《Lord Of The Witches》 Chapter -1 - Sequence (Lord of the Mysteries) ¡ô[Fool Level 0 Main Ingredients] 2 beyonder characteristics corresponding to Servant of Mysteries The unique characteristic of the Fool pathway [Servant of Mysteries Level 1] Unknown Unknown..... [Miracle Invoker Level 2] Unknown To resurrect after death is a miracle.Antiquity ScholarLevel 3Main Ingredients: A pair of Fugen''s Dog Eyes ( Also known as source Guard) Supplementary Ingredients: 100 ml of Fugen''s Dog blood 30 grams of Wolf of the Mist''s Grey Hair frost crystal Evidence of ancient history Advancement Ritual: After taking the potion Oneself must become/possess a history dating to a minimum of 300 years Or be out of touch with reality for a minimum of 300 years Or does not belong to the current era. Like summoning a puppeteers puppet that was already destroyed back to the present to be used again for a time. [Arcane Sorcerer Level 4 Main Ingredients:] The eye of the scheming/crafty evil monster The true soul of a spiritual predator Supplementary Ingredients: 200ml blood of the evil scheming monster 30grams dust of dust from the spiritual predator A golden grape vine One finger size Homemade rubber mask Depending on ones individual strength and planning, and under the witness of many audience, act as the director and give a grand drama that would murder a demigod or an equivalent creature. Then, at the end of the drama take the potion [Nimblewright Master Level 5 Main ingredients:] Dust of ancient wraiths. Core crystal of a six-winged gargoyle. Supplementary ingredients: 80 ml of spring water from Sonia Island''s Golden Spring. 10 grams of drago bark. Remnant spirituality of ancient wraiths. 1 pair of eyes from a six-winged gargoyle. Consume potion in the midst of a singing mermaid''s song. The Nimblewright Master can take control over almost anyone if given enough time and able to initially draw close. Once they have taken control they can direct from afar without danger to themselves. [Faceless Level 6 Main ingredients:] Mutated pituitary gland of a Thousand-faced Hunter, Characteristic of a Human-skinned Shadow. Supplementary ingredients: 80 ml of a Thousand-faced Hunter''s blood, 5 drops of black Jimsonweed juice. 3 strands of hair from a Deep-sea Naga. The Faceless is able to become anyone at any time, able to perfectly mimic their targets whether it be their face, body, sound, voice or even their smell. They have a 30% increase to all their magician abilities. They have the ability to accurately recall the shape and temperament of everyone they know and grasp their unique smell. [Magician Level 7 Main ingredients:] 1 true root of a Mist Treant. All the spinal fluid of a Dark Patterned Black Panther. Supplementary ingredients: 60 ml of purified water. 30 ml of Mist Treant''s juice. 3 grams of Droplet Gem powder. 4 drops of Fantasy Grass essential oil. [Clown Level 8 Main/Supplementary] ¡ñIngredients: 80 milliliters of pure water 5 drops of tornapple juice 7 grams of black-rimmed sunflower powder 10 grams of golden cloak grass powder 3 drops of poison hemlock. Clowns are good at fighting with artifice and are very crafty. They have immense control over facial expressions and bodily functions. For instance, the user gains massive coordination of the body and exceptional balance. They can also intuitively predict a person''s next course of action. They are able to throw cards as weapons. [Seer Level 9 Main/Supplementary] ¡ñIngredients: 100 millimeter of pure water 13 drops of night vanilla liquids 7 gold mint leaves 3 drops of poison hemlock 9 grams of dragon blood grass powder 10 milliliters Lavos Squid''s blood 50 gram Stellar Aqua crystal. ..... [???Level 0] (Secrets supplient) [???Level 1] [???Level 2] [??? Level 3] [Black Knight Level 4] Unknown [Shepherd Level 5] A Shepherd can collect 7 (Beyonder) souls with 3 abilities each, which totals to 21 abilities. If the 21 abilities are well suited for each other the Shepherd can be really powerful. [Rose Bishop Level 6] Every Rose Bishop is an expert when it comes to flesh and blood magic, Rose Bishop''s can hide inside the bodies of others, thereby avoiding all sorts of investigations. But the moment they emerge, the hosts would lose their lives. Can plant flesh bombs in people, can use their own flesh as explosives, can produce corrosive blood, can regenerate their own flesh. [Shadow Ascetic Level 7 ] They can hide in shadows and use the power of shadows. [Listener (Whispered) Level 8 ] Every Listener can listen directly to the whispers of the secret entities; thus, they frequently come into contact with powerful, distorted, unique abilities. Nighthawk files state that every Listener is a lunatic - even if they look normal on the surface, they are always crazy on the inside. [Secrets Suppliant Level 9 ] With a high spiritual sense, these Beyonders can detect the existence of some mysterious horrible existence. They master certain ritual knowledge and a small amount of ritual magic. ..... ¡ô[Primordial Demoness Level 0] Main Ingredients 2 beyonder characteristics corresponding to Apocalypse The unique characteristic of the Primordial Demoness pathway [Apocalypse Level 1] [Catastrophe Level 2] They can control blizzards, tsunamis, floods, and earthquakes. [Ageless Level 3] Can maintain eternal youth. They are extremely difficult to kill, able to resurrect and be reborn. [Despair Level 4] Can spread plagues and epidemics, creating and controlling man-made catastrophes. [Afflictions Level 5] Also called " lady of diseases". Can inflict pain and disease upon others. [Demoness of Pleasure Level 6] Main ingredients: A pair of Succubus eyes. An ?du?t Black Widow Spider Silk Gland. Supplementary ingredients: 100 ml of purified water. 5 drops of Black Jimsonweed juice. Complete remnants of a Succubus''s hair. 10 grams of Feynapotter Fly Powder. 5 grams of real Mummy ashes. The beyonder''s witch abilities will be enhanced. They will become more beautiful, making them better at seduction and providing unforgettable p???sur? to the same or opposite gender during s?x. They can make strange threads like a spider and use them. [Witch Level 7 ] Main ingredients: Every drop of an Abyss Demonic Fish''s blood. An Agate Peacock''s egg. Supplementary ingredients: 80 ml of purified water. 5 drops of Jimsonweed juice. 3 scales of a Shadow Lizard. 10 drops of Daffodil Juice. Their appearance and charm will be enhanced significantly. They can turn invisible and make substitutes, using mirrors to take damage for them. They will gain a rudimentary understanding of various dark magic, as well as black flame and icy frost magic. They can disrupt the divination of others. In the promotion, a man would transform into a woman. [Instigator Level 8] They have the ability to instigate people to commit crimes and spread dissension without being noticed. [Assassin Level 9] What a good ?ssassin should possess, they all have. In addition, darkness and shadow are their shelters. Owl-like vision and feather-like agility are among their abilities. .... ¡ô[Dreamer Level 0] Main Ingredients 2 beyonder characteristics corresponding to Author The unique characteristic of the Dreamer pathway They can turn their dreams and thoughts into reality. [Author Level 1] Unknown They can control the hearts and souls of every living thing, making them obey commands, yet not realizing they are being controlled. They will think they are acting according to their own beliefs. They can turn nightmares into reality, involving others into unconscious participants, where they will meet devastating tragedy. [Clear-Sighted Level 2] Unknown [Dream-Weber Level 3] Unknown [Manipulator Level 4] Unknown [Dream walker Level 5] Unknown [Hypnotist Level 6] Unknown The hypnotist gains hypnosis and other mind-altering abilities even during battle. They can change people''s consciousness, hypnotize during battle, cause people to act against their intentions, and become seemingly invisible by making themselves into a "blind spot" in the enemy''s mind. [Psychiatrist (Psyche Analyst) Level 7] At this level, the beyonder will experience a qualitative change. Beyonders at this level gain 5 unique abilities: Shocking: They can cause a single target or a group that is within a certain range to feel like they are facing a giant dragon resulting instantly in panic and confusion. Frenzy: They can detonate the emotional or psychological state of their target, causing him to fall into ''frenzy'', suffer from a strong level of mental damage, and sometimes even make the target lose control. Psychological Suggestion: Through a specific action, specific language, specific medium, they can suggest a goal, resulting in the person that the ability is used on to follow their arrangement unconsciously, or strongly, from their heart as if they don''t want to violate a promise Relief, also know as ''psychoanalysis'': They can cause a beyonder that is on the brink of losing control to regain back their rationality and get rid of their dangerous condition. This has a certain probability of failure. The higher your sequence, the easier it is to succeed. The beyonder can also calm down patients with psychological instability and can communicate with them. Reading Heart: Through the medium of candlelight and pure dew, the beyonder can place their target in a semi-hypnotic state and communicate directly with his/her mind. [Telepathist Level 8] Main Ingredients: Phantom Netherdrake''s complete pituitary gland (also known as Rainbow Salamander). 10 ml of Half Specter Rabbit (also known as Farsman Rabbit). Supplementary ingredients: Unknown Their observation is not only limited to superficial details, but deeper into one''s aura, Ether Body, or other mysterious domains. The combination of the two allowed a Telepathist to precisely understand a person''s thoughts as though they could read their minds. In front of them, it is difficult to have any secrets. They are able to read the superficial thoughts of others and can also simulate their thoughts. They know what kind of emotional reaction to show in the appropriate situation and know in detail what kind of expression and body language to react with. [Spectator Level 9] Main/Supplementary Ingredients 80 milliliters of pure water. 5 drops of autumn crocus essence. 13 grams of cow teeth paeonol powder. 7 petals of elf flowers. A m?tur?d Manhal Fish''s eyeball. 35 milliliters of goat-horned black fish blood. Spectators possess keen powers of observation. Just like watching operas and dramatic performances, they look at people strictly from a bystander''s perspective, discovering people''s true thoughts from their expressions, their manners, their oral habits, and their subconscious actions. However, whether it is at an extravagant banquet or in a lively street, a Spectator is always just a spectator - they can never take the stage themselves. ¡ô[Death Level 0] [???Level 1] [Death Consul Level 2] [Ferryman Level 3] [Undead Level 4] Every 60 years, they will die once and resurrect once, removing all their curses. [Gatekeeper Level 5] Can open the gate to the spirit and ghost world, summoning many undead spirits. The beyonder at this sequence gains the ability to sense the gate of the underworld. They can send undead spirit back into the underworld. [Spirit Guide/necromancer Level 6] Can pray to themselves to summon a special spirit, which can deliver and receive messages. At this level they began to gain the ability to influence the spirit world. They gain the ability to recruit spirit which can help them achieve their goals. They also develop the ability to bypass the physical protection provided by flesh and blood. [Spirit Medium Level 7] At this stage the beyonder experiences a qualitative change. Can easily communicate with dead spirits without a ritual, and directly communicate with living souls. They develop a keen talent and mastery of several soul related Mystical rituals. This allow them to easily communicate with the natural spirits of the world and the spirit of the dead. For them, there are people everywhere.At the same time, they can use a variety of spirits to achieve a variety of magic, creating a variety of supernatural phenomena. [Gravedigger Level 8] Can enter the spirit world and the land of the dead, allowing them to observe their enemies from a high vantage point. The beyonders Corpse collector ability is enhance, their skill becomes more refined and they gain the ability to communicate with a small number of spirit that are close to them to help them."Grave Digger" can quickly find out the weaknesses of undead and spiritual creatures by "observing" the face of the unfamiliar undead and spiritual world creatures. This ability is called "eye of death".One of the notable ability that get stronger is their Spirit vision. [Corpse Collector Level 9] Corpse Collectors gain resistance to the cold, decay, and corrosiveness of cadaveric auras. They will be able to directly see a portion of evil spirits and see the characteristics and weaknesses of undead creatures, as well as gain certain attribute enhancements. The user gain certain corpse characteristics. They would develop a gloomy presence and develop lower body temperature. This characteristics prevents them from been attacked by unwise zombies Chapter -2 - Pathways (Lord of the Mysteries) Pathways are the potions that transfer ordinary human to beyonder. Pathways are named after sequence-0 when known, otherwise sequence-9 if unknown. There are 22 pathways, each pathway starts from sequence-9 and ends up at sequences-0. When a beyonder reach sequence-4, they are able to transform to their divine form (mythical creature), thus, a sequence-4 beyonder is also called a demi-God. As a demi-God, beyonder are able to use their divine form during their battle to enhance their abilities, in the cost of potentially losing sanity and irreversibly became an uncontrollable monster. ¡ô[Pathway 0: Fool] Controlling Organization: Secret Order, Antigonus Family High Sequence Group: Fool, Apprentice, Marauder God: unknown/none Divine form: Countless maggots ¡ô[Pathway 1: Apprentice] Controlling Organization: Theosophy Order, Abraham Family High Sequence Group: Fool, Apprentice, Marauder God: unknown/none ¡ô[Pathway 2: Secrets Supplicant] Controlling Organization: Aurora Order High Sequence Group: Secrets Supplicant, Tyrant, Sun, Dreamer, Reader God: The True Creator ¡ô[Pathway 3: Planter] Controlling Organization: Church of Mother Earth God: Mother Earth ¡ô[Pathway 4: Black Emperor] Controlling Organization: Solomon Family, Tudor Family, Trunsoest Family High Sequence Group: Black Emperor, Adjudicator God: Dark Emperor Solomon (former) ¡ô[Pathway 5: Red Priest] Controlling Organization: Iron and Blood Cross Order, Einhorn Family, Sauron Family High Sequence Group: Primordial Demoness, Red Priest God:Blood Emperor (former) Controlling Organization: Demoness Sect High Sequence Group: Primordial Demoness, Red Priest God: Primordial Demoness ¡ô[Pathway 7: Savant] Controlling Organization: Church of the God of Steam and Machinery High Sequence Group: Mystery Pryer, Savant God: God of Steam and Machinery ¡ô[Pathway 8: Dreamer] Controlling Organization: Psychology Alchemists God: Dragon of Imagination Ankewelt (former) Other aliases: Pathway of Dragons ¡ô[Pathway 9: Mystery Pryer] Controlling Organization: Moses Ascetic Order High Sequence Group: Mystery Pryer, Savant God: The Hidden Sage ¡ô[Pathway 10: Wheel of Fortune] Controlling Organization: Life School of Thought High Sequence Group: unknown ¡ô[Pathway 11: Warrior] Controlling Organization: Church of the God of Combat, City of Silver High Sequence Group: Sleepless, Warrior, Death God: God of War, Giant King Aurmir (former) Other Aliases: Pathway of Giants ¡ô[Pathway 12: Tyrant] Controlling Organization: Church of the Lord of Storms High Sequence Group: Sun, Tyrant, Dreamer, Secrets Supplicant, Reade God: Lord of Storms,Elf King Soniathrym (former) Controlling Organization: Numinous Episcopate High Sequence Group: Sleepless, Death, Warrior God: Death Emperor (former), Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace (former) Other Aliases: Pathway of Phoenixes ¡ô[Pathway 14: Prisoner] Controlling Organization: Rose School of Thought High Sequence Group: Abyss, Prisoner God: Mother Tree of Desire (Chained god),Mutated King Kvastir (former) Other Aliases: Pathway of Mutants Controlling Organization: Blood Sanctify Sect High Sequence Group: Abyss, Prisoner God: Dark Side of the Universe, Devil Monarch Farbauti (former) ¡ô[Pathway 16: Marauder] Controlling Organization: unknown/none High Sequence Group: Fool, Apprentice, Marauder God: unknown ¡ô[Pathway 17: Sleepless] Controlling Organization: Church of the Evernight Goddess High Sequence Group: Death, Warrior, Sleepless God: Evernight Goddess Other Aliases: Pathway of the Evernight. ¡ô[Pathway 18: Moon Controlling Organization: Vampire Clan High Sequence Group: unknown God: The Primordial Moon, Vampire Queen Lilith (former) Other Aliases: Pathway of Vampire ¡ô[Pathway 19: Sun] Controlling Organization: Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun High Sequence Group: Dreamer, Sun, Tyrant, Reader, Secrets Supplicant God: Eternal Blazing Sun ¡ô[Pathway 20: Adjudicator] Controlling Organization: Augustus Family, Castiya Family High Sequence Group: Dark Emperor, Adjudicator God: Night Emperor (former) ¡ô[Pathway 21: Reader] Controlling Organization: Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom High Sequence Group: Dreamer, Sun, Tyrant, Reader, Secrets Supplicant God: God of Knowledge and Wisdom. Chapter 1 - Chapter:-1 Blood Death, a beautiful entity and the final destination form of life. It is dispised, feared, hated and not accepted by any being. [But I think of death as a glad awakening from this troubled sleep ,which we call life, as an emancipation from a world, which ,beautiful though it be, is still a land of captivity.] My name is Luo shinki, brown-hair with green eyes. Lean figure ,a little fat with average looks and common skills that everyone has. I was 33-years old, your everyday normal Joe with a strict yet loving father, a sweet and kind mother and a gentle and warm wife. My father was a 64 years old retired army officer while my mother was 63 hears old government employ. Our family was just like any other family. We laughed ,we played ,we cried ,we screamed ,we joked and most importantly .....we lived. I had a loving family whom I cared for and was cared after. I had a job. What else did I needed, life was good enough. I worked for [Apple] as their head of [Programming department]. The pay was good and so was the atmosphere around me. Life was pretty nice but on that horrendous day it all came to an end ,when it all changed. If you are reading this, the remember my name, about me.....the one who lost his everything, the one who was abandoned by everyone, the one whom existence even the world didn''t acknowledge. My past....you will get to know on this journey we are about to go. This story isn''t about a man who had everything, who was blessed ,who was loved ,who was bestowed his wishes, who was given power. No...this story is about me, my tale of hardships, pain, betrayel and most of all.... despair. This time we won''t stop, not until either they die or we do. This time it won''t end like it did. This time they won''t need to die. This time.....we will kill gods. They can break us, torment us, make us feel despair, even kill us but...they wouldn''t be able to stop us. [It is always darkest just before the day dawneth.] No matter how much darkness is there, no matter how much it hurts us. We will reach the end of this story so that the world will tell our fable. [When it is dark enough, men see the stars.] . . . . . . . [They say Men ablaze are invincible ,the stronghold of Satan is proof against everything but fire.] Now here I lay on this scorched ground ,blood marching through out the place, away from this broken body of mine. The horrifying scene in front of my eyes reminded me of the poem and stories where they described *Hell*. The vision of these had long turned red by the crimson flowing out of my head. "WHY....???????" The only question I wanted to be answered by this world who killed me, by those who abandoned me, and by them who grazed at me with those uncaring eyes and left me to die. . . . . . . . Now my life is slipping away ,bit by bit I am breaking from both inside-out. The faint glow inside these unfeeling and indifferent eyes has fully diminished. [Death, like a host, comes smiling to the door; Smiling, he greets us, on that tranquil shore Where neither piping bird nor peeping dawn Disturbs the eternal sleep, But in the stillness far withdrawn Our dreamless rest for evermore we keep.] [Death brings eternal sleep ,Eternal youth ,Eternal silence and Immortality.] "Looks like this is it ,the end of the road for me...." My distorted vision turned blank, my body lost the last silver of warmth and life it held. I couldn''t feel my body, my soul, my love, my destruction ,my agony ,my pain , .....my despair. . . . . . I died...!!!!!!! "*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*...These damned memories of past, keeps of playing in my head. Can''t even sleep no more..." Muttered a young ,22-years old Man as he wipe the sweat off his forehead. Silver long hair reaching till his waist, grey-eyes with the absence of emotions and care. Truly the eyes of the man who has nothing more to lose. Exsiquite facial features with a well defined body. I had to say that this new body of mine is even better than the previous one. I walked towards the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face to wash away the sweat beads formed after he woke up. I looked at the moon in the sky ,walked towards the window and sat down gazing at the bright star filled sky unlike his heart which is absolutely contradictory to the former. "I wish things could have gone differently than they did...*Sigh*." I said while remembering the past, remembering the time when this empty heart of mine had something inside it. Those days were good, it gave me hope ,it gave me strength, it gave me...love. These memories were both hurtful and precious to me, if only we would have known ''that'' would happen, if only....we were stronger. [In the egoic state, your sense of self, your identity, is derived from your thinking mind - in other words, what your mind tells you about yourself: the storyline of you, the memories, the expectations, all the thoughts that go through your head continuously and the emotions that reflect those thoughts. All those things make up your sense of self.] Instead of living in the past ,I need to live for the future after all there is still hope...hope to return to my world. It is surely hard.....i don''t even have my powers anymore ,all I have is this new identity and ''them''. After all I am not alone....not anymore. Chapter 2 - Chapter:-2 Swallowed by a Black-hole [Happiness often sneaks through a door you didn''t knew you left open ] After dying a tragic death I thought that eternal slumber awaited me. I didn''t have any wishes to wish, going back on that hellish place will just be tormenting oneself. All I wished for was that my family will rest in peace ,in heaven ,a place with no sorrow, no negativity ,.....no pain. [Love is a really scary thing, and you never know what''s going to happen. It''s one of the most beautiful things in life, but it''s one of the most terrifying. It''s worth the fear because you have more knowledge, experience, you learn from people, and you have memories.] I might be selfish for even thinking of a wish to take away their right for rebirth but I don''t care , I just want them to never experience something like that again and spend their time in heaven if it exists. I wished to spend my life with my family ,soon i will reunite with them.......or so I thought. My eyes opened on their own, I tried to resist, not wanting see the light, not wanting to walk this hell for some more decades, not wanting to relive the pain I went through. But my body just didn''t heed my commands as the eyes flustered open and the light of the candle pricked my eyes. "Why am I .....????" I questioned to no one in particular hoping for some answers. Maybe someone did hear me, a burst of memories gave me a migraine as my body jerked back causing me to fall on the ground, hitting my back while doing so. Images appeared inside my head. A little kid playing with another kid. A little boy playing chess with his father. A teenager crying at the grave of his father and mother. A man working hard to fill his brother''s and sister''s stomach. Benson Moretti is the eldest Moretti sibling. He single-handedly raised his younger brother Klein and his younger sister Melissa, keeping the family from slipping into poverty after their parents'' deaths. Benson is hard-working and plainspoken, as well as unexpectedly genial and polite for a dockworker. While a little regretful that he wasn''t able to complete his education, he feels no shame about his blue-collar background. Although he is the nominal head of the Moretti family, he is often willing to defer to Klein and Melissa''s opinions due to their higher educations. I was dumbfounded by the information that appeared inside my head. I couldn''t believe that the novel that I used to read for time-pass had turned into reality and that I myself become a character. Benson....Or rather me ,is the elder brother of Klein who is the protagonist of the novel [Lord of the Mysteries]. The original Klein Moretti died from a mysterious suicide, shooting himself in the temple with a revolver under the crimson moon, after writing ''Everyone will die, including me.'' in his notebook. The protagonist, Zhou Mingrui, transmigrated from modern China after performing a luck enhancement ritual recorded in an ancient book titled ''Quintessential Divination and Arcane Arts of the Qin and Han Dynasty'', possessed his body. He tried to perform the luck enhancement ritual again to go back to Earth, only to accidentally stumble in to a mysterious Gray Fog along with summoning Audrey Hall and Alger Wilson. Atleast our goals are the same....Find a way home. As much as I hate that hellish place, if I didn''t return there then I won''t able to reunite with the family....They are waiting....Waiting for me to return...I will surely find a way home. {3rd-person} This was how it all began, Luo shinki or rather Benson talked with his brother ,how he too was a transmigrator, how he too wanted to return to his world. Klein Moretti and Benson Moretti joined [Nighthawks] and became beyonders. Klein had his gray fog and tarot club whereas Benson was gifted with the ability to cultivate 4-pathways. Yes 4-pathways, every beyonder belongs to a single pathway out of 22-pathways, from [Fool- pathway] to [Reader-pathway] but that wasn''t the case with Benson as he was able to cultivate 4-pathways thus being able to use a terrifying amount of techniques. With his immerse spiritual energy supporting his 4-pathways he became 4-beyonders of different pathways into one. Off course only 2-people knew about this secret of his. One was his ''brother'' Klein while the other was his mentor Mr.Azik. Klein and Benson quickly leveled up and became high-level beyonders just according to the story though Benson was also acting as a high level member of the Tarot club along with Sparrow. Benson and Klein advanced through ranks extremely quickly while spoiling plans of the [True Creator] and other evil gods. Finally the day came when Benson ,Klein and Azik ,all three of them ascended to the ranks of God''s becoming the first 3-gods to walk the planet after the end of [Age of God]. But what they didn''t knew was that ,[True Creator] and some other evil gods used the opportunity and descended the mortal realm. When the three became gods, the [World-law] was weakened for a short window of time which the gods used and successfully descended on the planent. Klein, Benson and Azik with the ?ssistance of some of the [Good-gods] fought against the gods. But three newly ascended gods weren''t that strong when fighting against centuries old gods. They fought and fought and fought, they had to....there was to much on the stake. If they lost then not only they but also others of the planet will be killed by the crazy gods. If they die ,they won''t be able to return to their world. All the hard-work and sacrifice they made to reach the level of gods, to be able to have a chance to return...All will be wasted. After fighting for a long time they finally defeated the Evil gods with the help of other gods, saving humanity in the process but.....As one of the strongest Evil god ,[True Creator] he still had a card up him sleeves. He exploded his [Divine-core] causing the already weakened space-structure to totally collapse. A black hole swallowed Klein ,Benson and Azik. Chapter 3 - Chapter:-3 Kite (Part-1) In this world where Witches with magical powers abound, and fearsome wars between churches and kingdoms rage throughout the land. Luo Shinki or rather Kite Wimbledon had been reborn as the adopted son of the King of Graycastle. According to his fragmented memories he remembered that this world that he had been born into was also a work of fiction. The King of Graycastle once found an abandoned child when he was returning from Eagle-city to his castle. He decided to adopt the child in hope of raising him as the protector of the next king. The King named the child as Kite,...Kite Wimbledon. He ?ssigned his most trusted general to raise the child as a true warrior and noble-man. Unlike those pretentious fools that only know how to flatter him. [People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity.] He wanted Kite to grow up into a strong individual who could help the future king in handling the kingdom, to become the [Dark-night] that protects the kingdom and the ruler. [Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened ,ambition inspired, and success achieved.] The child also didn''t disappoint him. He was a true genius who showed Mensa''s 17 signs of being an absolute genius. An unusual memory Passing intellectual milestones early Reading early Intolerance of other children An awareness of world events Set themselves impossibly high standards May be a high achiever Prefers to spend time with ?du?ts or in solitary pursuits Loves to talk Asks questions all the time Learns easily Developed sense of humour Likes to be in control Makes up additional rules for games Extrovert/introvert These qualities distinguished Kite from others of his age. He spend most of his time training ,reading and learning Noble-etiquettes. He was a master of spear and sword. The child wasn''t a single percent less than a God''s child, blessed with all the qualities that could make men great. He grew up to become a loyal citizen of Graycastle ,a son who loves and admires his father, a brother who cares about his siblings, a man who respects his up-bringer the most, a son who cherished his family. He soon surpassed the now Old-general, retired after serving the King for more than half of his life. He became the new general. A battle-genius who crashed ever kingdom which dared to declare war on Graycastle. His father ,The King was always proud and happy with this adopted son of his, though none of his children could make him proud even though 3 out of 5 were pretty talented. After defeating a large threat in the east of the kingdom, Kite was crowned with the title [God-general] who swore to stay by the side of the next king and make Graycastle flourish. Some Magic Stones pieced together, can have extra abilities, alter their magic powers'' properties, or increase their effects. Magic Stones that are pieced together are called Sigils. Using many different and unique Sigils this sword of absolute slaying was forged. It was a weapon that even the church yearned for. But the problem was that this legendary magical weapon could only be wielded by those worthy enough. Many had tried but were unsuccessful to even lift it. Kite was chosen as the warrior of the [Holy-sword] who existed for the protection of the Graycastle empire. With this sword of his, Kite slayed many tyrants ,many enemy kings ,many ?ssassins and many Witches or so everyone thought. Due to Witches being dispised by the church, Kite was sometimes requested to eliminate rogue witches who committed many crimes. His sword had the basic ability of sealing the non-extraordinary Witches which made them normal womens like any other, though most of the time when the church asked for his ?ssistance ,they wanted to dealt with an Extraordinary witch. Witches are mortal women who start to absorb Magic power, and become a new species. Witches awaken their powers at a random moment in their lives, usually during puberty; if a woman doesn''t awaken by the time they turn 18, they will never be a witch. Witches are sterile, the reason currently unknown. About 1 out of 100 women can become a witch, and then only 1 in 10 witches exhibit "combat" powers, this includes Extraordinaries. There 3 important events for a witch: Day of Awakening: Awakening of their ability. Day of Adulthood: Improvement of their ability with a chance to gain a Branch ability. High Awakening / Evolution: Improvement of the ability by obtaining a better understanding of their ability and possible use. Witches can feel an awakening call. Magic power would gather inside a witch''s body on the aforementioned Day of Awakening. During this process, a witch would not only be able to feel the weird changes inside her body, but also, for a majority of witches, they would be unable to restrain the strange magic power, causing them to use their newly-gained ability involuntarily. For witches who awakened only near the end of ?du?thood, it was as if they never had a Day of Adulthood. Their magic powers were never able to develop and thus remained in the pre-adulthood form forever. Naturally, they didn''t have the derivative skills and steady growth that were unique to ?du?thood. We don''t know if such witches were able to have High Awakenings, but if they were unable to develop, the problems with their magic power would bug them for the rest of their lives, self-reinforcing witches are called [Extraordinaries]. They are also immune to the effects of [God Stone Of Retaliation], and can use them offensively, evolved Extraordinaries are called [Transcendants]. The immunity to [God''s stone of retaliation] made it had for the church to fight against Evolved Witches without the use of the [Church Witches]. But this wasn''t a problem to Kite. His sword could release a red-mist that demons required to respiration to fight against the Witches and even kill extraordinaries. But he didn''t kill them, after conversing with his father, the King. Kite knew that this was nothing but the church monopolizing the gifted Witches to control the kingdom. So he gave them a choice ,either serve as a maid in his household or disappear forever. Most of the witches chose the former as they knew that no matter where they ran, the church would sniff them out and either capture them or kill them. Kite had 3-extraordinaries within his command as his personal maids. ¡ñCynthia ,The Witch who controls shadows. ¡ñMellena ,The Witch who can manipulate light particles. ¡ñKattara ,The Witch who has power of telepathy Chapter 4 - Chapter:-4 Kite (Part-2) The Church doesn''t really requests for help unless there is really some witch who is powerful enough to trouble them. They have called Kite only three times to ?ssist catching the Witches. Cynthia Rubina was a farmer''s daughter who awakened her power at the age of 18. Her family was greatly astonished by the fact that their daughter is a witch. Even then they didn''t tell anyone about it but instead they acted like everything was normal. As a teenager, who tend to make mistakes ,she was deeply fascinated by her ability to control shadows. She could manipulate the dark and use it as she wished. She can control people using their shadow or manipulate her shadow to exist in three-dimensional plane. One day while practicing shadow manipulation ,one of the villagers saw her and reported it to the church. The church sent their [Punishers] and raided the farmer''s house. Cynthia was forced to escape by her father while he burned the farm to provide distraction and to cover her tracks. Unexpectedly their house also caught fire burning Cynthia''s father and mother alive. She ran and ran.....Tears continuously spilling out of her swollen eyes. Her feet had cuts and bruises all over them. A little blood flowed out of her mouth as she forcefully bite her lips and endured the pain. "I swear....I will destroy you CHURCH....!!!!!!!" screamed Cynthia as her magic went wild due to the intense emotional fluctuations she was experiencing. Her magic network was being continuously destroyed and reinforced by her magic as she started to evolve into an extraordinary Witch. She spend the next 3-years to perfectly master her new found strength and skills. The reason why it took so long was that there wasn''t a safe place to practice magic, there were always people around so practicing her magic was a bit hard. After 3-years she returned and wreaked havoc to the Churches. Due to her ability being related to shadows, she was able to perfectly cover her tracks and disappear whenever she thought it was dangerous. She killed a lot of Church personnel and caused heavy damage to many Churches. [God''s Witches] were sent after her, but using her unique power she always avoided her pursuers. Left with no choice the Church had to ask for help from the Kingdom''s pride. Kite was invited by the Church to ?ssist and kill Cynthia. Kite took the job and tracked Cynthia by using the [Sigil of tracking] power. Once her location was locked ,Kite attacked the Witches and subdued her with his sword. Afterwards she agreed to serve as a personal