VOLUME 10: CHAPTER 11

VOLUME 10: CHAPTER 11

The Morton Twins were among the most-wanted criminals in the Empire. Robbery, slavery, murder, torture, rape – the twins had committed these heinous acts several times before, and they’d never been caught.

The twins were meticulous when carrying out their missions. They always made sure to erase all trails and any evidences that could lead to them. They made sure to kill any and all witnesses, and they always prepared contingency plans.

The twins, whose faces and real identities were unknown to most people, became so notorious that they gained recognition from the Chief Royal Advisor, eventually becoming employed by the Emperor himself.

They believed that their first mission in the Alchemy Tower would proceed without hitch and strife.

But what’s this?

They did not expect that there existed an archer capable of following nearly deleted trails of mana. Even Jacob ‘Triple Cast’ Fraser, one of the royal court magicians of the Great Empire, shouldn’t be capable of such a feat.

Moreover, the archer seemed to be aware of their existence, going as far as mentioning their names.

They were surprised to hear the words ‘Morton Twins’ come out of the archer’s mouth.

They were certain that none of the members of the imperial envoys were aware of their true identities. After all, only the Emperor, the Chief Royal Advisor, and a select few officials knew their faces.

‘What should we do, brother?’ Kale ‘s eyes conveyed the words he wished to say to his older brother.

‘Stay put,’ Kazden signaled to Kale. ‘I’ll handle this. I don’t know how they found out about us, but they still do not have any evidence.’

“Are you the Morton Twins?” Elias Farsight asked again.

Kazden said with a straight face, “I believe it’s proper courtesy to introduce oneself first before asking for another person’s name. Or maybe the Kingdom has an entirely different custom and courtesy?”

Elias said unhappily, “Elias Farsight. Royal Court Magician of the Kingdom.”

“Elias Farsight,” mumbled Kazden.

The Twins finally realized how a mere archer managed to follow the erased trails of mana.

Even they had heard of Elias ‘Farsight’ before. As far as they knew, this man was heralded as one of the five Master Archers in the entire continent. Moreover, among royal court magicians, he was the only bow user.

It was a blunder on the twins’ part.

They should have considered the interference of this man, since they’d heard that he was stationed in the capital.

Still, the twins were confident of coming out of this predicament unharmed. They were part of the imperial envoys, after all. This was not something the Lukasians could solve with mere brute force. They needed to show concrete proof that they were truly the culprits.

“A royal court magician,” said Kazden. “Then forgive me, Lord Magician. But I’m afraid you’re mistaken. We’ve never left the estate. Moreover, do we look like twins to you?”

Indeed, the twins looked different from each other. The younger one was fat and small, while the older one was thin and tall. No matter how one looked at it, they did not resemble each other at all. Even their facial structures did not have much similarities with each other.

Elias remained silent as he carefully studied the twins. He said to the princess, “Princess. Are they the Morton Twins you spoke of?”

Kazden and Kale looked at the Princess and suppressed a frown from forming on their faces.

How did that sheltered woman manage to uncover their identities?

The Princess felt the stares of the twins. She wanted to back down and cower, but she knew that she couldn’t miss this opportunity to get rid of them completely. Death would continue looming around her, as long as these two were walking around freely.

“Yes,” said the Princess with conviction.

That single word stirred up not only Farsight and the patrols, but also the members of the imperial envoys.

The Morton Twins were notorious criminals who freely roamed the underworld of the Empire. Some soldiers shuddered at the mere thought they’d been sharing beds and drinks with such heinous individuals. They shuddered at the thought that if things had gone to a different direction, these two would have slit their throats while they were sleeping.

Still, the question of whether or not the Princess was telling the truth remained.

Elias nocked his arrow to his bow and pointed it to Kazden. “The newly built temple of the Water God is nearby. With my authority, it should be possible to ask one of the priests to perform an Oath of Veracity for us.”

Kazden raised both his arms up. “Now, now. Let’s not resort to violence. As I’ve said before, do we look like twins to you? Are you seriously going to implicate us to that incident without any evidence?”

To be on the safer side, the twins left behind the medicines they’d stolen with the information broker. Even if these imbeciles searched every nook and cranny of the mansion, they wouldn’t find any evidences linking them to the crime.

But they’d never expected the archer to involve the Temple in the investigation. With an Oath of Veracity, it would be impossible even for the twins to lie their way out of this mess.

“An Oath of Veracity?” said Kazden. Since the Princess seemed keen on pinning the blame on them, he turned to the second-in-command in the group – Jacob Fraser. “While I do not mind proving my innocence in the Temple, isn’t this an insult to us, imperial envoys, Lord Fraser?”

