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Chapter 26
A curtain of fire was wrapped around the campsite along the road.
They thought they surrounded them, but it was Dark army who were surrounded.
Restrictions on low-level Dark Soldiers were lifted first as the flames drove out the darkness.
“Puah, we’re surrounded!”
“The platoon leader has been killed! Please give us instructions!”
“Everyone, calm down! We are the Silent Death of the battlefield! What are you going to do just because you’re scared of light!”
The platoon vice-leader tried to comfort his men, but it was useless. The retreat path was blocked and sharp ice spikes are continuously pouring down like rain from the sky.
“Hang in there, mountain mercenaries will be back us up!”
The vice leader had hope. Only after a third of his men were killed did they hear the horns of mountain mercenaries, but they could not break through the powerful fire barrier made by Berenus Kyle, the Master of the red tower.
“What are you doing? We have allies waiting for us!”
“This is coming from a high-ranking magic! Of course we will destroyed by all the wizards before we could even join forces!”
The white captain pressured the mercenary wizard, but they remain stubborn. They didn’t want to die yet.
Their level was high for a mercenary wizard, but that alone could not have destroyed the barrier of fire done by the power from a Master of the Tower.
While they were stamping their feet outside the flame barrier, inside, Dark Soldiers were overwhelmingly pushed back by the Fifth Prince’s Shadow Squad.
“It will be a total annihilation at this rate!”
“Quickly instruct us!”
Before they knew it, there were only about 10 Dark soldiers left. Something had to be done by now.
If there is still no order, the number will decrease further.
There are at least 10 people left now, so there is still some hope.
It was time to make a decision and the vice-leader’s eyes turned towards the Fifth Prince. He was watching Dark soldiers collapse one by one.
“Attack the Fifth Prince!”
The kidnapping plan failed. If this was the case, they have no choice but to target the Fifth Prince.
If only they could kill an Imperial, this was enough compensation even if their platoon was wiped out.
“Darkors, all of you must sacrifice your lives to slay the Fifth Prince!”
TL: They call themselves Darkors lol. This is also one of the reason I change ghost army to Dark Army.
Two high-ranking wizards and One-armed knight was guarding him. But the Vice-leader didn’t think it was impossible to kill the Prince.
They’ve been trained from the start to break through a chaotic battlefield and assassinate the enemy commander.
“Attack!”
“For the Kingdom of Fresyria!”
It was unlikely that they could say that this was a secret infiltration.
It’s bound to be. The surroundings were too bright to have their skill set at maximum, silent death. Not only was the Shadow Squad’s defensive stance strong, but the Dark soldiers were just too exhausted.
“Shadows, protect the Prince!”
Gesteine pulled out the sword and the Shadow Squad members stepped forward.
“We’ll take care of this place!”
“Argh!”
The Vice-Leader dug deep to break through the formation of the Shadow Squad while the rest of the Dark Soldiers faced the other Shadow Squad’s knight.
Instead of blocking the front, why did the Shadow Squad members stepping aside? Were they giving them a free way?
This was a situation where their intentions could be questioned, but the Vice-leader could not afford to think about it now.
‘I’ll kill you!’
Before he knew it, the Fifth Prince was right in front of him. Despite the Vice-leader approaching him with an intention to kill, Raymond looked calm.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Yes, your highness.”
Gesteine stepped back after giving a simple bow. Only then did the vice-leader realize something was wrong, but it was too late to back down.
“I will remember you.”
The white energy was coming from Raymond’s right hand and it formed a sword.
“Ma, Mana sword?”
The Five Prince, was known as the 'scoundrel”, but now he was using a technique that can only be achieved if one is at least a high rank knight.
Before the Vice-leader could think straight, the sword from Raymond’s hand is already in front of him.
The Vice-Leader freaked out and hastily took his the sword to defend it.
Chaeng!
The soul sword and the Vice-leader’s sword collided. Part of the long sword was damaged because it could not withstand the power of the Mana sword.
“Oh, shit!”
Raymond wielded his soul sword nonstop and the Vice-leader could only deflect it while his sword become smaller.
‘He’s so skilled in swordsmanship! Was the rumor of him being a scoundrel all wrong?’
He clenched his teeth. The long sword was already broken in half, he wanted to take out his dagger from his waist but he can’t. Raymond’s swing are so fast.
Even if it wasn’t Mana sword, the sword skills used by the Fifth Prince was impossible to learn without years of practical experience.
“So this was the reason why the Protagonist was good at wielding his sword.”
Surprised by his own skills, Raymond casually talked to himself.
[The Souls of a thousand knights formed the sword. At first, I was confused, but the more I used the Soul Sword, the more the experiences of the knights melted into my memory.]
Remembering the short description from the novel, he could now understand what this means.
Their souls joined because it was a Soul sword tempered with the souls of 1,000 knights fill of grudges.
The more he trained with the swords, the more 1,000 knights’ hands-on experiences gradually melt into the user’s soul and become imprinted.
It is no exaggeration to say that this was the perfect weapon for the protagonist.
‘And I took it.’
A smile spread around Raymond’s mouth. The soul sword swung once again. Red blood splashed and finally, the Vice-leader’s left arm dropped.
“Hahaha!”
Before the Vice-leader could make his attack, Gesteine charged fiercely at him and struck his neck with the sword.
The swordsmanship of a high-ranking knight was too much for a Vice-leader who lost his left arm.
“Gesteine, what’s going on all of a sudden?”
Raymond asked as he looked at the fallen body.
He wanted to deal it with himself.
“We have an uninvited guest.”
The answer was from Casillas, the imperial commander who accompanied him in the name of protecting the imperial family.
“An uninvited guest?”
Raymond’s question was heard in the whole battlefield. The two tower Master, Desia, Gesteine and the rest of the Shadow Squad gathered around to protect Raymond.