maid of Kite so that she may get the change to destroy the Church as her master had no interest in Church but even disliked them. Since Kite knew the truth he naturally despised Church. Like Cynthia , Mellena was also the daughter of a merchant who was abandoned by her father. He said "Go Mellena, your father can''t protect you neither can take care of you anymore." "Church is out on a [Witch-hunt] if you stay here ,you will certainly die. I don''t have the strength to change the fact that I can''t shelter you but at least I can help you escape from this place." The man takes out a quill & paper and started writing ,a order for clothes export ,he made Mellena hide in one of the crates with penty of food and water inside and told her. "If you one day become strong enough then destroy the Church. Only then you can live freely with any fear of being hunted or chased." Mellena remembered these words of her old-man and swore to become strong enough to destroy the Church. She was able to manipulate light particles and form a small three-dimensional object (e.g. a cube, a cone, etc.) out of magic in her hands. She too was caught by Kite at the cost of his right arm. Due to the passive regeneration provided by his sword he was able to recover from his wound and fully subdue her after sometime. And finally Kattara, well.... when compared to the previous two Witches , Kattara had a much simpler reason to fight against church. Hope.....She wanted to become the light that illuminates the darkness and pave a way for other Witches. [Hope itself is like a star ¨C not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity.] With her power of a telepath, she became the main target for the church. The ability to control minds and other matter was very desirable. But Kattara was a peak-extraordinary Witch....Not even the [God''s Witch] could fight against her. Also with her powers ,it was a piece of cake to hide from the church. It took Kite months to find her and capture her using the [Sigil of scream]. The sigil disrupted her mental powers, making her defenseless. Kite faked her death so that church can''t use her as a weapon. Though the church was spektical about Kattara''s death, after conducting an investigation they dropped the matter after not being able to find her traces. These three accompanied Kite as his personal maids and protectors while they together plotted against the Church. Those fake worshipers were slowly ,slowly take control over the whole kingdom. Nobles were delaying them to the best of their abilities but they couldn''t stop them from gaining more control. Kite had restricted the Church''s movement in the western and southern region of the kingdom with the help of merchants. The forces with the most power in a kingdom were neither the Church nor the Royal family but the merchants. Every country runs on the income gained by the market and taxes. The merchants invest in a kingdom and sell all kinds of things in the market ,people buy it profiting the sellers whereas the kingdom take a portion of the income and build more structures in the kingdom which in turn increases the number of merchants investing thus generating more income. You can fight the Church, you can fight the Royal family but you can''t fight the market ,the one who sells you all that you need. Even if the Ruler changes and power shifts for one hand to another. The market always stays stable ,even profiting when the kingdom is facing disaster. The Church don''t have material for building their stronghold in the southern and western portion of the kingdom. Though Kite allows them to move in these areas under the supervision of a [Watcher]. Kite''s father has grown old and has decided to chose a successor hence the race for the throne has already begun. King''s two Elder sons are busy fighting each other whereas his elder daughter has already took over [Blackwater city]. His younger daughter has gone missing whereas his youngest son is too be sent to the [Border town], away from the battle for the throne. The only regret the Old-king had was that he couldn''t give the throne to his beloved adopted son ,Kite. Even his he agrees ,his ministers and the Church wouldn''t allow that to happen. Also the fact that Kite doesn''t has any interest in becoming the king. Chapter 5 - Chapter:-5 The Most Hated Prince After being shallowed by the Black-hole, Luo Shinki took over the body of Kite after killing the original host. Even though it seemed like a hateful thing to do, our M.c didn''t have any other choices he wasn''t a beyonder of the [Death-pathway]. Unlike Mr.Azik''s, who had the ability to form his own body out of nothing ,Luo didn''t had any such ability ,neither did Klein. They will to live was much more potent than their sense of justice, after becoming a god ,things like hesitation were earsed from their being. Klein killed the fourth prince of the [Kingdom of Graycastle] and took over his body, being the fourth prince himself. They had their goal that they had to achieve. No matter the cost, they will do anything to achieve it. The way to home isn''t an impossible dream. But there was a catch in this situation, all of the Extraordinary power that the three of them had started disappearing....All those years hardwork, slowing disappearing in front of their eyes and they couldn''t do anything to stop it from happening. And it didn''t stop at that, Mr.Azik was lucky that he was able to utilize his ability before losing his powers and formed his new body but Luo and Klein weren''t that lucky. In normal cases they would have removed every single trace of the original souls but after losing their powers the original souls were forced to merge together. Klein was a little bit more lucky compared to Luo as the soul of Fourth prince was waste nothing more, he was able to use the power of [Gray-mist] and destroy the remnants of the original soul. Whereas Luo had to fully integrate the original soul. Even after destroying most the his [Wills], There were two extremely strong [Wills] inside the original soul. 1. Destroy the Church. 2. Protect the Kingdom Of Graycastle Luo had no choice but to accept these two [Wills] along with their corresponding memories. After that ,the original soul was fully refined by Luo as he became the general. A sharp pain ?ssaulted Luo''s brain, of the same intensity compared to when he transmigrated into the [Lord of the Mysteries] world. Memories flooded Luo''s brain as images appeared inside his mind. An army marching forward while a man carried him. An Old-man who taught him spear-skills and sword-skills. An army that listened to his command. 5-sibilings who he played with. A father who was always proud of his son. Three maids always taking care of him. "Looks like this time my status is much better compared to the previous one....." Said Luo as he looked towards Klein who was standing with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Mr.Azik also looked towards Klein and smiled while thinking ''Looks like Klein had got a really interesting body....." Ignorant of the thoughts and expression of his companions, Klein digested the memories that appeared inside his brain. The original Roland was born the fourth child, and third son overall, of Wimbledon III. He often tried to join his older siblings, but was rejected due the gap in their ages. This caused him to hold an inferiority complex and vented his frustrations on his little sister Tilly. He often did horrible things and always tried to pass the blame on others. As he grew older, he hardly changed, leading to his siblings not even wanting to be around him unless necessary. He was going to leave for the [Border town] ,as his father didn''t wanted this worthless son of his to mess up the process of Royal selection. The deadly frown appeared on Klein ....or rather Roland Wimbledon''s face. After seeing the memories for the previous owner of his body, a frown couldn''t help but make it''s way up on his face. "I feel offended for some reason..." Said Klein while grumbling angrily. "Focus on the situation first....." Scolded Mr.Azik with a light smile on his face. Even though they died ,they weren''t all that worried after all they did take down many [Evil gods] with them and even survived. Even though they have lost their Extraordinary powers. They can always recultivate them, Klein''s [Space-ring] has all kinds of potions, Extraordinary-features ,Magical-tools ,Cursed items and what not ,they don''t need to worry about resources. "My father thinks I am a good for nothing ?ustful bastard, so he is sending me to a desolate place to avoid any disasters which can potentially occur because of my presence." Said Klein as he pondered on ,what to do next. "Maybe you should go.....According to my memories the capital will descend into chaos ,we have not only lost our powers but also need time to adapt in this new world." Said Kite to Roland. "What do you say Mr.Azik????...." Asked Roland. "I agree, we need a place away from the eyes where we can decide our new step. That desolate ''in saying'' place is perfect for our goal." Said Mr.Azik. "We need to find a way back home, we would need resources and man-power to accomplish this task of ours. I suggest we build our own forces, loyal to us, willing to die for us ,willing to kill for us." Suggested Kite. "Well the best, free, strong and loyal force we can gather are the rogue witches. We can create our own [Witches union], we can offer a place to live, 3-times full meal, best living facilities, paid salaries, a chance for revenge against the church and place were they don''t need to hide and can live freely." Said Kite. "Church is an obstacle in our path of reaching the goal, we don''t have the necessary fire power, numbers, resources and time to deal with them." Said Mr.Azik. "Out of us three, two are the highest ranking nobles and will undoubtedly be dragged in the [War for Crown] also the Church won''t leave both of you alone as they need you gone for taking full control over the Kingdom." Said Mr.Azik. "It is a win-win situation for both of us. They will have a place to call home and a family they can trust whereas we will be able to upgrade their status in the society also deal with the church." Said Roland. "Very well ,Mr.Azik and I ,we will go to the [Border town], Kite you arrive there sneakingly so that no one knows where you are....." Said Roland. "The church is doomed...." Said Azik. [Fling away ambition; by that sin fell the angels.] "Before that lets take our Extraordinary potions..." Said Mr.Azik. Chapter 6 - Chapter:-6 The Ascension Roland glances at the ring on his left hand''s index finger. A blueish-silver ring faintly shines under the moonlight coming from the only window in the room. He places his right hand over the ring and rubs it with his finger. A blueish-portal opened in front of his as unlimited amounts of potions, extraordinary items ,herbs and what not came into their view. Roland looks towards Mr.Azik and asks "The [Death-pathway] ????...." Mr.Azik smiles ,his black-robe with silver lining adding more charm to his looks. "Of-course.....My [Death legacy-ring] is only compatible with the [Death-pathway]." He said as he glanced at the pitch-black ring on his right-hand''s middle finger. Roland nods and extends his arm inside the portal before grabbing something and pulling it out of the [Space]. A transparent glass container filled with dark-liquid appeared in his hand. He tosses the glass towards Mr.Azik ,who catches it with ease before opening removing the rubber cork and drinking the liquid inside the glass. "Rufeei hade....Rufeei hade....Rufeei hade....Rufeei hade....Rufeei hade...." Strange voice echoed inside Azik''s head but he remain in effect by the voices ,successfully becoming a [Corpse-collector]. Instantly Mr.Azik''s aura changed as the temperature around his dropped as an unfeeling expression appeared on his face. Corpse Collectors gain resistance to the cold, decay, and corrosiveness of cadaveric auras. They will be able to directly see a portion of evil spirits and see the characteristics and weaknesses of undead creatures, as well as gain certain attribute enhancements. The user gain certain corpse characteristics. They would develop a gloomy presence and develop lower body temperature. This characteristics prevents them from been attacked by unwise zombies. "Congratulations !!!! Mr.Azik for becoming the first ever beyonder in this world." Kite congratulated Azik before turning towards Roland. "Your turn...I will go at last." Said Kite as he watched Roland nodding and once again putting his hand inside the portal. Kite and Azik watched as Roland drank the liquid inside the bottle and closed his eyes. [Gray-fog] flows out of his body preventing the whispers from disturbing him. After becoming a god ,the [Gray-fog] fully integrated itself with Klein''s soul thus providing many status effects. One of the effects of the [Gray-fog] is that it can block the whispers of Gods/Angels easily. After successfully transforming into a beyonder ,he gained the powers of the [Seer]. The corresponding Beyonders lack direct skills confronting enemies but are experts in divination. They master all kinds of divination methods, including astrology, cartomancy, spiritual pendulums, spiritual numbers and scrying. They can intuitively detect danger using their spirituality. Not only the powers of the [Fool-pathway] were boosted by the [Gray-fog] but it also had [Anti-divination] properties. Due to being the lowest sequence [Seer] didn''t had much to offer but after upgrading to the next level, the combat abilities of the [Fool-pathway] are boosted up by a notch. "Welcome [The one above the Gray-fog]....You have successfully reciprocated the [Fool-pathway]. Guess it''s my turn now..." Said Kite as he stepped forward while his white cape flustered behind his back. He reached for the portal and placed his arm inside it. Four glasses ,containing four different characteristics and four different pathways were all drank by him. "Mufuba mizyui.....Mufuba mizyui.....Mifuba mizymui.....Mifuba mizyui....." Voiced echoed inside his head while Roland covered Kite with his [Gray-fog]. The whispers slowly ,slowly disappeared as the four-pathway transformation stared. Kite had chosen [Spectator] ,[Reader] ,[Apothecary] and [Bard] as his extraordinary powers. Spectators possess keen powers of observation. Just like watching operas and dramatic performances, they look at people strictly from a bystander''s perspective, discovering people''s true thoughts from their expressions, their manners, their oral habits, and their subconscious actions. However, whether it is at an extravagant banquet or in a lively street, a Spectator is always just a spectator - they can never take the stage themselves. Kite decide to become a Spectator due to it''s potential. The [Dreamer-pathway] is extremely strong in both offense and defense once high-level in obtained. Apothecary because of the support it provided Kite with. He already had extremely strong offensive abilities due to wielding the [Holy-sword]. What he need was a good support pathway and the [Moon-pathway] is excellent for providing with support skills. Bard due to it''s heavy offensive output against demons and evil spirits by utilizing items from the [Sun-domain]. It would allow the Beyonder to imbue courage and strength for themselves and their allies through their singing, a "job" that brought about devotion and submission. It belonged to the [Sun-pathway] which is very effective against monsters and evil. Finally Reader, the abilities provided by the [Reader-pathway] were extremely useful and worked perfectly with the [Sun-pathway] spells and items. Whereas the sequence, Apothecary and Spectator will also be complementary to each other creating fabulous effects in the long run. Readers gain improvements to their reasoning capabilities and memory. After 5 minute the [Gray-fog] covering Kite dispersed as a man wearing white admiral uniform with a white cape and golden handled sword hanging from his waist came into view. Kite''s whole body radiated warmth and brilliance as the temperature around his body increased slightly signifying successful ascension to [Bard], his blue-eye gained an sparkle streak signifying successful ascension of [Reader], while the other to pathway didn''t have any changes in outward appearance. "Congratulations on ascending the four-pathways, though the beginning level don''t have much fire power, not that you need any but the later levels are extremely strong and versatile." Said Roland. "Both of you leave for the [Border land] ,I need to talk to father..." Said Kite to which Azik and Roland nodded and moved towards the [Royal carriage]. Kite left the room and headed towards the [Throne-room]. After walking for some distance he could see a huge door made of pure gold with the symbol of Graycastle engraved on it. Two guard ,wearing army tunic and silver armor bowed to show their respect to the [God-general]. They pushed the huge door open as the view inside became clear to see. On the sides ,sat ministers wearing extravagant clothes ,two attendant behind each one of them. They have arrogant look in their eyes ,the pride of being below one but above millions. At the end of the room sat the King wearing golden robes ,the throne was made of gold with a huge diamond embedded on it''s armrest. Two paladin stood guard behind him and many more in the shadows. Upon seeing his favourite son ,giving him a visit he immediate let out a smile as he waved his hand before asking "What happened my son ???" Kite got down on one knee before bowing his head to show respect to his father, the King. He spoke in a soft tone but his voice strangely sounded extremely clear to the King. "I want to talk to his Majesty about something important, I request for a private audience...." Said Kite. Chapter 7 - Chapter:-7 Talk with the King The King of Graycastle looked at this Genius-son of his for a moment before glancing at the ministers inside the [Throne-room]. He waved his hand towards them ,saying "I want to talk to my son for a bit...." The ministers glanced at the Nation''s pride with complicated looks before bowing towards the King to show their respect, they left the [Throne-room] with their attendants following behind closely. Seeing the giant door closing ,The King looked towards Kite and said "Get up, you don''t need to bow....What happened my son....????" Kite slowly rose from the floor and looked towards the King. He cautiously glanced around while using the power of his [Holy-sword] and [Spectator] to see if someone was foolish enough to spy on them. After 5 minutes of observation, Kite didn''t observe any abnormalities in the surrounding ,he pulled out his sword and formed a [Spiritual wall] ,isolating them from the outer world. He looked towards, his old-man while he observed him using [Spectator] ability. A middle-aged man, fine wrinkles on his face ,a bunch of silver hair behind his ears, a serious expression on his face, face muscles tight. He wore golden robes with silver outlining, signifying the status of The King, an aura of self-confidence surrounding him with fatique hidden deep inside his expression. "You are tired father...." Said Kite as he watched his father giving him a wry smile. "Nothing escapes from those blue-eyes of your''s does it ......True, I am tired that''s why I arranged the [Royal selections] ,to choose the next successor." Said the King. "You now that the Church will surely use this chance to pit your children against each other, to weaken the royal family and take control over the kingdom." Said Kite as he continued to observe his father. "I know that, but what choice do I have, if I wait for my death to start the selection then the Church would be able to speed up the process of total control." "If I do so now, the result would be the same ,just the damage caused to the Royal family could be minimized by my presence." Reasoned the King while looking at his son with a complicated gaze. "Sometimes I feel blessed that you aren''t my blood-descendant, atleast you can avoid this bloody process." He sighed as he seemed to age a bit. "I will be leaving the capital, if I stay then my brothers and sister while surely try to pull me into their faction. I don''t want to be a part of this mess. I will wander the whole kingdom to survey the condition of our citizens, it will be helpful to the next King." Said Kite ,still looked at his father. "That''s a brilliant decision !!!!, .....I agree with your thoughts.....Go my son, for the future of this Kingdom will also be in your hands." Said the King as he smiled towards Kite. "Father, I think you should lock down the castle till the selection process is over, let the people decide the new king....." "Church will surely try to use this opportunity to ?ssassinate you, the [Seals] left by ancestors will not allow witches to enter the castle while the [Shadow-guards] will kill every intruder." "You do remember that.....They tried to kidnap you ,if I wasn''t there then they would have surely succeeded in doing so, this time they will surely manipulate my brothers into killing you." Reasoned Kite as a cold-glint appeared inside his eyes. His father, the King smiled as he said "I know that, but I also know that my time is near. If by my death, a worthy ruler could be chosen for my kingdom, so be it." "Kill the one who kills me, a traitor doesn''t deserve to rule the kingdom, kill the one who will be framed, this kingdom doesn''t need muscle but brain. My death is certain but so is the birth of a new ruler." Said the King as he stood up from his throne and walked towards Kite. "But father, why sacrifice yourself....If you want to test their character ,we can always find another way to do so...As for the church, I shall handle them." Said Kite as he tried to change his father''s decision. "No !!! Kite, let me reunite with my queen ,I am tired..... tired of fending off the church, tired of fending of the enemy kingdom, tired to living....." "I want to reunite with my beloved.....Let me die....Die a Ruler''s death, for the people, for the Kingdom." Said The King as he stood in front of Kite and hugged him. Kite tried to struggle but somehow couldn''t gather his strength, even after becoming a [beyonder], in front of his father''s hug he couldn''t even summon an ounce of it. "But..But..." Unknowingly tears spilled out of Kite''s eyes as he thought to himself ''Why am I feeling to sad, so suffocating, like my lungs are going to burst, this pain, this emptiness, this sorrow ,this anger ,this love....'' "It''s okay my son, even if I die I will live on in you..." Said his father ,The King. After staying like this for sometime, Kite regained control over his emotion as he felt that a portion of the [Reader] potion has been fully digested. [Reader] level-9 sequence ,need for asking things ,gaining reasons, why this ???,why that ???, an information that has been fully understood. Though the process of potion digestion was extremely slow, it was still quite a fortune to digest a portion of it so quickly. If you are able to grasp the corresponding [Acting-method] then the speed of potion digestion while be faster and more effective but mastering an [Acting-method] was much more harder than thinking about it. His other pathway ,[Bard], [Apothecary], [Spectator] were still in their initial phase ,waiting to be digested by Kite. He had decided to digest other potions after reaching his destination-[Border land] and start planning to find a way home. Klein or rather Roland and Azik had already left for the place ,Kite decide to go to his own house before heading towards his destination. Chapter 8 - Chapter:-8 The Discussion [You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.] After talking with his father ,the King ,Kite left the huge-castle and took a carriage, he went to the [Nobles-district] and entered his Mansion. [Heaven''s feel] mansion was a gift from his father, the King which he got after he returned to the Kingdom, triumphing in the [Trojan-war]. An 8,000 sq. Feet large mansion, surrounded by a gigantic garden with paladin''s patrolling through the area. [Heaven''s feel] was regarded as one of the most beautiful structures ever made ,it was built upon an abandoned mine of [God''s stone], causing the witches to weaken considerably. As the residence of the [God-general] ,the place was heavily guarded 24/7 ,even the staff and maids had to go through a security procedure before they would be allowed to enter. He entered the mansion and spotted 3-maids waiting for his arrival at the entrance of the mansion. "Welcome back Master !!!!!" Said Cynthia, standing beside her were Kattara and Mellena. The time seemed to have slowed as his [Spectator] kicked in, Cynthia was a beautiful women with silver hair and silver eyes, she had a curvy body ,light-skin ,sharp eyes ,a little pointed ears, she was half-a head shorter than Kite, she wore traditional black-uniform ,doing justice to her status. Cynthia had a strict expression on her face as her face muscle were a little tight, she seemed a little happy ,maybe she had achieved a breakthrough in her powers. Kattara was a cheerful girl with above average looks and comforting aura, she had brown-curly hair reached till her waist, black eye with a birth mark of her neck, she too had a curvy body, dark-toned skin, wore a traditional black-maid uniform. She had a smile on her face, most probably happy of Cynthia ,her smell was similar to that of sunflower. Finally Mellena, she was a little different as her expression didn''t disclose what she was thinking about, this surprised Kite a little as being able to avoid [Spectator] was not a common stunt ,that anyone could pull off. She had purple hair with purple hazy eyes, sharp eyes and eyebrows, fair-skin ,red lips remind Kite of blood, circular ears, average height with a beautiful face and figure. Kite looked at the three witches..... Or rather his maids and gestured them to follow behind him. He started walking towards his [Study] and sat on a chair. Behind his ,the three maids also made their way Inside the [Study] and stood in front of their master. Kite glances at the window as he leans backward and ponders for sometime. Seeing their master is deep thought ,Cynthia looked towards Mellena who just shrugged with a look stating ''I don''t know.....'' After sometime, Kite glances at them and slowly speaks "Sit down, I need to discuss something with you three." The indifferent look on his face which they were very familiar with appeared and he motioned them to sit. Cynthia, Kattara and Mellena sat side-by-side on the sofa opposite to their master, Kite. "What do you three think about the current condition of the Kingdom ????" Asked Kite as he waited for them to think. His [Reader] kicked in to absorb information, it required to absorb all kinds of information from all kinds of angles ,so he thought of asking them their views about the current state of the Kingdom. Depending on their answer would he decide to take them with him or not. Mellena looked at his for sometime, trying to figure out what he was thinking, too bad for her as [Spectator] not only allows one of have control over their emotions but also masks their face muscles so that no one would be able to know ,what exactly was a [Spectator] thinking. After sometime she spoke up saying ,"The whole Kingdom will descend into chaos due to the [War for Crown], people will suffer, they will die, the price of the basic necessities will increase due to the impending war." ''Smart ,calm ,confident and as fluent as a Noble, Mellena surely was a talent worth nurturing.'' thought Kite with no outward change in expression. Kite eyes landed on Kattara ,demanding for her opinion on the matter. Kattara glanced at Kite and slowly opened her mouth to speak. "Master, I think Church will try to increase it''s influence and invade the western and southern part of the Kingdom as the merchant will surely retreat if there were any signs of war between the [Royal-family]." ''Not bad.....,she is more focus on church rather than people ,unlike Mellena not that I have any problem with that.'' thought Kite as he couldn''t help but feel a little disappointed when the digestion of his [Reader] wasn''t increasing. "What about you Cynthia ????, What do you think about the current condition ????...." Asked Kite while switching targets for his sharp-eyes. Instead of replying she hesitated before asking "Master, it isn''t my place to speak on the matter related to the [Royal-family] but if you allow me ,I would like to tell you that my answer wouldn''t be tolerated by you." The frown on her face was evident as Kite automatically entered [Spectator] state and observed her facial expression. Muscles around her cheeks are tightened indicating that she wants to say something but isn''t doing so. Kite looked at her with an amused expression before saying with his usual indifferent tone. "You don''t need to worry about anything, since I was the one who asked for your advice then I shall have all even if I don''t agree." Said Kite motioning her to to continuous with her words. Kite at first didn''t expect much from the the 3-witches ,but their answers and analyses were spot on till now. She once again hesitated before saying "I think that in this situation ,Church would surely try to control one of the [Royal-family] and manipulate them into killing the king and weaken the [Royal-family] or even manipulate the king......" Chapter 9 - Chapter:-9 Clearing his Image [There are times when silence has the loudest voice.] Silence....,echoed throughout the room. The stillness of the air, the suffocating atmosphere that filled the room. They say that Silence is helps in relaxing ourselves, they say that silence brings peace of mind. But this time, what accompanied silence of nothing but an ominous feeling which disappeared along with the suffocating atmosphere as fast as it came. Cynthia ,the maid didn''t dare to raise her head and look at Kite, her master. The whole Kingdom knew that just how much the [God-general] loved his father, the king. Even though she knew that the consequences of her words could be quite... Bad, she had to say it, she must warn her master, and friend about the incoming storm. Kite, stated quite for some time before looking towards Cynthia. He opened his lips and spoke up. "You are indeed correct, but I had already discussed the matter with father....." Cynthia raised her head, surprised flashed in her eyes before an understanding look appeared on ber face. Kite moved his head towards the window and looked outside the window, seemingly gazing at the huge castle ,sadness evident in her eyes before the light sparkle of [Reader] concealed it. He regained control over his emotions ,adjusted his posture and directed his gaze towards the maids. He picked up a quill ,dipped some ink and started writing a letter. He asked them a question, in a seemingly casual tone "So ,what do you three think of my little brother Roland...?????" He quietly observed their expressions, before Roland, Azik and he himself could start their plans they must fix poor Roland''s image. After all who will be willing so trust and serve a playboy ,infamous ,arrogant prince who will most probably die during the [War for crown]. As soon as the name ,Roland left Kite''s lips, a look of despise appeared on their faces. Kite observed them using his [Spectator]. Their eyes narrowed, muscles around their cheeks ,disdain was evident on their faces. Mellena scoffed and replied "Forgive this one''s impudence, he is a waste of resources and waste of time." Cynthia nodded and adds more to the description "He is a ?ustful bastard, too hateful, no brains ,no charisma ,no characteristics of a prince, no nothing..." Kattara looked at Kite, who was still silently observing them and replied with a frown "He is a person with no future..." Hearing their reply, a quote floated inside his mind ,he left out a smile which caused the frown on their faces to turn into confusion. "Why do you think so, he is shameless , he is ?ustful ,he is greedy ,he is arrogant ,he is stupid, his is ...Destined to die ????." Asked Kite as the smile on his face remained. His blueish eyes glowed with sparkle as the [Reader] automatically kicked in ,trying to obtain all answers from their reply. "What do you mean ????" Asked Mellena with a doubtful expression in her face. Her eye lashes flustered as she blinked ,long hairs added to her beauty. "Why didn''t you thought that he was fooling everyone, why do you think that he is as simple as he seems ????..." Asked Kite wanting an opportunity to speed up the digestion of his [Reader-potion]. "That can''t be !!!!, I have read his thoughts, he thinks nothing else but ways to satisty his ?ust....." Said Kattara with a disgusted tone ,while the expression on her face was enough to show that she didn''t have any positive opinion about Roland. "Masking thoughts is an easy task, nothing too hard to accomplish....., You may think of him as a ?ustful person but tell me have you ever heard him forcing anyone, sure he visits the [Brothels] but who says that he did do something....." Replied Kite with an obvious expression. "Your Highness, means to say that he is not like he shows to be...???" Asked Mellena with a skeptical look on her round face. Clearly she wasn''t believing what he was saying, so didn''t the others. [Mildness governs more than anger.] "You may not believe my words but we can confirm that by watching him ,...." His eyes sharpened as he looked at his maids, his face muscles tight, the sparkle in his ocean-like blue eyes was obvious. "Do you three what revenge from the Church, do you three want to fight for your fellow Witch''s, do you want to live freely ?????, If yes then rejoice ,soon there will be no Church.....And the most hated prince will make it possible...." Said Kite as he put down the quill in his hand and stood up. "H..His Highness, what do you mean....Wait a minute His Highness..." Cynthia along with her friends , Mellena and Kattara followed behind asking questions. Kite handed the letter to his Butler and told his of his leave ,instructions were stated in the letter for the residence of the manor. Kite looked at the three maids following him with a puzzled expression and stated indifferently "You three will be following me on my journey, our destination you will know when the time comes.....,as for our goal...Destruction of Church." The three Witches were stunned, their expression froze ,eyes widened ,opened their mouth to speak but no words came out..... Kattara suddenly bowed and said with tears in the corners of her eyes "Thank you ,Your Highness.....!!!!" Cynthia along with Mellena followed after, bowed and also expressed their gratitude. "Thank you for your Kindness ,Your Highness...." Kite observed them for a while before saying "I am not doing this for you guys, Church is a common enemy that has to be destroyed, don''t think that I want to become a saviour." "But Roland while help you guys to save the witches...You will be able to walk freely inside the Kingdom once he ascends the throne, he will be willing to protect you guys, he will be willing to provide you shelter, food, salaries, better living condition ,status, etc....." He stated while a thought crossed his mind. ''With him handling the Witches, I will be able to focus on the Church after all the identity of [God-general] isn''t exactly good for interacting with them.'' After listening to Kite''s words, they were too surprised, after all Prince Roland, this man hasn''t done a single thing worth praising ,to think that he of all will stand for them, just the idea was too ridiculous. "We will thank His Highness, for standing up for us...." Said the three. Kite just shook his head while saying "You don''t understand him....., Not that it is your fault well you will understand when the time comes." Chapter 10 - :-10 Anna (Part-1) [At Border land] "Kill her.....She is devil''s spawn." "She has fallen in the abbys, let death be her release..." "Hang her...Hang the evil witch..." Different voices echoed throughout the place, people were screaming, they were shouting, cursing, waving torches and spears. The situation was chaotic ,a petite figure ,arms locked and chained to pillars on both sides was standing in the middle of the gathering. She body was trembling as she forced herself to stand straight, the cold of obviously effecting her. [God''s lock of Retribution] hang around her neck, apparently the girl was a [Witch] ,the lock sealed her powers while the crowd urged Roland, the fourth prince to pass the verdict. Roland laid his eyes on the figure before him, she had an average height and petite figure, nothing else could be seen as her body was covered by a brownish-black ragged cloak. ''So this is a witch.....'' he thought while remembering the fact that this was his first time seeing a [Witch] since he came to this world. ''The magic flowing in this world is different from the extraordinary character ,but it doesn''t have the risk of losing control.'' Roland''s face held a boring expression on his face, he observed his surroundings and noted that everyone was constantly focusing on the figure. "Your Highness please pass the verdict...." The ?ssistant minister who accompanied Roland to [Border-land] urged his prince, Roland to pass the verdict and end the life of the Witch. "The verdict will be postponed tomorrow as I am too tired to pass the judgement, till then lock her up in the prison." He slowly stood up from his seat and walked towards the old castle. The pondering expression on Roland''s face appeared as he thought about getting the witch to work for him shouldn''t be hard. He had used the [Coin-tose divination] to determine the success rate. "Your Highness, please stay !!! You can''t afford to joke here, we can''t be sure that our prison could hold a witch." Said