Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Episode 38

The notions of the Demon King and his evil lineage.

These denominations, which evoke children’s fictional tales, represent only the classifications imposed by the perception of men.

The concept of the demonic race does not define a uniform biological group, but functions as a generic denomination to group the diverse monsters that possess a minimum of intellectual development.

Within this group are included goblins, orcs, and an endless number of mysterious entities whose identities remain an enigma.

Following the map beyond the northern borders, in the territory considered the stronghold of the creatures, lie the confines of the Dark Earth, a region shrouded in mystery.

At the moment when the savior of the world, backed by the imperial legions, managed to strike down the self-proclaimed Demon King, the peoples of the continent assumed that definitive tranquility had been established. However, the high command of the empire understood that a considerable faction of the monsters had simply undertaken a mass exodus toward the Dark Earth with the sole purpose of resisting the hostile climate.

Their motivation did not respond to a malevolent plot to corrupt the planet, but to the basic instinct of survival.

For this reason, the fall of the dark monarch did not stop the massive migrations of these creatures, events commonly referred to as the “barbarian invasions.”

The confirmation that a gigantic horde of orcs was advancing in a southerly direction, pointing directly toward the domains of the Duchy of Saxony, signified the beginning of a new violent exodus.

“Are we standing at the gates of a new ‘barbarian invasion’?” Dale inquired.

“Everything points to that,” corroborated the Duke of Saxony, nodding with solemnity.

“The conflict that approaches will have dimensions never before witnessed by us.”

The opponents of greatest concern are those whose only goal is to preserve life. Dale understood the danger of the demonic race with greater clarity than the rest. Far from the dogmas disseminated by the Church, these entities did not pursue a mystical doctrine oriented toward spreading evil.

Fortunately, military preparations require time and battles do not arise unexpectedly.

“It will be necessary to seek support,” Dale proposed.

“I have dispatched emissaries to summon the rulers of the north, the members of the Black Tower, and the entirety of the cavalry forces that owe me loyalty,” explained the leader.

“Will we not have external reinforcements?” inquired Dale, receiving in response a silence that was equivalent to a painful affirmation. The imperial authorities and rival factions lacked intentions of sacrificing their men in a campaign against the beasts of the north.

“The landscape is extremely complex,” added the duke.

“The time has come to instruct you in the application of the arts of necromancy within the combat terrain.”

“Advance!”

Under the command of Sir Bale, belonging to the lineage of the Baskerville family, the Saxon riders raised their voices in the midst of the attack. Brandishing their spears, they launched themselves at full speed against the pack of wolves.

Both wild creatures and monsters threaten the stability of human populations, which is why their extermination is indispensable to guarantee order.

The warriors protected by the metal of their armor plunged their weapons into the bodies of the beasts, which responded by attacking with desperation.

“As you observe, the lance-charging maneuvers executed by the Saxon knights bear no relation to your physical capabilities,” analyzed Dale, contemplating the confrontation from a mountainous elevation next to his subordinate, Charlotte.

Charlotte’s delicate and short stature was incompatible with the demands of heavy cavalry, which requires singular skill in horsemanship and the handling of long lances. The imposing sword she carried reflected, instead, her exclusive virtuosity for manifesting and shaping aura.

“… I am clear on that,” replied Charlotte, showing a subtle sadness in her countenance.

“Despite this, in the instant you master the channeling of your aura, you will possess the faculty to fight on equal terms against any experienced warrior, regardless of whether you retain the structure of a girl,” Dale assured her to instill confidence.

“Your duty is to enhance those virtues that are innate to you.”

“My virtues…” Charlotte reflected to herself. Her facility for handling steel represented a duality between fortune and misfortune, a condition identical to her bond with aura.

—I understand the message —she declared, nodding in a measured way. Aura along with mystical arts feed on mana energy, and the martial discipline of an elite warrior, upon reaching its maximum level, contains a conceptual background as deep as the spells of a sorcerer.

“Maintain a firm posture and put all your attention on the mastery of the dark steel of the Saxon family,” Dale entrusted her, alluding to the emblematic blade imbued with dark energy that distinguished his lineage.

“The real battlefront will grant you the practical lessons you require shortly.”

As the skirmish between the mounted unit and the wolf-like beasts drew to an end, Dale resumed speaking.

“We will model a combat methodology that synchronizes perfectly with you.”

“I thank you deeply,” answered Charlotte, manifesting a slight coloring on her face typical of her youth.

“I will strive to the maximum in my lessons to be up to the prestige of the ‘Black Prince’.”

Her conviction showed to be unshakeable.

At dusk, in the underground facilities belonging to the Black Duke.

The first training session focused on the implementation of the magic of the dead in war scenarios began.

“In what way would you differentiate a Death knight from a simple reanimated combatant?” questioned the Black Duke.

“The Death knight retains the rank of an elite warrior, while the basic undead is equivalent to an infantry pawn,” theorized Dale.

The Black Duke agreed. “And what element establishes the border between an elite warrior and a common soldier?”

“The level of skill and effectiveness in physical confrontation,” proposed Dale.

“That appreciation is accurate only in part,” the leader nuanced, shaking his head.

“Excellence in combat does not automatically guarantee investiture as a knight.”

With a gesture, he directed attention toward the mortal remains arranged on the surface of a table; they corresponded to a member of the Raven Knight, who swore an oath to the Saxon family in his time of vitality and yielded his remains voluntarily after perishing.

“Is it perhaps due to the manifestation of an aura sword?” intuited Dale.

“Correct,” asserted the Black Duke, producing a sound with his fingers. The energy of dark magic completely covered the mortal remains of the combatant, managing to make the figure provided with its dark armor and grasping its regulation weapon stand up.

