Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Chapter 60

While Sir Helmut held back the main contingent of radical veterans charging through the front entrance by himself, a few of these experienced mages managed to slip away toward the upper levels of the Saxon ducal fortress.

However, they did not find the path clear. Blocking their advance were the custodians of the Saxon dynasty.

“The Black Executioner…!”

A lady adorned in refined attire and wearing a gleaming monocle stood before them. One of the Black Tower veterans identified her immediately and exclaimed.

It was Eris, the secretary of the Black Duke, known as the Black Executioner.

Occupying the position of assistant to the sovereign of the Black Tower entailed responsibilities that far exceeded those of a conventional secretary.

“It is regrettable to see how many fools dare to rise against the regent of the Tower.”

Eris expressed with disdain, evidencing her total disillusionment before the agitated old man.

“After observing the condition in which the Black Tower finds itself, do you still have the nerve to utter such nonsense?”

The Black Tower veteran replied, refusing to take a step back.

“Black Executioner, do you not perceive the decay of the Black Tower and the loss of strength of the Tower Master?”

“Are you suggesting that the Black Tower has fallen and that our Tower Master has weakened?”

“Precisely, led astray by the heat and the bonds of family blood, casting aside the true purpose of the Black Tower…”

At that instant, Eris was unable to hold back a laugh.

“What are you mocking?”

“That a mere veteran of the sixth circle pretends to measure the immensity of the spirit of the Black Tower Master.”

Eris declared, as the light reflected coldly on her monocle.

“A predator that covers itself with sheep’s skin does not alter its internal essence.”

“What are you trying to suggest…?”

“No matter how much an infernal creature tries to adopt the form of a celestial being, it will never possess the wings of an angel.”

With the threads of dark arts manifesting around her feet, Eris let out a laugh laden with contempt, highly entertained by the situation.

“High-level annihilation: event horizon.”

Eris pronounced, and instantly, dark spheres resembling extinct stars began to orbit around her as if they were satellites. An absolute gravitational manifestation that devours everything in its path, preventing even the escape of luminosity: an authentic black hole.

“The princess of darkness!”

Despite being a memory that caused her discomfort and of which she avoided speaking…

Long before assuming the role of Black Executioner or serving the Black Tower Master, she was known under the pseudonym of the “Princess of Darkness,” a dark sorceress belonging to the seventh circle.

“… Let the darkness devour you.”

The Dark Princess.

A name she had assigned to herself due to the delusions of her youth, an alias so embarrassing that it continued to torment her in the present.

“Damn it, curse it…!”

There existed an individual whose vital essence boiled with the same intensity as Walter, he of the Burning Blood. He was confronting an elven sorceress of the sixth circle.

“I will finish you, I am going to destroy you!”

The Black Tower elder bellowed, with his bloodstream heating to the point of beginning to dissipate.

“I will make you suffer in such a way that you will beg for the end to rid yourself of this torment…!”

In the midst of the roar caused by the Blue Dissonance, the man fought implacably.

“I do not understand the reason why a practitioner of magic, who requires temperance, shows himself to be so uncontrolled. It truly disconcerts me.”

Upon observing him, Sepia tilted her head, submerged in confusion.

In her capacity as a sixth-circle water element specialist, she blocked with absolute accuracy every one of the mystical attacks launched against her, dissipating them consecutively. Using her celebrated skill for neutralization, she completely restricted the actions of her rival, chaining him time and time again.

Contrary to the assumptions of the masses, Ray Uris did not possess only the condition of the adopted offspring of the Bloody Duke.

He was the legitimate recipient of the blood heritage forged by a lineage of great relevance. He who was destined to preserve the glories of the Red Tower.

Young blood.

Ray Uris, belonging to the Uris clan, remained firm in the place.

“Is it possible… that your true origin is…?”

The Black Tower elder articulated while submerged in astonishment, dismissing the vital fluid that emanated from his own wounds.

“I do not hold the slightest respect for the essence of the corrupt.”

Ray Uris sketched a slight grimace of amusement, wiping the reddish trace from his lips and exhibiting his sharp teeth.

What ran through the veins of Ray Uris constituted the historical background and the authority of the lineage consolidated by the Uris family, something that far exceeded the simple relationship of paternity.

“I will not allow myself to fail my progenitor.”

Ray Uris charged with a speed and physical power that left behind even those of an Aura Knight. His advance did not depend on the use of internal energies or spells, but strictly on the formidable physical gifts that his nature granted him.

In this environment, the outcome for any sorcerer who allowed the approach of a warrior was highly predictable.

And that identical outcome awaited the mage who tolerated the proximity of a being of the night.

Crunch!

Ray Uris’s teeth embedded themselves deeply in the throat of the Black Tower elder. At the same time, the victim’s vital fluid reversed its course, heading directly toward Ray’s mouth.

“Gah, agh!”

The torrent of the shadow mystic of the sixth circle flowed, sliding through the fangs of the being of the night and the organic integration device named the “Dragon’s Jaw.” This constituted the true reason why Ray Uris had traveled to the frozen domains of Saxon on the occasion of the Black-Red Exchange.

“This is the authentic vigor of a dark practitioner of the sixth circle…”

He expressed through gritted teeth, causing the rotation of the two mystical cores lodged in his chest.

The incandescent heat of the red arts, similar to volcanic flow, and the dark arts, dense and enigmatic like midnight.

Fire and darkness.

The red-black energies began to dance and stir around his lower extremities, coupling in the form of a whirlpool.

A manifestation highly similar to the cold and dark arts that Dale had executed in the past… exhibiting that characteristic bluish-black hue.

“Mother, Lize!”

