Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Traversing the lands of the continent in complete solitude and with the sole company of a sword is equivalent to seeking the end of one’s days. This is a reality even in an era where legend-tier warriors are rumored to be capable of annihilating entire armies on their own.

And what were the chances that the traveler standing there was one of those combat deities? The probabilities were practically nil. From a rational point of view, an individual of such renown would never wander from place to place in such worn-out clothing.

Within the domains of the southern empire, the Marcel mountain range interrupts the path that leads directly toward the guild city.

For this reason, the hoodlums belonging to the “Greenwood” gang, who had established their base in that area, did not show the slightest hesitation. They cut off the advance of the traveler covered by the black cloak, with the firm intention of stripping him of all his belongings.

They didn’t even need him to be carrying tangible riches.

Crossing the Marcel mountains, in the direction of the south, lies the Guild City.

In that corner of the world, a living human being represents a highly prized commodity. From that perspective, the Greenwood criminals operated merely as external suppliers who constantly supplied these “resources” to the Guild City.

With the silent consent of the main corporations, their illicit activities thrived without setbacks.

“Look at that, what a daring fellow.”

Or at least, that was the reality until that mysterious passerby crossed their path.

“To enter our domains without the slightest fear, you must surely come from outside the city, don’t you?”

“Indeed! My, what terrible fortune you’ve had!”

The members of Greenwood burst into mocking laughter, while the traveler remained in absolute silence. Under the relentless solar glare, the shadows cast beneath his hood became dense and deep.

“By the looks of it, you are dedicated to managing a human trafficking network in this location, is that correct?”

The individual in the cloak finally spoke a word.

His tone of voice revealed a notable youth, contrasting completely with the general appearance he projected.

“…!”

However, his imperturbable posture caused the members of Greenwood to fall silent for an instant. There were few capable of maintaining such a level of composure in front of a group of hoodlums.

“Anyway, it makes no sense to waste time talking to such irrelevant beings.”

The traveler, whose name was Dale of Saxon, uttered those words in a murmur filled with disdain.

“Damn brat…!”

Hostility ignited immediately among the men of Greenwood. The moment of quiet vanished quickly.

One of the bandits, firmly gripping an axe, lunged aggressively forward.

Slash!

In the blink of an eye, the criminal group was unable to process the events.

The upper extremity that held the weapon was separated completely from its place. A torrent of blood began to gush from the wound, but the effects did not end there. A kind of “purple filament” began to tighten over the assailant’s anatomy, drawing a trace that started from the top of his skull, descended through his lips and throat, continuing from the pectoral area to the inguinal region.

Immediately another “purple filament” appeared and, in a matter of moments, a large number of bloody traces ran through his entire body.

Thump!

The bandit’s body structure began to fragment into multiple perfectly delimited square sections, evoking the sequences of the cinematographic production “Cube,” perishing without the slightest opportunity to emit a groan or manifest any pain.

“From within the darkness… a true freak has emerged…”

One of the Greenwood criminals expressed with astonishment, contemplating the remains of his ally in a daze.

“It’s a monster…!”

Beside Dale, a dark silhouette began to materialize.

It did not correspond to a beast, but to the silhouette of a human being.

Hidden under a dark helmet, one could see hair as black as the night itself.

Wearing the dark-toned armor that identifies the Night Raven Knight, she held a metallic blade completely clean of vital fluids. It was not a common member of the Night Raven Knight order. It was an individual who had spoken the Oath of Silence, watching over the safety of the Saxon lineage from the shadows with colossal power.

A warrior who rejected the codes of high society and knightly dogmas, willing to act as an executioner’s weapon at the precise moment… operating strictly under the guidelines and doctrines of the Saxon lineage.

The entity known as the “Grave Guard”… Aurelia made her appearance.

Lady Shadow.

Her loyalty did not belong to the Saxon duchy, but was fully oriented toward Dale from the confines of the shadows.