“The higher the control of aura the warrior developed during his days of life…”

That Death knight, provided now with an imperishable existence, projected the same spiritual strength that he had consolidated under the banner of the Raven Knight.

The weapon he held was coated by the flow of shadowy energy characteristic of the members of the Saxon family.

“Likewise, the greater the affinity between the spiritual flow and the components of the dark arts, the superior will be the destructive power of the Death knight,” clarified the Black Duke.

Dale’s mind processed that information with the impact of a lightning revelation.

The fundamental reason why the Raven Knight hosts linked to the Saxon dynasty channeled flows of dark energy into their weapons resided in their perfect assimilation with the forbidden enchantments practiced by the sorcerers of the Black Tower.

Mystical forces of darkness combined with auras of identical nature.

In other words, the members of the Raven Knight configured their combat styles with the anticipated certainty that they would return to the world in the form of a Death knight.

“Engrave this in your mind, their dignity remains intact both on the plane of the living and in the realm of the fallen,” the Black Duke pointed out, contemplating the resurrected creature whose steel impregnated with shadowy energy gleamed.

“Accompany me,” he ordered after a brief pause, starting the march through the rooms of the workshop in the company of the reanimated Death knight.

“It is necessary that you contemplate something.”

With a responsibility that exceeded any previous experience.

—Understood, father —stated Dale.

They approached a section where Dale, on a previous occasion, had taken possession of a mystical object of a dark nature.

The domains of the Black Duke’s underground workshop. However, the tour did not conclude at that point. The leader continued advancing toward the depths of the shadows, keeping absolute secrecy.

“What will be our destination?” reflected Dale to himself, maintaining his pace stealthily.

“Do you possess knowledge about Frederick, the immortal duke who gave origin to the Saxon lineage?” inquired the ruler during the march. Dale immediately evoked the influence of the “Book of the Black Goat” settled in his being and the image of the female entity with caprine features that inhabited the confines of his mind.

“I have reviewed chronicles on the subject and I possess the data that you have shared with me,” answered Dale, keeping his true knowledge to himself.

“He was an individual obsessed with absolute mysteries,” described the duke, a ruthless being capable of surrendering the well-being of his own offspring in order to decipher the secrets hidden behind the threshold of death.

“And the element that you are going to witness…”

Both stopped their advance.

“Does it represent that ‘ancient darkness’ that he pursued, a burden that the Saxon house drags to our days?”

They were in front of the threshold of a colossal enclosure hidden underground. The lateral structures seemed to pulsate due to the concentration of shadows, a magical protection system of a level so sophisticated that it surpassed Dale’s previous notions.

“Access is restricted exclusively to the carriers of the Saxon bloodline,” dictated the duke, entering the space covered in shadows. Dale proceeded to imitate him without any hesitation.

Flash!

The formidable barrier of shadowy energy yielded before the passage of both members of the Saxon lineage, validating the bonds of kinship they shared. The scenario hidden in the interior caused Dale’s heart to lurch.

It was a concentration of eternal warriors.

Arranged inside a monumental funeral structure that evoked the pyramidal constructions or the pantheons of the empire’s royalty, a formation identical to the clay statues of the first oriental monarch…

It was not limited to a small group. They were not tens or hundreds.

The number amounted to thousands according to a quick calculation at a simple glance.

“What does all this mean…?” Dale found himself unable to contain his astonishment.

A true legion of the fallen composed of thousands of examples of the Death knight remained there in a state of absolute stillness.

A military force that surpassed the combat units of any sovereignty of the continent, including mounts endowed with that same immortal condition.

However, Dale deduced quickly that these mystical forces were not devoid of consciousness or sunk in an eternal lethargy. They only kept a sepulchral silence in expectation of a directive.

From whom would such provisions come?

That question generated a shudder inside Dale.

“In a remote era, the scholar Bulsagong deciphered the mechanism to infuse movement in inert bodies dispensing with a constant flow of mystical energy…”

The Duke of Saxony continued with his explanation, using an unalterable and firm tone of voice.

“The successive regents of the Sachsen lineage dedicated themselves to structuring an army of fallen beings, baptized under the name of the ‘Order of Death’, throughout multiple eras.”

The Order of Death. A brotherhood integrated by warriors who lost their lives.

In that precise instant, Dale assimilated the true dimensions and the transcendence of the situation.

“I am also part of this chain.”

That clarified the determination of the Sachsen lineage to remain on the margins of the affairs of other nations. And the motive for which the Black Duke demanded an unblemished moral rectitude at the moment of manipulating the forces of the shadows.

“This is the nature of our darkness.”

It was a moral contradiction so deep that it bordered on the intolerable.

“Despite everything, this same darkness constitutes our main defense.”

A protection designed to repel both external aggressions and internal plots.

The Death knight that the Black Duke had recently brought back advanced with a firm step until integrating into the ranks of the Order of Death. Dale identified the identity of the creature. It was the combatant who demonstrated exceptional courage in the course of the confrontation of black and white, losing his life on the left wing of the front while watching over Dale’s safety.

A new member joined the ranks of the Order of Death.

With the faculty to deploy an aura sword and exempt from the dependence of a continuous supply of mana: an automated and eternal combat force.

Under what principles was such a prodigy sustained? Even Dale, possessor of a vast mental library, found himself incapacitated to find a logical answer.

“Are you resolved to assimilate this dark inheritance?”

The Duke of Saxony inquired serenely. In that instant, the pulse in Dale’s chest accelerated drastically.

The three rings of internal energy together with the jet-black filaments that imprisoned the cardiac fibers of Dale began to agitate convulsively.

“……”

Ignoring the sharp discomfort he experienced in the thoracic zone, Dale nodded silently.

“My resolution has been firm since the first moment.”

Doubts had no place in his mind. It lacked relevance how contaminated or reprehensible the origin of that force might result.

Chapter 38