Sir Carter, the chief knight responsible for Roland''s protection. "She can''t use her powers due to the [God''s lock of Retribution], for now she is a normal individual, as for whether she dies today or tomorrow, it doesn''t matter." Roland walked forward while watching the guard take away the girl. "Sir Carter, today some guests will be coming to the castle so please welcome them and prepare some rooms for them." Kite, along with the three witches will be arriving today at the [Border town]. "Very well, as you wish....Your Highness." Said Barov as the group made their way to the castle. Roland entered his study and asked Barov to bring the major information on the [Border-land] ,also to summon the Head jailer in his study. Barov was an elderly man, probably in his 50s or 60s ,he was partially bald ,a little fat ,wore brown leather boots, brown shirt. His expression was passive ,he held a quell and paper in his hands. He nodded, acknowledging his Prince, Roland''s wish. He watched the prince with a complicated gaze, he always thought that this individual was a worthless garbage, but who knew that the fourth prince had always kept himself hidden, bidding time for his attack. "Your Highness, can you tell me why save the witch ????, They are devil''s spawn...If the church knew about this then it would lead to heavy consequences....." Said the minister. Roland glanced at him and let out a smile ," Tell me Barov, for this [War for crown] who will benefit the most....????" Hearing Roland''s words Barov frowned ,but answered after thinking for sometime "The church, will benefit the most." "Exactly, they are trying to take over the kingdom under the banner of god. What do you think will happen, I know of your ambitions ,do you think the church will let you ascend to new heights under there control.....Even if they do ,you will be nothing more than their puppet." "So as they say, enemy of my enemy is my friend ,they think that witches are evil, then tell me how ???, The fear of the unknown is the only reason the people listen to the church." "If we can have them on our side, not only we will be able to content against the church but you to will become the [Hand of the King] once I ascend the throne." Roland reasoned with Barov, successfully convincing him to support him. He bowed before asking "Your Highness, please command this servant....." The jailer wasn''t quite old, around 35s or 40s but according to the report of given by Barov, his ?ssistant minister it was certain that he was a corrupt individual who has helped many death row prisoner escape. Roland had already decided to kill every corrupt individual in the town before reforming the place into the capital, but this person still had some value. According to Barov, traces of a large group of witches were found in the forest, the emblem of [Witch Corporation Association] were found at the scene. According to Roland, if they knew that the girl that he had captured was alive, they would surely try to rescue her. When they do so ,there is a high chance of success of gaining more information or more witches. Roland had already ''divined above the gray fog'' and had got clear result of success with no danger whatsoever. "I want you to find a death row prisoner with a similar figure as that witch and hang her in place of the witch." Said Roland in an indifferent tone. Even though the jailer had heard about nobles keeping witches, he was still astonished by the fact that even the fourth prince of the Kingdom is willing to do so, moreover at this time when he needs to ascend the throne. Still....He didn''t say anything as he knew that he couldn''t refuse or even his body wouldn''t be found. "Yes !!!! Your Highness, your wish is my command." Saying he turned to leave before a voice halted his steps. "Wait....!!!" Roland tossed a pouch full of 20 gold coins at the jailer who caught it with trembling hands and bowed. "Thank you !!!!,Your Highness.....For your generosity." Said the jailer before leaving the study. Chapter 11 - Chapter:-11 Anna (Part-2) Roland , wearing purple robe walked through the old castle, he wore a black-white shirt ,purple gloves, black boots ,black pants. A light smile could be seen on his face as he made his way towards the courtyard. Standing behind a pillar ,under the shadow created by the rays he watched a petite figure wearing maids robes standing rigidly with her palm outward. Flames danced around her finger tips. Next to her ,a pile of burnt robes could be seen inside a bucket, it was evident that the girl couldn''t control the fire ,her body generated through magic yet. The girl was a head shorter than Roland, she had fair skin with brown silky hair, her eyes were like pearl found in the ocean. She had a nice figure though a little malnourished, her state was improving. She tried to increase the intensity of flames ,thus channels more mana into her hand. She was successful ,the flames dancing around her fingers widened and burned with more vigor. But soon the fire spread through her palm, her sleeves caught fire burning the robe have was wearing. She immediately focused on the flames and cut off the mana supply, without fuel the flames quickly died out but the robe was already beyond use. She discarded her burnt robes while Roland turned his head away from her, to provide her with privacy and general courtesy. She reached out with her soft hands and clutched onto another robe kept inside the bucket beside her. Roland resumed watching after she changed her burnt clothes, he was about to continue his observation when a voice entered his ears. "You should ask her to rest, she has exhausted herself...." The voice was of a man, there was no sympathy in his tone but concern of his tool being broken. Roland smiled a little be he spoke, he eyes glanced beside him. Anna was the name of the petite girl, standing in front of him. Anna was born to a poor family and her father is a miner in Border Town. Anna attended Karl van Bate''s school and enjoyed learning everything she could. One day there was a fire in her house which resulted in the death of her mother. This was also the day she awakened as a witch. After her mother''s death, her father would almost never let her outside of the house. When the mine collapsed, she rushed to the mine and found her father with a crushed leg being robbed by another miner. She used her power to kill the looter and was reported for being a witch by her father for a reward of 25 golden royals. Roland stood behind her quietly observing the amount of concentration she was using to control the fire. "Ok....That will be enough for now." He suddenly spoke causing her to jump forward. "....." She turned around and glared a little at the prince for scaring her like that. "I apologize.....Let eat something before we move on to the next task." Said Roland as he gestured her to follow behind him. They entered a large room, in middle was a long table with three maids standing near the plates. She stared at them ,a little dumbfounded upon seeing 3-powerful witches working as maids. Kattara noticed Anna and smiled back ,Cynthia politely nodded while Mellena ignored her all together. "Sit down Miss Anna....." Roland sat on his chair as Mellena set up his plate and poured some water in his glass. Anna hesitated a bit before nodding back at Roland ,she sat down on the opposite end of the long table. "Today in the afternoon, a lecture will be conducted for you.....Since I can''t provide you with the opportunity to join and learn with other kids, I myself will be the one teaching you...." Said Roland as he finished eating his food. After cleaning himself up he walked towards the door leaving behind Anna, who was still eating her food. Anna gazed at his back, until he left the room. Outside while walking ,he heard a voice enter his ears. "You are being watched...." Kite could sense another individual watching Roland, he knew that this individual was a witch and didn''t had any malice towards Roland. He let her be ,patiently waiting for her to make her move....Not only her but also one of the maids of the castle was acting as an agent for Garcia, Roland''s elder sister. Azik had gone to the southern mining cave to kill Anna''s father, he was an unnecessary pawn it would be for the best for him to die, not only will Anna fully belong to Roland but also their enemies couldn''t use him against Anna. Princess Garcia ,she had expressed her intent to kill Roland, so either she gives up or she she would have to die.....Kite wouldn''t tolerate any obstacles ,if they stopped him from reaching his goal only death awaited them. "I know....,she probably came to rescue Anna but after seeing her conditions and my attitude towards witches, she must have decided to talk to me once....." Reasoned Roland as he continued to walk forward. "[Months of Demons] are near, we need to hurry....You can''t expose your identity yet whereas Mr.Azik is busy digesting his potion." "I received the news that a girl named Nana pine, a witch with ability to heal wants to seek shelter under the guidance of her teacher." "Tell Mellena to ask the girl to attend the lecture....." Said Roland. "Don''t grow soft Roland, don''t grow too attached to them, you know our goal.....I won''t allow any disturbance....." Said Kite before leaving. Roland stopped at looked towards the gate of the castle before softly sighing "I know....." Chapter 12 - Chapter:-12 Barys death "Huff...Huff...Huff...Huff " Bary Chain woke up gasping for breath ,beads of sweat rolled down his ghastly pale face. His fingers tightly clenching on to the sheets. He was a 48 years old man, with a disabled leg. He worked inside the [Northern mines] in the border town, mining was a source of income for many. His wife died 6 years ago leaving behind a 12-years old daughter, with whom his relation was stained, his daughter considered him the reason for his wife''s death. He had a average built ,barely above the category of undernourished, his daughter had his black-raven hair and similar face structure. He spend most of his time, gambling or mining though he used the money earned from gambling to send her daughter to study at the public school. He loved his wife, but he didn''t care about his daughter, only because she reminded him of his late wife, he spend money for her education. One day, during mining the cave collapsed on his legs, crushing them beyond repair. His partner tried to kill him and take all of his belongings. Somehow, his daughter became a witch conjuring a flame and burned his partner alive. He hated witches as much as he loved his wife. Now that his own flesh and blood was one, he couldn''t tolerate it. The image of his beloved wife, a witch ?!!!!.....Never. So he report his own daughter to the guards and had them take her away. He got 25-gold coins which could very well allow him to spend his remaining live without the need to work. But since the day his daughter was ''hanged'', he was getting these terrifying nightmares ,that the undead would drag him to hell. He was out of breath and shivering due to the fear growing inside him. ''I must visit a priest !!!!.'' Bary thought ,in the southern parts of the Kingdom, there weren''t many churches and in a place like Border land, it was impossible for the church to provide aid. He extended his shivering hand to the empty bowl and poured some water from the jug in the bowl. He moved his forward to drink the water, he body suddenly came to an abrupt stop. A blurry figure or rather a image reflected from the surface of the water inside the bowl. The figure had red-eyes glowing in the darkness, the iris of the figure was non-existant ,it held onto the ceiling ,his nails and toes dugged inside the ceiling. Bary trembled and rolls off the bed, falls down of the cold floor. He crawled as his legs didn''t work. A hand extended from below the bed and grabbed onto Bary''s leg. It pulled his inside the darkness, Bary struggled as he looked up ,the figure was gone but Bary knew that the one who held his leg was no one other than that figure. Bary screamed and screamed but no one came to his rescue, It was like no one heard his call, like no one knew what was happening to him. {Outside the house} Azik stood of the green grass,he wore black cloak covering his body, his yellow prism eyes shinned through the darkness, the ring on his arm glowed with a chilling black-color. He looked at the house in front of him ,blood leaked out of the front door. Azik gaze was cold and indifferent ,he turned back and walked away. The house then suddenly crumbled and fell on Bary, burying him deep inside the dubris. Next day the news of Bary chain''s dead reached the ears of Anna who cried in grief. Though she hated her father, the pain of losing everyone, her family did hurt her, like someone had stabbed her heart with a knife. It took some time to coax Anna, Roland himself accompanied her for sometime ,till she recovered from the trauma she was suffering from. {In the afternoon} Kite sat on the branch of a huge tree, in the courtyard of the castle. His eyes gazed at the scene in front of him. His [Spectator] was slowly been digested, he wore a white cloak with a white hood, resembling [Assassin Creed] uniform. His palms wrapped with white strips. The hood covered his face, hiding everything. Roland was giving a lecture on [Fundamental-science], he had decided to use the [lime stone] found inside the mines as a reactant together with cement to form a wall around the town, to fend off the demons. During [Months of Demons] various Demonic beasts and Demonic hybrids overrun lands and seas, attacking border villages and careless travelers. Most ferocious attacks fall on the Holy city of Hermes, and Church regularly gathered Four Kingdoms'' armies to help repelling beasts'' ?ssaults. Due to threat of nautic Demonic beasts sea traffic, trade and travels ceased as well. Always ,for the army Roland wants to create, he will write the [Song] which Roland''s army would sing. [Bard] required one to sing, but it didn''t specify who to sing. You may write a song with extraordinary power to promote the [Bard]. He observed their reactions as his [Spectator] kicked in. Anna ,her face muscles were stretched outside, seemingly lost in thoughts, Nana had stars in her eyes whereas Carter was confused and a little anxious. Roland turned around and asked "So do you understand what I want to say...????" "You mean to say that one of the gas inside air will increase the flame whereas the other gas would put it out???." Said Anna with an exaggerated expression on her face. Roland/Kite thought ''Such a kid !!!!'' "Good to know that you do understand, take rest for some time before you try to digest what you have gained from the lecture." Roland turns around and walks towards his study as he thought of the machine design for [Stream-powered items]. Kite also disappeared from the branch on which he was standing and appeared in the infirmary. Chapter 13 - Chapter:-13 Nightingale (Part-1) "The matter has been taken care off....." Inside the infirmary, a figure wearing black cloak in contrast to Kite''s white one said to Kite. Just like Kite, Azik''s face couldn''t be seen due to the long hood covering his head, his features were hidden under what looked like a dark pit. Kite nodded before changing the topic, he asked "How long till the [Corpse-collecter] potion is digested ????." Azik walked towards the chair kept inside the infirmary, sat down with his legs crossed and answered Kite''s question. "I have b?r?ly digested a portion of it, the time it will take for me to naturally digest it is about 3-4 months.....Of course if we were lucky enough then I may be able to boost my digestion rate." Azik emitted a desolate aura, the coldness and indifference surrounded him like a cloak, the temperature around him was also a little lower compared to others. "What about you and Klein ????" Azik still liked to call Roland by his original name. A dangerous ,yet uncontrollable reflex or rather habit. "[Reader] will probably be fully digested before the start of [Months of demons]. [Apothecary] will probably take 2-months, [Spectator] will most likely also be digested before the [Months of demon] whereas [Bard] will take 3-4 months to digest." The digestion of the potions that Kite had consumed was going extremely well. Due to the upcoming [Months of demons] ,more and more people will visit the hospitals in the border town. Kite would use this opportunity to not only digest his [Apothecary] but also his [Spectator] would be strengthened so to decrease the chances of him losing control. "What about Mr.prince....????" Asked Azik with an amused tone, though Kite couldn''t see his expression ,he could tell that Azik had a funny expression in his face. "His digestion of [Seer] potion is going extremely well, a rumor is circulating in the whole castle, Roland, the fourth prince has been blessed by the gods and can tell future...." Though most of them believe all this is nothing but rubbish, Roland had already achieved his goal. "His potion would most likely be digested by the end of the week." Said Kite in a serious tone. If Klein could digest the potion ,with his [Gray-mist] interfering with the [Voices] ,he could easily ascend to the next level. The [Clown] potion gave the beyonder strong reflex, full control over his body ,flame-leap ,etc. "Good, the [Months of demons] is near. Ask Klein to quickly finish the wall, you can enchant the walls with your words as a [Bard]." Azik suggested as his suggestion was outright taken by Kite. Before Azik could say another word, his head snapped in the left direction. He could feel people heading towards the infirmary. Azik took one last look at Kite before fading in darkness. Kite raised his head in the direction of the incoming individuals, his [Spiritual sense] picked up Roland''s Spirituality. Nana pine should test ,if she was right. Due to absence of newspaper or photographs ,Kite could take of his hood but the witch watching the two witches may recognize him, so Kite just sat down on the table, creating medicines for all kinds of disease. His [Apothecary] was slowly being digested by the creation of the medicines abit the process was too slow. Footsteps closed in, on the door as the knob of the door twisted ,and was pushed open. A teenager in his late 10s entered the room. A purple dress with a black tight uniform, the symbol of Graycastle was stitched on his ?h?st, he wore dark boots and a leather belt around his waist. He had Gray-ish eyes, sleek figure, oval figured face with sharp features. A ring on his left hand finger along with the hidden dagger beneath his sleeves. He was the fourth prince of the Kingdom of Graycastle, Roland. Behind him was a little girl about 12 or 13 years old, she had green-ish eyes ,violet hair, petite body and an innocent look. Without a doubt ,the girl in front of him was Nana pine, the recently transformed witch after Anna. The little girl was a little fearful, a little courageous ,a little shy but mostly curious. Curious about what was the fourth prince going to do...???? "Yes your Highness !!!!!" Said Nana as she turned towards the rooster in front of her. Anna was left inside the courtyard where she helped in the making of cement, by acting as the source of heat requires for the formation of cement. The hidden witch followed Nana, probably curious about what is Roland up to.....Nana raised her hand towards the injured Rooster, she willed her powers to activate. A weak glow of green light surrounded the Rooster''s body and a blob of green slime covered his injured body. After 5 seconds the Rooster was fully resorted to health whereas Nana was resting to recover. The plan for taking care of the demons that would attack the border town was already in its initial phase. Carter along with Barov were responsible for choosing the members for the [Anti-demon unit]. The Longsong stronghold has also sent a representative to negotiate the terms for providing shelter and food at double rate. Also somehow Kite kept getting a feeling that something is about to happen ,but he don''t know what ????... Chapter 14 - Chapter:-14 Nightingale (Part-2) {Inside the study} The quill in Roland''s hand flew across the paper, it continuously drew beautiful sketches ,every stroke contained some spirituality as the words written seemed to shine a little. He was currently making notes on the making of wall, army, amount of ration , ammunition, etc. Due to having the experience of handling a large organisation such as the [Tarot club], Roland was having it easier to solve the different problems that appeared to pop out of nowhere. "I didn''t knew that, His Highness was a learned man...." A voice resounded beside Roland''s ears. The sound had a mysteries feel to it, one couldn''t tell the exact location of the source of voice. Yet it didn''t contain any kind of malice towards Roland. Normally people would have freaked out if they were to suddenly hear a voice behind them but Roland was different, even though the only power provided by the [Seer] was to perform divinations and store massive amounts of spirituality. His divinator constitution warned him about the upcoming future, albeit the feeling was vague as a former [Fool] and the possesser of [Gray fog] ,Roland was very familiar with the feeling. Without making any move, Roland continued to write on the paper while replying with a neutral tone "Thank you for the compliment....." His quill kept on writing without breaking his rhythmic pace. The other party was probably stunned by the lack of reaction showed by the prince, it took 6 seconds before a figure suddenly appeared in front of Roland. A brown cloaked women wearing hood appeared in front of Roland, about 5''8¡ã feet tall in height,a beautiful figure with long purple hairs. She bowed to show respect to the prince before asking in a playful tone. "Aren''t you afraid, His Highness.....?????" Roland put down his quill and stood up, he walked towards the shelf behind him, returned to his seat after pulling out another book to read. "You don''t have any malicious thoughts towards me ,why should be I afraid of you.....????" Roland didn''t bother looking at the girl before replying in a bored tone. Nightingale''s eyebrows twitched underneath that hood, she once again questioned him "I am a witch, don''t you hate us...Fear us...." Nightingale had a secondary ability, during her ?du?thood she gained the [Eye-of truth]. This ability of her was able to tell if a person was telling the truth or not.... Nightingale intensely observed Roland with her [Eye of truth], he was telling the truth.....the response from her ability made her a little less guarded against Roland. What Roland said was indeed the truth but he didn''t say anything about fearing witches. He smartly converted the question to suit his answer. It hasn''t been too long since he and others came into this world ,so to say he was not afraid of witches of high order wasn''t correct. They needed time, time for understanding the world, witches ,church ,etc... "What if I would have malicious thoughts about you, what would you do then....." Asked Nightingale she watched the Prince''s reaction. Roland shrugged his shoulders before saying with a bored expression "You would have been dead by now." Listening to Roland''s carefree words Nightingale felt a chill crawl down her spine, her instincts told her that the words of the Prince were indeed the truth. "So I ?ssume you are here to take Anna.....???" Asked Roland to which Nightingale nodded before adding "I thank His Highness for showing kindness to a witch, I am here to take Anna, Nana and others away to the council." Listening to her words Roland smiled before saying "Ohhh..... Well why should I allow them to leave with you, the traces of your groups are all over the place, you are trying to find the [Holy mountain] in the [Months of demons]. I don''t have any confidence in you guys being able to survive against the demons." "Also Anna and Nana are here on their own consent ,I didn''t force them to stay ,I know that Anna is going to face the [Day of awakening] soon, so it gives me more of a reason to decline to your request." Nightingale couldn''t find a counter against Roland''s words, it was true that they couldn''t defend against every demon, some were bound to get hurt, also this was a critical period for Anna as she was going to experience [Adulthood]. Her only chance was to convince Cynthia , Mellena and Kattara to leave with her, Nightingale could sense the huge amount of magic inside them, they 3 were very strong witches. If she could get them to leave with her not only would they be able to repel the demons but also will have a higher chance of finding the [Holy mountain]. "His Highness ,I thank you for thinking about us witches but I would still like to talk to them, as you know that Anna is soon going to face [Adulthood], in the camp there are witches who survived that period." "I want to talk her with me if she agrees ,also want to talk with the three maids." Said Nightingale as she bowed deeply towards Roland. "Even if I agree, you still need the permission of the other two leaders of my faction, the decision of protecting witches ,creating a place for you all to live freely wasn''t my idea alone." "They are busy dealing with the church, only by their permission can you talk the witches away." Said Roland before getting up from his chair and walking towards the door. The fingers wrapped around the knob, twisted it ,pushed forward opening the door ,revealing a corridor outside. "Why are you guys helping us, we are witches, devil''s spawn ,demons....." Questioned Nightingale, using her [Eye of Truth] on Roland. Chapter 15 - Chapter:-15 Betrayal (Part-1) Roland stopped ,time seemed to have slowed down a little. He turned around his head and looked at Nightingale from the corner of his eyes. "Witches also are a part of the kingdom, they too are humans ,they to have family ,they to loved ones ,they too deserve to live their life ,they too can be happy ,they too are ruled by the king and most importantly they too are my subjects." "Just because church declares your kind as demons doesn''t mean you are one, they are fake worshipers ,they are trying to control the kingdom while capturing witches to serve their interest also to suppress any revolts." "If I will become a king who is nothing but a puppet of church, it is better I don''t become one. Church will pay for all of their sins." Leaving the words resounding in Nightingale''s ears ,Roland left for Kattara''s room. Nightingale quickly entered [The mist] and followed behind ,Roland. While walking ,she observed that Roland feet never made a sound, the floor was pretty old and would creak on the slightest movement but upon bearing the weight of Roland it didn''t even creaked once. This discover greatly bewildered Nightingale as Roland was wearing normal sandals. She continued to follow behind the prince. Soon they arrived in front of Kattara''s room, Roland stepped forward and tapped the door twice. Soon sounds of footstep could be heard from inside the room, Kattara wearing normal clothes appeared at the door. Looking at the prince, standing in front of her she bowed to show her respect. "Kattara please ask Mellena and Cynthia to come here, someone wants to talk to you guys....." Roland said while watching Kattara''s expression. Kattara was bewildered by Roland''s words by still complied nevertheless. Magic flowed through her viens and started heading towards her brain. Kattara used her telepathy to talk with Mellena and Cynthia ,she informed them about the situation and also asked them to bring Anna and Nana together with them. "Thank you Kattara....." Roland thanked Kattara for using her powers for the matter. Kattara shook her head while saying "It is our duty to do as you command ,His Highness had ordered us to follow your words without questions so we must abide by his rules...." Seconds later sounds of footsteps resounded in the corridor. Anna ,Nana ,Cynthia and Mellena walked towards Roland and bowed. "His Highness, called us ????." Asked Mellena ,curiosity poised her tone. As soon as his words left his mouth ,a figure materialized in front of them, a brown colored cloaked figure. Nightingale removed her hood, revealing a beautiful face beneath it. Soft lips, slight-purple eyes, purple hair reaching her waist, an exquisite face structure. Roland was shocked upon seeing her face, it was very identical to [Admiral of stars]. Others noticed his surprise and looked towards him. He quickly recovered from his shock using the ability to control his facial figures ,he was a [Clown]. He opened his mouth ,spoke in a mysteries tone. "Your face is very similar to someone I knew...." Roland became lost in the familiar feeling, nostalgia came over him ,soon followed after by [Clown] powers. His eyebrows quivered as he frowned while thinking ''Maybe I shouldn''t let her meet Kite, previously it wouldn''t have been a problem but her face....It resembles Cattleya''s too much. "Ohh...His Highness has met someone similar looking...????" Asked Nightingale with an astonished expression. "An old friend, who was very smart and kind...." Mumbled Roland seemingly pondering about something. "Was...????" Nightingale frowned after hearing his words. Nightingale turned towards Anna and others ,she spoke in a soft tone. "My name is Nightingale, a witch like you all and I am here to take you away to the [Witch corporation ?ssociation]. There are other witches there and you can live with us. We would teach you how to control your powers and also make sure that you survive your [Adulthood]." She patiently explained everything to everyone, she also invited Cynthia , Kattara along with Mellena. Mellena asked in a soft tone with her usual calm expression "Is that all ????, If yes!!! Then my answer is no!!!." Saying this she bowed towards Roland before turning around to leave, Nightingale''s voice entered her eyes causing her to raise an eyebrow "But why???, Our sister are there in the camp, we are very close to finding the [Holy mountain]." Nightingale couldn''t understand their reason for not agreeing with her proposal. Her face had a big ''?'' on it. "Do you have any Extraordinary Witches in your camp ???" Instead of Mellena it was Kattara who spoke this time. "No.... Regretfully we don''t have any extraordinary witches amongst us. We did tried to save them, all 3-of them were killed by that monster ,[God-general]." Said Nightingale in a cold tone. Roland snickered a little before an amushed smile surfaced his face. Cynthia , Mellena and Kattara froze upon hearing Nightingale''s words. Her proclamation stunned everyone, even Roland was a little surprise by Anna''s proclamation but he did expect something like this would happen. "What you...????" Just as Nightingale was speaking ,the floor creaked as sounds of footsteps could be heard. The corridor was illuminated using the candles so the figure was appeared was extremely clear. A young man wearing a black cloak was walking towards him. His yellow-crystal eyes shined in the darkness, the atmosphere around his was rather strange, desolate and deathly quiet. His aura was similar to the that was the graveyard, death lingered around him. The indifferent expression on his face was clearly highlighted ,he was about 6''3¡ã tall with an extremely fit body ,Light-dark toned body color. He was holding a spear in his hands and a letter in another. Roland looked at his before saying "Azik, welcome back...." Chapter 16 - Chapter:-16 Betrayal (Part-2) It was like standing in a graveyard, Azik gave off a spooky feeling. Those yellow crystal eyes ,it was like flames of retribution burned inside them. His body was cold, skin pale and dark. But he was handsome nevertheless. He looked towards Roland and then towards other, he looked into Nana''s eyes and saw what had conspired here. They say that [Eyes are the window to soul]. This was one of the abilities his [Death god ring] provided him with, [Soul gazing]. He once again turned towards Roland and said in a cold tone ,result of the [Corpse-collector] potion. "One of your maid, named Tyre was seen sending messages through [Messager bird]. ''He'' has captured her, they are coming here for Interrogation." Saying so Azik took out a piece of paper with something written on it and passed it to Roland, so that he could see the content of the letter. Roland stepped forward, talking the piece of paper from Azik''s cold hands with a frown on his face. His eyes focused upon the words written on it. He pupils shrank as he read "I was successful while mixing poison in Roland''s food, but it didn''t had any effect on him, I suspect that he has not taken the food. I will try to get rid of him when he retreats to the [Longsong stronghold]..." Roland had a smile on his face, if one were to look carefully enough then they would see the terrifying glint inside his eyes. ''It looks like she was the one who poisoned my food...Looks the Garcia wants to get rid of me first. Unfortunately, a [Clown] isn''t easy to kill.'' his constitution had already alerted him about the danger in eating the food. "Since she will soon be here, let''s ask her some questions who knows maybe she is innocent. Let''s give her a chance....!!!!" The smile was still there on Roland''s face. Roland replied to Azik who just shrugged and turned towards the castle wall, he narrowed his eyes before asking "Did they send someone from [Longsong stronghold] to negotiate with you....????" Roland also turned towards the castle wall and replied in an amushed tone "I rejected him....." Azik nodded before leaving the corridor and walked inside the [Study]. Cynthia, Mellena, Kattara and others were busy observing Azik as different thoughts popped inside their mind. Mellena thought ''So he is the last leader of His Highness organization. He reeks of death but no blood-lust.....''. As a [Light-magic] user ,she was s?ns?t?v? to aura of other people. Azik had an desolate-aura around him, it was like he used to be a graveyard watcher. The heaviness of souls around him was intense. Roland turned towards the witches before saying with a smile, the piece of paper in his hands was tightly held. "Why don''t you guys continue, Kattara !!! Please take care of the intruders. I will be discussing on important matters so you guys discuss on your own." "As you wish ,His highness....." The maids replied before Kattara left the place to search for the intruders. Cynthia took Anna and Nana to their rooms, before going Anna glanced at Roland who just smiled at her before turning around, he walked towards the [Study] where Azik was sitting. Mellena didn''t know about Azik or Roland''s personal strength and was worried that Nightingale could hurt them. Remembering the order that Kite gave him, she had to protect the leaders at all costs. The floor once again creaked as she followed them inside the [Study]. The room was lightened by a fireplace and some candles, giving it a classic feeling. Roland walked towards a study and started searching for something on his desk, Azik sat on the couch whereas Mellena and Cynthia remained standing. Tik tok tik tok tik tok...It was already 12:00, darkness had descended upon the town, lamps and tourches illuminated the place. The night was cold, Creak.....Sound of footsteps were clearly heard by them in the silent night. Nightingale went invisible, Mellena raised an eyebrow but ignored her. She turned her head towards the sound of the footsteps which were now close to the door. Tap..Tap..Tap...The sound stopped ,the knob twisted and pushed forward causing the door to open, under the light of the fireplace, a figure wearing White cloak could be seen standing at the entrance. Behind him were two more individuals, first a women ,wearing bllack-white uniform, she was a maid ,her name Tyre. She had brown eyes and fair skin, quite beautiful for a maid. Even the poor lighting of the room couldn''t hide her figure. She had a nervous expression on her face, sweat rolled down her face, her cheek muscles tense ,she tried to maintained her calm face but Kite''s presence disrupted her rhythm. Behind him was the executioner ,wearing a grey coat and hat ,unlike Tyre he was trembling badly, Kite has been using a [Hallucination potion] to install fear inside the executioner. "Don''t worry I just want some answers....." though he was smiling, under the illumination of the candle in didn''t look like his usual smile. Instead it gave them terrifying chills, the room was abnormally cold and quiet until Kite moved towards one of the sofa and sat down. Chapter 17 - Chapter:-17 Betrayal (Part-3) [We went down into the silent garden. Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves.] Roland was sitting on a seat on his comfortable chair, his hands held a red-covered diary and a quill. Roland flips open the empty diary and tears a page from it. His hand once again flew across the piece of paper. The candles flickered from time to time, the cold wind and silence created a suffocating atmosphere. He took out a pocket watch from his drawer. The watch was golden coloured ,also was pretty old as the the symbol of [Tarot cards] were little disfigured but the strange aura around the watch gave it any intense feeling. He held it in front of him as it hanged from his fingers. His eyes darted towards Azik, he nodded towards the cold-corpse collector. Azik closed his eyes and concentrated the spiritual power at the tip of his spear. A spiritual barrier blocked everyone inside the room. Roland looked towards the slightly nervous Tyre and asked her a question, his hands didn''t stop for a single second. "Tyre Madera, age 23, joined the royal palace after being recruited as a maid. My first question for you is ''When did you learn to read and write ?????''