Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Aftermath

In the midst of a settlement shattered by civil conflict, Dale acquired a small commercial establishment.

“We will remain hidden in this place until the ideal moment,” he commented.

“In this place… precisely here?” Yufi stammered, astonished and unable to assimilate his logic.

Dale nodded firmly. “That is right.”

Yufi swallowed hard, struggling to make sense of the situation. The urban environment was absolute chaos, and it was evident that it was only a matter of time before more rebel contingents arrived.

“However, the revolutionaries…”

“We find ourselves waiting for them,” Dale interrupted her. He understood perfectly well that, as rumors of the disturbances in the town spread, the insurgents would dispatch support contingents, and their numbers would not be small.

It represented an extremely risky strategy, but it was, at the same time, the most expeditious route to establish contact with the high spheres of the insurrection.

“Is it not extremely dangerous? What will happen if we fall into a trap?” Yufi inquired, reflecting a deep anxiety in her tone of voice.

“I maintain constant surveillance over their movements through the Blue Network. Any ambush attempt will prove completely futile. You have no reason to be distressed,” Dale declared to instill calmness in her.

Yufi did not manage to comprehend the entirety of his words, but chose to nod quietly.

“We have enough provisions for a couple of days,” Dale mentioned.

“That is true…”

“We would have the opportunity to feed ourselves better in a different place,” he proposed.

“By no means, there is no need!” Yufi replied immediately, waving her hands to downplay the matter. Dale let out a slight chuckle and proceeded to turn around.

He examined the shelves of the shop and gathered some soft bread, sausages, and a broth. With a slight gesture of his fingers, flames emerged in the space, increasing the temperature of the food until it began to steam.

“Here, feed yourself,” he indicated to her as he extended it.

“Thank you, Uncle Dale,” Yufi answered, showing gratitude.

After executing his mystical knowledge, Dale took a bite of a piece of dark, stiff bread, which constituted his own portion.

After a period of time, the mysticism that Dale possessed from his days as the Master of the Blue Tower began to expand throughout the enclosure. Despite having transferred a considerable portion of his energy to Lize, the fundamental nature of his magical arts remained intact.

Without realizing the existence of that invisible trap, several silhouettes moved amidst the gloom. The Blue Web emitted a slight echo toward Dale, warning him about the proximity of the intruders.

Extremely subtle footsteps echoed against the wooden floorboards of the shop. They were front-line combatants, equipped with the same metallic protections they wore during the course of the aggression against the Marquis of Rosenheim.

As the newcomers scrutinized the darkness of the establishment, an individual dressed in sacred or mystical vestments emerged from the shadows.

“Do you truly persist in believing that this combat possesses any value?” the subject interrogated, causing the warriors to hold their breath in surprise.

“I had an encounter with individuals of your same ilk in the domains of Rosenheim. Are you aware of the fate they suffered?”

“You… it is not possible that you are…!”

“The only reason you still breathe is because I find no utility in taking your life,” the man pronounced with absolute serenity, resembling death personified itself. One of the combatants mustered his resolve to utter words.

“For what reason did you exterminate our allies in this locality?”

“They sought to finish me,” the individual replied.

“Do you present yourself here with the intention of liquidating me as well? I imagine that is your goal.”

Before such statements, the gloom of the shop began to agitate violently.

“This constitutes your last option. Lead your commanding officer into my presence immediately.”

“How dare you…!”

His words possessed an unquestionable nuance, devoid of fears or hesitations. Such audacity struck the self-esteem of the combatants, however… CRACK!

A shriek ripped through the silence of the darkness. A shadowy limb in the shape of a tentacle emerged from the gloom and coiled around one of the warriors, crushing him noiselessly.

“This is the final warning. Step back and bring your superior officer before me.”

The protective armor of the rebels did not prove to be a match for that ancestral gloom. It was completely crushed as if it were a piece of paper, exposing the gruesome remnants inside.

The corrupt darkness present in the space began to ripple with manifest hostility.

“We consent to your requests,” one of the combatants stammered, understanding how futile it was to offer resistance.

The gloom contracted, leaving exposed only the subject in the hood, who was seated on a plank as if it were a throne carved for his person.

Completely isolated in the midst of the darkness.

“Such an action is extremely risky!” the planners of the insurgency exclaimed, interposing themselves in the path of their leader. Despite not holding the highest office of the rebellion, he represented one of the fundamental supports of their ideal.

“That individual seeks to establish a dialogue, and we do not possess the capacity to contain him through current warfare resources. Do you not share that vision, Colonel Bourbon?” the leader expounded, employing an extremely peaceful and temperate tone.

“Not even our troops endowed with armor managed to halt his advance, and the local inhabitants assure that he has summoned a legion of the deceased,” another of the strategists intervened.

“A legion of the deceased… it evokes the return of the Dark Emperor,” the leader weighed inwardly.

“Just as I have indicated, manifesting hostility toward a mage of such caliber does not constitute an intelligent decision,” the chief continued.

