The words tore from my throat raw and unbidden: "Fuck! You gotta be kidding me!"
Ice water seemed to replace the blood in my veins as I took in the nightmare unfolding before us.
The imperial war machine had deployed its finest - a killing force meant to erase Sian from existence rather than conquer it. Two hundred armored warhorses pounded the earth into submission, their thunderous approach making the very ground tremble beneath our hidden perch.
The morning mist swirled around their advance like ghosts drawn to the coming slaughter.
Among their ranks rode living legends of the empire: sixty black-clad Blood Hounds with their infamous curved blades, ten crimson-mantled Red Blades, a full contingent of the palace's elite 9th-tier battlemages, and the hardened veterans of the 1st and 2nd Imperial Knight Orders. The morning sun glinted coldly off their drawn steel.
"This isn't about forcing surrender," I whispered, my mouth gone dry. "They mean to wipe Sian from the map."
Behind me, Master Edwin's normally composed features twisted into a snarl, his magic gathering around him like a gathering stormfront.
Yet Xavier stood motionless beside us, his eerie calm more unsettling than any outburst. His pale eyes tracked the approaching forces with detached interest, like a mathematician considering an interesting equation.
"If I absorb this much death energy..." he murmured, almost to himself, "...I wonder if I will manage to stay sane."
I grabbed his arm without thinking. "Your Highness, that's the imperial elite guard. Even you can't possibly-"
"Can't what?" He turned that unsettling gaze on me, genuinely curious.
Master Edwin barked a short, humorless laugh. "Save your breath, Selentia. Worrying about him is like fearing for a mad dragon to kill itself."
My fingers twitched toward Slayer's hilt despite myself. The blade would be useless here - my distinctive aura would shine like a beacon to any Blue Light agents hidden among the imperial forces.
One glimpse of that telltale glow, and our entire operation would collapse like a house of cards.
We'd slipped into Rattleshade under the cover of pre-dawn darkness, that festering sore of a city where the empire's laws held no sway.
Rattleshade, a den of cutthroats and mercenaries, where the Sea Kings ruled the black waters between nations, their network of smugglers and pirates moving anything - or anyone - for the right price.
The imperial family had tried to cleanse this blight countless times but failed... Reason?
1. The rogue swordmaster who called these streets home.
2. The Sea Kings carefully maintained an understanding with certain imperial factions.
3. That ancient, nameless thing buried deep beneath the city's foundations - the true reason even emperors tread lightly here.
Now we stood at the ragged border where Rattleshade's lawlessness gave way to the wild forest separating it from Sian.
Perched high in the twisted branches of an ancient oak, our invisibility cloaks rendering us ghosts to the world below, we watched as the imperial advance force reined in at the tree line.
At their head rode a face from my nightmares - Naeson Regals.
The young Blood Hound commander sat his mount with lethal grace, his white ponytail stark against black armor, those piercing sky-blue eyes scanning the forest with a predator's intensity. The man I'd run through with my own blade in another life, his dying words still haunting my dreams.
"Commander Nyxveil," he'd gasped through bloody lips, "I almost pity you. When you learn what truly rules this empire..."
Xavier's voice snapped me back to the present. "You know that one?"
"Don't kill him," I said urgently. "Should I spare him for sentimental reasons, or does he serve a purpose?" Xavier sounded little dangerous as he said that. I shrugged my shoulder unaware of his reason behind acting like this.
" He will be valuable asset in future." I mumbled.
Xavier's lips curled up a little, as if the previous deadly eyes of his were like.
" You-" " Focus, kids. We are going to deal with some serious things." Master cut me off and I just pressed my lips together tightly without continuing further.
Master Edwin raised his hand with ceremonial slowness. The morning air itself seemed to recoil as his mana coalesced - a single point of blinding white light dancing at his fingertip. Then he spoke the words, and reality screamed.
"By the silence of the abyss,
Where light is slain and time is rift—
I carve thy name in hollow bone,
And cast thee now, forever alone."