. As according to this report your family was very poor, they couldn''t afford to send you to school. After you joined as a maid, you wouldn''t have time to learn it." Tyre ,she was slightly stunned by the amount of information His Highness, Roland had on her. Even though the documents were fake ,they were given to her by Garcia ,Her Highness. Since her family was under Garcia''s grasp, she was forced to work as an ?ssassin and be tasked with killing the fourth prince, though she had to accept that she miserably failed in completing her job. She didn''t lose her composer and answered calmly ,saying "His Highness, this lowly one would learn to read and write from the older maids at night so even though your information says that I don''t know how to read and write ,it''s not correct." Her entire being emitted a nature confidence which wasn''t usually seen in maids. Azik and Kite smirked, lying to a [Clown] who was using watch divination inside a sealed place was just foolishness. The pocket clock that he was holding in his palm started spinning in anti-clock wise direction. It was clear that she was lying... Whereas it was true that she didn''t knew how to read and write at first but after being recruited by Garcia, she was required to learn how to read and write along with skills like [Knife-skill], [Tracking-skill] ,[Poison-skill] ,etc. "Have you written this letter ?????" Asked Roland as he passed the paper which Azik gave him to read. "No...I didn''t write that letter, that''s not my hand writing...."Tyre lied with a straight face. Internally she was a little nervous. That paper was indeed written by her but since no one saw she writing then she could just deny his claim. While being trained to become an ?ssassin she was taught to write in many styles so it wasn''t a problem with her. "Are you a spy send by my Elder sister ????" This questioned stunned Tyre as she lost control over her expression. Realising her mistakes she immediately control herself and cursed in her mind ''This...This was too straightforward.'' She immediately knelt down and said in a soft tone "This servant will never betray the fourth prince.....". She bowed her head, successfully hiding her expressions as she sneared in her mind. ''Humph...You are smarter than the rumours make you to be....But I will complete my mission no matter the cost.'' A cold glint passed through her eyes. Roland finished writing and he threw the diary, where the paper came from into the fireplace. Mellena had a confused expression on her face, she couldn''t understand what Roland was doing. One second he was writing on a paper, another second he just burned the diary in the fireplace. She couldn''t make any head-tail out of the situation. Nightingale had a disdainful expression on ber face, she knew that every single words that came out of the mouth of Tyre, nothing but lies. But she too couldn''t understand what Roland wanted to do. Roland looked towards Tyre, his greyish eyes shinned in the darkness. He expression indicated that he was bored. "One last question,.....Were you the one who poisoned my food ????" Hearing this question Tyre''s pupils contracted. Mellena put her hand on her mouth, the shock was too overwhelming. Though unknown to them, the real reason behind this was, so that Roland could hide his powers for as long as he can. The element of surprise make change the course of the upcoming battles. Azik was a mysteries man, Kite was a general but Roland was just a weak ,frail prince, nothing more and both of them wanted to keep it that way. Nightingale was shocked by this revelation, she could tell that Roland was telling the truth, someone did indeed poisoned his food. She immediately turned towards Tyre, if she would make any desperate attempts. The organisation that Kite ,Roland and Azik lead, shall play a major role in saving the witches, she must support them. Tyre immediately tried to deny saying "No His Highness ,this servant doesn''t dare to even dream about something like this." The watch once again spinned in anti-clock wise direction. "I.... aghh...Wha.t..." Blood dripped from her lips, tears spilled out her eyes ,she held out her hand and moved them towards her ?h?st. Blood painted her hands, she could feel a cold metal had pierced her heart, she would soon die. She looked towards Roland who just shook his head and said in a plain tone "You shouldn''t have lied...." Chapter 18 - Chapter:- 18 Disguise "Your..Your Highness...What is going on ???." He was stuttering, his body shivering. Blood travelled down his cheek to his jaw. It dropped into the pool of blood he was standing on. In front of him, standing near the candle was Kite. He had just stabbed Tyre in the heart, blood stained his, Roland and Executioner''s face and clothes. A body was lying on the floor of the [Study] ,there was not an ounce of heat in it. The body had already went cold due to the large amounts of blood loss. Roland had an indifferent expression on his face, he raised his hand toward Kite and handed him the piece of paper that he had written. Nightingale was quite tense at the current situation as she saw the decisiveness of this mysteries hooded figure. He didn''t hesitate before killing Tyre, the traitor. Kite turned towards left, wind lightly blowed inside the room through the only window in the room. His eyes stared at the red diary which Roland had thrown inside the Fire-place. Thud thus thus ,the sound of his boots echoed inside the room as he walked towards the Fire-place. He extended his gloves inside the fire and pulled out the burnt diary. The executioner seeing that his presence was ignored ,cheered up a bit. Roland asked without looking towards the executioner. "So aren''t you going to ask why I summoned you.....????" "No...I don''t know, Your Highness...please enlighten your faithful servant." Roland smiled ,the hooded Kite walked towards the candle placed above the fireplace, he kept the burned diary on the table as he held the paper above the candle. Fire spread over the it, burning through the words. Kite blew a breath ,extinguishing the fire. He flicked the paper with his finger. The ashes fell down ,on ground. He held it infront of his face and started reading "June 18, 1576 I have successfully convinced the fourth prince to bring me along him, to [Border land]. It was pretty hard to convince him to do so. That place isn''t really all that safe and comfortable to live. I told him that I wanted to faithfully serve His Highness." "He told me that the place he is going to, is a barren land, filled with mines ,diseases ,poverty and crime. The capital was much better compared to that place. He said that if it wasn''t due to the decree of his father, His majesty then he wouldn''t have ever gone to such a place." "But what he didn''t knew was that my family was also in that barren land. My father Augustus, a miner ,my only family lives in [Border town]. For giving me a better life he asked one of his close friends to take me to the capital." "His sacrifices are the reason that today I too have a status ,a comfortable life. I want to return to him and take him back with me, to the capital, to the better life." "After pleading for sometime, the prince agreed to bring me with him. I am so happy today..." That bastard killed him....My only family, my father was killed by that damned executioner. My father had recently earned some silver coins due to the crystals he found inside the [Southern mine]. One of his friends tried to kill him for the money, but was killed by my father." "Unfortunately, the one who my father killed in retaliation was the brother of the executioner who released one of the prisoners inside the Jail to murder my father, I didn''t have any proof against him and only got to know about it after I heard two soldiers talking about it." "I couldn''t ask the prince to punish the executioner, I wanted to kill him myself, so I poisoned his food but that damned bastard survived. So I have decided to kill him myself. I don''t care if I die doing so. I will have my revenge...." As Kite finished reading the paper he looked towards the executioner and saw him trembling with a pale face. Roland said in a cold tone "Tyre tried to kill the executioner but failed, instead got killed by him. He knew that she was Prince''s maid so to remove all the evidence he burned her dairy. Unfortunately the Prince''s guard apprehended him just as he was about to succeed." "They extinguished the fire that was burning the diary and retrived this ,a little burned paper which told the truth. So to bring the maid and her father to justice. The executioner was ordered to be executed by His Highness, the fourth prince..." The executioner was shivering as he somehow gathered the courage to open his mouth to speak. "Your..Your Highness,...." He could see that the fourth prince was blatantly framing him for the killing of the maid. Kite asked in a low tone "You would have killed many innocent people, haven''t you.....????" Kite snorted as he said in a cold tone "Humph.....You, a spy of church hasn''t done anything against Roland.....????". Silence ,filled the [Study]. Mellena and Nightingale, weren''t able to fully grasp the situation, looking at the shivering executioner they thought ''How can he be a spy.....'' The executioner lowered his head while shivering due to fear, suddenly the aura around him changed. He was no longer shivering, no longer nervous, no longer anxious ,no longer acting. He looked towards Kite and asked as a smile appeared on his face "What gave me away....????" Chapter 19 - Chapter:- 19 Meeting Nightingale (Part-1) "You are in possession of a [God''s retribution stone], the purity of the materials is unusually high. The first time when Roland went to see Anna. Everyone excluding you and Roland was extremely cautious. Even a trained, seasoned knight like the Chief knight was afraid of Anna." "But you!!!, though it seemed like you too were afraid of her, you were actually not afraid. Fear causes one''s body to tense up and face muscles to become rigid but not only your face expression but also your body language didn''t match." "That day I decided to keep an eye on you so I tailed you. After you returned to home and began to relax, the [God''s retribution stone] on your neck deepen my doubts." "While in executioner''s uniform ,your neck and other body parts are covered so the stone was hiding but after that night I decided to conduct a search in your house." "I must say, you are pretty experienced in your task. No paper, no letter, no records, no nothing, there wasn''t a single thing which could be used against you as an evidence but this confirmed my doubt that something was wrong." "No common person has zero evidence against himself. In this era everyone has dirtied their hands at least once so you just came off too clean." "I ordered Kattara to invade your mind, since I couldn''t find anything materialistic. As an extraordinary witch, the [God''s retribution stone] didn''t have any effect on her powers." "From all the evidence she gathered from your memories, it safe to say that even killing you is an easy way out. You supplied the captured witches to church, whenever a witch was sentenced to be burned or killed." "If the nobles decided to first imprison her and then kill her, you would find a substitute for them from the prison and burn them instead of the real deal. You would use the item boxing to hide them after restraining them using the lock and travel to [Longsong stronghold]." Rage.....His calm facade was gone and was now replaced with boundless rage. His eyes narrowed, fist clenched tightly as he gritted his teeth. "How can you!!!! side with the demons, these witches, they are evil incarnation, they kill people for fun, they are the sins of this world and the sorrow of the God. They....argghhh....." A sword went straight through his throat, instantly killing him. Kite had decisively struck when he saw an opening. More blood splattered upon his clothes, till now the executioner had an angry, hateful expression on his face. He wasn''t given the time required to process what had happened. Kite pulled out his sword from the executioner''s dead body, causing it to fall backwards on the floor with a thumph. "Witches aren''t demons or devil, they are just different from others. Not you ,not church, not me or anyone has the right to control their fate and use them for fulfilling our own dreams and aspirations." Saying this he looked towards Mellena and said in a calm tone. "Take care of this mess....." She nodded and raised her hand above her br??st, palmed them together ,channeling her mana into her hands resulting, a bright light to emerge from her palm. She creates a transparent 3D cube, covered the body inside it and channeled more mana into the structure. The cube shone with a bright light, becoming opaque for sometime. The light was so bright that ,if the room wasn''t sealed by Azik''s spirituality then the whole [Border town] would have seen it. The dead bodies ,blood ,it all just disappeared leaving behind smoke and dust. It was like these things never existed in the first place. Nightingale was astonished by the power of Mellena''s magic. She suddenly had a thought ''Could anyone in the camp, defeat her....Probably not except me as I may be able to phase through before it hits me.'' Drops of sweat appeared on Mellena''s face, her heartbeat slightly raised, her face slightly red, her breathing slightly uneven, her face expression ,slightly tired. Kite observed her using his [Spectator] ,during all this time investigating and collecting clues his potion has been nearly fully digested. Suddenly under his hood, his eyes glowed with a blue streak, [Reader] kicked in as information on Mellena appeared. [Light magic] seem to require a certain amount of preparation time, making it possible to prematurely halt the technique before it is completed. The hands also play a crucial role in the preparation, so interfering with the user''s arms can hinder the magic. [Light magic] seems to be rather mana-taxing. Azik who had been quiet all this time finally spoke "The guests are taken care of..." Roland looked towards Mellena and then at the empty space beside her. He said in a low tone "Whatever happened inside the room, shouldn''t be known outside....Please do remember this." Chapter 20 - Chapter:- 20 Meeting Nightingale (Part-2) Roland looked towards Kite ,he spoke in his usual tone "Someone wants to meet both of you guys. This certain somebody wants your permission to take away Anna and others. What are your thoughts on this..???". He walked towards the chair ,sat down as he leaned backwards. "Ohhh....Interesting ,I believe this certain somebody is a witch ???...." Azik looked towards Roland ,he picked up the glass beside him. He picked up the jar on the wooden table beside him. He took a sip after pouring some red wine inside the glass. An amused expression made its way towards his face. "They are allowed to leave whenever they want, they have their freedom of choice but Anna can''t leave. She is going to experience [Adulthood], it''s dangerous for her in this period of time. Atleast not before the end of the [Months of Demons]." Kite turned his head towards Roland and spoke monotonously. "Very well....,first let''s interrogate the intruders. We can discuss this later on." Said Roland while keeping his pocket watch inside his br??st pocket. "Mellena, make sure that the girls are safe. I don''t want unnecessary trouble. Also prepare a room in which we would discuss things concerning them." Kite ordered Mellena, the [Light-witch] to stand guard while Azik interrogates the intruders. Creak....The floor made noise as he moved towards the door. His fingers firmly grasping the knob. He turned his head towards left and spoke in a normal tone. "You coming or what...???" Azik placed the empty cup back on the table, he walked towards Kite as he glanced at him. His yellow crystal eyes glowed a little. Both of them left for the prison, beneath the castle. Roland''s face was partially covered in shadows created by the light from the [Fire-place], the only portion clearly visible were his lips, curled up, indicating that he was satisfied with the progression of the situation. He spoke in a low-tone, which unusually sounded extremely clear to Mellena and Nightingale who watched the whole exchange from her [Mist]. Nightingale appeared beside Mellena, complicated was her expression, she couldn''t understand just what was going on here. She could tell that this organization was beneficial for witches, neither of the three leaders wanted to exploit or had other plans for them. But her instincts told her that, their goal was something much greater than only helping the witches. But no matter how she looked at the situation, she couldn''t make any head or tail out of the situation. She decided to ask, what is their true goal in the upcoming meeting. Mellena and Nightingale bowed and walked towards the door which was left open by Kite on his way out together with Azik. Nightingale was preoccupied with thinking of ways to convince Anna and others whereas Mellena was busy thinking about her master''s answer. Due to this they forgot to close the old, wooden door of the [Study], a minor mistake you may say. Roland glanced at the open pathway, the door''s hinges made Creak...Sound, the door closed by itself as knob twisted close, isolating the room. Roland pulled his drawer, a silver colored pistol was lying inside it. The gun was pretty long barreled, old and sophiscatedly designed. On its handle, a skull-design could be seen. [Sentencia de muerte], on its barrel the name [Death knell] was craved in Spanish, thus confirming it''s origin. In the previous world, this gun accompanied him from Level 5 to above beyonder levels. This weapon was Klein''s most trusted weapon. After becoming a [God] ,this extraordinary item evolved into an artifact, the weapon of a [God]. Even in the last moments, it always accompanied him. Now that he had lost his powers, the gun too had returned to its original form. It''s actually had a very simple ability to harvest other people''s lives. There are three ways: The second is [Fatal attack]. You must use the hammer before the trigger to use it. It is characterized by the fact that it is equivalent to a weak point attack regardless of where you hit the target, and if you really hit the real weakness, then, For an enemy that is not too strong in defense, you can do a deadly shot. For a good defense target, you can solve it in three shots, including [Guardian] pathway beyonders. Of course, the premise is that the interval between three hits should not be too long, preferably no more than 5.0 second. The third is [Killing]. On the basis of the weak point attack, it provides more than double the spirituality. This can make the normal bullet produce a shotgun effect. At the same time, it attacks a large number of enemies in the direction of the muzzle. It belongs to the scope of killing. To increase the damage level. On the basis of a fatal attack, it provides more than twice the spirituality, which is no small burden for the user. It can also be matched with bullets of different characteristics for different types of enemies. After each use, you will get a weakness that didn''t exist, or strengthen the existing weaknesses and make it more extreme. This effect will be effective for 6 Hours. He ??r?sses the gun while speaking in a low-tone "It''s time for this world to witness the power of Beyonder weapons....." The flame of the [Fire-place] continued to burn with great vigor ,casting a shadow on Roland''s figure. Chapter 21 - :-21 Another Corpse Inside a dimly lit chamber, surrounded by hard brickes all around, sat a figure on a wooden chair. His arms were tied behind his back, cuffed with strong chains. His waist was strapped to the chair he was sitting on, legs binded together with the chains. The figure was that of a man, his face was covered with a black cloth. His body slumped about on the chair. His breathing was normal and calm, he was only unconscious. The chamber was illuminated by candles placed on the holders on the wall. Shadows cast on the edges while no sound could be heard inside the room. Suddenly the candles flickered, like wind blowing but that wasn''t the case since the room was isolated from the world. A foot came out of the shadows before a leg,followed by the whole body appeared in the light. The figure was wearing a White-cloak ,[Assassin Creed] outfit. The cloak had a hood on the back which covered Kite''s face. A sword hanging around his waist. Kite held an apathetic look on his face, like nothing could influence his mind. His face was hidden by the hood he was wearing but the [Reader] streak glowed in the darkness like neon. His eyes were cold, face indifferent ,he glanced at the person trapped in the chamber. The nobles of [Longsong Stronghold], had sent a messenger to express their intention to provide protection in exchange of the gold coming out of the Mines in the border town. Roland refused their offer and cut of any kind of connection with that place, enraged by what this ''Worthless'' trash did, the most influential noble decided to sent some people to burn the food stock of the people in the border town and also to destroy the wall who''s construction was nearly complete. He glanced back, his eyes seemed to pierce through the shadows and locate his target. Soon after he removed his gaze from the shadows, another figure emerged behind him. She was wearing black-colored maid uniform. Her hair was slightly messy, indicating that she was a bit tired. Kattara was tired after taking care of 25 intruders ,she had used much mana to collect all the useful information she could get for her master. Kite turned around and lightly patted her head before saying "After this work is done you should sleep, I will ask the others to not to wake you up early." His voice didn''t contain much emotion, even though Kattara was only half-a head shorter than Kite, he still had unknowingly made a habit to pat her head. ''Strange habit????...Must be due to the memories and muscle memories that the original had devolped.'' thought Kite as he once again focused his attention to the guy sitting in front of him. ''Cynthia didn''t pull back any punches huh.....'' blood flowed down from the long cut ,freshly made by Cynthia from his face. "Wake him up....." He stared at the man in front of him. Squared structured face, black hair long enough to reach his neck, his face wasn''t anything much, especially after the wound that Cynthia gave him. Kattara, standing beside him extended her hand and channeled her Mana. Her eyes gained a white color instead of the usual black ball. She sent a [Mental shock], strong enough to wake him up. The previous unconscious man, opened his eyes, his thoughts were a little hazy after suffering the attack but soon regained his clarity. He focused on the people in front of him and tried to remember what happened. His eyes widened as a torment of memories ?ssaulted his mind. Fear clouded his thinking ,struggle began to break free from his restrains and escape. Last time before he lost conscious, he along with some other were tasked to burn the food stock of the border town. But while doing so, they were suddenly intercepted with a demon, witch. She could control the shadows and even [God''s retaliation stone] could suppress her powers. Their squad were wiped out by her whereas he was knocked unconscious. "Struggling is useless.....You can''t escape from this place nor will somebody come here to save you. Tell me who was the one who ordered you to burn all the food." Kite asked with no expression on his face, no emotion in his voice. "I wil tell you....Please don''t kill me. It was the the Nobles of [Longsong stronghold]. The top influential house head wanted to cripple you after they heard your speech about fighting of the demons." He quickly spilled the beans after all mercenaries were never loyal to anyone. Kite ,after making sure that what he said inclined with what Kattara had found. He nodded and spoke in a calm tone "Thanks for the information." Saying so he pulled his sword and stabbed his heart. Kattara had an uncomfortable expression on her face. The man''s eyes opened in horror as he managed to squeeze out some words before his conscious faded away. "W.. Why Yo..You Pro...Promised to let me go....???" Blood sprayed out from his ?h?st ,dyeing him along with the floor with red color. Kite still had his apathetic expression on his face as he pulled out the sword and said in a calm tone "I never said anything about sparing you....." His lifeless body limply laid on the chair, the light inside his eyes slowly diminished, his body had already gone cold due to excessive lose of blood. Kite turned towards Kattara, looking at her uncomfortable face. He said in a neutral tone. "Steel your heart Kattara, don''t hesitated to kill people like him. If he were to successfully burn all the food stocks, not only the hardwork we did would have gone to waste but also many would have died due to shortage of food." "Just for a meager amount of money, he was willing to kill some many people. He deserved to die." Saying so he turned towards the shadows and disappeared. Kattara stood silently, gazing at the lifeless body lying in front of her and thinking about what her master had said to her. After some time she too turned and allowed the shadows to swallow her. The room regained it''s previous tranquility. The candles once more flickered ,the lifeless body which was lying on the chair ,in the pool of its own blood suddenly disappeared. About 5m away it reappeared, not a hint of blood on it could be seen, the eyes were pure white whereas the blood was abnormally cold. "Hmm...At this rate it will take some time to digest the potion. Well he did say that soon I will get a golden chance, let''s just wait." A figure made of darkness appeared in front of the corpse. His crystal yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. Chapter 22 - :-22 Completetion of Wall Creak...The door opened ,Roland didn''t look who came through it, his hands were busy writing different scripts for administration of the border town. Roland was wearing golden outlined robe, his [Death knell] hung from his belt. The room was illuminated by candles and [fire-place], the light provided by these sources weren''t much, especially at night. For a normal person it would be hard to maintain his eyesight but after Roland became [Sequence 8:-Clown], his bodily functions, reflex action, muscle memory, senses were highly enhanced. "What did you got from that guy????...." Roland asked while Kite sat of the sofa near [Fire-place], beside him on the wooden table lay a bottle of coffee. In this world there was nothing such as coffee. Frank, one of Klein''s or should I saw German sparrow''s friend ,who was from [Planter pathway] invented special seeds which resembled the characteristics of coffee beans. The beans were self-reproductive and didn''t need sunlight or any other natural factor to grow. Only a little amount of spirituality and the farming of coffee beans became possible. Roland and Kite both were heavy coffee drinkers so leaving in this world without coffee was another hard thing to indure. Kite didn''t reply ,he pulled the jug kept on the table and poured the hot milk inside the cup lying beside the jug. He picked up the coffee bottle and poured some coffee into the milk before stirring the content using a spoon. His hand became hot, a yellow glow covered his palm which was holding the cup as the other continued stirring using the spoon. After some time ,sweet aroma filled the entire room. He took a sip of the coffee and exhaled a mouthful of air, his muscles relaxed ,his back laid comfortably at the sofa. He looked at Roland before saying "The intruders were taken care off ,some more will target the walls with explosives but it will take them some time to arrive here in the border town." "Hmmm...You take care of them while deal with the problems of managing this town. I can''t do this forever as we have a much bigger goal to accomplish." Roland stopped writing and put down his quill. "What about Nightingale???...." Asked Kite as he sip his coffee. His hood was removed ,the handsome face had an unusual glow under the illumination of the [Fire-place]. "She is currently under Mellena''s watch and is sharing a room with them. I asked Mellena to keep a watch on her and try to convince her to join us, together with the other witches." "Though her ability to see mana is problematic, if someone utilizes magic near her then she would know about it. Since thats the case, I can''t risk Kattara into influencing her mind." Said Roland with a sigh. Kite smiled as he said "It''s okay.....their camp is very close to a horde of demons. If everything goes right then expect some more witches in the castle." His expression was indifferent. "I see.... Azik-san should be able to promote to next level soon. What about your progress ????" Asked Roland after looking at Kite for sometime. "My [Reader] is close to digesting completely, reading books really helped. [Spectator] has been completely digested ,but I am waiting for the months of demons to begin. [Apothecary] has also been digested thanks to Frank''s notes and experiments, it helped me in creating many different kinds of potions." "Even playing docter with Nana helped me. [Bard] well to tell the truth ,I haven''t made any progress with this one ....Yet. One is required to pray to [Eternal Blazing Sun] to digest the potion, but this world doesn''t have him." "So creating a [Spiritual-Mausoleum] is nesscary along with using the [Fire-element charms]. Ask the [Mason-Guild] to make it near the castle location along with a throne inside it." Kite looked at the [fire-place] ,the flames danced beautifully. "What about the next level of [Reader], the information along with the ingredients are missing, even with the [Cards of blasphemy] it is too hard for you to ascend to next level." A frown appeared on his face as he thought about the missing blocks of the sequence. "Don''t worry I will exchange pathway to skip the next level. Generally only after ascending to at least Sequence-5 can you exchange pathways if any but [Reader] pathway is special as we can switch with [Folk of rage] from [Tyrant pathway]." "After I promote to sequence 7 I will again change back to [Reader pathway], so it wouldn''t be a problem for me." Said Kite. Knock...Knock..The door which was sealed using spirituality was knocked twice before a voice travelled inside the room. "Master & Your Highness, I have detected a squad of 6 people heading towards the town walls. They are currently in the east-jungle to move more freely and hide their positions." Kattara''s voice was crystal clear. They had come. Kite stood up while the knob twisted open, two figure came into view, one was Kattara while standing beside her was Nightingale in her ?ssassin dress. Nightingale immediately noticed that the mysteries person, who was apparently one of the 3 leader wasn''t wearing his hood. Unfortunately his back was facing her so she couldn''t see his face. Kite put down the cup and wore his hood before motioning Kattara to follow him. He glanced towards Roland and said in his usual calm tone. "I will take care of them, make sure that the construction is finished by tomorrow also don''t forget what we discussed. Kattara, you and Cynthia will follow me." Saying so he walked towards the door. Just as he passed Nightingale, she suddenly spoke "I too want to come....". Kite glanced at her for a moment before nodding his head slightly. Chapter 23 - :-23 A Glimpse of Past (Part-1) [Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.] I still wonder, was it worth it...when we fought against the gods. Sure the world would have been destroyed if we didn''t but what of it. Every beyonder was selfish, shameless, murdurer, thief, what not. The only thing which kept me going was fear...fear that my sister wouldn''t get to live a normal life, that she too would be dragged in this mess, fear that the bounds which I made in the [Tarot club], inevitably would all disappear, fear that once more I will lose everything. If there is a god then I am thankful to him for giving me this another chance, .......though I wanted to die,....... and to tell you the truth I still do but the shackles known as friends and families forces me to keep going. The d?s?r? to return to my own world is as strong as ever. My longing to rest has just increased,... but not yet, I can''t rest just yet. Not before killing the stars, the one''s who ruined it all. A figure flashed through, the darkness of the night provided the perfect natural cover anyone would ever require. The wind whistled through the leaves. The blurry shadow ,dashing through the forest. The Figure had long wings, black feather, Empty eyes ,long talons ,a canny beak. The bird was unusually black, well using the word ''bird'' would be undermining it''s size ,any modern world person will only speak one word....Dinosaur. On the back of the black bird under the black night, sat three figures. Cloak covered their bodies. Nightingale was wearing black-brown ?ssassin clothes, arrows and bow on her back, a long knife strapped to her left th??h, a short silver sword strapped to her waist. The cloak had a chainmail beneath it which could even block attacks from Kite''s sword for sometime. Beside her was Cynthia, wearing Black Mithril armor, the long silver hair that she concealed inside the hood. She had two daggers hanging from her waist. She had used the darkness that she was blessed with to create a huge ''bird'', unlike Mellena who could turn into [Light-cluster] to travel at unbelievable speeds, she could only order the dark to do her bidding. Both of their cloaks flustered under the wind they were experiencing, infront of them sat Kite. Red-white armor, like the light which peirces the dark, his armor shined with a brilliant light. His head was incased inside a war-helmet, two horns coming out of both of its sides. Red streams running all over the armor gave his a strange vibe, a dangerous one. Looking at his armor, one would think of paladins of the [Seyaki temple], unlike the original novel, in this world [Church] wasn''t the only religion, but it was certainly the only one which had such big ambitions. But that''s a topic for another chapter. From his waist hung his [Holy-sword], his left white-red gauntlet held a strange looking weapon. A gun, not the one from [Lord of the mysteries world] after all the technology was far primitive when compared to the modern earth. Kite was awfully familiar with guns due to his profession, life before he met her and decided to settle down. Even after wearing such an intimidating armor, the overall weight of Kite was 3kg less than a normal guard''s. The mithril was really a magical smithing material. The ''bird'' looked towards his left, the trees weren''t able to block it''s superior vision. His eyes pierced through the leaves and bushes, it immediately changed direction after issuing a low-screech to alert Cynthia. Cynthia together with Kattara''s help was able to induce some awareness and conscious inside the bird of darkness, thus a failed product of conscious project. They travelled at high speed, such as the sound of cutting of winds could be heard clearly, more like whistling. Kite jumps off the ''bird'' back, on a tree branch and launches towards the source. [Killing is not so easy as the innocent believe.] [Killing don''t need no reason. This is ghetto. Reason is for rich people. We have madness.] His sword unsheathed, the harbinger of death is here...only the souls of the enemies could quench this thrust that made him like this. The source of the sound was a man, 6''0¡ã feet tall ,dark skin ,wearing brown clothes ,a hammer hung from his waist whereas the scare on his arm displayed the dangers he had faced before. His turned around to see the reason, the silence that the forest had maintained was now lost. Alas!!!....it was too late for things such as regret, anger, confusion, etc. The sword with the cross on its handle had already pierced his heart, claimed his life as the blood spurted out of his wound. The blood painted on the ground red, the heaviness of the situation had already increased along with tension and the scent of blood in the air. Chapter 24 - :-24 A Glimpse of Past (Part-2) Thud thud.....sounds of footsteps resounded throughout the place, a group consisting of 18 people wearing black uniform with a skull on the back and long sleeves was marching towards a huge mansion of one of the strongest family in the [Longsong stronghold]. While walking through the city, people avoided them like trouble. They had this expression on their face which made it clear that they were very afraid of the 18 people walking on the road. The horde of black could easily be identified by the symbol on their back. The white skull with a smoke pipe, in all of the [Longsong stronghold] only one group of people could wear these clothes. The [Smoking skull Mercenaries], a band of savage looking, brutes who could do anything for money, even kill their own families for enough money, the worst kind of human beings found in the city.....no demons hiding in human skin would be more appropriate to address people like them. They individuals were known for their ruthlessness and cruel behavior ,they accepted missions from the city [Guild] and had slaughtered many people to get what they want. Rather than an official group, these people were more like criminals who had escaped from the jail. The big shots of the city had these people to do their dirty work, due to this they have attained quite a status inside the city, after all they were being sponsored by those top rich families in the city. They didn''t care about what others thought about them after all all that mattered for them was power and status. Today one of their members rushed towards the group meeting place and