'Impossible!'
The man in the mask's eyes widened in shock as the two Escort Knights emerged from the smoke, striding groggily with marks of burns and impaling arrows all over their bodies. Their armor was full of cracks and holes. The attack surely struck them, and no normal person could survive such an attack. Yet they are walking as if nothing happened.
As soon as the intruder saw a black fluid dripping out from their wounds, he could tell that something was amiss.
"Necromancy!?"
There was a powerful mage who was able to possess this magic, sacrificing a whole village in the process and wreaking havoc on the world. But the empire stood against it and killed the mage; since then, necromancy has been a forbidden art throughout the land. Anyone who attempts to practice or possess this kind of magic will be in line for execution and hunted down.
"Did the royal family secretly practice this kind of art, or did they really have this in the beginning?"
"But nothing makes sense. Excalibur is the sword of light. No necromancy will be able to stand the divine power."
The intruder can't help but ask questions, but first things first. Escaping the place was his primary objective. Dealing with these questions will be done later.
The man in the mask reached out for something from his back. His hand was holding another orb, an orb with an azure hue. The 'LIGHTNING SPHERE,' an artifact with offensive attributes that passively attacks anyone with lightning who has hostility against the user. He drew another artifact from his arsenal and activated it without delay.
Bzzzzt! An audible buzzing sound rings as the sphere floats.
He is surrounded by the two artifacts, floating in the air, orbiting him and providing him with ideal assistance for another round of skirmish.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Heavy steps echoed.
Despite the arrows impaling their bodies, the Escort Knights came rushing again with twice the speed they had before.
'Here they come.'
The man in a mask clenched his teeth as he waited for the knights to get close, then instantly gathered mana and channeled it into the ground with his hand touching it. The earth starts to tremble.
[INFERNO]
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Numerous exploding fountains of fire appeared suddenly from the ground. Still, the Escort Knights evaded them swiftly with ease, closing the gap to their target. Then the two Escort Knights thrust their swords with incredible speed towards the intruder's chest and neck. The sword creates sharp sounds as it cuts through the air.
Clang! Clang! Zaaaap! Zaaaap!
Sparks are flying as the AEGIS parries the swords, and the LIGHTNING SPHERE shoots lightning at the escort knight simultaneously. A breathtaking clash of magic and sword was taking place. With every swing of the swords, it creates carvings on the ground, and with every cast spell, it creates an explosion that will shake the earth.
Captain Edward, who was watching the fight at the sideline with Prince Corbin, was stunned at the man in the mask who was engaging the two Escort Knights in close-quarters combat at once but managed to keep up with them.
"That man is a Warmage. I thought all of them died during the war."
Captain Edward spoke, shivering in pain from his injuries. He looked around for any sign of life, but there was none. Regret and resentment start to feed him. Captain Edward planted his sword to the ground, slowly rose to his feet, enduring the pain, and clenched his teeth hard.
"..."
Prince Corbin frowned at Captain Edward's remarks with his eyes locked on the intruder. He did not expect the outcome to be a one-sided battle. Who could have predicted that a single attack would easily annihilate the forces he gathered? Then, in the corner of his eye, he saw Captain Edward pointing his sword at him.
"I was having second thoughts about you having anything to do with the death of all those Wargemages, but now I will be following my gut. How did you manage to possess Excalibur? What kind of necromancy have you done? "
Prince Corbin smirks at the captain's question.
On the other side, the intruder and the two escort knights are continuously exchanging fatal attacks that could determine their fate in a single blow. As the fight starts to drag on, the intruder slowly gets into the corner with his mana draining slowly.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Zaaaap! Zaaaap! Zaaaap! Zaaaap!
The escort knights step away from the intruder and aim to hit him on both sides, focusing on his legs and torso. But before they could strike, the intruder stretched out with both hands and unleashed a shockwave, forcing the two escort knights back with a howling sound in the air.
Light began to appear from his palm and eventually grew into a massive black sphere as the intruder lifted his hand in the air. Seeing this, Prince Corbin hurried the escort knights to protect him.
"Do your Job." Prince Corbin said.
Called by his duty and his oath, Captain Edward raises his shield and moves forward, and a wall of magic shields stands against the crushing black sphere. For a brief moment, he stopped it, stalling some time for the inevitable death. But cracks began to appear on the shield with every passing second.
With every ounce of strength and mana left in his body, Captain Edward reinforced the shield more. Blood started to gush out from his eyes, mouth, ears, and wounds. But it was not enough; then, the magic shield wall shattered like glass and eventually crushed the captain along with the others.
Then the black sphere instantly dissolves as the intruder closes his fist. Nothing was left, not even their corpses, except for the crater caused by the gigantic black sphere. With this, the intruder walks towards Einar.
"Sorry for making you wait, let's go ho..." The man in the mask didn't get to finish to convey his words.