The forest convulsed. A semicircle of eerie blue energy erupted from nothing, sealing twenty square miles of wilderness inside a dome of perfect isolation.
The Voidgrave- the isolation space technique developed by Master on his whim which eventually made him a an unbeatable War Mage.
Within the barrier, the imperial mages recoiled as one. "Voidgrave!" their leader shouted, voice cracking with panic, " TOWER MASTER EDWIN IS HERE! GET READY FOR ATTACK!"
However the one they faced, wasn't Edwin Ronald.
Xavier jumped down from the tree and landed on his feets as effortlessly as possible. He had taken off his robe. I narrowed my eyes looking at his attire which he was wearing underneath.
" Just from where he got these fancy clothes?" I asked looking at master who gave me a tired laughter, " He took money from me and got himself those things."
I would probably didn't expect Xavier to dress so fancy while facing an overwhelming number of enemies.
His attire consists of a sleek, all-black ensemble with a long, flowing coat adorned with intricate leather and metal detailing.
The fitted leather pants and armored chest plate are accentuated by multiple straps and buckles, enhancing the rugged yet elegant appearance.
The gloves and shoulder armor feature feather-like fringes, adding a dramatic flair to the overall look. And the twin blades on his back reminded me of our first meeting.
Turned out he had always been using twin blades.
I tensed to follow, but Master's grip locked on my shoulder like iron. "Don't."
"He is outnumbered!" I protested.
Master's eyes held something like fear as he watched Xavier advance. "Selentia," he said quietly, "you still don't understand. It will be one-sided slaughter from now on."
From below, the first screams began to rise.
" You are.... Your Highness The First Prince!" Naeson was the first one to pin point Xavier's identity.
" Am I called First Prince now?" Xavier mocked and started stepping forward. The air around him was thick and tensed and everyone could feel it.
" Your Highness, Please come back with us. Resisting won't help you," Naeson calmly tried to negotiate but Xavier reached for his twin blades.
His blades were excluding an onimous aura. Demonic energy poured out from his blades as he smiled like a psychopath, " You need to stay alive to take me, don't you think?"
Naeson's eyes widen as Xavier swung his sword at the first person from Bloodhound to attack him, his sword slashed through the head of the person and his head rolled down, splashing blood in the air and ground.
Xavier wipped off the blood from his cheek and smirked, " If you want to survive, attack me all together."
The world seemed to suck in a breath and hold it.
The morning mist curled away from Xavier's feet, as if repelled by the dark energy suffocating him.
Specks of violet energy pulsed through his blade and blood trickled down from the sharp edge of the blade. The first Blood Hound died before the battle was one of the strongest members of the party and he just died without even being able to put on a fight.
" ATTACKKK! WE NEED TO CAPTURE THE PRINCE ALIVE AT ALL COST!" The mage of Imperial palace screamed and everyone started charging toward Xavier.
Xavier moved—not with the precise grace of a duelist—but with the terrible and inevitable motion of a landslide. With effortless preciation and smooth footwork he faced the first group of 30 warriors coming at him.
Xavier passed through the first group of 30 men, his sword technique was like light and purple energy scattered in air and the next moment I knew-
30 heads were rolling on the ground, drenching the muddy ground with red blood. I felt my thoughts getting numbed and others just stopped in fear and shock too.
I wasn't familiar with the sword technique used by Xavier but it was more powerful and precice than my Spring Gaze AND Ezekain's Heaven's 30 strike.
" What? Aren't you coming?" Xavier smiled at the rest 169 warriors. Naeson who seemed to understand the gravity of the matter shouted, " MAGES AND SWORDMANS WILL ATTACK ALL TOGETHER!"
A Red Blade charged him in a whirling frenzy of steel, wielding twin sabers that glinted like silver thunder. Xavier took the first strike against his one blade and swinging his other to cut of the warrior's neck.
To his left, a battlemage screamed an incantation, arms weaving a complex sigil in the air above him. A hailstorm of razor-edged ice shards appeared suddenly and sailed toward Xavier.