told everyone that the top brass had a mission for them. After equipping themselves with their weapons they made their way towards the huge mansion were they would usually discuss the price for the task which was being given to them. It would always vary from 5-gold to 15-gold per mission. Their dress was extremely striking and hard to forget once seen ,they wore heavy armor with great swords around their waists. The had ripped muscles and bulky body of a barbarian. They wore metal boots and light-Krypton chain-mail beneath their vests. The road had already been abandoned ,they quickly made their way to the mansion. It was a huge 3-floored mansion, white in color and many guards protecting the place.. It was surrounded my a large garden which made even the them drool like greedy bastards which they are. The guards creaked open while they arrived near the door ,a s?xy maid with a curvaceous figure came to greet them and led them inside the mansion. The men drooled upon seeing her ?ss jiggle like a bell upon walking. Many of them wanted nothing more than to just push her down and fu?k the hell out of her but upon remembering the place they were at ,also for whom the maid worked for, all these thoughts disappeared like smoke. "Boss.....we are so strong and high in status, if we take one of the maids here.....I don''t think the higher ups would be angry.????" a man with a scare above his left eyebrow spoke up. Smack.....a hand, a huge hand immediately smacked the back of his head. The man turned around to see who was the one who did this. He had a scary face with lots of cuts and scars all over, one of his left hand finger was missing. He also wore the same clothes as the bunch but his was much bigger. "Calm your t?ts...!!!!, don''t touch anyone of them or your dead body wouldn''t be found after they kill you, all these beauties belong to ''him''." said the big guy with a nasty grin. The muscles around his noise tightened, making him look more terrifying than ever. The man gulped after hearing the big guy, he took one last ?ustful look at the busty maids in front of him and calmed down his ?ust. He looked towards the big guy with a grin before saying "Big Bro.....after we are done with the mission ,I want to visit a brothel to vent up." The big guy looked towards the maid and said with a nasty grin on his face, that terrifying face scared even the other members around. "Or maybe we can ask of one of them as the reward for completing the mission." both the men around him and the maid shivered after hearing his words. One due to excitement and ?ust they were feeling while the other due to fear and dread. Her conternance changed, thankfully no one saw her expression since they were facing her back. They laughed disgustingly while openly eyeing the hour glass like figure of the maid in front of them. Muscles tightened, soft small hands clenched tightly, anger, hate, these effects became evident on her face but were soon replaced by helplessness. After all as a maid, her life didn''t belong to her anymore. All she could do was to pray that whatever the mission her master was going to give them, would fail. Chapter 25 - :-25 A Glimpse of Past (Part-3) Inside a well furnished room, red carpet covering the floor with green colored theme for the walls. On the walls, several heads of deer, lions, tiger ,etc hung, giving a spooky feeling. On the table, a vase and ash-tray were kept, beside the table sat a middle-aged man, Smoking. He wore green floral robe with silver embroidery. His left hand held a wooden case, with exquisite patterns on it surface. Inside the room were many people, some wore silver armor with sharp spear firmly grasped in their hands while others wearing strange cult-type clothes. Their was this strange peaceful atmosphere inside the room, the person smoking was the only one sitting on a chair while the others remain standing. They were apparently waiting for the man to speak. He had green-iris ,sharp eyes like an eagle''s whereas his brows were joint ,brown colored brushy brows. He expression was one of apathy while he smoked the cigar. He inhaled the smoke, but as destined it came out from his nose. He flicked cigar and looked towards the people standing in front of him. "I want you to burn all the ration of [Border town], nothing should remain there for them to eat. I want to see that waste of prince beg me for food." Anger was evident on the ugly face of this human scum. "How dare he refuse my kindness!!!!, he should have just given me those crystals and move here to spend the winter. But he dared to reject this offer and even somehow built a wall around the [Border town]." "Take more men with you, explosives to blast that damned wall. I will also see how does he survive this winter.....humph..!!!" Apparently this noble, along with others had sent his representative to negotiate with Roland about the trade cost and protection fees. But unfortunately, Roland already had the plan discussed with Kite and Azik. Even the so-called god couldn''t change his decision now. So to make Roland pay, this idiot hired the most notorious mercenaries to burn down the food stock kept in the warehouse behind the castle ,while blast the nearly completed wall. "Making a move against the 4th Prince is same as challenging the royal family, if not enough money, then we would be taking this mission." The nasty giant of a man replied in a greedy tone. "30 Gold coins, even after dividing this much amount you all will be able to fulfill your dreams." negotiated the man as he kept his cigar in the ash-tray. After hearing the words of the middle-aged man, the [Smoking skull gang] all had the same greedy grin on their face. The huge-man from before spoke up "If you agree to one of our condition then consider the work done....." the grin on his face couldn''t get nastier. The middle-aged man frowned but eventually nodded his head , indicating that he was willing to listen. "We want one of your maids..." sorry I was wrong, he could make an expression even nastier than before but this time his ?ustful nature could also be clearly seen on his face. The Middle-aged man thought for sometime before nodded his head, agreeing to his condition but also added that they must finish their task within 6 days. "Don''t worry leave everything to us boss, just make sure our ''prize'' is prepared. Hahahahahaha hahahah!!!!!!!!....." laughed the dumb horny beasts. {The 4th night} "Boss, we have taken care of the guards. Let''s quickly ignite the ration and leave, I am not feeling comfortable near the vicinity of this old castle." "It feels like I am stared at by the dead...it''s frightening cold out here. Let''s quickly return so that I can warm myself with that maids body." spoke a short statured man, with crooked nose and a disgusting face. They had travelled for 3 days to reach the [Border town], after bribing the guards at the village gate they arranged for an empty place where they could prepare the explosives. They were wearing black clothes with a smoking skull printed on the back of it. It was already dark outside. People working in the mines had already returned to their home while the Stonemasons had returned to their guild. The atmosphere was quite cold, rain and lightning indicated the bad climate which usually comes at the time of [Months of demons]. The gang had already killed the two guards, responsible for guarding the backdoor which lead to the warehouse. They cut their throats and dragged their body in the bushes, since it was raining the smell of blood would be masked giving them ample of time to finish their task. The warehouse was old but well maintained, other than some small cuts and little leakage there was no other problem with it. It was pretty huge ,about 3 stories with proper sections to store food. The place was behind the castle, thus the wall gave them protection from prying eyes. Initially they planned to set the whole warehouse on fire but due to the rain, they could only ignite it from inside. They needed to be fast, total 28 people came to the town through hidden routes. They had planned to use the panic ,unrest and the distraction caused by the burning to ration and also blast the city wall. As soon as the explosives are ignited and the wall destroyed ,must leave the town as soon as possible, no room for failure. The two groups had already taken their positions, the 10 people moved inside the warehouse while staying alert of their surrounding. But one thing went unnoticed by them, the bodies of the guards were already cold even before their death like....dead bodies. The bushes had traces of blood on them but somehow there was no body. Chapter 26 - :-26 A Glimpse of Past (Part-4) [Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.] [Conscience warns us as a friend before it punishes us as a judge.] Drip....Drip...Drip....the water seeped in through the narrow cuts and holes in the worn out structure of the warehouse. The place was warm due to the old wood taking the blunt of the cold and rain. It was a brick-made building, before the invention of cement. Stone-masons would require a long time to just finish making the brick required for the construction of different buildings. It was costly ,mostly only nobles and rich businessmen could afford one, making one was hard ,plus in case the owner had to leave the city for any reason, he could only lament on his luck and conditions after all even if he wanted to sell off the building not many would be willing to but it. But this was only applicable for [1st rate Brick] as it was the top brass in all of the constructs. The huge and thick walls surrounding the Capital were made of this type-brick ,other kinds of bricks were the [2nd rate Brick] from which the houses of some small landlords and people possessing similar professions were made. They were down-grade version of the previous one but provided sturdy constructs which could last centuries. Lastly the [3rd rate Brick] which were used to create public necessities like public toilets and other facilities like the post office. The current Era in which people lived was neither advanced nor totally primitive, it was a little backwards when compared to that of [Lord of the mysteries world] ,one could say that the humans were on the verge of entering the age of steam powered machines. "Little Joe, you go and check the southern portion. See if the food is stored there ,if it is then first report to me after that we can burn down this warehouse and proceed with the second part of the plan. " said a tall brute wearing black coat and hat. Probably the leader as the person named Joe quickly nodded with any objection. Joe quickly turned around, he placed his foot sideways to turn towards the southern portion of the warehouse. Whistle....the non-existent wind picked up speed behind him. All the hair on the back of his neck stood up as an uncomfortable feeling of dread overcame his senses. He felt cold, body in a freezer. Then ,black stakes dyed in the darkness of the shadows that graced this quite building came out of the ground piercing Joe''s back. Pierce....blood ran down the now red colored stakes as Joe remained standing even in death, not because he was brave or was a fighter but because the same stake which killed him also gave him support. People around him were horrified after seeing what had just happened to Joe, the person standing next to him had red ,blood-colored eyes as he hacked the stakes with the short sword hanging loosely from his waist. Ding...the metal collided against the crimson piercer and bounced back, he howled like an animal due to the huge hole which was created after his feet were cruelly pierced by more stakes. "What is going on ,what the hell are those!!!!!" more and more stakes started coming out of the ground as the mercenaries were being pierced one after another, blood had dyed the floor so had the corpses. The leader of the group grabbed hold of the shield on his back and blocked the incoming stakes. Other also pulled out their swords and shields to defend against this seemingly infinite amount of stakes. Even so the number of stakes greatly outnumbered that of the mercenaries, also due to the stakes popping out of anywhere, they were having difficultly in blocking the incoming stakes. Even though their squad was equipped with armor and chain-mail, it wasn''t able to totally block the incoming stakes, out of 10 ,3 had died under the constant barrage of stakes while 4 were bleeding, if not treated soon ,they would die due to the excessive loss of blood in their body. "Retreat...abandon the mission, RETREAT!!!!!!" seeing that the condition was not favorable for them, the leader immediately ordered the squad to retreat. He quickly turned back to rush towards the exit. As soon as he turned ,he eyes widened, face distorted ,anger raged ,fear appeared on his face. Slash....the cold metal shimmered in the dark, his vision changed, expression froze along with the words inside his throat....his head rolled down the floor. The last thing he witnessed before death claiming his life was a beautiful woman ,wearing black-maid uniform that usually the maids of a noble wore, her exquisite face with a cold-expression and unfeeling eyes, the sliver hair that shinned in the dark, bewildering him why didn''t he saw her, but the thing which was most striking about her was the huge scythe in her hand with which she claimed his life. Seeing the head of their leader on the ground, others immediately grew agitated and madly rushed towards Cynthia ,insult and curses were the strongest weapon left in their arsenal. "You Bitch..." Slash.....another head rolled along with the fountain of blood that had flooded the warehouse floor. In the silent night ,head continued to roll till the last one was claimed. The world isn''t a fairy tale, to live in this heartless world you must be cold ,cold till your heart feels nothing ,cold till you redefine it''s very meaning, cold till the world freezes at your magnificence. {After the rolling of heads} "The intruders have been taken care of master, some more are detected near the city wall." "Very well....so they have come." Chapter 27 - :-27 A Glimpse of Past (Part-5) "John Wick, the boogeyman is back huh.....though its not like i didn''t except something like this to happen. I heard about your wife ,my condolences....." said a man wearing red jacket, black jeans and black shirt. He had a well defined body similar to an athlete ,his had a smile on his face while his palm rested in his pocket. "It''s good to see you too Shinki...." replied John in a hoarse voice, he wore gray shirt and blue overcoat along with grey jeans and brown boots. His hair hanged from the sides while his scar-full face had a light smile. "So you are back in the game i guess after all you are planning to kill ''his'' son, by now probably the whole world would have got the information that you, my friend are back in this game....." said Luo Shinki ,his left hand grasped the railing of the river-side ,they were standing on. "He killed my dog and stole my car....that dog was my only light left in this world after my wife died and that son of a bitch killed my light.....once i have killed him i will go back to the peaceful life i was living." he hoarse voice did help him in getting the talk to be understood by everyone. "Hahahahahah.....years ago when you wanted to quit, i did said thst you would be able to leave this life ,it will eventually come back to you and you would eventually come back in this field. That time you shrugged my warning off without any care but now i hope you do realize that what the said on that day was indeed the truth." said Shinki with an amused expression on his face. "John lives in a world where there is no humility. No compassion. And certainly no mercy." "He lives in a world corroded by sin. And dirt." "And the only way to outmatch the dirt. Is to become even dirtier." "And that''s what makes Wick the most dangerous man alive." "The underground overlords can''t always see him." "The criminal masterminds can''t buy him." "The thugs with too much power can''t hide from him." "The ?ssassins certainly can''t kill him." "John Wick is what makes underground overlords look behind their back twice." '' "John Wick is what makes masterminds shiver behind their gold." "John Wick is what makes thugs with too much power feel weak." "John Wick is what makes ?ssassins feel powerless." "The Boogeyman may haunt people''s minds through nightmares¡­but even the Boogeyman has a nightmare." "And its name is Baba Yaga." said Shinki as he straightened his color, he extended his right hand towards John''s shoulder and gave him a pat saying that he didn''t choose this life, it chose you instead. So you can''t run from it, not forever at least. "We apologize for the uninvited visit of Miss Perkins. No business can be conducted on the Hotel premises, including fighting and carrying out contracts on other ?ssassins in the hotel; Ms. Perkins broke this rule, which will cause her to incur heavy penalties from the establishment including the revocation of her membership as well as her own death." "The [Continental Hotel] has its own rules. She broke the rules, i will claim her life for that. Remember John whatever you do don''t break the rules. The [Collector] will claim lives if that were to happen." saying so he disappeared from John''s view, leaving him alone at the river side. "The [Collector] of the [Continental] huh....." .................................................... Blood... The red color had became a everyday thing for me, they saw people do change and when they do they also change their destiny. Neither John nor I managed to escape our faith. He wanted a peaceful life but instead was chased by the whole world whereas i fell in love. I used to think that if John didn''t marry Helen, would he still would have been an ?ssassin. Would he still would have been struck in that mud. What about be, if i didn''t meet her would i have still been working as the executioner of the [Continental]. Sometime i thing if i would have been given a second change would i have still fallen in love with her???? Would she would have been the reason of my smile???? The reason for my guilt and pain??? The reason for my hard work and d?s?r? to return. I don''t know about anything else but i do know that i would have loved her even if i would have been given a 1000 chance to chose different. Now here i stand on the mountain of corpses, if killing some people would help me achieve my wish, if it could help me meet her even if a single time, i would gladly lay down a mountain of corpse for a chance. People may consider me a monster, but i only know one thing, this world is full of hypocrites. Looting someone, trampling their dignity, raping their mother, sister ,killing their future is much more cruel in my eyes where my killing is the release of the soul. These people wanted to blow up the wall, something which would make it harder and longer to fulfill the goal, the one thing Roland and Azik had been pouring their mind to accomplish. Unacceptable........dead is the final destination. "Master let''s return after all the work in done, for which we came here to finish. The place no longer require our presence." said Cynthia standing beside the armored Kite. Chapter 28 - :-27 The Army (Part-1) Inside the [Study] stood ,two people. One had silver armor covering his body along with a sword hanging from his waist, he had black hair and pale yellow eyes, resembling a tiger''s. While the other one was clearly much older in comparison, he had oval-structured face and long brown beard. The head was partially bald with the leftover grass on the edges, leaving a pit in the center. He was wearing Brown robe and bear skin sweater, obviously the winter was affecting him. His eyes were sharp and deep as he held a document concerning the trades in his hands. "Your Highness ,this faithful servant of your have immediately came after hearing your summon." said the scholar-like man with a smile. "My prince ,your chief knight is at your command.....!!!!!" stated the armored soldier ,a strong and wild aura emitted from his body worthy of being the head of security in the castle. Roland calmly watched the two and nodded as a sign of acknowledgement for their greeting. He was wearing purple robe and black vast which didn''t hide the perfectly muscled yet lean body beneath the cover of the robe. Not many knew that ,the worthless prince actually had a body physique no less good than Kite''s. The previous soul had actually trained his body due to the constant pressure from Kite, the original one. "Sir Carter....,did you summon the person who had fought against a [Demon] before and survived as I asked you to do???" questioned Roland, knowing more about the challenges he will be facing in the future would help him to improvise Kite''s plan if needed. "Yes your Highness, he is waiting outside the door. But I still don''t understand that why did you summon him, he is a hunter not a warrior." asked Carter in a confused manner. "That''s because I asked him to do so....." a voice ,cold and indifferent ,like a melody attracted their attention. Knowing full well that before they came in the room ,only Roland was sitting there but now another person had just appeared in the [Study] from nowhere. The voice was clear and resounded strangely loud in their ears, normally Carter would have attacked the source of sound by now but the tone was awfully familiar to them. Both Barov and Carter got on one knee just like they did before greeting Roland and said in a faithful tone "Greetings Kite-sama.....!!!!" due to Kite before an adopted son, he didn''t had a prince title so they politely addressed him by his name. Kite nodded before sitting down on the sofa, he was wearing his usual white cloak and hood ,his sword hanging loosely from his waist. "I wanted to gather more information about the types of [Demons] we may face in the [Months of Demons], the current strength of the city is close to Null, due to the wall we have an advantage." "We must train more people as soldiers to protect the town and also so that the loose rules could be fixed. Only by increase the offensive capability of the people can we survive with zero causality." "Azik is busy while acting as the [Gatekeeper] of the graveyard and can''t teach them but you can ,with that persons experience and your training we can most probably create an [Anti-demon] squad." patiently explained Kite while the doubts on Carter''s face blew away like lofty clouds. Knock.....the knob twisted open as a large man entered the room, he wore [Hunter''s garb] ,two battle-axe on his back along with a bow ,arrows on his waist. His face had a scar on his leg cheek ,black hair and black eyes. The presence was equivalent to that of a savage, he bowed his head towards Roland and placed his left hand on his ?h?st as a sign of respect. "Greetings Your Highness...." he said in an hoarse tone and a serious expression. Kite observed the man standing in front of him, 6`7 feet tall gaint with a muscular body. His eyes glowed under the covers of his hood with Blueish color as his [Reader] along with [Spectator] kicked in. Tall man, viligant of his surroundings, slightly nervous since he is sweating a bit, nervous he is since his muscles of face are tight. He must be thinking about why Roland had summoned him here. The [Spectator] was able to tell ,the emotions he was feeling. Dark toned skin, a little tanned, very tall when compared to a typical individual of [Castle of graycastle]. Even on the whole continent ,their shouldn''t be people like him. Conclusion ,he must be from some other country. "Iron Axe, do you want to stay in the [Border town].....????" asked Roland in a very straightforward manner. This question stunned Iron Axe who bitterly smiled a little before saying that "No matter what, neither I can nor I will leave this town." "What about demons????" "I will kill as many as I can before i run out o options and die....." Iron Axe replied with determination. "Will you protect the town if given a chance????" "Yes your highness!!!!.....I own a lot to this town and it''s people ,they excepted me for me not because of my origin, even life isn''t that precious." he replied with conviction. "Very well ,I will give you a chance to kill them, are you willing to protect the town with your life.....?????" asked Roland. "Thank you Your highness, I wouldn''t let you down..." Chapter 29 - :-28 The Army (Part-2) The below content contains some spoiler from Lord of the Mysteries so please proceed on your own risk. Please comment and leave a review for the novel. Thanks for reading guys.----------------------- "Thrust !!!!,Pull !!!!,Thrust !!!!,Pull!!!!......Attention !!!!..." a hoarse very reverberated throughout the place, the warmth of sun for the last time before the upcoming [Months of Demons] acted as baptism for these people, rather soldiers that were going to face the biggest struggle in anyone''s life....to survive, to return home, to their loved one''s ,to fulfill a promise. Sweat dripped down their face, eyes determined and filled with confidence ,ripped bodies filled with overwhelming power ,they wore black colored armor, a helmet made of gray mithril. Black gloves witch glowed with a mysterious light, metal boots. A silver dagger which greatly resembled [Marine crops] tactical knife along which a long [Rifle]. "Take positions !!!!!......." roared a large man wearing uniform identical to that of the soldiers, two lions protruding out from the shoulder guard along with a silver star embedded on his ?h?st. The man had a savage face presence along with a commanding air. His name Iron Axe, due to him being from [Sand country] some of the people weren''t that happy with him being the commander of this squad that he leaded. But him being the most experienced individual, who killed some demons in the last [Months of Demons]. A rifle is a portable, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate long-range shooting, to be held with both hands and braced against the shoulder for stability during firing, and with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ("rifling") cut into the bore wall. With the help provide by Anna, Roland was able to mass produce these weapons. In the collection of [Extraordinary items] which he possessed ,the [Ancient Scholar''s Past] was his favorite. The third sequence of [Fool-pathway] is [Ancient Scholar], having the ability to borrow power from their past, also are able to summon materialistic items from the past like ice-cream which he once summoned for contacting with Angel of Fate Ouroboros, to escape from Angel of Time Amon. (A/N:-The beginning of 6th volume of lord of the mysteries, near the end of volume 5 Klein became sequence 3, Ancient scholar.) The ability of the item was nowhere near a true half-angel like Roland, rather Klein who could summon over 5000 angels with the support of a god or even hide in the [History hole] but it still had the power to summon the projection of his past self from that world for 15 min, but Roland is that strong yet to do so....even then summoning simple weapons wasn''t that problematic. The only problem was that, you will be weakened by 90% for 2 weeks plus you can''t use spirituality for a week. In the previous world it wasn''t of much use due to its power but in this world it was exactly the opposite. With the current abilities he had, summoning 100-sets of armor and weapons wasn''t that hard. Barov and Carter ,they couldn''t understand how he could get these things but after Kite said that he was the one who provided them with the weapons, their confusion went away. Nightingale and were still not convinced but due to the lack of knowledge them had to ultimately drop the topic. The [Mausoleum] was also being build, apparently in this world their was no concept of mausoleum. The [Mason-guild] were a little confused upon seeing the design which the fourth prince presented them with but since the prince had already paid in advance they had no reason to refuse, usually it would have taken a huge amount of time to build something so complex with a throne and altar in the center but with the help of cement, the process was going on smoothly but still, making the design ,throne and altar would take sometime to finish being constructed. Azik had came back from the [Graveyard], the potion had been mostly digested just one last step and he would be able to level up to sequence-8 of [Death-pathway], [Grave-digger]. [Grave-digger] can enter the spirit world and the land of the dead, allowing them to observe their enemies from a high vantage point. The beyonders Corpse collector ability is enhance, their skill becomes more refined and they gain the ability to communicate with a small number of spirit that are close to them to help them."Grave Digger" can quickly find out the weaknesses of undead and spiritual creatures by "observing" the face of the unfamiliar undead and spiritual world creatures. This ability is called "eye of death".One of the notable ability that get stronger is their Spirit vision. By being in the [Graveyard] ,he was actually improving his digestion speed for the upcoming level. Roland had passed on a notice to recruit people in the [Army] of the [Border town], so that they could lend off the incoming demons. Currently with the help of Kite''s [Bard''s slogan], people were being motivated to join the army and be trained under the supervision of Kite, as the [God-general]. Finally the [Months of Demons] was just around the corner, the training along with the equipment was good enough for them to act coordinately and kill the [Demons] with their [Rifles]. Finally for the first time would the people of [Border town] wouldn''t starve or wouldn''t need to abandon their homes. Chapter 30 - :-28 Promotion "Not enough....." In the beautiful sunshine, stood a figure, brown shirt and pants ,long black hair which swayed with the wind, round eyes with determination burning inside them. A sweat rolled down her face, her arms outstretched while a torment of fire burst forward like a mighty dragon. The ingot turned red as the temperature increased. But this wasn''t enough, it was taking too much time to melt. "Need more power....." Mumbled the focused Anna as she increased her magic output to maximum. More flames burning with more intensity burst out of her palm. The ingot started melting at a faster rate but Anna too was feeling quite exhausted because of pushing herself. Her arms trembled while a struggling expression emerged on her face. Just as she was going to give up, a soft palm touched her shoulder. "Don''t you too much power but instead try to rotated the heat around the ingot. Due to the burst of heat, a fair amount of it is being absorbed by the surrounding ,if you rotate it around the ingot, not only it will receive even amount of heat on all surface but also the absorption of energy will be minimized." "Plus your control will also improve over your control....." Said the fourth prince, Roland. A teenager who wore black tight uniform, he had a perfectly maintained body, enough muscle to effortlessly support his frame. His gray eyes like whirlpool that will pull of inside. His face had a calm smile, his soft features made him the source of attraction for many. His being give off a strange pressure which would always give away his position. The invisible pressure resembled the huge ocean, calm and large. But there was another feeling hidden deep inside of this pressure. The ruthlessness of the waves. Anna didn''t turn around to greet him, instead focus on the flames and willed them to rotate around the ingot. After many days of practice she could atleast control the flames to change at her will. Roland removed his palm from her shoulder and walked towards the stairs. "Your Highness, please give me a moment I will arrange for a chair." Said one of the workers, who were ?ssisting Anna who was currently helping in making [Dusk-Armor]. "Thanks for your concern but it''s okay, I will just stand here....Please continue with your work." Replied Roland as he waved his hand to show his disapproval. "A..As you wish Your Highness....." Said the worker before he returned to his work. "Morning Your Highness..." Greeted a voice from his back, even though there was no one there. "Morning Nightingale, were you able to convince Anna to leave with you....????" Asked Roland with amusement evident in his tone. Silence...She didn''t reply straight ahead but took some time. "Sigh.....No she won''t leave the castle, some will not the others." She replied ,helplessness and frustration evident in her tone. "Well.....What are your plans now then..???" Asked Roland ,his eyes still on Anna. "I will tell the council about this place ...No paradise and ask them to join the Union. I will go back after the [Months of Demons] are over." Replied Nightingale. Roland smiled as he thought about the words Kite said to him ''Give her sometime, show her the advantages to this place, the greed of better life is irresistible.'' "Very well, It seems like I need to push forward the project for renovation." Said Roland before he turned his gaze towards the giant mausoleum whose construction had been finished last night. [Inside the Sun-god mausoleum] A Silver-throne could be seen in the middle of the room, upon it sat a handsome man, he wore white colored uniform with a giant cross printed in front of his ?h?st. His blueish eyes gazed at the 22-pillars which supported his mausoleum. Lamps illuminated the place while the Symbol of Sun shined brightly under his throne. In the war between the Good gods V.S Evil gods, the [Eternal Blazing Sun] was killed by an ambush ,[True Creator] and [Hidden Sage] both worked together to kill him. Under his relentless attacks, he couldn''t hold out much longer ,not after he used most of his strength to kill [Hidden Sage]. [Night goddess] and Klein arrived too late, Kite also couldn''t save him, [True Creator] pierced [Eternal Blazing Sun] heart and retreated. In his dying moment [Eternal Blazing Sun] gave his [Divinity core] to Kite. He told him that, his core could be used to summon a familiar who after absorbing enough power from sun, will be as strong as him. This was the parting gift that he choose to give before he died. Now that the [Sun-gold Mausoleum] was built, Kite buried the core below his throne, in the middle of the [Sun-altar]. It will take a long time but the core would one day return to life as Kite''s familiar. Till then, it not only accelerated Kite''s [Sun-pathway] digestion but also improved his physical parameters. Kite has advanced his [Spectator] to next sequence 8, known as [Telepathist]. No secrets can be hidden from them. [Apothecary] has digested and he has ascended to the next sequence-8 known as [Beast tamer]. Finally his [Reader] potion had also been digested but due to timing of the [Months of Demon] ,he could change to [Tyrant-pathway]. Chapter 31 - :-31 Massacre (Part-1) Ding Ding Ding..... The sound of alarm resounded through out the town, it woke them up in the middle of the darkness which had descended the town after the sunset. The torches illuminated the check-posts, buildings ,streets and lastly the wall that covered the whole town, protecting it from the beasts and savages. People woke up one after another, the ringing was clear to them or rather the reason for the ringing was....Demons. In this specific period of time, mutated beasts, Demons and Demon hybrids would attack the town and destroy whatever was in their way. These creatures were very hard to kill due to their high vitality, they were hard to fight against due to their strength, the only advantage that the people living inside the town had was that these creatures weren''t really that intelligent. They were normal animals but were stronger and harder to kill. Demons were a different story, the monsters living inside the red mist that covered the [Impassable mountain] were terms as Demons. They had razor sharp claws to tear apart their enemies, a study husk which acted as an armor which protected them, hook like feet-fingers which would dug deep in the ground and give them burst of speed. They were more intelligent when compared to the mutated beasts, though in terms of raw power they weren''t much stronger than the former, their vitality was even stronger. Finally Demon Hybrids...they were the most terrifying creatures that resided in the Red-mist. They could fly in the sky, they were faster ,stronger and more intelligent that any other of their kind. They were even more ruthless and bloodthirsty than the mutated beast even after having intelligence. Even though they are horrible creation of nature, their number aren''t much, thus the town had still managed to survive in a place like this. The paladins of the Cross church had been dealing with these monsters are the holy city for generations. This time, Kite was prepared to defend the town along with Klein and Azik. They had already done everything they could to minimize the damage. The armor and weapons along with the formal training should be enough for the [Dusk-Army] to fend on the demons while keeping themselves alive. They required ?ssets not liabilities, if even after taking this many precautions they couldn''t emerge victorious. No need to exhaust their already limited resources on them then. Roar~.... The soldiers felt fear gripping their mind, their hand that gripped the [Flintlock] subconsciously tightened, the adrenaline rushed in their viens as their head beat sped up. Their eyes narrowed, muscles tightened ,mind alert. The horrible appearance of the beast scarred them but they didn''t back down, cause their platoon leader, Iron Axe was standing with them, not an ounce of fear could be seen on his face. His body radiated fearlessness, he raised his large hand which held a [Flintlock], aimed it at the horrifying creature in front