From that moment on, Aurelia chose to become Dale’s dark reflection by her own determination. This was consolidated by assimilating both her own gloom and the darkness coming from Shub through the “Book of the Black Goat.”

That pact united the “Mother of Ancient Darkness” with the former young devotee Aurelia, causing there to be not the slightest trace of the purity that used to characterize the former sacred lady in her current physiognomy.

“These souls do not deserve existence. End the life of each one of them.”

“It shall be done according to your wishes, my lord.”

Dale decreed. Aurelia did not show the slightest hesitation. She lunged swiftly, executing a new cut with her weapon. Fragments of flesh, fluids, and bone structures ended up scattered across the ground. With each breath of life she extinguished, an intense feeling of joy was transmitted through her hilt.

“For the love of God, I implore you to grant me my life…!”

The pleas for mercy were so pleasant that she found herself unable to stop. Was that perhaps the nature of supreme joy?

“Ah…”

The absolute delight derived from the eradication of lives. Similar to an infant exploring their surroundings for the first time, devoid of any remorse.

With the ties that bound her to the sacred broken, Aurelia faced reality guided solely by her desires and her own determination. Staying united to her dark faction and her own shadow.

At what point did her own free choice end and where did the shadowy power of the “Book of the Black Goat” begin? That had ceased to have any relevance.

The prayers emitted by the sacred maiden Aurelia were never heard by the deity. The so-called “Black Prince” guided the virtuous young woman toward absolute perdition and, in the midst of that decadence, offered her his support. On that day, the virtuous young woman Aurelia consolidated an alliance with a demonic entity.

Having as a quid pro quo the definitive collapse of the empire.

Surrounded by the desperate pleas of the criminals who begged for clemency, Aurelia’s blade continued its destructive work.

Saxon’s dark sword, imbued with an energy of completely jet-black tones.

The Greenwood settlement.

The shadow warrior deity was mercilessly annihilating the Greenwood criminals. Who would dare to link such a herald to the virtuous and noble sacred lady from the lands of the island of Britannia?

She did not possess winged limbs of immaculate radiance, nor indications of a golden shine. She only manifested evident satisfaction with each impact delivered by her weapon.

On that date, using the power of the “Book of the Black Goat,” she faced her own shadow by personal resolution. And that crucial determination transformed her into the entity that manifested in the present.

The Black Maiden, also known as Lady Shadow.

The attire of the shadow warrior deity seemed to take on a life of its own, expanding into the surroundings. Similar to the “shadow cloak” belonging to Dale, this transmuted into a series of dark-colored pikes that pierced the bodies of the assailants from multiple flanks.

The bloodstream splattered the surroundings in a generalized way.

“Ah, ahhh…”

Dale walked slowly toward the horrified leader of Greenwood, who lay on the ground completely bowed by panic.

“I require you to answer a question.”

“Of course, I will answer whatever you ask of me!”

The Greenwood leader begged fervently while remaining on his knees before Dale’s presence.

“Does any member of the high spheres within the City of Guilds maintain commercial ties with you?”

Facing society, the main corporations maintain that their activities are limited to the financial sector, the textile industry, the exchange of goods, or the legal field… however, each of these factions is linked to various criminal operations that they find impossible to admit in the public light. All this operating through the structural network of the Guild City, whose tentacles span the entirety of the continental territory.

In other words, the Guild City itself constitutes a colossal crime syndicate.

The group of hoodlums called “Kaleidoscope,” which Dale had faced previously, was nothing more than an insignificance in comparison to this.

Even the old building of the Black Tower used to supply itself with “experimental subjects” of regular origin through these channels.

For this reason, it became essential to find an access route toward the deepest and most hidden sectors of the Guild City, going much further than acting as an ordinary buyer of the underground market.

“I have full knowledge of it! I know who they are!”

The Greenwood leader clamored desperately.