Raymond didn’t even notice the presence, but the others felt a vivid sense of life.
“It’s coming.”
Gesteine warned.
Desia swung the staff and clung close to Raymond. A mysterious pattern of magic unfolded before her. If the two towers, which are the final defense line, were pierced, they will be the one left protecting the Fifth Prince.
She vowed in her heart to protect Raymond, who showed her the right path.
The magic pattern slowly receded, and a man dressed in black appeared. There were no others next to him, but Raymond did not know if he was truly alone.
When Gesteine and the two towers showed sharp hostility, the man in black raised his hands and expressed that he had no intention of fighting.
“Calm down. I don’t want to fight you right now.” He gave more emphasis at the last words.
Right now.
The two towers standing next to him denied the existence of another Shadow knight by shaking their heads.
He was just following the Dark Army to confirm their sudden movement, however he witnessed a tragedy.
Although he did not actively intervene because the Shadow Squad did better than he expected, he did the “best” he could.
Why is that?
“First of all, congratulations. Your name, Raymond was recorded in the ‘Black Book’ a little while ago.”
The “best”he could so was to write the name of the fifth prince in the “black book” that recorded the assassination goals of the Shadow knights.
They enjoyed recording names in the “Black Book” and then warning the subject of this fact.
“From today, the true darkness will keep an eye on you.”
It was a warning to fear every Night, as the eyes of the Shadow Night, the best assassins of the Kingdom of Edgar, roam around.
It was not known who made this tradition among the Shadow Knight, but this fact terrifies the people and wishes to never be written on the book.
“Shall I cut him?”
Gesteine asked carefully, but Raymond shook his head and opened his mouth.
“Holding a ‘black book’ means he is a Shadow knights of the lowest rank. And even if we cut him, it’s meaningless because my name is already written in every Black Book.”
Raymond bit his lip slightly as he finished talking. There was a Shadow Knight in the Black Mountains? This was slightly different from the original plot.
The Black Mountains originally had only troops from the Kingdom of Fresyria, among the three Kingdom Alliance. But did the Kingdom of Edgar also intervened?
It was not just from a regular special forces, but from the Shadow Knights?
‘There is a high possibility that the Shadow Knight was also involved in the kidnapping of Marquis Crayer.’
Things have now become a bit complicated. Shadow Knight’s skills are superior to those from the Dark Army. It was even more scarier because he did not know how many Shadow Knights have entered the Black Mountain range.
While Raymond was sorting out his thoughts, the Shadow Knight in front of him was ready to flee.
He bowed his head slightly and slowly retreated into the Shadow.
“I’m going to go now. There are now Two ‘living corpse’ in the Pilias Empire.”
A living corpse.
His name was written in the “Black Book,” but the assassination has not yet progressed. It was a slang word used to express living targets.
“Huh
.”
The blue tower Master, Lisefield Dior, bitterly smiled. While, the red tower master, Berenus Kyle, bit his lips with a serious expression.
The two Masters knew the meaning of “Black Book” and “Living Corpse.”
“I’ve heard about the ‘black book’ is, but what is the Living Corpse?”
The Imperial Army commander, Casillas, asked the question.
It was known in the public about the “black book” carried by the Shadow Knights, but many people did not know their slang words.
The Master of the Red Tower was the one who explained, and Casillas’ expression soon became fierce. He took this as an insult to the Imperial family.
“Who’s the other one?”
This time it was Desia. She couldn’t hold back her curiosity.
The only one who survived while being recorded in the “Black Book”.
Raymond, who had read the book, knew who the other one was.
“The Emperor, His Majesty.”
Not even the Invisible Shadow Lord could assassinate the emperor. In other words, the Shadow Knights succeeded in assassinating everyone but not the Emperor.
TL: The previous tl used Dark Emperor as the title for the most skilled Shadow Knight but it may confused as a real emperor so I will be using Shadow Lord from now on.
* * *
Even if people encounters a Shadow Knight along the way, most of the time, their names would not be listed in the “Black Book”.
Only a really needed assassination are recorded, and the Shadow Knight, who witnessed all of Raymond’s power, determined that the “Black Book” was worth using, and thus Raymond’s name was written down.
Despite catching the eyes of the Shadow Knights, Raymond acted as usual.
He was not going to be depress just because he was being targeted.
After the battle with the white mountain mercenaries, Raymond led his Shadow Squad back into the stronghold.
There was the infantry led by Cron and the imperial army commanded by Casillas.
All that was left was to torture a Dark Soldier to find out more information. However, Raymond already knew where Marquis Crayer will be executed.
But, it was still necessary to perform a kind of “play”. He would not be easily believed if he specified a location without any evidence.
“Are you ready?”
“Not yet. It will take another hour.”
Casillas, commander of the Imperial Army, replied.
“I see.”
Raymond nodded and return back, but before he could do so Casillas opened his mouth and questioned him.
“Fifth Prince, may I ask you a question?”
He stopped and turned his head toward Casillas.
“Tell me.”
“I heard you learned magic. But how are you able to wield a sword?”
“It’s not too late to learn it anyway.”
Raymond replied with a smirk. But Casillas’ expression was still serious.
“Well, how long have you been learning swordsmanship?”
“I think it’s been about two months now?”
“Oh my god
”
Casillas was astonished by Raymond’s response.
‘In just two months, you were able to have a Mana sword in which it can only be used if you’re at least a senior knight? What kind of ridiculous talent is this?’
Casillas, who trained for 10 years to achieved the status of Mana sword, felt how the world was unfair.
Leaving the speechless Casillas behind, Raymond headed to the his room with his entourage.
“Fifth Prince, I have a lot of questions to ask. You know that, right?”
Raymond just smiled at the words of Lisefield, the blue tower master.
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