of him. "Surprise Motherfucker....!!!!!!" a howl could only be replied by another one, with the same intensity. Bang~... A bullet tore up the flesh of the creature which howled in pain and agony. Blood leaking out of the wound that the hunter gave him. "Squad 1 Open Fire!!!!!!...." he howled once again, near hundred men immediately stepped forward, [Flintlock] aimed at the incoming tide of mutated creatures. Bang~... Open fire they did, the land quenched it''s thirst for blood from the dead carcass of the beasts that dropped dead on the ground, silver bullets continued to claim there lives. His eyes had a satisfied calm as he watched the demons dying ,....being slaughtered. Roland stood in the balcony of his [Study], the scene was clear to him. He wore his gray uniform, rather an extraordinary item. A smile touched his lips as he pocketed his palms. The golden pocket watch, appeared in his palm. He shook his left hand as [Gray fog] leaked out of his sleeves. The floating gas turned into letters which made sentences written in mid-air. "Will we face danger tonight?????....." his folks he was currently using [Pendulum Divination] to carefully gauge the level of danger they could be force to face against. The Clock ,strange pattern all over it, weakly started spinning in clock-wise direction. Kite glanced at the revolving pocket watch. "Danger is imminent,... abiet not on the level that it may threaten our lives. It''s time for you to go and raise the armies morale. After this we still need to deal with the nobles." said Kite as he once again started watching the massacre. "What about Azik-san,??? where is he...." asked Klein as he forgot to ask Azik for his location. He wasn''t worried for his safety but didn''t wanted any problem to raise due to miscommunication. "He is near the wall. He will be using this opportunity to digest more of his potion, while also killing the beasts who managed to enter somehow, especially those flying type." stated Kite as he explained Azik''s thought on this matter. "What about the witches...????" asked Kite with obvious curiosity. His face muscle were relaxed while he waited for Roland to answer. "Nana is currently in the informory, the ranged beasts were able to hurt some soldiers even though their armor blocked most of their attacks." "Anna is inside the Mason-guild workshop, while Nightingale is accompanying her, keeping her company. Your three Witches are guarding the castle." concluded Klein. "Regardless of the cost we must emerge victorious. Blood spilled can''t be taken back, death is never honorable but death in a battle has its own feel." said Kite as he remembered the past. "That''s not a problem but the weapon we summoned will be a problem in the long run." "The [Flintlock] range is too short plus the accuracy isn''t very good. The reloading problem could be nullified by using layer after layer firing but the above factors can only be solved by upgrading the weapons." replied Kite as he turned around and walked towards his desk. "After the massacre is concluded we will take about how to improve the quality of the weapons. Azik would have reached the next level by then." replied Kite in a calm tone. Klein didn''t stop, and pulled the drawer ,inside laid a silver revolver. Exquisite designing and strange patterns covered its surface, [Death Knell]. The weapon which had accompanied Klein for a long time was now in the hands of Roland, the fourth prince, Klein''s new identity. He hide it inside his sleeves and headed towards the door with calm steps, Tap tap....the sound of his boots impacting the floor were clearly heard by Kite who didn''t look back. Chapter 32 - Unnamed The night was young, howls and screams sounded throughout the town, during the attack of the demons the civilians were moved to the Town-hall. A shaby ,old building made of brick. Once upon a time, its shine was comparable to the sun but now it had withered to such a degree that even a dull blade wasn''t as dull as the old building. But whatever it may be, the building still stood tall ,proudly in the center of the town. Even after being attacked by the demons, it still was easily the strongest building after the old castle. The castle of build by the great-grand father of the current ruler. At that time, the landscape wasn''t enough even so the castle could only be built at the east corner of the town. But since it was build on the opposite side to the [Impassable-Mountain], demons didn''t reach it thus it''s condition was much better than the other old buildings in the town. Roland walked towards the castle gate, two young soldiers ,the [Dusk-armor] shone in the night were stationed there since the separable manpower was stationed at the walls, thus leaving the castle less guarded. Though that wasn''t a problem since the tower was protected by three extraordinary witches. [A/N:-The extraordinary term that I am using is different from the novel. In the novel it defined a particular type of witches but in this fanfic it is more of a power level.] Hearing the sound of footsteps the two knights turned back, they were on high alert since the manpower of the castle had been lowered significantly. But after turning back, their grip on the [Flintlock] loosened visibly, as the person standing there was His Highness, Roland the fourth prince of the kingdom of graycastle. They saluted Roland according to the training that he make them went though before they were admitted in the army. "His Highness, please return inside the castle. It is not wise to go outside ,the soldiers guarding the castle have been stationed over the wall at your command, leaving the castle less protected so please return." he said while staying alert of his surroundings. Hearing his words Roland smiled, ''The castle is protected by three extraordinary witches while I am capable enough to protect myself.'' he thought. "I want you both to escort me to the wall, as the supreme commander of the army I must accompany my soldiers..." said Roland as he sensed Nightingale''s presence beside him. "But His Highness..." he couldn''t continue since Roland cut him off ,saying "It''s an order soldier...!!!!!" Hearing the words, he immediately stopped hesitating and said escorting Roland towards the wall. Clank... Clank..... The sound of the metal echoed in the night since the plates of the [Dusk-armor] collided with each other. A b?r?ly audible voice enters Rolands right ear. "I shall protect you as a bodyguard..." the words earned a smile from Roland who thought of the world Kite said to him before he left the castle. [Flashback] "I won''t order those three to follow you outside since that Nightingale would probably protect you...after all not everyday ,a person willing to help witches appears. She wouldn''t allow harm to descend upon you." "Sure.....but her instincts are troublesome, she is cautious of me, not in a bad way but she thinks I am not just a weak ,helpless prince." this news always managed to cause a frown to appear on Roland''s face. "She is right, and she knows it that''s why when given a choice, she would not choose to work under you. Truly a gem, I didn''t expect much from the witches but she sure is resourceful." said Kite as he thought about Nightingale''s peculiar ability. "Well as long as she join our faction, it wouldn''t matter who she is working under....." replied Roland as he left though the door. [Flashback ends] Roland along with Nightingale and the two soldiers soon enough reached the tall walls were many soldiers turned to face Roland after bowing to show their gratitude and respect. Roland took a deep breath before walking towards the center of the camp, his hair swayed in the wind, body emitted a strange confidence which seemed to contain an unstoppable momentum. He turned towards the many soldier waiting for his word, he was happy and felt accomplished after seeing the perfect discipline that the army displaced. The many squads over the wall continued to shot while their ears perked up so that they could hear his words. "[Not everything that is faced can be changed, But nothing can be changed until it is faced.]" "We know that whatever we do, these filthy creatures would again return next year, again when the snow falls, again when the night freezes ,again when fear occupies the mind, again when we sleep sleepless nights, again when we prepare ourselves for the worst." "These bloodthirsty creatures wouldn''t stop, not until that mountain remains but does that mean we would give up????.....I ask you, are you willing to give up the chance to kill their kind." "We know that once again these creatures will haunt our nights but we also know that it wouldn''t be like that forever. Last year we couldn''t even protect our children, but now....the murderers lay on the ground......dead, unmoving, bleeding, cold, unbreathing." "Not a single one died till now, sure the attack has just begun but will we let that haunt us...No....we will fight on and preserve through." "Would I sit in my castle only to see my men die, or would I be there, watching the creatures die under the massacre of my army, not from my castle but from the battlefield." "Go my soldiers....,kill them as they killed our breathen, butcher them, quench your anger and hate with their blood. For the people, For our children...!!!!!!" Roland practically roared the last words as his soldiers watched him with bloodshot eyes. "For the people, For his highness.....!!!!!!" "For the people, For his highness.....!!!!!!" "For the people, For his highness.....!!!!!!" "For the people........" roared echoed throughout the town as the soldiers became more offensive in their approach, the pain and hate fueled them to massacre the incoming abominations. Sure they too got injured by the ranged beasts but with Nana''s treatment, the soldier''s morale went off the roof. Chapter 33 - :-33 Massacre (Part-3) Whistle.... [Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.] The leafs swayed in the air, wind was the factor of the cause. In the coldness of night, the hope to see the sun keeps one going. A huge tree, standing tall and undeterred was towering the old castle. On one of its branch sat a white armored knight. His helmet hid his face underneath itself. He was looking towards the huge army of demons, rushing towards their death. The dark night was lit up by the fire that burned the dead demons. His calm gaze shifted towards the wall that surrounded the town. Faint emotions appeared in his gaze. Cold...would be the word a person who saw his eyes hidden under the helmet would say. "Fools..." he uttered before disappearing with the wind that brushed against the leaf, sound of whistle echoed. [Meanwhile] Both of them wore dark-clothes, a black clock covered their bodies, wearing leather boots they pulled 3-huge cages. Neither of them spoke anything, a purple mist could be seen surrounding them. They continued to pull the cage towards the old castle. They stopped after reaching a certain distance ,the huge ,old castle could be seen in front. They moved towards the cages and pulled away the cover that covered it. The brown cloth easily came off, revealing three huge demons trapped inside the three cages. Chains holding their bodies in place while the metal mouth holder, clamped their jaws. The monsters were identical to each other, snake like mouth, lion like body ,eagle like claws and green eyes. Both of the figures looked at each other and immediately turned around. A white armored man stood in front of them. His [Holy-Sword] stabbed in the ground while both of his hands rested on its handle. A white cap attached to his shoulders with the symbol of Graycastle on it. One of the figures quickly turned around ,intending to release the monsters inside the cages. Kacha..... Blood....stained the bars of the cage as an intimidating spear pierced his stomach. Red liquid flowed out of his mouth and the large hole which had appeared in his stomach. There would be a 80% chance of him dying even after all the treasures that he had. In the [Spiritual world] many strange and dangerous creatures are found, even after becoming a level-1 beyonder, their are still some hidden dangers which may kill you. But in this new world, other than beyonders ,no one else could enter the Spiritual world much less travel in it, this also meant that their was no danger in entering the spiritual world, something which the beyonders of [Death-pathway] were experts of. There was no emotion on his cold face, calm hands held the spear which ended the figure''s life in a second. The other one also turned back after sensing something was wrong. Sling..... A head rolled down, staining not only the bars but also the snow beneath their feet with blood. Kite had decisively struck with his sword and beheaded the other figure, since Azik and Klein, both were experts at using [Soul-medium]. "They weren''t under their control..." said Azik as he wiped off the blood on his left cheek. He knew something was wrong immediately after seeing the strange mist surrounding the figures. "Looks like either the nobles of the [Longsong stronghold] have an Awakened or witch within their ranks..." said Kite while frowning. This world was much more complicated when compared to the original novel, in this world other than witches ,[Awakened] were another group of people who could use magic. When one of their kind discovered their power, an ensigma of a dragon would appear on their neck. Witches were considered evil by the [Cross-church] but the [Awakened] were regarded to be God''s kind by the Axion church, one of the other religions in the kingdom. These [Awakened] were given special status and the backing of [Axion Church] which only had one condition, don''t do wrong and the god will always have your back. The number of Awakened was not even half of the witches in this world, they were were rare and thus protected by their religion. Kite had met the leader of the Axion church in the Kingdom, Saint Martha ,Protector of the Helpless. A beautiful and powerful [Awakened] who wants to help the common people and remove the oppression of nobles. Unlike the Cross-church, their ideals were strong and unmovable. They too d?s?r?d to put a leash on the Cross-church, but there dislike for nobles didn''t let them work with Kite against them. Suddenly Kite and Azik, noticed moment as the monsters inside the the cages suddenly opened their eyes. Both of them immediately jumped backwards which the cages creaked. Thud..... The chains bounding them broke apart by the sheer force they produced. The bars bend outwards which cracks appeared of the floor surface. "I smell of blood has stimulated them....!!!" said Kite as he tries to control them as a [Beast tamer] only to fail. "They don''t have a conscious, only an instinct ,to kill....." he summoned his shield and went into battle position while Azik also took his battle stance. Chapter 34 - :-34 Massacre (Part-4) Roar.....!!!! A beastly roar resounded throughout the place as the metal strap that once clamped the beast''s mouth know laid broken on the ground. The three abominations turned their eyes towards Kite and the silent undead. Green eyes with no iris, saliva flowed out of their mouth while they''re long claws embedded itself in the ground. The d?s?r? to slaughter oozed out of their bodies like an unending river. The only thing they knew was to slaughter. They had to be killed, for the same of humanity. Tchh.....!!!! The earth cracked, pillars dark enough to be comparable to this cold night emerged out of the ground. The beast jumped or at least wanted to since their instincts told them to do so. Scream.....!!!! Suddenly a high pitched vocal resounded inside the minds of the monsters, causing a little delay which became the reason why one of them couldn''t escape in time. The place where they were very near to the old castle, the three witches guarding the castle noticed the presence of such monsters inside the town and decided to kill it for good. Kattara, Witch of the Mind used her powers to prevent the beasts from escaping while Cynthia, Witch of the Shadow encased the beasts inside her pillar which her summoned using the shadows of the beasts themselves. Meanwhile, Mellena, Witch of Light stayed back in the castle since someone had to guard the castle. Also, the process of making her magic is quite a time hassle. So she decided to stay back and guard the castle. Roar.....!!!! The angered beast roared once again, he swung his claws towards the thick, black pillars which looked like polished marble. Shing.....!!!! It was the chains that made the noise after being draped over the ground. When the beast swung his claws towards the dark pillar, in hopes of breaking the cage. The chain was swung along due to the momentum of the swung. The chains broke apart and scattered all over the floor after the impact but unfortunately, a large piece of the pillar was ripped apart by his claw. The pillar showed signs of movement as the torn part started regenerating slowly at a visible rate. Seeing that one of them was trapped inside the strange cage. The other two immediately rushed towards Kite and Azik. ''Fast and Nimble.....'' he noted while taking a step back, he kneeled down on one knee and stabbed his sword in the ground over to his left-hand side. The beast madly swung its claws towards Kite, the sword glowed with white light. Upon contact with the blade, contrary to it''s thought where Kite would be sent flying, he could no longer feel his claws. Blood splashed everywhere as the arm was cut clean by the sword as a hot knife cuts through bu??er. The beast howled in pain and anger as he looked away. This gave Kite a chance that he wouldn''t let go of. He rotated his body as his shield collided with the frenzied beast, sending it flying backward by the sheer force Kite displayed. After becoming a [Beast Tamer], he gained a lot of physical attributes which allowed him to push back a monster like the one in front of him. The beast crashed into the wall and fell on the ground before quickly getting back on his paws. He gazed Kite with the intent to kill and rushed towards him without any regard for its previous encounter. ''Impressive vitality and quite a thick body reinforcement'' he further noted before avoiding the monster''s claws. Kite nimbly dodges the attacks and observed the monster for some time as he thought. ''These beasts have strong defense, strong offensive and are very fast but they don''t have much of a brain in them.'' Whistle.....!!!! The wind continued to hum a tone since Kite continued to dodge the attacks and waited, bidding his time. Annoyed due to Kite dodging his every attack, the beast roared and jumped at Kite. {''''Fire burns and fire turns all evil and harm away from me.''''} he chanted as the crystal started glowed with abnormal light and burst into flames as soon as it made contact with the beast mid-air. This was the ability to use chants, charms, etc as an [Bard] of the [Sun-pathway]. The beast was once again thrown by the kinetic energy gained in the explosion. It was extremely hurt by the chant but still, it survived and its thirst for blood was still abysmal. ''Annoying preservative skills'' he noted before he digested further information using his [Reader] powers which were already digested. He rushed towards the beast who opened its mouth and launched a lot of green-colored flames towards the incoming Kite who merely raised his shield and continued on while blocking the flames. Even so, the beast didn''t stop so didn''t Kite. He forged forward and slashed his sword vertical upwards. A white haze covered his sword as the beast was cut in two halves by his attack. [Meanwhile] Azik dodged left and avoided getting hit by the green flames that the monster spat out. The Beast''s body was covered in wounds as Azik had repetitively stabbed by his spear. Chapter 35 - :-35 Massacre (Part-5) Roar.....!!! The loud roar could be heard miles away from the old castle, but the cage of spirituality blocked it so that the army protecting the walls wouldn''t rush over to help, leaving their posts unguarded. A claw...., a huge one at that smashed towards a yellow-eyed man who wore purple armor with spikes on the shoulder. His whole body was well covered by the plate-armor, leaving only his face uncovered. The dark skin, short dark hair and the yellow crystal-like eyes stared at the beast with no emotions. The spear in his arms glowed with a red light as green blood dripped down from its tip, on the ground. Beneath his feet, black water or rather a water-like thing surged as waves, carrying his body as he moved. Azik is from the [Death-god] lineage, descendent of the underworld. [God-blood] flowed in his body, blessing him with boosted powers and a large amount of spirituality which made him one of the strongest angels out there. Even though he had lost his powers, the gift so his body still stayed, so while facing against the monster he converted his spirituality into black water. Azik surfed left, avoiding the incoming claw where the water beneath his feet started to push him up. He rotated his spear and thrust his spear into the stomach of the monster. Like a wave, he crashed downwards causing the beast to howl in pain. The spear easy pierced the flesh of it, the corrosive extraordinary ability of [Corpse-collector] showed its might and eroded the flesh from inside, near the wound. Even though the regenerative ability of the monsters was something noteworthy but the corrosion totally took care of it. Angered by the repetitive stabs, he roared and launched a green flame towards Azik, willing to burn him. Azik willed the water beneath his feet to turn into a wave and block the incoming attack. He pressed his hand on the surface on the water as it started to freeze. Another ability of the [Corpse-collector] was the ability to freeze things upon contact or anything around them in a certain range. The wave started freezing and soon turned into an ice wall. The green fire couldn''t melt the dense ice thus didn''t get through to hurt Azik. Just as the beast closed its mouth, he forcefully threw the frozen shield towards its face. The ice smashed into its face and shattered in some pieces which pierced its eyes, which apparently who the weakest portion of its body. Making good use of distraction, Azik thrust his spear straight through its head, piercing its brain in one go. Green blood splashed everywhere as the high body of the beast collapsed on the ground with a thud. "We will keep that one alive, it will help me digest my [Beast tamer] and [Reader]," said Kite while walking toward the beast trapped inside the cage, by Cynthia and Kattara''s joint efforts. He took out a white vial from his pouch, hung from his waist over the armor. He opened the cork which blocked it''s top and positioned it towards the beast. The aroma coming from the vial caused the beast to stagger sideways, before dropping unconscious on the ground. A beast of out cold, he asked Cynthia to drag the beast inside the mausoleum and chain his to the throne position in the center of the place. The aura from the [Sun-god core] would refine the dark inside the beast and allow clarity to return to him. It would not take much time for the beast to gain basic intellect and with the help of [Beast tamer], Kite was sure that he could understand the beast. Roar...!!!! Both Kite and Azik turned their heads towards the direction from where the noise came from. Kite''s eyes had a blue streak inside them as he gazed at the direction of the wall. A photo appeared inside his mind, Roland had used the [Gray-fog] to transmit memories in his mind. Kite saw the hybrid that had broken through the wall under the besiege of the army. Kite teleported using one of his abilities, granted by his [Holy-sword], the [Sigil of Teleportation] helped him to immediately cover a certain distance in an instant. He stood at the top of the bell tower which was apparently the tallest building in the whole town, it was some distance away from the castle, every single thing within the town and the area around the town could be observed from the point. "That shell is the cause of the problem.....!!!" said Kite while his white cape flustered along with the wind. He extended his right hand behind his armor, inside his cape hide a gun, with a usually long barrel and scope. The cape totally hides the sniper gun which was effortlessly kept on his back the entire time. He pointed his gun towards the direction of the wall. His right eyes looking through the scope while his right-hand finger was kelt on the trigger. He calms himself and steadies his breathing, his focus on the target. He took and long breath and released the foul air the next second. Click.....!!! Bang.....!!! Like a shot from a turret, the bullet tore through the air at supersonic speed causing the wind to rage which in turn causes his cape to madly fluster in the air. Chapter 36 - :-36 Massacre (Part-6) Clank...Clank...Clank...!!! A young soldier, the [Dusk-armor] protecting his vitals and body from any potential danger rushed towards Roland. His hand held his [Flintlock] tightly, like losing it would be equivalent to losing his life. The armor of a mixture of golden and black color, it looked beautiful and was unusually durable. The combination of large-shields and [Flintlock] gave an intimidating effect to the army which Roland and Kite managed to form. Panic...was evident of the face of the young soldier, sweat dripped from his helmet while his hands we''re already soaked in sweat. Clank...!!! He knelt down on one knee and spoke in a worried tone while his head remained bowed towards Roland. His voice was quite shaken along with the fearful expression on his face. "H-His Highness, P-Please return to the castle, we have spotted a huge hybrid heading towards us. We are open firing at it but its shell is too hard to break. S-Staying here would be endangering your life." Roland looked at the young soldier and grimaced, he walked towards the wall to see the incoming danger himself. His clothes swayed in the air along with hair while he reached the wall. Seeing His Highness moving towards the wall, he panicked as he remembered his orders about making sure that His Highness is safe. "H-His Highness, please stop...!!!" he marched behind Roland and tried to persuade him to leave the area and return to the castle, where he would be safe from any harm. "What''s your name soldier.....????" asked Roland without looking back and he approached the wall. "Gilles, Maricue Gilles...!!!" replied the young soldier in a respectful yet confused tone, the confusion about why he was being asked this question and why at this particular time. Roland nodded before continuing in a calm tone "Tell me..., as the future ruler do you expect me to sit safely in my castle while my soldier fights for life and death." "Uhmm.....????" before he could say anything Roland continued while stepping over the stairs used to reach the watch-posts embedded on the corners of the wall. "No...as a ruler, I will be there when my soldiers need me. Farmers are the reason why we can live without having to worry about starving but soldiers are the reason why we still exist in the first place," he said as he explained his reasons. "H-His Highness.....please return it is too dangerous at the current time," said IronAxe as he bowed to show his respect towards the true leader of the army. "Where is the enemy.....????" Roland ignored the part where IronAxe tried to suggest Roland, return to the castle. "That huge turtle-like hybrid is heading towards the 2nd sector of the wall. Our weapons are useless against him since the bullet can''t penetrate its defense. Also due to being on the higher ground, we are not able to effectively attack its legs and joints." reported Iron Axe. "Hmmm.....let him crash the wall, just make sure that the other beasts are killed. Surround the hybrid in a circle formation and take him out by the explosives," said Roland while Iron Axe nodded since he knew that this should be the most appropriate thing to do. ''You sure that it would be safe to stay in this place, you will be much safer in your castle.'' Nightingale whispered while the voice traveled only inside Roland''s ears. ''I need to stay here, my soldiers need me....'' Nightingale knew that what Roland said was the truth but her institution also told her that this wasn''t the only reason. He was here for something different, something big, something which would change many lives forever. Nightingale was correct as it was true that Roland wasn''t there only for the soldiers, no....instead he was here so that he would use this opportunity to digest his [Clown-potion] which required acting. And this situation was the ideal one for him, not only while his powers increase but his respect and his prestige will also increase in the hearts of the people in the town. Killing two birds with a single stone. Bang...!!! Bang...!!! Bang...!!! A Loud sound, irritating to the ear echoed throughout the place, the noise kept on increasing but so did the noise of bullets. Crack...!!! Crack...!!! Crack...!!! Multiple cracks appeared on the surface of the wall which broke after the 5th noise revealing a huge monster with the green-colored shell on it''s back. But before they could begin, a loud roar caused them to turn around and see, that so many beasts rushed towards the town with the opening in the wall. The beast attacks the soldiers, who tried to kill faster and proceed with their plan to protect Roland. "Damn it, why are there so many....!!! " cursed Iron Axe before walking towards the battlefield. His goal very simple ''To protect Roland from any harm.'' Some of the beasts rushed towards Roland as he watched the soldiers taking down most of the beasts but some still escaped from their clutches and headed towards Roland. Chapter 37 - :-37 Massacre (Part-7) Roar.....!!! A red-clad figure raised its head and looked in the direction, where the roar came from. The figure had a petite body, about the height of a typical teenager. Her hair stuck to her forehead as the sweat on it acted as a glue. Light-skin along with sharp eyebrows wore a red-colored uniform made of leather. The symbol of the Sun rising from behind the clouds printed on her back. Roland had decided to let this be the symbol of the Witch-union, signifying the new hope after the seemingly everlasting darkness. Even if currently they only had Anna and Nana in the union since the three maids were not included. She stood inside a room, stone platform beneath her feet which held on under the enormous amount of heat radiating from her palm. Anna was ordered to continue working on the ingot to not only increase her control but also help in the manufacturing of more weapons. Some guards guarded the [Mason-guild] where she worked under Roland''s command. Kite had advanced to [Telepathist] thus his ability of observation is not only limited to superficial details, but deeper into one''s aura, Ether Body, or other mysterious domains. The combination of the two allows a Telepathist to precisely understand a person''s thoughts as though they could read their minds. In front of them, it is difficult to have any secrets. They are able to read the superficial thoughts of others and can also stimulate their thoughts. They know what kind of emotional reaction to show in the appropriate situation and know in detail what kind of expression and body language to react with. Thus after having a chat with the elders of the guild, he was able to get them to allow Anna to work freely inside the guild while she would help with their projects, Anna was a knowledge-hungry individual who wouldn''t leave any chance to learn something new. So after deciding how many hours will she work and for how long, they started with the projects of [Flintlock] which their prince had presented them with, design. Anna was busy with the hot ingot when an elder burst into her room. The heat quickly disappeared along with her concentration as she looked towards the one who interrupted her. An old man probably around 70-year-old, face filled with wrinkles like an answer sheet riddled with zeros everywhere. He wore gray-robe along with a majestic badge on his ?h?st. The symbol of Gray-castle shinned brightly even though the lighting of the room wasn''t that good. If Kite would have been here he would have surely said ''An old relic.....!!!''