Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Chapter 92

“What could a whelp like you know about the darkness of Saxon…?!””

The warrior, nicknamed the Night Raven, was in the Aura Knight rank. However, since he did not belong to the “Knights of Dale” or the “Knights of Saxon,” there was no reason to show him any mercy.

Soon, this enclosure would become the “Black Prince’s Slaughterhouse,” and the executioner standing before him was destined to be the first casualty.

Clang!

Dale intercepted the executioner’s dark sword using his Peacemaker and, through a swift offensive transition, the blades integrated into his shadowy cloak lashed out in a straight line. The executioner was forced to retreat immediately to dodge the dark edges falling upon him.

The combatant had chosen to distance himself from the sorcerer on his own initiative.

By that moment, Dale had already imbued a cutting enchantment into the edges of the shadows, immediately transforming every detached residue into a projectile. From metal blades to shadowy munitions, ready to be fired in any direction.

He executed everything with speed and accuracy vastly superior to what he possessed when he was a mere third-circle mage.

“Was it always this easy?”

Even Dale felt astonishment at the extreme fluidity of his movements. As he extended his limb, a storm of shadow projectiles began to rain intensely upon his rival.

Without the need to recite any kind of incantation, the barrage of dark projectiles fell continuously like machine-gun fire.

The Shadow Bullets struck squarely against the warrior who had foolishly encouraged the physical separation, leading to a predictable outcome.

Despite having protection reinforced by aura, the armor gave way completely, causing a scream of agony.

Countless bursts charged with hostility struck directly against the black armor of Saxon.

“Ugh, ugh!”

“Let me ask you again. Why did you break the oath?”

As the executioner lamented, Dale continued the interrogation, simultaneously erecting an acoustic isolation field to ensure the total discretion of the dialogue.

“Do you plan to confess the darkness of Saxon that I do not know?”

“I had a brother who fought for the Saxon family and died with honor!”

The executioner, collapsed on his knees, exclaimed, overcome by panic.

“And that same brother wielded a sword for the Saxon oath until recently!”

“……”

The Order of Death. Unlike a conventional Death Knight, whose reanimation is merely transitory for specific tasks, this concept operated under a different logic.

Exempt from requiring a constant mystical flow, it represented the eternal legion structured from the period of the original Saxon ancestor, the immortal Duke Frederick.

“Even in death, he found no rest…”

That was the true murkiness behind the vow that bound the Night Raven Knight to Saxon.

“To see my brother bound by the chains of Saxon, condemned to undeath for all eternity.”

The executioner stammered, gripped by terror.

“I was so afraid!”

It was evident that he understood the implications. The pact of the Night Raven Knights. The solemn commitment to swear loyalty to the lineage of the Saxon family both in the earthly plane and in the afterlife, as well as the origin and meaning of his black aura.

Despite this, possessing the knowledge and assimilating the reality were completely distant stances.

“So you broke the oath and ran away?”

“To the Saxon family, we are nothing more than material for the Death Knights!”

“And what of it?”

Dale turned his face slightly, showing bewilderment.

“An Aura Knight, fearful of such a trivial fact, turned his back?”

His reaction denoted a genuine inability to assimilate such weakness.

“Despite fearing Saxon so much, couldn’t you abandon our armor and our black sword?”

“P-please…”

The executioner prostrated himself completely and began a desperate plea.

“Give me another chance!”

An Aura Knight constituted a highly scarce military resource in any circumstance.

“Another chance.”

Under that premise.

“I have been a fool! Now I am willing to accept Saxon’s decision!”

“Do you swear to serve in life and death?”

“I swear it!”

The executioner nodded frantically, demonstrating submission.

“I accept your promise.”

Dale performed light taps with the edge of his weapon on the skull and shoulders of the supplicant, identically recreating the investiture protocol of a warrior.

“By my will, I accept you once again as a Night Raven Knight of the Saxon family.”

“Th-thank you! I swear my eternal loyalty! I swear it!”

A flash of relief was finally reflected in the executioner’s features. With visible difficulty, he stood up, holding his weapon perpendicular to the ground.