“Everyone,” said Kazden to the imperial soldiers around him. “Are we just going to let this slide? Are we just going to let these people frame one of our own? An innocent man?”

Several murmurs of agreement were heard afterward.

Now that they’d thought of it, this archer and the members of the patrol had come here unannounced. Not only did they not show proper courtesy to the Princess, they were also trying to incriminate one of their own men. It felt like blatant bullying and flaunting of authority and power.

“That’s right!” said an imperial soldier. “Why should we listen to you, you damn archer!”

Kazden inwardly smiled.

Another imperial soldier added, “Show us proof! An evidence!”

“You forced your way here, and now you’re trying to frame one of our men!”

“How impudent!”

The murmurs soon turned to shouts, and some of the imperial soldiers even started unsheathing their swords.

A subtle smirk formed on Kazden’s face.

Oh, how naïve and easy to manipulate!

‘That’s right! Fight! Kill each other!’

While the twins were inwardly rejoicing at the sight of the envoys and the patrol confronting each other, Jacob Fraser said in an authoritative voice loud enough for everyone to hear, “That’s enough.”

And the clamor died at once.

Jacob Fraser stepped forward and said, “Lord Elias. We shall comply with your demands.”

Kazden’s mouth gaped. “Huh?”

Things were unfolding differently from what the twins had expected.

“The two of you,” said Fraser. “Perform the Oath of Veracity in the Temple.”

“B-But Lord Fraser!” said Kazden. For the first time, he was flustered.

What was he doing? Why is an imperial royal court magician suddenly siding with the Lukasians?

Just like the Princess, was Fraser also aware of their identity?

“If the Oath of Veracity reveals that the two of you are indeed innocent,” said Jacob Fraser. “I will compensate you with a thousand gold coins each. Moreover, I will step down from my position as a royal court magician. I believe this is fair enough, no?”

It was a bold declaration, enough to immediately quell any discontent from the imperial soldiers.

It sounded reasonable, now that the Triple Cast was willing to wager even the prestigious status of a royal court magician.

From the vantage point of an innocent man, this was a godsent opportunity to earn a life-changing sum of money. Of course, for the twins, this had the exact opposite. Those words were like a quagmire that had swallowed the twin’s plans.

“We’ll cooperate,” Jacob Fraser said to Elias. “Please take these two with you to the Temple, Lord Elias.”

“W-Wait!” said Kazden.

“Understood,” said Elias.

Kazden palmed himself in the face. He closed his eyes, frowned, and sighed. He slowly opened his eyes, and through the gaps in his fingers, he glared at Fraser and Elias.

“Seriously,” grumbled Kazden. He no longer sounded meek and subservient. “These fools who don’t know their place.”

Murderous intent started oozing out of the Kazden and Kale. Their eyes turned predatory.

Feeling the tense atmosphere, the imperial guards and the patrols moved back and distanced themselves from the twins.

Kazden’s sunken face twisted in an ugly manner. Spit flew out as he snarled, “You damn Lukasians! Do you know what you did, huh!”

It was amazing how a person’s face could change in mere seconds. From a meek sheep pleading for the mercy of his owner, the twins’ face distorted into that of a monster. Seeing this, Princess Luna moved to the back, and the imperial soldiers immediately moved in front to protect her.

Backed into a corner, the twins finally decided to bare their fangs before everyone.

“You should have listened to us!” spat Kazden. He pulled out his sword and coated it with mana. “This is why fools don’t live long!”

“Brother, what do we do?” Kale licked his lips in excitement.

“Kill them.”

Kale broadly grinned. There was no fear within his eyes – only madness and thirst for blood.

“Understood, brother!”

Kale opened his arms wide and shot out over a hundred threads of mana into the air.

“Kakaka! Things went awry, but it doesn’t matter! This is part of the thrill of a hunt!” laughed Kale.

The threads of mana were as sharp as swords. They started swinging and swerving at frightening speeds, hitting the members of the patrol and the imperial soldiers. Torsos and limbs were dismembered as the twins started with their slaughter.

Although Elias Farsight and Commander Danack blocked most of the threads of mana, the few that managed to get past them killed the members of the patrol. Severed arms, feet, and heads flew as the stench of blood started permeating the air.

While Kale was massacring the Lukasians, Kazden shot toward the Princess. Even if they couldn’t kill everyone here, they should at least fulfill their last mission and kill that woman.