. He stood at the door, not stepping inside the room since he wasn''t given them permission to do so. His face had a frown, worried expression bloomed on his wrinkled face. "Guild-master, Greetings.....!!!" Anna bowed deeply to show her respect and admiration towards this man who stood at the top of the Mason-guild branch. He became a member at the age of 17, stepped in the round table meeting at the age of 20, became an elder at the age of 47 and finally becoming a grandmaster at the age of 68. He stepped some years still working for the guild but afterward he transferred here, in this town to live a peaceful life. Such the place was attacked by beasts but he didn''t fear them. Even though he was old, he still is an [Awakened], his ability to control water was at its peak and not many could fight against him. Thus he stayed in the town, living a life of solitude. "Little Anna, the wall was breached near the western sector though the situation is under our complete control, we still mustn''t relax. His Highness had ordered that if the beasts were able to break the wall then immediately take you to the castle." said the Old-man kindly while the urgency and tension in his voice were evident. Anna looked at his face for some time, her heart was having a gloomy feeling. Like the death of Roland. She immediately asked a question that bothered her all this time. "Is His Highness not in the Castle...???" her tone was doubtful after all the 2-individuals protecting Roland wouldn''t allow something to happen to him. The old-man hesitated a bit before speaking in a helpless tone "Sigh.....no he is not in his castle, he is on the frontline of the western sector, probably under the besiege of many beasts." Akin to thunderclaps, dark clouds hovered over her head. Her vision darkened a little at his words. She immediately sprung towards the door and ran outside. "Don''t rush.....they will be fine." comforted the old-man but alas the receiver was just too far. He grabbed his beast a few times and walked away. He knew that with her power she wouldn''t need soldiers to accompany her while she herself was faster than many people. [Meanwhile] Anna ran with all her might, in her mind the scene of watching her father''s dead body was being played on repeat. She knew that Roland would surely be in danger then she had to act fast and provide ?ssistance. Working together with the soldiers will help improve the image of the witches which will then start to already slowly turn the tide in their favor. Chapter 38 - :-38 The Battle Concludes [Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.] Under the illumination of the moon, the eyes reflected a cold glint which only Nightingale managed to capture. Roland''s face showed panic, fear yet the corner of his lips were hooked up. The look in his eyes conveyed his thoughts ,not that he try to hide it anyway. The monsters weren''t comparable to what Kite and Azik had faced ,even so the difference wasn''t that much. The constant roaring of rifles and the constant howling of beasts indicated that most of the beast that attacked the wall were already dead. Unlike army, they wouldn''t have any reinforcement to provide back up. After the turtle hybrid breached the wall, the [Dusk-soldiers] had already surround the group and had started open firing at the moving ,mutated animals. Even so the number of the beast still held decent amount of digits since 3 of the beasts were actually able to break through and rush towards the person standing closest to it. Roland knew that Nightingale was responsible for his security so he wouldn''t take any active participation in protecting himself until and unless it was necessary. The soldiers were busy dealing with the beasts incircled in the middle of the town so he wouldn''t need to worry about someone seeing him fight against a beast. Kite had asked him to take this change and observe Nightingale, they wouldn''t invest much in her if the potential wouldn''t be able to be utilized. Nightingale was older than Anna who was at the correct age for learning ,then her innate ability to grasp things would be less when compared to Anna. Nightingale''s ability has many uses and is very convinent ability to use but if the cost to utilize her powers would be too high. Then they can only ignore her, they have a target ,a mission they must complete. Acting all emotional wouldn''t help them anyhow. This is also one of the reasons why Kite made himself be so unapproachable. Roar.....!!!! One of the 3 beasts jumped towards Roland wanting to shred him to pieces. The claw tore through the air making a whistling sound. The sharp edges would have sliced Roland apart in many pieces if he hadn''t suddenly disappeared. Nightingale quickly moved and grabbed Roland by the shoulder, successfully pulling him in the [Mist] thus avoiding the brutal attack. Roland suddenly felt as if his body was immersed in water. He didn''t fell water to be exact but rather the feeling of pressure against his skin, like he was underwater and his movements were restricted. This was another feature of Nightingale''s ability, she could pull people inside this mirror dimension she walks in. Just like Roland she to felt suppression over her body but it was less for her. She was experiencing a 15% decrease in mobility whereas Roland was facing 25% decrease in mobility, but...who was he, [Clown] of the [Divinator-pathway]. If somebody asked Kite just how horrifying were the high level divinators, he would only say word :-Avoid. The reason he himself didn''t chose the respective pathway was due to the reason that it''s abilities were just to twisted and didn''t fit his ability set. Every pathway that he chose weren''t the best ,weren''t the strongest, weren''t the most dangerous ,no....they are just had too good of a synergy together and their effects could be stacked. With the exception of [Reader pathway] they could be switched with other pathways after level-5 sequence. [Reader pathway] had the special condition to switch even below the level-5. Kite had already planned to switch one of his substitute pathways to [Divinator-pathway], a level-2 sequence [Planes-Walker]. The sequence two of the corresponding pathway was a little special as it had two classes. [Master of Miracles] and [Planes-Walker], Yes!!! the pathway was the only known pathway to possess two high level classes in a single sequence. The ability to control oneself''s body movements to the highest degree enabled a [Clown] to boost his mobility by an astonishing 40% when helped to counter Nightingale''s ability. She took Roland away from the front-lines and retreated behind the soldiers. Due to the beasts hording all the attention towards themselves no one noticed Roland disappearing and reappearing thus no one knew about Nightingale. The air twisted a little as two figures suddenly materialised ,one was wearing black leather uniform with plate armour while the other one simply wore a black-cloak and light armour with two daggers on the waist. "That was close call...,your ability is pretty interesting!!!!." said Roland in a shaky voice and a slightly frightened expression. His palms sweated a little while the trembling of his hands didn''t get unnoticed Nightingale. ''Was I imagining that looks...?????'' Instead of replying ,she frowned as she recalled the expression on his face when the beast literally pounced at him. Roland of-course was acting, he had to as it was one of the conditions for a [Clown] to digest the potion. He had enough strength to protect himself so he wasn''t afraid but Nightingale didn''t know that, even though her face was hidden under the hood she was wearing, he knew that a doubtful expression will surely be the expression on her face right now. "A..Are you okay His Highness???....." surely the uncertainty in her tone was enough for Roland to receive the feedback from the potion that some of it was being digested ,a pitiful amount at that. "I am okay i..it''s just that this is my first time seeing one of them up close so I was kinda scared but I will be fine after some breaths." he replied with a weak smile. "Argghh...!!!!" flew a hand, rather an entire limb after being slashed by the abomination. The sharp and long claws drew blood and painted everything red. The soldier held his shoulder while mourning for what was lost, a limb. He staggered back as blood dripped down his armour ,dyeing the golden shell with red. Even the [Dusk-armour] didn''t mean immunity, the others immediately pulled back the injured soldier with great speed while surrounding the beast. With great speed they took aim and pulled the trigger, more blood emerged from the wounds of the beast who roared in pain. His breath rapidly disappearing, so did the heat along with the life. "Someone take that man to Miss Nana, quick!!!...he is losing blood fast others finish the monsters and quickly switch to the big one.!!!!" Just like an experienced commander, Iron-Axe roared to his soldiers to follow the commands and be done with this. "Haaaa !!!!!!! " they roared loudly and ramped the shields into the face of the mutated animals, successfully stunning them. The thrust their [Flintlock] forward as the blade at the end of the gun pierced the beast. Roar~..... More and more of them quickly dropped down on the ground under the constant barrage of bullets and shield ramp up. Roar~..... The armour cushioned the fall but they couldn''t feel their body, they were temperarly paralyzed but could have killed them if any mutated animal was alive and near them. The hail of bullets couldn''t stop the incoming giant as he decimated the formation like tofu. Just when it looked like the soldiers couldn''t stop the beast, a wall of fire did. The flames spread out and prisoned the huge beast inside a cage. The dead bodies caught fire ,it burned ,the smell of burnt meat spread throughout the place, the painful roar of the beasts echoed as them burned alive after trying to cross the wall of fire that blocked the pathway which was opened after a part of the wall broke. It spared none and turned everything to ashes, everyone turned towards the figure which spewed fire from her palms. Red uniform with the figure of Rising sun embedded on the back, stood there. Petite figure, long hair, cute face, deep eyes, every soldiers heart was in turmoil, not because her beauty attracted them but rather what she was, and the fact that she saved their lives which could have been lost if they fought against the giant, the fact that she blocked the broken wall which allowed the soldiers to take a breath and focus on the main problem. ''Is this little girl a monster that the church says she is???, is the angel who healed out brothers a demon like the church claims her kind to be....Fucking hell No!!!!!.....'' were their thoughts at this particular point. "Why is she here????....." though Roland''s voice sounded annoyed ,his face held nothing short of a smile. His plan went just as he thought it will. With this he was at least able to shake the belief of the soldiers in the town. Now all he had to do was to slowly increase his efforts and soon the shaking will turn into tremor but will crack the foundation of their trust and belief in the church and finally the breaking of the pillar which will eliminate one of his problems. "She had most probably came to make sure that you are safe." replied Nightingale as she glanced at the smiling face and thought to herself ''Terrifying person...are all politicians such scary??? but with his help we will surely be able to earn a status in the society.'' Roland turned towards the soldiers and roared with vigor "Fight everyone, for revenge, for relief, for security and for the people. Even god is on our side, he will bring down judgement. The Spear of Salvation shall descend and nail this monster for the sins he committed." He raised his hand with great momentum and dropped it forward, like a command saying ''Forward..!!!!'' The wind whistled, the air above Roland''s head burst outwards, his long sleeves flustered in the air giving him a powerful look along with a majestic presence. He had a dignified expression on his face ,the time seemed to slow down as the fire wall encasing the hybrid suddenly dispersed above his head. Bang~..... Roar~..... The shell of the turtle hybrid burst into tiny prices and pierced its own skin. It roared in pain as the high temperature burned it''s skin since their was nothing protecting its head. It roared and rushed towards Roland who just calmly opened his mouth and said some words which struck fear and awe in the eyes of the soldiers. "Your dead was sealed the moment you attack my town....!!!!" Shung~..... The sound of the ground breaking echoed throughout the place, cracks like spider web spread beneath the turtle hybrid which now laid dead on the ground with green blood coming out of its neck which can nailed to the ground by a blood red spear. Thus he caught a glimpse of the spear and bullet shot nailing the beast and used this to his advantage to create a sacred image in the hearts of his soldiers which would further remove the influence of the church. Kite and Azik had already launched their attacks from the other end of the town and Roland just manipulated the entire situation to his own convenience, this was something he learned after facing Amon and b?r?ly surviving. [A/N:-Amon, also known as the Angel of Time, is one of the Angel Kings from the 2nd Epoch and a descendant of the Ancient Sun God. He is of the Marauder Pathway, sequence 1. He possesses the unique characteristic of the Marauder sequence, which is necessary for advancing to sequence 0.] [A/N:-Please comment of chapters and please leave some review along with power stones.] Chapter 39 - :-39 Easy [Adulthood] Tap...Tap....Tap.... Sound of footsteps filled the corridor as a young girl paced back and forth, the genuine worry was etched on her face. About 11 years old, wearing a blue dress, short brown hair while curly design, a petite figure which indicated that the girl was quick on her feet. She had greenish eyes and round face, puffed cheeks and sloppy eyebrows befitting of a little kid that she was. Worry was evident to those who say her expression. Her friend Anna who was apparently 5 years younger than she had been unconscious for a week since she exhausted all of her mana in creating the firewall that provided support to the army. After the fight, she collapsed unconscious and was carried back to the castle. At first, when Nana saw her only friend in an unconscious state, she panicked and felt scared, scared of the fact that Anna may never wake up again. Nana cried her eyes out, the whole treatment room was in a mess. All the equipment thrown here and there, medicines spilled on the floor. It was horrible. Currently, Kite, the other person who treated the people in the past and taught her about medicine was checking upon the condition of Anna''s body. Nana knew the capability of the hooded figure, her teacher. Thus the anxiousness she felt was decreased to a certain degree yet even them she was very nervous. Tap... Nana''s body froze upon feeling a hand touching his shoulder, her body tensed up only to loosen up after hearing the voice of the figure who touched her shoulder. "It''s okay Nana, Dad is sure that your friend will be alright. Have trust in your teacher and His Highness.....!!!!" He wore waisted cotton garment and leather pants attached with big pockets, looking more like a huntsman rather than a former noble. Click....!!! The door twisted open revealing four figures inside the treatment room. One of them wore a white hood and cloak with red patterns all over it. A sword hung from his waist, sheathed inside a white scabbard. Other than a few strands of silver hair, nothing else about the said man could be seen. He had an athletic body with firm muscle and a towering height of 6''4 feet. The said man looked about 19-23 years old. Beside him stood another young man wearing gray robe along with black lining and gold embroidery. The young man had a lean figure with a proportional muscle set. The calm expression on his face as he looked at the patient displayed in maturity. Another person stood inside the room, other than these 2 individuals and the patient, there was another person in the room. The black cloak covered her body but not her face which in the beginning bothered Kite a little. Long, black, silky hair, oval face structure along with sharp eyes and eyebrows. Two daggers hung from her waist as Nightingale passed two bowls of warm water. Tigui accepted the bowl and pointed his hand towards the other one, Nana hesitantly accepted the bowl and drank a mouthful. "Teacher, sister Anna....is going to be alright???" she held an expectant expression on her face. Kite removed the soaked cloth from Anna''s forehead and dipped it inside a bucket of hot water. Drip....Drip....Drip.... The sound of tiny droplets falling inside the bucket, on the surface. He then twisted it using both hands and squeezed the excess water from it. He once again placed it on her forehead. "She just exhausted herself, she is in no danger though I think that she would have to experience the [Adulthood] in her current state," he said without much emotion. Hearing this Nana was both relieved and worried, fumbling she asked: "Isn''t [Adulthood] very dangerous, what if something happened to Sister Anna while she was sleeping." This was something which also worried Nightingale. She first hand knew the pain that one suffers during that phase, even using the drug to numb the senses wasn''t effective against the soul ripping pain. "We can only wait and watch. I have faith in Anna, she would surely make it past this point," said Roland with confidence. "I think that her awakening will go flawlessly and she wouldn''t feel a thing," said Kite as he thought about the feedback he got from [Reader] potion. Witches were like a water balloon, just like when excess water was to be poured inside it, the balloon would burst apart. Similarly, a witch''s body acted as a container that stores Mana inside it. If the excess Mana wasn''t ejected out of the body, it would start breaking it apart from inside, thus the pain. Frankly, this wasn''t really considered a problem to [Beyonders] as they could divide their pathway character through many ways such as passing some of it to their kids whereas the corruption from the power was relatively safe for Beyonder below the level-2. This information was useful nonetheless as now Kite had another "marketing" scheme which would be useful in building his own force. He would provide them a place to live and freely practice using their magic, this way they wouldn''t accumulate excess Mana and their brethren wouldn''t need to die. This was what most of them craved for, a place to call home, for people to regard them as humans instead to demons. They wanted respect and equality for their kind. After they successfully win their trust, they. would be able to move forward with their plans and destroy the church once and for all. This was a mutual benefit for both the parties. And by observing Nightingale''s expression he knew that this ?ssassin had grown attached to Anna and if she successfully blooms then more witches will soon be joining their ranks. Also it would finally be time for Azik to promote himself to the next level. Chapter 40 - :-40 Evolved Ability Inside the room, on the bed laid Anna, unconscious. Her body was dressed in a brown dress, nightingale changed her clothes for her while Nana took care of the "makeup". It had been some time since she last saw Anna move, her body didn''t show any signs of awakening even though Kite had already told them that it wouldn''t be long before the sleeping princess would jolt awake but not literally jolt. Her face was clear to see under the glow of daylight which illuminated her features through the window. Anna''s skin had started growing rosier after she fell unconscious. This was a clear sign that Anna had passed her [Adulthood] without as much as a problem. Her body was being strengthened by her magic which was continuously growing. If before her magic was like a pool, now it resembled a large lake. If before her magic was in a gaseous form, now it had condensed into liquid water. She could wake anytime now, Roland knew this thus he stayed with her, inside the room for the past few days. He wanted to see what changes will take effect after she wakes. " Didn''t he said that she would wake up soon.....?" asked Nightingale, she had started feeling a little impatient due to the fact that Anna had been sleeping for some time now. Before Roland had any time to respond, he sensed movement from Anna''s unconscious body. His head turned towards her face while Nightingale noticed this change. Click..!!! The door was pushed open, a tall man wearing a white ?ssassin uniform with his face covered by the hood entered. A beautiful sheathed sword hanged loosely from his waist. "It about the time she walks up..." Kite spoke in a monotonous tone, his eyes hidden under the hood, gazed at the young girl on the bed. All this time, other than taking care of Anna he also dissected the carcass of the dead beasts to understand their body structure and function. The beasts were actually pseudo-magical creatures. As discussed previously, [Awakened] were a bunch of dangerous people with weird abilities and apparently one of these followers of [Axion Church] was in [Longsong stronghold]. The beasts were animals with a [Pseudo-magic core]. Magical beasts are similar to Witches as both of them have a [Magic core] to generate and store magic inside them. This [Awakened] is able to create a pseudo-magic core, being that he can make any living thing into a magic entity. While this ability may seem too broken, Kite begs to differ. From his research, he can conclude that the body of the animal had mutated due to the sudden presence of magic inside its body. Meaning that the fake core would mutate the body of the bearer to due to the sudden presence of magic. Being that if this ability was used on humans, they would slowly die since they do not have the affinity for magic. On witches or other similar creatures, this ability would be of no use since they already have a core. Therefore the only one left who could actually be affected by this ability were the animals, the magic wouldn''t be able to destroy their body structure which is leagues above humans. But even that to had some drawbacks which Kite could conclude after dissecting the body. First, due to the sudden presence of magic, their body will start to mutate. The body would change so that it could sustain the magic but the magic would corrode their minds thus destroying the intellect of the being. Third, since their intellect would have been destroyed they would need some other way to control the mindless beasts. You could say that the ability was strong yet had many drawbacks. But it had one positive trait which made Kite cautious of the [Awakened]. The mutated animals would keep on becoming stronger and stronger until they reach the level of a hybrid demon. Though the time required would be at least 2 years for them to reach such a level. Kite had chained the living beast inside the mausoleum where it could regain intellect after absorbing the [Extraordinary character] being released from the egg buried beneath the throne. Kite would need to capture the [Awakened] as with his/her ability to create beast and Kite''s ability to provide them with intellect could help him raise a small army of beasts. If he is able to do so then he would have an army of beasts and attributed to the fact that he was a [Beast Tamer]. He would be able to control the beasts. Back to Anna, her body showed signs of movement. Her eyelashes fluttered open, a weak pulse of magic waved out of her body and pulsed throughout the room, causing the candles to light up with green-colored flame. Anna sat straight with Nightingale''s ?ssistance and opened her palm. A green-flame ignited on her palm, she looked towards Roland and motioned him to touch the flame. Roland let out a smile and placed his finger in the flame. Cold..., the flame felt cold as it slowly started becoming warmer. Roland looked towards Kite and nodded while Kite understood what he meant. A blue torrent of sparkles appeared in his eyes as the information appeared in his mind. [Heart Fire'' (Fire Manipulation): After reaching ?du?thood, Anna''s ability increased in power. She can now turn her flames green, which can be hotter than ever before, or have a temperature as low as room temperature. She is also able to produce two flames at once.] Roland used his [World above Gray fog] to establish a link between himself and Kite so that the latter can send all the information that he gained just now. Kite send him the information about Anna''s evolved ability while thinking to himself. ''A basic upgrade, boosted firepower, decrease in mana cost, decrease in stamina consumption.'' "I knew you could do it...." said Roland with a smile as he patted Anna''s head, she in return just wordlessly looked at him. Nightingale nearly jumped out if excitement as she mumbled to herself "She survived without a problem. This is a miracle, I must tell sisters about this...They would do anything for a save life." She turned towards Roland and bowed deeply "Thank you His Highness if you wouldn''t have shown fate in her maybe she wouldn''t have made it through." She turned towards the white-cloaked figure that had been standing near the door, quietly watching everything. "I guess that You have found a way to help witches survive the [Adulthood] without any danger...??" she asked in a calm tone. Both Roland and Anna focused on the conversation, one out of amusement while the other out of curiosity. The white-cloaked man stayed silent for a couple of seconds before he replied in his monotonous tone "Indeed, I can tell you the way but it wouldn''t make any difference as your sisters will still die." Nightingale hearing this stayed silent of a couple of seconds before she knelt down on one knee with her dagger placed in front of her. Her face held a determined expression, she was still wearing her ?ssassin uniform. "If Lord promises to save my sisters and provide them with a chance to live a beautiful life, then I, Nightingale pledge allegiance, I will be by your side for the rest of my life as long as you don''t harm witches." she solemnly stared at Kite who just frowned. "I don''t need....." Before he could finish his words, Roland interrupted him and spoke with a smile "Very well then, from now on you will serve him as your Lord while he will do what he had planned to do." Roland wanted to stay hidden for as long as he could, but Nightingale who was apparently a lie detector and overly observant would be a headache for him. He decided to bind Nightingale to Kite so that their plans could work smoothly. Kite and Azik were the individuals behind the scene while Roland was the face. He wouldn''t allow a potential danger to be near him at all. "Every well then, go and ask your sisters to come here. The castle has been renovated and the extra houses have been made for them to live in till I am able to change people''s minds," said Roland will Nightingale nodded and left through phrasing through the wall. Kite utilized his connection with the [Gray-fog] and sent Azik a message. ''Follow her.....its about time you ascend to the next level.'' Chapter 41 - :-41 Nightingales Journey Thud Thud Thud..... The continuous sound of the running horse mixed with the silence of the foggy night. The blurry figure wearing brown cloak sat on top of the horse. Her left hand held a torch while with the other she held the reins. The horse tore through the air and moved forward. Currently, Nightingale was rushing towards the hideout, where her sisters have taken refuge. She traveled on a narrow path, through the [Forest of Demons]. Her destination was the cave hidden deep within the [Impassible Mountain]. The path of covered in darkness with only the moon to illuminate the surrounding. The vision was beyond terrible at night yet with the help of the torch, she somehow advanced. The fog had started to cover the path beyond the view, an indication that she would soon not be able to ride the horse for much longer. Nightingale''s heart was in unrest, an ominous premonition haunted her mind. It was like there were many eyes in the dark cover of the night, looking at her. She gritted her teeth and increases her traveling speed. Thud Thud Thud... She pulls the reins with her right hand causing the horse to slow down and stop. After getting down from it''s back, she tied the horse to a tree. "Don''t worry friend, I will return soon just stay put okay~...." she ??r?ssed its face softly before walking into the white fog. She continued walking for some hours, as much as she wished to use her ability to travel faster, she knew that it would only exhaust her faster so she decided to travel on foot. All this time she couldn''t shake off the feeling of being watched by somebody. Her institution was rather accurate, Azik had been watching her all this time from the [Spiritual World]. He wanted to make sure that the witches that Nightingale went to talk with were not a danger to them. Ordinary people, nobles and the [Cross-Church] had been hunting them for a long time. The accumulation of hatred and pain would devour all the justification from one''s mind. Roland had already divined that the talk wouldn''t be in favor of Nightingale. If Nightingale had decided to leave them, many of the witches wouldn''t allow her to leave with her life, they wouldn''t let her go in fear that she would expose their hideout. If this indeed happened then Azik would need to eliminate the potential threats to their plan, decisively. After traveling for some time, the road ahead split into two paths. One went up while the other down. Nightingale quickly entered [The Mist] and traveled upwards. Soon she spotted a cave with light coming out from its center. She quickly entered only to find two of her sisters covered with a white cloth while another witch stood near. "Nightingale you are back..!!!" said the witch with a smile. Nightingale handed over the torch and frowned. Sadness could be observed on her face as she thought ''If only I had returned sooner then maybe I could have saved them with Lord and His Highness aid.'' Her fists clenched as she silently mourned for her dead sisters. Soon a determined expression appeared on her face as she thought ''I must convince them....'' "Airly and Genna were brave till the end but they couldn''t survive the pain. You should go and see Wendy. She would be happy that you returned." said the Witch before carrying the torch inside the cave. After giving the dead one last look, she moved inside the cave and left to find Wendy, she couldn''t wait to share her experience with her best friend and savior. Woosh.... What she failed to notice was a blurry figure who unknowingly appeared near the dead bodies. His yellow crystal-like eyes glowing in the darkness. He wore a black cloak underneath which one could spot an armor. [A/N:-Photo of the armor of King Hassan(Fgo), Link in comments, Author''s thoughts and in discord(Link in description).] With his helmet on, he looked like the grim reaper. The dark-red spear in his right hand gave off an intimidating feeling. He looked towards the bodies of the fallen witches. ''I now understand what you meant back then....'' he tapped his spear, gently on the ground. Pale hands appeared from the ground beneath the bodies and clutched them tightly. The bodies disappeared shortly as he himself submerged in the ground beneath his feet. [Back to Nightingale] Wendy is a young-looking woman with m?tur? facial features, her reddish-brown hair is almost waist length. She has the biggest br??st among witches of Witch Union, which caused her inconveniences and shoulder ache. "I am back...." said Nightingale as she hugged Wendy with strength. "Welcome back Nightingale...!!, were you able to save the two young sisters...?" Wendy inquired about Anna and Nana with worry evident on her face. Wendy is a kindhearted and caring woman who thinks about the welfare of her companions first and foremost. She always makes sure to talk to them whenever they have a problem to encourage and reassure them. She has a strong sense of responsibility, as she believes she should take care of the younger sisters in their group. "I will tell you everything Wendy, but you must help me convince the other sisters. I didn''t need to save them rather they saved all of us....!!" replied Nightingale with enthusiasm. "What do you mean...?" questioned Wendy, not quite understanding what her friend what to say. Nightingale told Wendy about her experience in the [Border Land] which was under the control of His Highness Roland, the Fourth Prince. Chapter 42 - :-42 Attack on the Camp Inside a dimly lit cave, sat the witches in a circle around the fireplace. Every single one of them had a dumbfounded expression on their faces as they listened to one of the famous members of the Union. Nightingale sat beside them, recounting all of her experiences at the [Border Town]. The cold metal machine called the [Engine] from which white smoke came out and how it possessed abnormal strength. She showed the blueprint which she asked Roland so that she could back up her words. She even told about Anna and Nana and how the townsmen treated both of them as a part of the society, especially Nana. Most of the witches couldn''t believe Nightingale''s words no matter what she said. After all, a noble willingness to help them was too unrealistic. Wendy didn''t doubt her friend as she knew that no one could lie in her presence due to her derivative skill. Even so, she didn''t have any intention of leaving the Union and follow Nightingale back to the town. She had seen a fair share of nobles and knew that they only what to take advantage of them and nothing else. Still, she wouldn''t force Nightingale to forget about the town, everyone has their own choices and she wasn''t somebody who would make decisions for her friend. "His Highness and the Lord, who resides in the town have also found a way to successfully pass through [Awakening]. We don''t have to endure such pain and suffering any longer.....!!!" Nightingale excitedly announced. Tap Tap Tap..... Footsteps echoed throughout the place, they were inside a cave where even the slightest noise echoed everywhere. Most of the witches gave way to the incoming figure. A woman wearing a Green cloak walked in. She had green hair and half of her face covered with snake tattoos. Everyone greeted the newcomer with respect. Her name was Cara the Snake Witch. She belonged to the summoning type of magic-user. She could mold her magic into tangible snakes with a huge variety of poison, ranging from paralyzing the enemy from killing him/her. "Honorable Mentor...." bowed Nightingale to show her respect to this old yet knowledgable witch who had been leading the Union for years. "So you went outside only to be influenced by some prince who fooled you with his words and here you are, trying to convince others to join you and become slaves of nobility." she spat out with hatred as she mentioned Nobles. Nightingale didn''t mind Cara''s cold words as she knew what the latter had gone through to have such a biased opinion on Nobility and Church. Originally kind and knowledgeable, after years of iniquitous treatment of witches, she became embittered at the whole world and became domineering. Obsession with the Holy Mountain has aggravated her imperiousness and intolerance to the point of contradicting her own initial goals. She considered the possibility of witches being treated kindly or equally with common people no more than a fairy tale or a trap. "I understand what the Mentor is saying but what I am saying is the truth. I wouldn''t ask the Mentor to change your mind but I would like to invite those who are interested...." before she could even finish what she was saying, Cara''s snake had already closed in. "Nightingale watch out....!!!" shouted Wendy after recognizing the snake which crept up to her was ''Death''. Cara, who had come so close to finding the [Holy Mountain] wouldn''t allow any distractions to come in her way thus, she struck decisively. Nightingale immediately entered [Mist] after hearing Wendy''s shout thus successfully avoiding the incoming attack. Cara seeing that Nightingale escaped, immediately summoned snakes around her and held a long knife in her right hand, dipped in poison. Cara was one of the strongest witches in the camp, she taught Nightingale about using a dagger. Also, the snake coiled around her body, ready to strike the enemy. Nightingale didn''t approach Cara as she knew that she couldn''t risk being bitten by the ''Death''. Cara looked at Wendy with anger as she thought ''If you wouldn''t have warned her....." A snake silently crept up to Wendy and bit her in the ankle causing her to yelp in pain. Nightingale immediately appeared beside Wendy and escaped in the [Mist] with Wendy in tow. The snake wasn''t ''Death'' but rather ''Suffering'' which would paralyze Wendy and may even kill her if not treated in time. "No....come back..!!!" shouted Cara but was interrupted by a loud rumble. Rumble Rumble Rumble..... Roar~... A large horde of monster suddenly flocked inside the cave, hybrids could also be seen inside the horde as they swiftly killed the non-combat witches. "Scarlet.....No..!!!" "Dirye.....Run..!!!" The witches cried out as one by one they sisters continued to die. The blood diffused in the surroundings while the number of demons kept increasing. Cara watched all of this while killing the demons which attacked her. She watched as the 3-hybrids slaughtered her sisters. ''They wouldn''t be able to escape..... I still can, I must find the [Holy Mountain]. For the sacrifice that today my sisters made...I must succeed no matter the cost.'' she immediately moved back at the other exit of the cave. Stab..! A spear pierced her body, her eyes started losing focus as she staggered forward. The others were busy fighting for their lives thus nobody noticed the figure standing behind Cara. Knowing that she would soon die, she spoke with great difficulty with hope in her tone. "S...Save M..My S...Sisters...!" she spoke with great difficulty and life started leaving her body. Azik stared at her for a second before replying, his yellow eyes glowing in the dark. "Very well...." Only 7 of the 42 witches were still alive while the others had been killed by the horde of monsters. A spear tore through the air and pierced a demon''s neck. Blue blood flowed on the ground. Chapter 43 - :-43 Escape Roar~....! The smell of blood was intense, blue-colored blood was all over the place along with dismembered limbs of the monsters. The number of beasts attacking the witches was reduced to 5 under the relentless ?ssault of Azik''s spear. The sharp blade coldly pierced every single one of them without a shred of mercy. Initially, about 30 beasts were attacking the non-combat witches. Azik, using his spear and [O'' Agni] charm which Kite gave him, was able to slaughter them one by one. Due to being a [Corpse Collector], he had high stamina, high body durability which allowed him to continuously wield his spear and dispatch the monsters one by one. Whereas the charm giving by Kite was to swiftly take care of the Hybrids. [O'' Agni] belonged to the Sun-pathway and had an exaggerated amount of purification power within it. Out of the 30 demons, only three of them were hybrids while the others were just mobs. Whenever Azik felt like that the three of the hybrid were closing in, he would swiftly retreat while secretly planting the charms in the ground. Azik was using the same technique he used when he fought against these monsters the first time, he converted his spirituality into a water-like tangible object and used it as a cover to secretly set up ''landmines''. He then lured the monsters to step on the charms, causing an eye-blinding light to erupt from the ground they were standing on. Any soon as the Hybrid came in contact with the white light, its body started to burn and melt away. The hybrids wailed and screamed yet only death could ease their pain. After persisting for some time, they died causing nearly all of the pressure on his shoulders to vanish. Sure enough, once the three hybrids were killed by him, only the weak were left to deal with. He thrusts his spear and killed one in an instant. The poor beast couldn''t even utter a single sound before his eyes lost color and life slipped away from its body. The blue blood dripped from the carcass which lied coldly on the ground. The 7-surviving witches were both grateful and caution of the newcomer, his power astonished them to a great extent as he continued to slaughter the beasts like cabbages. "Sister Scroll, is he an [Awakened]?" "Most probably.....but [Axion Church] doesn''t have any church in the western part of the kingdom also the armor he is wearing doesn''t belong to the church personnel. " "He should be a rogue Awakened." Seeing the armor which Azik wore, they confirmed that he wasn''t part of any church. Even though most of the [Awakened] were part of the [Axion church], some individuals liked to be free and without any restrains. "Why is he helping us? As far as I remember, [Awakened] don''t meddle in [Cross Church] affairs. He shouldn''t be helping us after all no awakened would like to get in trouble because of us." "We can think of this later, first let''s help him kill these monsters and avenge our fallen sisters..." Most of the witches alive weren''t combat type yet even then they could at least use the crossbows which they stole from the previous town and help the stranger. "For our sisters...." shouted Leaf as she led them, loaded crossbows shot arrows at neck-breaking speed and pierced the monsters. The body was of beasts was very durably thus the arrows couldn''t pierce deep. Even so, their movements were restricted by the wounds inflicted by the crossbows. It became easier for Azik to slaughter the horde. Roar~...! The Roar shook the cave, Leaf stumbled backward and fell on the ground, she twisted her ankle over the rock and couldn''t get up. A frown appeared on Azik''s face as he left something closing in on his location, the sinister energy ''it'' gave off was naturally felt by Azik. He jumped back while swinging his spear in front of him. The black-colored water flowed forward and flowed the pathway from where the roar came. Stabilizing himself, he tapped the ground beneath his feet with the bottom of the spear. The water which flooded the way started freezing and turned into ice. ''This should buy me some time.'' he unequipped his spear and rushed towards Leaf. Seeing the unknown Awakened rushing towards themselves, they panicked a little but didn''t try to stop his advance. Azik knelt down on one knee and asked Leaf in a soft tone. "Can you move...?" "Ahh....." Leaf tried to move but immediately sat down after feeling the pain. Her skin had reddened very much, meaning that she wouldn''t be able to move in a short amount of time. His yellow eyes stared at her for a second, feeling his gaze Leaf felt nervous. The situation wasn''t in her favor since she couldn''t move anymore. She didn''t want to be a burden to anyone yet also didn''t want to die so soon. Azik extended his arms and held Leaf within his hold before picking her up in a princess carry. Leaf was startled by Azik''s sudden actions and left anxious yet she knew that currently there was nothing she could do after all she couldn''t walk on her own for the time being. Azik turned his face towards others and said in a serious tone, his yellow crystal eyes made them feel uneasy even the aura he gave off was slightly unsettling. "Follow me and don''t fall behind, that ice wouldn''t be able to stop him for much time....." [Back to Nightingale] "Huff Huff Huff.....Nightingale, we can''t move like this, it will take us at least three days to get to [Border town]. You have already exhausted yourself and soon, I, myself will run out of stamina." A short figure could be seen carrying two figures on her back. Her body flew a few meters above the ground. Yet the speed at which she moved forward was certainly fast. Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she b?r?ly held on and continued to move forward. On her back was an Unconscious Wendy who''s ankle had turned blue in color, a sign of poison spreading inside her body and a pale-faced Nightingale who had apparently pushed herself too far and couldn''t use her ability for a short amount of time. During their escape, they met Lightning who apparently wanted to follow them back to the town and see all the things Nightingale told her were true or not. Lightning is a young girl with fresh and neat short blonde hair. In the Witch Cooperation Association, she preferred to wear trousers and a leather jacket full of pockets and patches. Around her waist was a belt, seemingly picked up from somewhere. "We must not stop....!!! if we can make it to [Border Town] they Lord and Nana would be able to heal Wendy...." Chapter 45 - :-44 The Three Factions "We must not stop....!!! if we can make it to [Border Town], Lord and Nana would be able to heal Wendy...." [Back to Kite] Rustle Rustle..... The cold wind traveled throughout the mountain, bringing together a dense and blurry fog that didn''t allow one to see too far, a perfect cover for ambush and ?ssassination. Unfortunately, people weren''t allowed to travel to the mountain. The [Gates of Hell] was located in the vicinity of the mountain, the fanatics of the Church forbade everyone from taking a step on the mountain, many rumors and created accidents also contributed to the fear that people felt for this place. Only of this but also the presence of ''Demons'', the mutated beast acted as a deterrent which people usually avoid at all costs. To tell the truth, they weren''t wrong about the mountain but what they didn''t know was that other than the mutated beasts and scare hybrids, there are more dangerous beings inside the red fog located deep in the mountain. The holy city of Hermes had been fighting against these beings and monsters for ages but only the true leaders of the church knew the truth. The battle of evolution had been going on forever. Kite knew about it, the reason why he was so focused on gathering power was only that he didn''t have enough time. A huge battle would surely begin in the coming years, the major forces had been fighting at different fronts all this time. The [Cross church] was the most influential religion who worshipped the [God of Light], the [Axion church] had the largest resources, even when compared to the largest kingdom, The Kingdom of Graycastle. They worshipped the [God of Truth]. Finally the [Ruujiki temple], a secluded sacred land filled with monks and Daoists throughout the place. They had the strongest forces in the whole world, even the demons and the old-witches combined couldn''t damage them. The monks and Daoists were all cultivators who practice ancient battle arts, Sutra, Dharma, Body refinement, and many more techniques. They were a closed religion who rarely accepted others in the temple, they walked on the path of enlightenment and spirituality. [Budhha] being the idol of this group of people. The three forces rarely clashed with each other and only focused on defending their battlefronts. But the [Cross-church were getting impatient, they want to control the whole kingdom and use the resources they would acquire to fend off the demons. Kite knew that this wasn''t as simple as it seemed, there was something that he didn''t know about. Roland had been having these strange feelings that something is about to come and the whole kingdom will be affected by it. After taking care of the pressing matters at hand here in the [Border town], Kite would need to travel to the [Coast of Blackwater] and investigate what is happening under the covers of [Royal selection]. "I have found a lead Master...." Cynthia walks inside the room and stands beside Kite who is holding a glass of fine wine in his left hand. He stands and walks towards the balcony. Looking at the bright moon shining flawlessly in the lonely night, he can''t help but let out a smile. "You have been helpful all this time Cynthia..." placing the glass on the wooden table near his right he turns around and walks closer to Cynthia before stopping inches away from her. He lifts his finger and gently slides across her neck, looking at those black eyes, he can''t help but think about the potential she had, just how much she could help him in his task. "My wish is to be of Master''s use, my life was given by Master and I will not forget this debt." she looks straight into his eyes and declares her allegiance. Kite smiles before walking away from her, he speaks in a cold tone "In this noble quest for freedom and equality, my will join our cause will others will oppose us. The witches will both help us and also try to stop us when the time comes for you to face off against your sisters, will you be able to deliver the final blow?" Without a shred of hesitation, she replied immediately "The cause that we are fighting for is a noble one, even if our sisters try to stop us I will not let them do that, sacrifices are required for the greater good. As long as it is something that will allow my kind to be free from this torment, I will kill anyone who disrupts your plan Master." "Life has been cruel to you but I promise after all this is over you will have friends and family of your own also you will have a place by my side forever. The hardship you faced will not haunt the younger generation, rather they will live a happy, healthy and long life." "Just don''t betray me, Cynthia, I will not hesitate to rip out your heart from your body..." "Master has given me everything, made by who I am today, saved my kind and is working hard to protect us. Even his I had to give my life, I would do it without hesitation for you Master." "Your loyalty is what garners my trust, your powers are what garners my interest, while your devotion is what garners my affection. I only care for those loyal to me, you and the other two are the recipients of it. A storm is brewing and soon it will hit the whole kingdom, bringing unspeakable changes." "Nightingale is an important piece in my plan, she needs to be trained and groomed just like the three of you were groomed by me. Teach her what I taught you." "But her loyalty doesn''t lay with us....!!!!" "I don''t need her loyalty, as long as those she cares about are loyal to us she too will eventually come under my control. I will help the witches in taking back what is rightfully theirs but I will not allow anyone one to mess my plans." "Come now, we have some witches who need our help," said Kite before putting on his cloak and walking towards the exit followed by Cynthia, they walked out the castle and headed towards the [Immpassible mountains] Chapter 45 - :-45 Saving the Witches (Part-1) Under the dark sky and the beautiful moon, the mountain seemed to glow with a pale blue light. It was as if the whole mountain was a bright stone. The uneasy feeling could be felt as one got closer to the mountain. A dark shadow sprint across the trees, it''s movements were fluid and fast. The creature had sharp claws and lethal jaws, tough skin and small ears. It was a summoned creature whom Cynthia had made using her power, to track down Nightingale. Kite sat on the back of yet another summoned creature. It had bird-like talons and huge wings, beside him sat Cynthia, wearing a black cloak and hood which helped cover her features. Kite had worn a white cloak with ancient design, his sword hung from his waist while he carried a pistol holster with a long-barreled pistol hanging from his arm. His blue eyes glowed in the darkness as he scanned the area for Nightingale. In case he met her, and if ask his purpose, he could simply say that he was tracking a demon horde that had been traveling near the border. Azik had already rescued the other witches and was on his way to the castle where Roland would take care of all the arrangements and now all that was left to do was to rescue Nightingale and her friend. Roland had already divined just how important this person was to Nightingale, thus to gain her unwavering loyalty, he decided to use the current circumstances to his own benefit. "I can sense her Master, she is near and she is not alone..." "Tell the shadow demon to attack her group, we need to make it look convincing for our plan to work." "As you wish Master...~" Cynthia manipulated her summoned shadow and ordered it to attack Nightingale''s group. Using the night as a cover to hide its features, she didn''t have to worry about Nightingale''s finding of the fact that it was she who attacked them. Kite unsheathed his sword and lightly jumped off the bird-like creature before jumping over a branch. He suddenly disappeared from the view leaving Cynthia behind to act a the mastermind. "Can you tell us where we are going?" "To a place where you all will be safe for the time being....." "Thank you for saving our lives...." "It''s okay, we noticed a horde of demons near the border so we decided to track them down and take care of them before they become a danger for us." "Though I never thought that they would discover people living inside a cave." Hearing Azik''s words, an uncomfortable expression surfaced over their faces. Azik noticed their uneasy expression didn''t press on for answer this he already knew why these witches were gathered inside that cave. They were searching for a holy Land, probably a non-existent place which gives them hope. Well, he had already done his part now after returning to the castle, he will prepare to promote to the next level. The bodies of so many witches had allowed Azik to completely digest his [Corpse collector] potion, he didn''t need to dissect their bodies to find out how they functioned, though he would surely take a look to better understand the body working. He was still wearing his strange armor but he hadn''t equipped his helmet and spear. Leaf was sitting near a tree. Green leaves wrapped around her ankle with some herbs stuffed inside the natural bandage. She had applied so medicine over her ankle but she still couldn''t move for the time being. She frowned at the thought of being carried by a stranger, surely he helped them and even carried her to safety when the easiest way to escape was to leave her there but she still couldn''t help but feel timid when facing him. He had a stranger aura to him which made him an unapproachable but she was also very fascinated by him. He wasn''t like others, they all looked at them with ?ust, hate, anger, disdain, fear, etc but he outright ignored them. It was as if they didn''t pique his interest at all. Leaf pulled her legs closer as she watched Azik coming towards her. He sat down beside her and asked in a neutral tone. "How''s your injury....?" "It will take some time to heal but I would be able to walk after some time. I apologize for burdening you" "What will your group do after we make it out of this mountain range? " " We will go to [Border town] and request the Prince to provide us with shelter. " " How do you know that the Prince will agree to provide you with shelter and no outright execute you? " " One of our sisters guarantees that the Prince is willing to help our kind and protect us from the [Church]." " Hmm...your sister is indeed right about the Prince, but he is not only willing to protect you from the Church rather he wants to create a world where you all can live freely, like normal people. " " Is what you are saying the truth?" " It is the truth, I will take you all to the [Border town] so that you can see for yourself. " " I don''t know how to thank you, not only for saving our lives but also giving us hope. " " Just help the Prince in making his dream come true and that would be thankful indeed. " [Elsewhere] " Nightingale run....!!!!" Lightning shouted towards Nightingale as heard the sounds of a gunshot. Nightingale quickly emptied the barrel inside the beast''s head as black blood flowed out from the small wound over his head. She along with Lightning and a poised Wendy were trying to recover their strength when suddenly a dark demon pounced towards them and started attacking them. Yet the demons husk was to tough to be penetrated by the bullets. The demon once again attacked Nightingale who was protecting the unconscious Wendy behind her. She gritted her teeth as she prepared to engage the demon. Lightning screamed towards Nightingale "Run Nightingale....!!!" The demon pounced at her but before it could reach her, a bright glow tore through the darkness as a sword suddenly pierced the demons head and burned the body into ashes. "What¡ª...." Chapter 46 - :-46 Saving the Witches (Part-2) Nightingale jumped backward to avoid the blood which spilled out of the demon''s body as the beautiful sword pierced it''s heart. The surroundings went quiet as the gentle breeze gave them chills. From the cover of shadows, a white-cloaked man walked towards the dead demon. Nightingale immediately recognized the person and hurriedly rushed towards him. Getting down on one knee, her left hand placed on her ?h?st she spoke while glancing at the unconscious Wendy. "Lord please help my friend..!!! she has been poisoned by a witch and is slowly dying, she has also lost a lot of blood....." Usually, she would first ask him about how did he found her and why was he here in the mountain at this time but currently her mind was too occupied by the thoughts of saving her only friend''s life no matter the cost. Kite complied and walked towards the unconscious witch. He knelt down and held out his palm to monitor her vitals. A frown appeared on his face as he thought while gently placing the unconscious Witch''s head on his ?h?st. ''The poison has spread through the entire left portion but her condition is not life-threatening at least not yet.....the poison is slowly spread to the other parts but it will take some hours to completely destroy her neuro-system and kill her.'' ''It looked like the person who attacked her just wanted to give her a warning rather than killing her, Nightingale shouldn''t have left the witch as she could have cured the poison. I could do the same but not here, the required ingredients are back at the castle...'' He placed his palm over her heart and channeled his powers from the [Sun-domain] to slow down the poison and keep her warm. "Cynthia...." he called out as she exited the shadows and walked towards him, standing beside him she asked in a respectful tone. "Yes, Master....?" "Talk Nightingale and her friend to the castle and have them recover, I will carry her to the hospital." "Your wish is my command...." A huge bird conjured out of shadows appeared beside Cynthia as she motioned Nightingale and Lightning to climb on it''s back. "Lord....please let follow you to the hospital, I must stay by Wendy''s side...." Nightingale pleaded as she understood Kite''s intentions. He wanted her to recover her strength but she couldn''t care less about her right now, she had to take care of Wendy. "I have slowed down the poison using my powers but to treat her, I need to concoct some potion. There is nothing you can do to help her, if you followed in your current state then you will only hinder her recovery. Take some rest and then come to the hospital." Kite looked at Nightingale and gently lifted the unconscious Wendy in a princess carry, a warm light appeared around his body which provided the unconscious witch with warmth. She snuggled deeper in his embrace like a moth attracted to light. Nightingale struggled to speak as even she knew that there was nothing she could do other than recover. She bit her lips and walked towards Cynthia, Lightning looked curious and followed Nightingale. "Head back to the castle and ?ssist the other two...." "Yes, master...." The ground beneath Kite cracked from the pressure exerted by his legs as he disappeared along with Wendy. The sword stabbing the demon suddenly glowed with a bright light before suddenly blasting off to its owner. Cynthia looked at the rapidly shrinking figure of her master as climbed the back of the back bird, Nightingale and Lightning followed her and also sat on the back of the bird. The bird opened its wings, large wings. They took flight and steadily flew towards the castle. "Will Wendy be okay....??." Lightning was a little worried for Wendy, she was the ''caring big sister'' in their group and now she was being carried by someone who could be their enemy. "Lord is someone you can trust....!?" Her tone was uncertain, can''t blame her though...after all, she knew close to nothing about the person, Hell..!! she didn''t even know how he looked. Cynthia looked unhappy by their lack of trust in her master but she knew it wasn''t their fault. After all, she too once doubted her master rather more than them but eventually, she understood that his intentions were in consideration of their kind soon these two would also understand it. She silently looked towards her master and flew towards the castle along with the others. Whereas back to Kite, he was traveling at an incredible speed while keeping Wendy warm and protected with his power. He had already decided on how he will make Nightingale trust him blindly, first he needed to gain Wendy''s unconditional trust. While it was certainly hard to accomplish this feat, Wendy was much more experienced than Nightingale and also much more cautious but it wasn''t impossible to do so. After all, he even had an over convincing her after all he was going to save her life along with her other Witches friends. As a [Telepathist level-8 beyonder] of the [Dreamer pathway] his observation is not only limited to superficial details, but deeper into one''s aura, Ether Body, or other mysterious domains. The combination of the two allowed a Telepathist to precisely understand a person''s thoughts as though they could read their minds. In front of them, it is difficult to have any secrets. They know what kind of emotional reaction to show in the appropriate situation and know in detail what kind of expression and body language to react with. Along with his [Reader level-9 beyonder] of the [Reader pathway], he knew it was only a matter of time until he achieves his goal. Chapter 47 - :-47 Saving the Witches (Part-3) After reaching the town, Kite immediately carried Wendy to the hospital and ordered two guards to call for Nana from the castle. He entered the room and gently placed Wendy on the bed before waving his hand in the air. The room was suddenly illuminated as the candles suddenly started burning with a renewed vigor. A little girl close to Kite''s waist entered the room, accompanied by two guards wearing the dusk armor. He waved his hand once again, indicating them to leave the room. "Ask Kattara to come here, this instance...." Kite closed his eyes as his conscious was rapidly pulled above the fog. He saw an ancient castle and a cloaked figure sitting around the round table. "Klein(Roland) ask Mellena to keep an eye on the newcomers, one can never be too cautious if any of them display hostile intent then knock them unconscious." The figure behind the great grey fog nodded before he raised his hand towards Kite who felt himself rapidly falling downwards, the castle rapidly shrinking away from his sight. After coming back to the real world, he opened his eye and motioned Nana to come closer. "Use your magic to heal her injuries also try to see if you can remove the poison from her body." Nana immediately nodded and walked forward with steady steps, she raised her left palm and placed it on Wendy''s ankle. Thuk... The door creaked open as a woman of average stature and slightly dark features entered the room, she wore a maid uniform and respectfully bowed towards Kite who''s face was covered under his cloak. "You summoned me, Master.....!?" "Yes Kattara, I want to use your powers and calm down Wendy''s mind. Dull her senses and alleviate her pain." ''Also search her memories for any useful information related to the witches, church, Nightingale and even herself...'' Kite utilized the network of thoughts created by Kattara to send this message to her in secret, he could use her memories to his advantage and even gather more information. Kattara nodded although feeling a little reluctant to do so, she had her orders and she had to follow her master''s wishes no matter out she thought of it. Kite turned around and walked towards the shelf to pick up some chemicals and ingredients. He placed it all on the table and crushed a dark blue fruit before collecting the liquid it produced in a bowl. He proceeded with plucking some leaves from the branch of the Kratos tree and dipped them inside the liquid he extracted previously. The Kratos tree was a rare tree that was very hard to find and obtain due to their nature of growing near the demon''s nest. Azik had collected some branches when he visited the mountain. "Change her clothes and clean her, I will ask a maid to provide her with some clothes. Let her rest and if she walks up then use your power to put her back to sleep. She will be fully healed by tomorrow evening." Saying some he left the hospital to find Azik and the new witches, Roland had already arranged for their logging so he wasn''t worried about the chaos. Mellena was already watching over them for the time being thus he didn''t have to worry about any attacks. ''Time for me to promote my [Reader] to the next level.'' [Near the logging] "First of all, talk some rest and recover your stamina. Your rooms are already prepared some relax for now. Usually, the dinner is done in the dining hall but today it will be sent to your rooms." "I don''t think any of you are wounded other than Leaf." Hearing Azik''s words they shook their heads, some of them had bruises over their body but it wasn''t something a little rest couldn''t heal. Azik''s yellow crystal eyes passed over them before settling on Leaf. She was standing with great difficultly, her injury wasn''t fatal but it still pained her a lot. He walked over to Leaf and supported by the shoulder, while she was indeed a little uncomfortable with his undead aura she didn''t show it on her face, it would be extremely disrespectful of her. "You should rest, I will cure your leg so enter your room..." "I would first like to meet His Highness...." "You can meet him after you have recovered, he isn''t going to suddenly disappear....." "My sisters and I are here in His Highness territory, I wish to make sure that my sisters are indeed save and he wouldn''t capture us..." Azik gazed deep into her eyes for sometime before picking her up in a princess carry. Leaf gently bit her lips and lowered her head but still held onto his neck. "Very well, but first let''s heal your ankle...." He vanished from his spot before appeared in front of the study. He took out a bottle containing a strange green colored liquid and poured it gently over her ankle. The liquid started evaporating at a high speed but her ankle seemed to heal perfectly. He put her down and pointed towards the door. "He is inside, go talk to him...I will be waiting outside...." "Thank you..." Leaf nodded towards and took a deep breath to calm down her nerves, she was nothing but a common girl before becoming a witch and now she was going to talk to a potential candidate who can become the King of the country. She gently pushed the door open and entered with a calm yet slightly nervous expression. The study was illuminated by crystal embedded in the wall to act as bulbs. There sat Roland near the fireplace while jotting down something on a paper. Seeing someone has entered the study, he put down his quill before looking towards Leaf with a slight smile. "Welcome to Border town, I hope you and your friends are enjoying yourselves here." "We are thankful for His Highness''s hospitality and tolerance. Please forgive me but I will be blunt, may His Highness enlighten me about what you are doing to do with us....." "I will provide you all a place to live among people as fellow humans, not like some oddity or demon. I am also willing to pay for the services you may provide. You all will be citizens of the border town and my subjects, so consider this like a job where you get paid for your services." "You may also decline but to earn a livelihood you need to contribute to society and also keep your powers under control. I also provide a way for all of you to survive the [Awakening day] without any pain or casualty, given that you help me build a nation where everyone is equal and people treat each other as humans." Saying so Roland stopped speaking and merely waited for Leaf''s response. The said individual was currently observing Roland''s face intently to see if he is telling the truth. After a couple so seconds, Leaf bowed deeply to Roland before saying with a slight tremor in her voice due to the overwhelming emotions building inside of her. "I thank His Highness from the bottom of my heart and swear to ?ssist you in all matters as long as His Highness works towards this utopia he created." Roland smiles before saying in a joyful tone. "This intent is not only mine but is shared amongst three individuals, one of them is the person standing outside the door. His name is Azik, one is me while the last one is another Awakened. You will meet him soon enough." Roland had decided to mask themselves as Awakened as it helped them save the time of explanation and also provided an answer for their strange abilities. Chapter 48 - :-48 Face Revealed (Part-1) "Wendy and Nightingale are here...?" Leaf knew that Nightingale and Wendy had escaped from the camp after having a fallout their mentor, Cara. Last time Wendy was bitten on the ankle by one of the snakes conjured by Cara. Leaf wanted to know if they had returned to the town, she was worried about Wendy as she knew that Cara''s snake that bit her was poisonous and could prove fatal if it wasn''t treated on time. Roland looked at Leaf for a second before handing her a map, it had some places circle, highlighting certain places. "Indeed...Nightingale and Wendy are here, both of them were exhausted from using too much of their magic also Wendy was poisoned and had to be treated so she was placed in the hospital." "Is she okay...?" "Yes..! one of the leaders had been taking care of her personally. He excels in medicine and potions so she had already been treated with her poison. It should be alright for you to visit her." "But only Cara''s magic can heal her poison so how¡ª...." "The three leaders are all [Awakened]...." The smile on Roland''s face seemed a little dangerous to Leaf. Now she knew why Roland didn''t fear any church, having three Awakened along with three extremely powered witches is a force to be reckoned with. "You can use the map in case you got lost or you can ask Azik to show you around...." "Thank you, Your Highness....." Roland just smiled in response and watched her leaving the [Study]. "Lord Azik, thank you for helping me and my sisters. For saving our lives we are eternally grateful to you." Leaf bowed deep to show her respect to one of the 3-leaders. ''To think I was so casual with him. I am such a fool...!'' Azik looked deeply with yellow crystal eyes and said in a deep tone. "Just call me Azik....." "But Lord¡ª...." "Only Azik...." "As you wish Azik..." "Now that you have conversed with Roland, you have to rest so that you can recover your stamina and magic." "Before that can you please take me to the hospital, His Highness told me that Wendy and Nightingale are also in the town...." "You should re¡ª....." "Please Azik..! Wendy has been a big sister to every one of my sisters. Now that she is hurt I must stay by her side and take care of her also I have knowledge about medicine so I would be able to see if she is alright or not...." Azik looked at the determinate expression on Leaf''s face and knew that she wouldn''t listen to him. "You will not stay in the hospital for more than half an hour, after checking her condition you must return to your room and rest....." Azik spoke in a commanding tone, he was one of the leaders who''s orders were absolute and the witches had to abide by them. Leaf nodded and expressed her thanks to which Azik just waved his hand. "Follow me...." [Inside the Mausoleum] "The sequence of the [Reader] is irregular at level-8, I need to switch pathways to promote myself to the next sequence." "The highest compatibility for [Reader] pathway belongs to [Tyrant] pathway...sequence:-8 [Folk of Rage]..." "At this level, a Beyonder can release several strikes that exceed ordinary thresholds when enraged. Their strength and speed are greatly enhanced - facing them is like facing a storm....." "In the upcoming fight against the [Longsong stronghold], it would be helpful though there isn''t much need for it it was helpful in taking care of that [Awakened]." "To switch-promote myself the only requirement is to have the sequence:-8 potion...." "Very well then let''s start with the process..." Kite twisted open the seal placed on top of the potion container and gulped down the entire content in the container. He put away the empty container and sat down on his throne, the whole mausoleum burst into a bright light that descended upon Kite''s body. He was using the power of the mausoleum to suppress corruption. Even then...Kite''s face muscles twitched as his skin started to wriggle like worms crawling under his skin, his left arm went transparent while his eyes went blood red. Under normal sequence promotion, Kite wouldn''t face much trouble but when switching a pathway, it meant that a beyonder is changing his whole extraordinary characteristic or foundation. It was not only dangerous to attempt but also extremely hard to promote oneself, even Kite had to utilize the power of the Mausoleum which was powered by a [God''s] extraordinary characteristics. Finally, after 2 hours of constant torment did his muscles and body relaxed, being that he was successful in switching his pathways from [Reader] to [Tyrant]. Kite liked being cautious, this was something that he had even before he was transmigrated into [Lord of the Mysteries] world and then here. There are chances that the characteristics taken for promotion are not digested completely or are corrupted though the chances of the latter are slim. This characteristic can cause huge outbreaks of corruption when a beyonder is at his/her weakest and turn them into monsters. This potion would dilute the characteristics so that they will be completely digested and even his they are corrupted then also after diluting the corruption he can absorb the characteristic as a whole. He opened the lid and drank the potion before closing his eyes and resting on the throne. The bright light around him dimmed a little but not my much, it was helping him digest his [Bard] potion of the [Sun-pathway]. Chapter 49 - :-49 Face Revealed (Part-2) Click... The doorknob twisted open, revealing a beautiful woman with green hair and light green eyes. She was wearing a brown colored dress along with a bangle on her wrist. Her hands held a tray filled with food and water for 2-people, one herself while the other for the woman sitting in front of her near the bed where other women was sleeping soundly. She had beautiful purple hair and soft expression as faced the sleeping women. She was wearing tight clothes that highlighted her curves but offered more speed and mobility along with a cloak with a hood to cover her face. "How is she....?" "Fine...Lord has removed the poison from her body so she should be waking up soon. Well, how is everyone...?" "After you left, a huge horde of demons attacked our camp and killed most of our sisters along with Mentor Cara but...Lord Azik saved us from being slaughtered and took us to [Border town]." "I see....it is sad that so many of our sisters have died. Maybe I could have saved them if I wa¡ª" "It''s not your fault so don''t blame yourself, Wendy was poisoned and hurt so had to escape from the camp to cure her. Even if you didn''t have left, the sheer number of the demons was enough to make you despair." "Sigh.....I am glad that Lord Azik was able to help you guys, though I was curious about how did he found out about the camp." "He was tracking down a group of demons to find out their hideout, he also said that another person was also helping him." "Yeah...Lord had found me and Wendy when we were about to be attacked by a demon." "Thank God that they found us or.....we would be suffering from more casualties." [Thump] [Thump] Sound of footsteps was heard, Kite wearing his usual white cloak and face hidden underneath a hood entered the room. Nightingale stood up from Wendy''s bed and bowed towards him followed by Leaf who realized that he was someone of high status. "Greetings my Lord....." "Greetings Lord....." Kite nodded towards them and walked towards the sleeping Wendy. He put his palm over her wrist and checked her pulse and heartbeat to make sure she was alright. He moved his palm towards her temple, suddenly Wendy''s eyes fluttered open. She saw a palm heading towards her face and panicked. "No...!" The intense magic fluctuation was felt by everyone as Kite pulled back his palm and braced himself. Strong wind burst towards Kite to push him back, Wendy was a kind-hearted witch who would not heart a person if not necessary. The magic was ineffective on Kite but his hood flew back due to the intensity of the winds, revealing an attractive face with blue eyes and indifferent expression. "Wendy stop....! He is our benefactor....!" Nightingale immediately appeared beside Wendy and held her shoulders. "Calm down Wendy, my lord is one of the leaders of the ?ssociation.....he means no harm to us....." Wendy calmed down and understood how grave the situation was, she just attacked her benefactor who is also one of the three leaders Nightingale told her about. He could have her head for this offense against himself. "I apolo...gize¡ª" Wendy looked at the young and attractive man in front of her, wearing a white cloak. His white hair fluttered in the wind while his blue eyes gazed deeply at her. She was slightly stunned by Kite''s features but quickly recovered and stood up with Nightingale''s help and bowed deeply. "It''s okay....just be careful not to hurt anyone..." After saying this, Kite turned and left the room while Roland entered the room. Nightingale bowed deeply followed by Wendy and Leaf as they greeted him. Roland wore black clothes with a military outfit. "Your Highness....." "Please rise....." "I am Roland Wimbledon, the fourth prince of the [Kingdom of Graycastle]. Nice to meet you, Wendy, we have heard a lot about you from Nightingale..." "I am flattered, Your Highness...." "How are you feeling, the poison in your system was cleared after my friend bought you here....." "I am feeling well, just a little weak at the moment....." "Hahaha....that gust of wind told otherwise....." "That¡ª..." "Don''t worry I am joking...he wouldn''t take it as an offense." "May I know Lord''s name....." "I am sorry but I can''t speak of his name without his permission but you can call him Aizen Sousuke, one of the three leaders along with me and Azik...." "We can continue this over dinner..." Roland turned and walked towards the exit but not before gesturing them to follow behind. Outside stood Kattara wearing a maid''s uniform, she bowed towards Roland and greeted him. "Kattara, please ask the witches to come to the dining room for breakfast...." "As you command Your Highness..." Kattara utilized her powers and connect to the conscious mind of every single witch in the castle. ?....You all are to come to the dining room for breakfast, His Highness shall also be there to answer your questions and doubts....? "They all will be there in a couple of minutes..." "Thank you very much Kattara...." "Its many duty, Your Highness...." "Very well then, I will be in the dining room...." After saying so Roland walked towards the dining room with steady steps while Nightingale, Wendy, and Leaf followed behind him. Chapter 50 - A server to help authors The server ¡ã?The Coffee Shop?¡ã was created with the intent to help authors find a well-organized server where they don''t have to worry about creating multiple channels and handle the server. The idea for this server is similar to Ink store but this is more of a joint-server which welcomes more authors to join. I am the author of {I frickin reincarnated with a System}, {The Mikaelson Family in an Irregular World}, {Lord of the Witches} and {Eye of the Moon plan}. Two of my fan-fictions have more than a 100 chapters with 1k word minimum per chapter. This server will help authors to better themselves, especially the new authors, while I don''t say that I have a lot of experience, but I can certainly guide new authors to write better and improve themselves along with helping them with organizing a server. I humbly invite Authors and others to join the server and help me create this community, to help others, no money will be involved in this project, I am willing to help others for free and am asking other authors to help me out. Discord link:-discord.gg/WXHTGQN)