9 Impending Danger (1/1)
In the Royal Capital, a man wearing the same heavy armor that he used back then to report to the emperor about the mysterious light was nervously walking into the hallway of the Royal Castle. His back was drenched with no signs of his sweat stopping. He had just received a report. The eastern continent was just usurped by a rebellion. The Empire has little to no control of the situation. The leader of the rebellion was called Ye Chen, The clan head of the Chen Clan. His whole clan apparently went missing 100 years ago back when sudden purges were occurring throughout the empire. They must've felt the danger of them being next. In fact, they were supposed to have been exterminated as they were on the list.
The problem now was them suddenly coming out from hiding and them taking over the Eastern Capital. but if that was just the problem then they wouldn't be much of a problem as the empire could just send a massive army to quell the rebellion. The problem was because of the Northern Continent territories were also showing signs of rebellion together with the increase of monster activity on the Western Continent it was only a matter of time before the empire plunges into chaos. And right now, this very man was tasked to report all these to the emperor. Not to mention the failure of the previous assignment regarding the pillar of light, and to think that even the previously exterminated Shadow Lurkers were actually hiding a descendant!
As the man slowly walked into the Large and Luxurious throne room, he saw the emperor in deep thought. He then slowly knelt and made a knightly salute. ”LeBran Hanz Brintin Emperor, Son of the Heavens, Almighty Monarch, Ruler of the Five Continents, Liberator of th-” Brian was again stopped by the emperor's hand midway. ”By the look of your face, I can tell that you're about to tell me of bad news, am I wrong?”
”Y-you aren't wrong Emperor.” Brian then nervously told the emperor of the previous incidents. As he was doing so he seemed to notice the emperor getting impatient as if he was expecting something from what he was saying. When he finished, the emperor told him to leave. Just right after he left the room his whole body suddenly went soft. He could still remember the pressure that he felt as the emperor was emitting tremendous killing intent, he knew that the killing intent wasn't pointed at him. But he couldn't help but feel the shivers as he remembers the emperor's smile. His smile was not of a human, he would always think of it as a monster's every time.
He still remembered when the emperor was still the crown prince. At a young age, the young prince had achieved tremendous merits. He had led a mere 100 man into a monster horde outbreak in the South. You might think it foolish but, HELL NO! If you for once looked down on the young prince, then you'd be digging your own grave. At that time Brian was one of the soldiers that the prince had managed to rescue. And at that time, he had secretly vowed to himself that one day he would return the favor. How could he not do it after he saw the terrifying power that the emperor showed? His single strike had managed to wipe off more than a hundred monsters.
On the western Continent, however, Cray was still unconscious. This time he was wearing proper clothes. He was lying down on a neat looking bed and was actually sleeping peacefully. He had overworked his body back when he had to run for his own life, and now that he was unconscious all the fatigue made him undergo a deep sleep. Stan, on the other hand, was sitting vigilantly across Cray while looking at the window he was playing with his Black colored dagger with silver linings.
With Stan carrying Cray around, they had arrived in an inn on the edges of Zone 3. Right now, they were disguised as travelers. Stan used an excuse and said that Cray was so drunk that he passed out to the owner of the inn to make them stay for the night. Stan had already bought food for two people that are good for 7 days of continuous traveling. He bought this much even if the trip should only take them three days normally, the trip could even be only on two days if the boat they're going to ride was fast enough. But considering that they have enemies looking for their trails, he prepared just in case.
Stan was looking at Cray and he whispered under his breath. ”You better make this worth it.....” He then changed his line of sight towards the shadows that seemed to be monitoring them the moment they had entered the building. He didn't think that they were affiliated with the empire because if they are then they would've already been surrounded by a ton of enemy soldiers. He also took various deception techniques to change Cray's and his own facial features. He even had a made-up Identity of a rank 2 citizen when he and Cray entered the zone. The guards wouldn't let them in if they didn't show any badge to prove their citizens rank. They also wouldn't be even let inside if the guard noticed that those badges were fake. But since they did then, it would make sense that the empire still has no clue to their whereabouts. Then by the process of elimination, the only possible reason that they were monitored was ”Thieves? I haven't encountered them since the old days. This feels so nostalgic!”
Stan then decided to wait for the movement of the thieves. If they were to come here, then he would strike them. But if they were to make too much noise then the guards might be alerted and decide to come here. ”Hmmm... Should I just assassinate them? But if I do so, I would have to leave this boy here all alone. Explaining to him might also be hard if he woke up when I'm still not back, and it would also be bad if he were to see me stabbing away at the enemy when they come here by themselves.
When he was facing the agony of not being able to make a decision, Cray woke up. He had first noticed that he was so tired, so he was still lying down on the bed, it was like the bed was still inviting him towards dreamland. Then he noticed it, this bed was too soft! He never had a bed like this, in fact, this was his first time sleeping on a bed this soft that instead of making him relaxed he felt tenser. He was not used to this kind of luxury as he never had one as a child. So, this sudden transformation made him a bit worried.
He was awoken by the rapid thoughts that were coming in and out of his head. And he had still remembered about that woman who chased him. The last thing that he remembered was that he passed out when he turned around when he showed his back to the enemy. With these thoughts, he had been mentally preparing for what he would do when he moved away from the bed. He opened his right eye to take a look around. He then saw a guard who was watching over him! he had also noticed the surroundings, this looks to lavish to be a prison. This was clearly the overuse of the wealth that the nobles had!
When Cray opened his right eye, Stan had noticed it and saw an awkward sleeping position that Cray was making right now. Stan was now wondering if he should talk to himself and explain things while pretending not to notice that Cray was already awake and should be trying to listen to him to hear out more information. He decided to do that, so he moved a bit closer towards Cray and when he did.
”PUUUUNNNCHHHHH” Cray shouted out while kicking. He tried to distract the enemy by shouting and doing different things at the same time. Stan was stupefied as he totally didn't expect this kind of situation. Cray then ran towards the door leaving Stan. ”Oh, young man where are you heading out this late in the night. You're not going anywhere y'know?” There were voices of men that looked horrendous. With scars on their faces, they looked at Cray.