Dale exclaimed as he advanced in a rush through the corridor of the fortress and arrived at the private quarters of the Duke and Duchess of Saxon.

“The young master has returned!”

The room was guarded with the firmness of a bastion, under the custody of the night raven knights of the fortress.

They were the most devoted combatants who lived permanently in the Saxon ducal structure to watch over the safety of their lords. In this site, the most outstanding warriors were concentrated, surpassed only by Sir Helmut.

Fully aware of the relevance of their work, they were rarely seen by others and were not part of the habitual practices of the knighthood. They were warriors of silence who had bound themselves through the “oath of silence,” promising to act as the hidden protectors of the Saxon dynasty for their entire lives.

The most select escort of the Saxon ducal dynasty.

The tomb guards adopted a posture of submission before Dale, driving their blades perpendicularly into the surface of the floor.

Even if the Black Tower elders decided to manifest their conceptual spheres, these warriors had the capacity to fracture such dimensions employing their spiritual combat projections.

Each represented an avatar bearer, surpassing the capacities of the Aura Knights to consolidate themselves in the rank of “Aura Masters.” Warriors fit to manifest the maximum expression of the technique of cavalry warfare.

In the same way that the deployment of mages from the fourth circle and massive devastation enchantments were restricted in the conflicts of the minor nobility, in the same way, the intervention of the “avatar bearers” possessing the rank of Aura Masters was forbidden.

Because their use would lead to losses of disastrous magnitudes.

The most formidable combat capabilities involved in the alternation of the black and white factions were constrained to aura knights of the stature of Sir Bale or Sir Milvas for this precise consideration.

And those same elite combatants, the Tomb Guardians, watched over the bedchamber of the Duke and Duchess of Saxon. Just as the Black Duke had previously stated, the stability of Saxon did not possess a vulnerability that would allow it to collapse due to the actions of a few tower elders.

“Big brother!”

In the midst of the abrupt disturbance, Lize exclaimed, prey to panic. Despite being at a very early age to assimilate the events of the environment, she was able to detect the atmosphere of danger that enveloped the Saxon ducal palace.

“Lize, come closer.”

“Brother, fear invades me!”

“Clear your fears. There does not exist any danger that you should fear.”

Dale moved swiftly toward his frightened little sister, offering her a warm embrace. Lize was unable to contain her emotions and began to shed tears inconsolably.

“Your big brother will watch over your safety.”

“Is it a promise?”

“Without the slightest doubt.”

Upon contemplating the fragile and unprotected little girl submerged in tears, Dale pressed his teeth in a subtle manner.

“Dale…”

“There is no reason for anguish, mother.”

Dale dedicated a gesture of tranquility to Elena, who was trying to maintain her composure. An indescribable sensation flooded the interior of Dale.

“They will never manage to approach you or Lize.”

Dale expressed, transmitting serenity, despite the “ebony tendrils” that exerted pressure on his own chest.

“Sir Helmut keeps the bulk of the attackers held back, while the defending sorcerers of the palace are frustrating the attempts of the veterans to access the upper floors.”

At Dale’s side, Sir Bale of Baskerville provided the status of the situation.

The high-ranking mages stationed in the building, contemplating Eris and Sepia, did not owe their obedience to the Black Tower, but directly to the Saxon ducal dynasty.

To be completely frank, the probabilities of the intruders reaching this point were highly reduced. However, contemplating the most unfavorable scenario, the warriors of the Saxon lineage remained guarding the perimeter, and the skills of the Aura Masters gathered there were unquestionable.

The most formidable defenders watched over the integrity of the members of the Saxon ducal family.

Despite that, Dale did not harbor the desire to remain static under the protection of others. Furthermore, his main mission did not lie in guarding that room.

That task belonged entirely to them, the Tomb Guardians.

“I place my mother and Lize under your custody.”

“Dale!”

“Young master!”

“Please, place your certainty in me.”

Distancing himself from a worried Elena, Dale issued guidelines to the combatants of the Saxon dynasty. He moved between the shadows of the building, resolved to adopt the role of pursuer in search of his objectives, firmly decided to make those who pretended to destabilize the order of the Black Tower suffer the consequences.

Velok, the leader in command of the Black Order and bearer of the dark arts of the sixth circle, advanced with determination through the interior corridors of the fortress.

In times of conflict, the experimentation facilities of the Black Order represented an ideal space for the investigation of fundamental mysteries, an environment free of bonds where moral principles were suspended. Velok recalled the summits associated with the sixth circle and the revelations he had consolidated under said status.

It was in that precise instant when he perceived a trace of life beyond the diffuse silhouettes that projected on the walls of the corridor.

“Could it be a Night Raven Knight…?”

No, it was limited to a simple vibration of life.

“You have fallen completely into my ambush!”

Velok was unable to contain an expression of absolute joy. His goal, his coveted prey, was located precisely at that point.

“Well, well, it turns out to be the Black Prince.”

The descendant of the Black Duke. Velok manifested a subtle smile lacking sound.

“……”

However, the renowned “Black Prince” opted not to emit a response in an immediate manner. He limited himself to remaining static in his position, surrounded by a gloom and a mutism that were highly disturbing, detecting the vibration of dark appendages that contracted in synchrony with his internal pulses.

“Are you still not aware of the position in which you find yourself?”

The pursuer who considered that he had cornered his prey interrogated.

“Do you perhaps consider that the status of successor of the Black Tower is something insignificant?”

The specialist of the dark arts guarded the absolute certainty that he was facing a dangerous creature, which was the reason why Dale did not show the slightest hesitation.

The ideal instant to hunt down the specimen had finally presented itself.