figure appeared.
It was Ray Eurys, the adopted son of Marquis Eurys.
“I watched your performance at the fight club.”
”…”
“Showing no mercy to those who abandoned the black!”
Ray laughed, raising his arms dramatically.
“I look forward to facing you in the upcoming winner’s match!”
The black and red magic flickered at his feet, as if to flaunt their power. Black and red.
”…!”
“That day, the exchange of black and red taught us all so much.”
Ray smiled softly.
“My father said.”
“Said what?”
“That it’s finally time to end the ‘Silent Training.’”
Before Dale could grasp the meaning of those words, black and blue magic swirled at his feet. The “Death Knight” guarding Dale readied its black sword. Ray immediately raised his arms, indicating he had no intention to fight.
“You’re also after the City Master’s ‘ledger,’ aren’t you, Prince Dale?”
“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
Dale murmured, and Ray replied.
“A storm of blood is coming.”
The conversation ended there.
A few days later.
An assassination attempt on the master of the “Calimala Guild” ended in failure.
While the guild master was conducting a street inspection, several figures disguised in robes charged forward. As they approached, an explosion occurred.
A bombing attack.
The explosion caused significant casualties, but fortunately, the guild master survived.
A landscape reduced to ashes. Undeniable evidence of dark magic. And there was only one suspect it all pointed to.
An attempted assassination in the city governed by the Kallimala Guild. A deadly explosion using corpses.
The news spread to the city of the Lana Guild almost instantaneously.
The explosion and assassination attempt were quickly attributed to dark magic, and it was obvious where the blame would fall.
“I didn’t expect them to stab me in the back so soon.”
As soon as he heard the news, Dale rose from his seat, recalling Ray Eurys’s words that the silence had finally ended.
“The Shadow Court will make its move.”
The Shadow Court. Alongside the seven great guilds, it was another force that effectively ruled the city. The enforcers of justice in the Guild City.
With Dale suspected of the assassination attempt, escaping their web seemed impossible.
But as the saying goes, a crisis is also an opportunity, and Dale had no intention of going down without a fight.
In the dimly lit alley, he pulled back his hood.
Hidden in the shadows was the holy maiden Aurelia, with the Death Knight he had acquired from the fight club by his side.
“I’ve been expecting you.”
Dale spoke into the empty air, his voice steady.
“I intend to prove my innocence to the Shadow Court.”
In response to his words, the sound of the wind shifted. Men appeared, clad in black coats and bird-beak masks, reminiscent of medieval plague doctors.
“Please grant me the chance to prove my innocence,” Dale pleaded.
“Follow us, defendant,” one of the masked men commanded. Even if they knew they were facing the ‘Black Prince’ of the Saxon family, their voices and demeanor betrayed not a hint of disturbance.
“Proving your innocence lies solely with the Goddess of Shadows.”
The Shadow Court.
The enforcers of justice in Guild City, the continent’s foremost organization of assassins…
Unlike the church’s interpretation of the twin goddesses as a single deity of mercy and compassion, the Shadow Church, a heretical sect, revered them as two distinct goddesses of light and shadow.
And into those very shadows, Dale stepped forward, his stride unwavering.