Jacob Fraser moved in front of the Princess and cast three spells at the same time – a wind barrier, a lightning serpent, and a stone golem. The three-meter-large stone golem rose from the ground and attempted to grab Kazden’s leg. Kazden nimbly evaded by jumping up, only to be met with a ten-meter-long lightning serpent.

Kazden cackled in amusement. “Do you think this is enough, Fraser!”

Kazden cut the lightning serpent with his sword, then cast a similarly massive lightning spear toward Fraser. The stone golem tried blocking the lightning spear with its body, but to Fraser’s surprise the lightning spear swerved and sped past the golem. It shot straight toward Princess Luna.

The lightning spear collided with the wind barrier, shattering it into pieces with that single strike.

Before landing on the ground, Kazden threw several pebbles at Fraser, striking the golem who moved to in intercept it. The pebbles shattered into pieces, and released a green mist that started covering the entire estate.

“Don’t touch the mist!”

“It’s poison!”

Those who were unfortunate to come in contact with the mist immediately recognized its effects. Their skins turned purple in mere seconds, and they started dropping dead like flies, one after another.

Fraser immediately cast a dome-shaped barrier around them, preventing the poison mist from spreading further.

Kazden strengthened his body with mana and shot toward Princess Luna.

***

“This is fun! Kakaka!”

Kale maniacally laughed as he continued slaughtering the kingdom’s soldiers with his mana threads. Farsight continued rapidly firing arrows infused with mana at him, but Kale easily parried them with his sword coated with mana. It was preposterous that the twins were this adept in both magic and the sword.

“Is this all you’ve got!” shouted Kale. “I’ve been expecting more from a royal court magician of the Kingdom!”

Under normal circumstances, Farsight should be capable of pushing the younger of the twins into a corner. But currently, they were in the heart of the capital and surrounded by numerous allies. Unlike Kale and Kazden, who could freely use their spells without restraint, Farsight couldn’t carelessly unleash powerful attacks in this place.

“Kakaka! How pathetic!” said Kale. “I will kill you, just like how I killed that old woman!”

Farsight’s face twitched.

Noticing the change in Farsight’s expression, Kale sneered, “Oh, are you perhaps her son? Oh! Oh! Oh! You should have seen her face, when my wind spell pierced her chest!”

An explosion occurred behind them. Kazden had started firing explosion spells at Fraser, one after another. The ground rumbled as the parts of the mansion hit by the explosion spells started collapsing to the ground. The merchants from the Golden Crow Association, who’d been hiding inside the mansion, started running outside, only to be killed by the poison mist and the threads of mana.

“Fraser wouldn’t be able to win against my older brother,” said Kale confidently. “Not when he’s forced to protect that Princess!”

Kale spread his arms wide. “So, let’s enjoy the moment! The thrill of a hunt! The scent of blood! Let’s—”

“—You talk too much,” spat Farsight.

Farsight took out several peculiar-looking arrows from his quiver. Unlike the ones he’d used before, their arrowheads were made of black metal. Unlike normal arrows, these arrows made from the Elven Kingdom were capable of handling massive amounts of mana without breaking. Moreover, the tips were potent enough to paralyze a full-grown elk in mere seconds with just a graze.

These were the same arrows the elves had used to annihilate the Devouring Apes in the Endless Forest.

Farsight nocked three arrows into his bow and channeled massive amounts of mana into them. He pointed them at Kale.

Initially, he planned on capturing the twins for interrogation. But after fighting with them, he realized this was out of the question. The twins were not weaker than them, and they would suffer more casualties if they insisted on capturing them.

Farsight aimed his arrows at Kale with the resolve to kill. He was about to fire the elven arrows infused with large amounts of mana when suddenly, an absurdly heavy presence enveloped the entire area.

Kale Morton, Kazden Morton, Jacob ‘Triple Cast’ Fraser, and Elias Farsight – these four men all halted at the same time and gazed at the young man – the source of the massive presence – who had just walked through the gates. Walking next to him was a knight with crimson eyes clad in steel armor.

“What the hell is that?”

Kazden subconsciously blurted out the words that were currently on everyone’s mind. The more powerful a magician was, the more sensitive they were to mana. Since the young man was purposely letting his mana leak out to the environment, the twins could feel the massive amounts of mana from him. If the twins were a massive well, the young man before them was an ocean. Just the pressure he exuded alone felt so suffocating to the point that everyone suddenly stopped fighting.

“Your Majesty…” said Elias Farsight. “I greet His Majesty, King Lark!”

Elias Farsight knelt. Commander Danack and the surviving members of the patrol immediately followed suit.

“We greet His Majesty, King Lark!”

“We greet His Majesty, King Lark!”