“There are individuals who come on a scheduled basis to take possession of the people we capture! I have them fully identified!”

“Excellent, it represents a great advantage that you possess that information.”

Dale mentioned. The shadow warrior deity had already proceeded to store her weapon in its scabbard. Leaving a trail of inert bodies behind her.

The troubled leader lost control of his sphincters due to terror, to which Dale addressed a few words of apparent calm.

“Those data represent the only reason why you will preserve your life.”

A few days passed. At the moment when an emissary from the Guild City arrived at the Greenwood facilities for the purpose of collecting the usual shipment of “goods.”

“…!”

Upon contemplating the landscape of destruction, he found himself devoid of words.

An individual covered by a black cloak remained static in the place.

His dark clothing made disturbing movements in the midst of the static atmosphere, and the shadow projected under his hood appeared dense despite the brightness of the day.

At a short distance, the Greenwood leader remained prostrate, prey to an uncontrollable trembling.

“What kind of events have taken place in this site…?”

Initially, it was impossible for him to assimilate the facts. Had a pacification contingent foreign to the Guild City appeared to eradicate them? If so, what identity did the subject who was standing there possess?

“The capacity to diversify commercial activities by Guild City is truly surprising.”

The stranger uttered those words while proceeding to remove his hood. Beneath it were the features of an infant, who still retained traits of innocence proper to his young age.

“You arrive at the precise moment.”

However, the instant he detected the skull-shaped object the young man held in his hand, a sepulchral panic settled in his thoughts. It corresponded to a direct access pass to the underground market. A status to which a person of his level could never aspire to be linked.

The fact that a minor of barely twelve years of age carried such an emblem only admitted one possible reading.

The most outstanding prodigy of the entire empire. The fearsome specimen that emerged from the Saxon lineage, whose reputation exceeded any expectation.

“The young heir of the Saxon dynasty…!”

“I am certain that this group of criminals never had the intention of committing a lack of respect toward your person…!”

The envoy from the Guild City interrogated with extreme prudence, receiving a gesture of confirmation from Dale.

“They have received the punishment corresponding to their audacity.”

Dale stated.

Thunk!

From the shadows projected on the floor emerged a metallic blade of dark tones, pointing directly toward the neck of the trembling Greenwood leader, who continued to be prostrate because of the panic.

The weapon of shadowy tones emerged from the darkness to, immediately, hide again in it.

“Gah, urgh…!”

His throat was severed immediately, causing a profuse exit of vital fluid.

“Despite everything, the reason why I have brought about this encounter,” added the so-called “Black Prince” of Saxony, showing absolute indifference to the execution that had just occurred in his presence.

“does not reside solely in my condition as a buyer of the Black Market, but in my role as the ‘Emissary of the Master of the Black Tower’…”

His verbal expression was devoid of any sentimental nuance.

“I have matters of great relevance to treat with the Grand Guild of the Guild City.”

“The Grand Guild…!.”

“Fortunately, everything indicates that the ideal individual to guide me before the presence of the Grand Guild is located exactly in front of me.”

“…”

The allusion to the spokesperson of the leader of the Black Tower caused the envoy of the Guild City to swallow with difficulty.

“Could it be deduced then… that your presence obeys the management of a larger volume of ‘experimental subjects’ destined for the Black Tower?”

It was undeniable that the Black Tower represented at the time one of the most significant commercial allies for the Guild City. Such deduction caused a shudder in the body of the envoy, who despite everything managed to force a cordial gesture on his face.

“V-very well!”

It was the typical expression of business courtesy that remains unalterable in the face of any setback.

“Taking into consideration that the Duke of Saxony, and by extension the spokesperson of the leader of the Black Tower, has been kind enough to honor us with his visit…”

He immediately proceeded to evaluate the possible economic scenarios in his thoughts.

“Our main corporation of the Guild City finds itself in the total obligation to offer the honors and the attentions that correspond to his high office.”

Chapter 88