Einar's eyes grew wide with splattered blood on his face. A monster-looking forearm penetrated the intruder's chest through his back. The mysterious man toppled down with a thud right in front of him.
Prince Corbin was standing right behind the lifeless body, licking the blood from his hand, which had pierced the masked man's chest. He survived the attack along with his escort knights.
"You fucking bastard, you almost killed me." Prince Corbin spoke in rage while trampling on the corpse's head, breaking the mask and revealing the face, where half of it had burned scars.
"Oh! I remember this motherfucker; I thought I killed this guy ten years ago."
Einar stared at the man's face with a hard expression; though half of the face had a burned scar, he was still able to recognize it. The lifeless man in front of him was none other than his childhood friend.
"Chris?!" Einar spoke with tears in his eyes.
***
It had been a week since the TARTARUS event, and life at the capital of the Arkon Empire returned to normal again, like nothing happened.
"Kill him!!"
"Kill that peasant!"
The sound of a crowd of people shouting and cursing burst into Einar's ears, and there he was, kneeling at the execution platform with his hands tied to his back and the executioner on his side. It was a public execution held in the central (plaza) part of the capital city of the Arkon Empire. Citizens gathered to watch the execution of the man who killed the hero, Anna Blackwater.
Einar's eyes were still adapting to the light of the outside world; he had been imprisoned in that chamber for months without seeing the light of day. As his vision cleared, he scanned the vicinity. In the crowd, he saw a familiar face: Anna's father.
His father-in-law looked at him with hate. He looked away from Anna's father and looked at the bright blue sky. He had no words to say to his father-in-law, and he felt ashamed for not being able to protect his daughter.
In an attempt to recall his wife's warm voice, her touch, her beautiful eyes, and her smile, Einar stared blankly up at the sky. He had a lot on his mind. Would his friend Chris still be alive today, and would this situation have arisen if he had been successful in saving Anna that day? Would he continue to lead a typical life? But something stopped his thoughts.
"The sky was quite clear today. A pleasant day to die, don't you think?"
He gazed at the man who had just spoken; it was Prince Corbin, and next to him were the two Escort Knights, who had just fought Chris a week ago but managed to survive. Einar just stared at him with a blank expression, not saying a word. The Prince was annoyed by Einar's not responding to his provocation. However, the Prince remained composed while speaking to the crowd.
"Einar, you are charged with murder and found guilty of killing Anna Blackwater, the holy sword of the Arkon Empire. You are hereby sentenced to death."
"Any last words?"
Everybody fears dying; they will weep and feel uneasy when they consider their impending death; however, Einar was different. The moment he heard Prince Corbin's declaration, rage was the only thing that could be seen on his face, rather than fear; despite having no more energy to speak clearly due to starvation and torture, he gathered all the strength he had left; he clenched his teeth hard and cried as loudly as he could so that the hall crowd could hear him.
"I did not kill her; I did not kill Anna Blackwater!"
"I did not kill my wi…"
'Thud, thud!'
Einar's head rolled on the platform before he could finish his words. The Prince sent a signal to the executioner to strike down his neck. With just one swing of the sword, Einar's head separated from his body, and a fountain of blood sprayed from his severed neck.
"Pathetic!" the Prince muttered, turned his back, and was followed by his escort knights.
Later on, a man in a black cloak approaches the execution platform, where his head drops—standing directly in front of the severed head, while his brain is still functioning, the man slowly opens his mouth and conveys a word. However, Einar was unable to understand what the stranger was saying in his whispers. Other thoughts were racing through Einar's mind.
'F*ck! I never got the chance to take revenge for my wife or find out who killed her...'
Einar's vision went black…
***
Ba-thump!...
Heart racing fast.
Einar woke up sweating, panting heavily, catching his breath.
'Huff, huff...'
'...What was that?'
'...Was all of that just a dream?'
Einar scanned the place and recognized the room. It was the house that he and Anna lived in. However, there was no one, just him.
He clutched his neck while trying to be calm; he was terrified and troubled as he tried to recall the details of what had just happened. The rage he felt at the time of his execution changed into fear and confusion. He felt anxious with all the memories he had. He got up from the bed and knelt on the ground to vomit.
'No, it wasn't a dream, it was so vivid. I can still feel the pain. But this place should no longer exist. This place was burned down during the attack.'
Bewildered by the situation, Einar looked at the table next to the bed and noticed a photo frame. A photo of him with his parents together. He had a vague notion of what was going on this time. Einar rushed outside to confirm the theory that he had in his mind.
The warm light of the sun, the cold breeze whistled softly, blowing lightly into the tree branches and touching his face, blowing the hair that covered his eyes. Einar's eyes grew wide while standing on the hill looking down at the village that was supposed to be in ruin. It was the village where he grew up, his home.
He opened his mouth slowly after being astounded by what he saw and exclaimed, "I'm back!"