“Nonetheless, his mystical arts are extremely dark and perverse! Even if this entails a bloody conflict, we would have to group all of our men and initiate a massive offensive…”

“Do you intend for us to deploy an entire regiment because of a single individual? If he possesses the faculty to raise the deceased, what will prevent our own combatants from ending up integrating his ranks of the undead?”

Colonel Bourbon chose to maintain absolute mutism, allowing the leader to resume his speech.

“It is time to depart. I will hold a face-to-face encounter with him.”

“Understood, Lord Eurys.”

At the break of the following day, the contingents of the revolution took positions surrounding Dale’s shop.

Yufi scrutinized the exterior through the window, maintaining a breathing agitated by nerves.

“There is no motive for panic,” Dale pronounced, employing an extremely peaceful tonality, downplaying all gravity from the situation.

“Furthermore, the first meal of the day awaits us,” he complemented.

“Under what logic do you manage to focus on eating in a juncture of this caliber?” Yufi demanded with total astonishment.

“And why should I avoid it?” Dale answered, demonstrating indifference, causing Yufi to be left without arguments for a few moments.

Right in that fragment of time, the echo of footsteps approached the shop, without making the slightest effort to conceal their advance.

“My apologies, mage of the darkness lacking identity,” a voice expressed from the entrance.

Dale turned his body, showing a gesture full of irony in the features of his face.

In front of him stood a subject endowed with a striking reddish hair and a smirk that felt familiar.

Despite this, Dale did not manage to identify him in his memories.

“My identity is Albert Eurys,” the newcomer manifested by way of introduction.

Dale continued with his culinary labors, increasing the heat of the broth and distributing the pieces of bread without emitting any sound.

“I am curious about the metallic protection that your subordinates wear,” Dale expressed after a moment of silence.

Albert Eurys drew a smirk of pleasure. “Would you grant me the honor of knowing your identity, practitioner of magic?”

“I have carried a great number of denominations throughout time, nonetheless, none of them possesses relevance in the present.”

“That statement is not entirely exact,” Albert replied immediately.

“In the same way that you remain immutable in the glooms of this reality that has been modified.”

“Does the lineage of the Eurys family still prevail in these times?” Dale inquired.

“Do you possess information about our lineage?” Albert interrogated with intrigue.

“I have been witness to events that surpass your limits of comprehension, vampire boy,” Dale sentenced.

The security in Albert’s features collapsed, denoting a deep bewilderment before the knowledge that the sorcerer possessed about his true biological condition. It was not strange that a mage of such stature could perceive it, but the fact that he referred to him as “vampire boy” with such ease was something unforeseen.

“Even deprived of magical faculties, the members of your lineage retain a great influence. Is that the reason why you intend to forge a new era through this insurrection?”

Albert’s pupils dilated due to surprise.

“The monarch was deposed with the purpose of granting legitimacy to the revolt. Those who remain outside continue battling to divest the sovereign of the throne in the name of the cause. It turns out to be a rather ironic situation.”

Each individual carries their own hidden areas, and this subject seemed to scrutinize through the secrets of the insurgents as if they were his own experiences.

“I do not possess the slightest interest in those matters. My quest reduces to one particular element,” Dale clarified.

“The sacred objects belonging to the Fourth Empire that your rebel forces find themselves unearthing. It is evident that your findings are not limited exclusively to mystical protections.”

“In what way have you learned of such a secret?” Albert questioned, deeply dismayed.

“No being has the capacity to safeguard their secrets before me,” Dale answered while he proceeded to stand up.

“I have no more information left to extract from your person. Your own secrets have already revealed the historical reality to me.”

The countenance of Albert Eurys turned completely rigid upon assimilating the transcendence of that declaration.

“Are you perhaps… the Shadow Lord…?”

“Does the historical dispute between the faction of gold and the faction of shadow still persist?” Dale demanded to know.

Albert Eurys articulated between his teeth: “It turns out to be a chimera. The authentic Shadow Lord, the sovereign of the Empire, remains stationed in the main city….”

Nonetheless, in that precise place stood another individual demanding the recognition of the title and the magical attributes of the Shadow Lord. Something totally inconceivable.

“Is the imperial territory under the yoke of darkness and currently the leader of gold heads the insurrection against it?”

Since very remote epochs, the perpetual conflict between gold and shadow has taken place. The current of gold obtained the victory, subsequently the shadow imposed itself, and again the gold resumed control, while the cycles of the nation replicated constantly.

Despite everything, reality experienced no alteration.

“Both gold and shadow have ceased to have meaning for me. My goals focus solely on the remnants of the empire of old.”

After pronouncing those words, the individual set out.

In the midst of the ancestral combat waged between gold and shadow, there existed people who inherited transcendental capacities and missions. However, that subject showed himself totally detached and withdrew from the place devoid of concerns.

“Shall we undertake the retreat, young Yufi?”

“Of course!”

Having successfully extracted every fragment of the confidential information that was hidden in Albert’s secrets regarding the organization of the revolution.

What was the true identity of that subject? And what goals did he truly pursue?

For the first time in his existence, Albert Eurys, a member of the lineage that exercised control of the planet from the gloom, experienced a shudder triggered by a panic totally unknown to him.