“Rise.”

Just in the following instant, Dale issued the instruction. Rise. After Dale’s order, “that” began to emerge.

From inside the shadowy robe, the 《Shadow Stalker》 made its appearance, fully materialized.

Abandoning its seclusion in the shadows, it exhibited all its imposing, savage nature before the environment.

With what kind of living organism could one draw a parallel?

An aberration of nature, that was the only categorization that did it justice.

It possessed an elongated structure similar to a snake of considerable meters in length, complemented by eight limbs identical to those of a centipede, where each segment culminated in a sharp and enormous blade. Multiple appendages filled with thorns lashed out frantically along its dorsal area.

It completely lacked muscle tissue or a solid shell. It consisted solely of an entity constituted by pure shadow matter.

“Ah…!”

The executioner held his breath, completely deterred before the colossal presence of the “Shadow Stalker.”

“This is not what we agreed upon!”

“No, the agreement will be fulfilled.”

Before the warrior’s complaint, charged with dread, Dale dismissed the grievance in a highly cold manner.

“You swore to serve in life and in death.”

“…!”

“Come to think of it, there is no need for you to be alive.”

Dale sentenced, causing absolute helplessness to be reflected in his counterpart’s features.

“Kieeeek!”

Accompanying the high-pitched shriek of the Shadow Stalker, its sickle-like appendages moved with violence. It was not the thorny extensions that usually acted from the darkness, but the eight powerful main scythes.

The executioner’s organism ended up fragmented immediately into eight distinct sections. The scythes of the Shadow Stalker shredded his tissues relentlessly.

Even the atrocious acts that the executioner had previously perpetrated were reduced to a mere triviality in the face of such carnage.

“If I deploy a large number of Lurkers in a major battle, to what extent could I change the course of the engagement?”

Consolidated now in the rank of a fourth-circle mage, this analysis was far from a mere baseless conjecture. At the same time that he vanished the acoustic isolation perimeter, Dale began the march back.

Faithfully following the steps of his progenitor, the Black Duke, he would take charge of exposing before everyone the authentic essence of the “Black Prince” of Saxon, characterized by his absolute cruelty and intimidation.

The environment was left in total silence. Even the narrators and assistants who witnessed Dale’s capabilities remained mute, containing any exclamation.

However, it was a festivity characterized by violence and frenzy.

“Wowwww!”

“Did you see that? That is the cruelty of the “Black Prince”!”

“Overwhelming, it is so overwhelming that there is nothing to say!”

“All the stories were true!”

“The greatest genius on the continent!”

“Ugh, that butcher!”

The collective took very little time to begin celebrating the violent spectacle that Dale had provided them.

“Rise.”

Following this, Dale pronounced the word again in a whisper. Attending his command, the “executioner,” covered by the dark armor, rejoined.

“The dead have risen!”

“Is that the black magic of the Saxon family?”

“A death knight, it is a death knight!”

A death knight wielding the black sword of Saxon. In the context of the Guild City, it immediately represented an asset of great military relevance through the arts of necromancy.

This constituted an unforeseen complementary benefit, and carrying the dark-armored warrior with him, Dale headed towards the resting area.

“Next.”

In the end, Dale never faced his next opponent.

“Do you want me to fight that monster? No way!”

“I don’t want to die!”

“It’s impossible! I surrender, I surrender!”

After stringing together nine consecutive concessions from his rivals, Dale consolidated his tenth triumph and proceeded to withdraw from the combat enclosure.

The confrontation of true historical relevance had not formally begun; its start would properly coincide with the inauguration of the black market.

The zone counted seven guild masters; however, only one individual possessed the opportunity to rise as the supreme ruler of the city. In the event that the leader of the Calimala Guild obtained said position, the ledger of the city master would pass directly into Dale’s custody.

It was in that precise instant.

In the corridor that connected with the exit of the underground amphitheater, a quite recognizable silhouette made itself present.

It corresponded to Ray Eurys, the adoptive descendant of Marquis Eurys.

“I saw your performance in the fight club.”