He didn't back away or flinch. The blades stuck before dissolving into harmless mist when they touched the dark aura that attached itself to him like a second skin.
The mage's scream helm to a gurgle as Xavier stepped into the thrust of his blade across the man's chest and lifted him off the ground and into the ranks of men behind him.
The 1st Order knights, who were nothing if not disciplined, created a shield wall, the overlapping barriers forming an unbroken wall of steel.
Still, Xavier did not slow. He struck the shield in the center with his free hand—and the knight behind it exploded. Ribs erupted outward and ribcage exploded outward.
The man behind him was launched into the air, his spine snapping back against the trunk of a tree. The shield wall crumbled like glass before the head of a hammer.
A Blood Hound exploded from the fray, his curved blade aimed to pierce Xavier's kidney. It did not make contact. Xavier pivoted, caught the man's wrist, and twisted. There was the sound of bone snapping, the tearing of tendons.
The scream that followed was silenced when Xavier drove his sword upward through the man's jaw, exiting the top of his skull. Ripping the blade free was a matter of momentum, pulling apart shards of bone and brain that had spray painted the blade and foliage in the surroundings.
The remaining battlemages gathered, their combined power weaving a spell of annihilation. The air itself screamed as a column of white-hot fire descended upon Xavier. The inferno roared, turning the earth to molten glass—
—and then parted like a curtain as Xavier walked through it unscathed, his demonic energy devouring the flames.
The lead mage barely had time to whimper before Xavier's hand closed around his face. There was a wet pop, and suddenly the mage was staring at his own headless body from Xavier's grip before darkness took him.
Naeson Regals staggered back, his black clothes were drenched in bloodthat was not only his own, but of his fallen comrades. His sword arm trembled not out of fear, but sheer overwhelming horror at what he saw.
Xavier stepped forward, his boots leaving prints in the mud stained with red. He looked almost peaceful, and excited like a maniac, like killing a group of men before him was about as exciting as doing chores.
Naeson stood frozen on his spot unable to move his feet even an inch. Xavier's twin bled cut though the bodies of mages and swordmans perfectly, blood sprayed in the air and covered him with those blood.
Xavier looked as he had just come out taking a blood bath yet he looked too beautiful to be thought as dangerous.
And in just a mere faction of a few minutes, 199 men were brutally slaughterted by Xavier Alexux Aelric.
Naeson could only mouth only one thing,
"Devil"
Xavier smiled in amusement in his remark.
" You aren't totally wrong," Xavier flicked away the thick blood clot from his face and gave Naeson a maniac look, " I had been trained to become the vassel of the greatest evil."
Naeson couldn't dare to hold his sword against Xavier, all his senses were screaming at him, - SURRENDER. SURRENDER AND BEG FOR FORGIVENESS!!!!-
Naeson clenched his fist and lowered his head.
He didn't wish to die, he had worked so hard to survive for 19 years, he walked through hell to become the leader of BloodHound but Bloodhound was inhailed by the monster before him.
Did he have any special feeling for Bloodhound? No... He didn't. He just wanted to survive so he just decided to become strong and serve the strongest.
" You haven't held your sword against me yet, so I will give you two options," Xavier spoke. Naeson's eyes widen and he looked up.
Xavier put his hand up and sticked out 2 fingers.
" Either Die here or Swore Your Loyalty To Me."
Naeson felt his heart thumbing, in fear and relief. Sun light passed the Isolation Space and fell on Xavier, blood was covering him from head to toe, however at that moment, he looked more like an honorable knight rather than a maniac slaugherter.
Naeson got on his knees and held Xavier's left hand. Placing his lips on the back of his hand, Naeson showed him the ultimate gesture of loyalty.
" I, Naeson Regal swore my loyalty to the First Prince."
There was no hint of hesitation in Naeson's words and his declaration, his blue eyes shined with a strange glint of loyalty and dedication and Xavier knew it right at that moment.
Someday, this guy won't hesitate throwing his life away to protect him.