The twin’s eyes widened. Their bodies subconsciously started trembling from fear.

That young man was the king of Lukas?

The Chief Royal Advisor never told them that they were supposed to assassinate a monster!

If they knew, they would have never accepted this mission in the first place!

Kazden and Kale took a step back. Their gazes moved to the knight clad in a suit of armor. To their horror, they realized that this knight was even stronger than the one they’d encountered in Kalavinka Port. Their instincts were screaming at them to run far from this place, to never look back and escape. Their instinct was telling them that just this knight alone should be capable of suppressing them, Farsight, and Fraser on his own.

“I felt the surge of mana coming from this place and decided to check what’s happening,” said Lark in a cold, displeased voice. “You killed a lot of my men. Who are you? And what are you doing in the capital?”

Lark was wearing a simple shirt soaked with sweat, as though he was in the middle of training before coming here. Still, despite his simple clothes, he felt so domineering. The twins couldn’t even look him straight in the eyes.

“Answer me.”

Kazden and Kale nervously gulped. They looked at each other. Without speaking, they came into a consensus to escape from here. That knight in suit of armor aside, they couldn’t see how they could possibly win against King Lark.

“It seems you have no intention of answering.” Lark said to the knight in suit of armor, “Bring them to me.”

The crimson eyes of the Lord of the Blackstone Legion glowed. With great speed, it disappeared from its spot and reappeared right in front of Kazden. The Lord Knight pulled back its fist, and Kazden instinctively raised his sword to block the attack. But to his horror, the punch tore through his sword and shattered it. Kazden’s right arm was bent to an unimaginable angle, and he was sent flying back from the impact. His body bounced and rolled on the ground several times before coming to a stop.

Kazden groaned. He tried standing up, but his body refused to move. He realized that not only his right arm, but also his legs were broken by that single punch. Excruciating pain enveloped his entire body. He realized that had King Lark ordered that knight to kill instead of capture them, he would have been dead by now.

After taking care of Kazden, the Lord Knight shot toward Kale.

“D-Don’t come near me!”

Dozens of threads of mana shot of Kale’s fingertips. He tried cutting the Lord Knight with it, but the threads couldn’t cut through the steel armor fortified with the Lord Knight’s mana. The Lord Knight reached Kale and grasped his head with a single hand.

Without hesitation, the Lord Knight smashed Kale’s head into the ground with force powerful enough to render him unconscious, but not enough to kill him.

The Lord Knight grabbed Kazden and Kale by the hair, dragged them through the ground, and presented them to Lark.

“Good work,” said Lark.

The Lord Knight groaned, as though pleased that he’d showed his master his worth.

Silence befell the area.

Everyone couldn’t believe that the twins, who’d been dominating the battle against these many soldiers and royal court magicians, were taken care of in mere seconds by the knight serving King Lark.

“Are you the Imperial Princess?” Lark said to Princess Luna.

Princess Luna’s eyes were wide, to the point of popping out. She, too, couldn’t believe what had just transpired.

“Y-Yes!” said Princess Luna.

She gazed at King Lark, particularly at the blotches of ink that had formed on top of his head. To her dismay, the rate of the blotches of ink turning into words were incredibly slow. She tried hastening the formation of words, only to be assaulted by a head-splitting headache.

Still, the Princess persevered through the pain. It was only for a few seconds, but words had formed on top of Lark’s head.

[What a mess.]

[The Arzomos aren’t my slaves, and it’s not like I can ask them to guard every official, guilds, and towers.]

[I should have come here sooner.]

[I could have prevented the deaths of these men.]

Princess Luna reached her limit. The words on top of Lark’s head reverted into blotches of ink.

‘I’m feeling dizzy.’

Princess Luna’s legs wobbled, and she fell to the ground. Was it due to the tension, or was it due to mana depletion? She was not sure.

“Princess!”

The imperial soldiers immediately moved to assist her.

“I would like to discuss this incident with you in detail,” said Lark. “But it seems you’re not feeling well. For now, rest. I’ll call for you once the time is appropriate.”

Princess Luna weakly nodded her head. Surprisingly, the King was quite considerate. She softly mumbled, “I am grateful, Your Majesty.”

“Commander Danack,” said Lark.

“Your Majesty.”

“Secure and cordon the area,” said Lark. “I expect a detailed report from the Patrol submitted to my office before the day ends.”

“Understood,” said Commander Danack. “As for those two?”

He was referring to the Morton Twins.

Lark coldly gazed at them. “Shackle them with mana-suppressing artifacts and throw them into the dungeons. I will mete out an appropriate punishment for them later.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”