“……”

“No mercy for those who abandoned the black!”

Ray emitted a laugh while extending his upper limbs, adopting a highly theatrical posture.

“I am looking forward to facing you in the next winners’ fight!”

A mystical manifestation of dark and reddish tones began to manifest around his lower limbs, deliberately evidencing his destructive potential. Black and red.

“…!”

“That day, the exchange between the black and the red taught us all a lot.”

Ray sketched a subtle smile.

“My dad said it.”

“What did he say?”

“That the time has finally come to put an end to the “Silent Training”.”

Before Dale managed to process the real background of said affirmation, a mystical black and bluish vortex began to manifest around his feet. The “Death Knight” assigned to Dale’s protection adopted an offensive posture with his black sword. Ray reacted by immediately raising both hands, clearly manifesting that he lacked immediate hostile intentions.

“You are also looking for the “ledger” of the city master, right, Prince Dale?”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

Dale expressed in a low voice, obtaining a prompt reply from Ray.

“A blood storm is coming.”

The exchange of words concluded in that manner.

A few days later.

An attack aimed at ending the life of the leader of the “Calimala Guild” concluded fruitlessly.

While the supreme authority of the guild performed a supervisory task on public roads, multiple individuals who hid their identity under loose clothing suddenly lashed out in his direction. In the instant they managed to get close enough, a strong detonation was triggered.

An attack using explosive devices.

The detonation caused a high number of civilian casualties; however, fortunately, the guild regent managed to leave the mishap alive.

The geographical environment was left completely reduced to rubble and ashes. Undeniable evidence emerged that pointed directly to the use of dark arts. Faced with such a scenario, all indications collected on a single individual as a potential responsible party.

An attempt at regicide perpetrated in the district administered under the tutelage of the Kallimala guild. A detonation of fatal consequences executed through the manipulation of human remains.

Said news spread to the domains of the Lana Guild city practically immediately.

The detonation and the assassination attempt were quickly attributed to dark magic, and it was obvious who would be blamed.

“I didn’t expect to be stabbed in the back so soon.”

In the exact moment he assimilated the details of the event, Dale abandoned his resting position, evoking in his mind Ray Eurys’s previous warning that the period of passivity had expired.

“The Shadow Court will make its move.”

The Shadow Court. Together with the seven main corporations, it constituted the other structure that exercised factual control over the urban district. They acted formally as the enforcers of legal order in the City of Guilds.

By Dale appearing as the main implicated party in the attack against the leader, evading their operational deployment resulted in a practically unfeasible task.

However, emulating the old popular sayings that associate critical periods with windows of opportunity, Dale lacked intentions to yield his position without presenting resistance.

In a scarcely lit passage, he proceeded to remove the piece that covered his face.

Sheltered under the penumbra was the holy maiden Aurelia, keeping at her side the Death Knight that he had annexed to his ranks in the combat enclosure.

“I was waiting for you.”

Dale projected his words toward the empty space, employing a completely firm intonation.

“I have the intention of demonstrating my innocence before the Shadow Tribunal.”

As a direct response to his manifestation, the dynamics of the air currents experienced an abrupt alteration. Multiple subjects appeared provided with dark coats and masks equipped with pointed appendages, an aesthetic that directly evoked the medical practitioners of the epidemics of the Middle Ages.

“Please, grant me the opportunity to demonstrate my innocence,” Dale pleaded.

“Follow us, accused,” ruled one of the masked members. Despite having full knowledge of dealing directly with the “Black Prince” belonging to the lineage of the Saxon family, their voice inflections and bodily expressions did not evidence the slightest trace of vulnerability or doubt.

“Demonstrating your innocence depends solely on the Goddess of Shadows.”

The Shadow Court.

Those in charge of enforcing justice in Guild City, the most important assassin organization on the continent…

Unlike the interpretation of the Church, which considered the twin goddesses as a single deity of mercy and compassion, the Church of Shadows, a heretical sect, venerated them as two distinct goddesses, light and shadow.

And in those same shadows, Dale advanced with a firm step.