The kingdom of Martsirt is a gigantic castle that built itself on the top of a mountain. This was also the perfect escape path for the Kings should terror occur. The mountain was generally difficult to scale on the other sides, and the escape route through the mountain's secret caves led to various exits.
But the kingdom itself had three more castles built on the tall walls that encircled the entire kingdom itself. The East, West, and South castle was guarded by various nobles and families who had supported Martsit since the beginning.
As the commotion in the castle of Martsirt continued to plummet into more chaos, the three castles were also in upheaval. Reinforcements and informants to update the status of what was going on in the main castle moved back and forth.
Yet among the castles, the most worked up and confused was the one at the east. This was because the castle was the main base of operation that seated the Serpentari.
They were situated in a large castle on the far end of the town. Although the castle had looked mediocre compared to the mountain castle of King Ciroel, the castle had secrets that would shock Ciroel.
Secret chambers, underground tunnels, a reservoir underneath, and a warp pad.
The warp pad was something that the Serpentari kept in good secret as it was the means to move in and out of the castle of Ciroel without getting detected.
But due to the number of times the warp pad was used, it actually broke. The death of Nabal and Abrellam caused the messengers to flock back and forth, especially since the items of Nabal and the key objects in Abrellam’s room went missing.
Inside the Guardians Throne Room of the Serpentari castle, a disgruntled and angry tall man kept shouting various orders to investigate.
“Fix it now! We cannot afford to lose more! How can all of Nabal’s items suddenly disappear?!” The tall man roared.
“Sir! Zehir and the Cardinal have been reportedly attacked! Zehir… appeared to have died. Arc Knights attacked him!”
“WHAT?! Why did the Ark Knights attack him!”
“We don’t know. Our reports indicate that Usserfer the Berserker had been involved in the attack against Zehir. But other reports saw him fleeing the location of Gruelle’s platoon! Also… A powerful ghost that controls wraiths has begun to attack the city itself! The entire castle is fighting! The West and the North Castle are now moving in to send their reinforcements!” The messenger gave his reports.
It was then that another rushed back in.
“My Lord! Urgent news!”
“Everything tonight is urgent news!” The Serpentari Lord roared in anger.
“Sir… We have conflicting reports! Some report Usserfer to have killed Zehir… But we also have reported that Usserfer was nearly killed in Gruelle’s Arc Knight building!”
“That’s just the report this man gave! If you don’t have anything new, get out!”
“We have close witnesses who have heard what the Revenant spoke the following to Usserfer! Tell you Serpentari Master, Afarit Mephisto, will win this war!” The soldier reported.
At that words, the Lord of the Serpentari froze in shock.
“News is circulating regarding the Serpentari and this Afarit Mephisto! What are your orders?” The soldier asked.
“Another… Afarit?! Damn it!” The Lord of the Serpentari roared.
One by one, more reports of the allies of the kings being attacked were reported. But soon, the deaths of the Serpentari spies also were revealed.
Dyne, Jaden, and Bishop Chrone first met with Ussylys and with Arya. The sight of the now calm and loyal Ussylys still surprised Jaden and Chrone. They couldn’t believe it at first but after seeing him reporting how they completed their mission.
“And so… several soldiers saw the appearance of Arya as an Assassin. There were more knights injured when Arya escaped, and I gave chase. We managed to hide and lead the knights to the south region.” Ussylys reported.
“Good. This gives us a better chance of sneaking in without drawing any more attention. With fewer guards near this area, we can create a loud but fake fight in the throne room.” Dyne praised.
Arya and Ussylys made several public appearances and fought all over the place. Every time they would appear, the two would change their outfit. Ussylys even used swords at one point so to hide his real identity.
And so, reports of assassins and unknown warriors fighting on several areas of the castle occurred. And as the directions were all headed south, more and more soldiers began to move and scan the area. The guards that were near the throne were distracted by the fight.
The strongest Swift Blade and Knight of Martsirt ordered the guards to stay away and not enter the throne room. They kept declaring that whoever would disobey would be treated as an assassin.
With the sudden attacks and the chaos, the knights guarding the king could not help but sympathize with the very paranoid treatment and agreed.
With fewer guards now guarding, the group managed to sneak in.
They used a secret tunnel that moved to the throne room. With a pull of a lever, a secret tunnel leading to the throne room opened, and everyone finally appeared before King Ciroel.
King Ciroel was a very tall man with an epic beard.
“My King… This is Dyne Valliant.” Jaden introduced.
“You are… Usserfer the Berserker?!”
“That is my Serpentari name. Dyne has shown me the real culprits of the death of my parents. My real name is Ussylys. Son of the Oddessy, the painter.” Ussylys introduced.
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“What? You are that man's son?! You’ve changed!” The Swift Blade marveled at the transformation. He had met Ussylys before and couldn’t recognize Usserfer from the great transformation.
“He follows a different application of the Spirit Stone that Chrone went through. Anyway, your Highness. We have to move.” Dyne explained.
“Those Revenants and the Wraiths…” The king asked.
“That was my sister. She had died at the hands of the Arc Knights. They turned her into a Revenant. But thankfully, Lord Dyne is a Valkyrion and has controlled her.” Ussylys explained ahead.
“You.., controlled a Revenant?!” The Swift Blade marveled. He could see the Revenant fighting below and grew worried.
“Your Highness. The Revenant helped Zehir and his family escape.” Chrone reported.
“Let’s get down to business. First things first, who is a knight that will follow us?”
“That would be me. I am Swift Blade Ardnula.”
“Nice to meet you. Alright. For now, we blow up this place with this bomb. You are the knight who will stay here, right? I recommend trying to cover up the disappearance of the king as long as possible. Claim that Ardnula turned traitor and tried to kill the king, but you killed him. That way, you can easily jail his entire family or exile them. Make an epic speech that instead of death, the king has decreed exile. That way, you can send them out of the kingdom without a problem. Since Chrone will be coming back and forth to report here, he can take Ardnula’s family when it is safe.”
“How long will we disappear?” The king asked Dyne.
“Your Highness, it depends on a number of factors. First, our plan is to kill the Afarit that awakened. As already explained, if we do and you return as a hero, it will draw the sympathy and favor of the people of Martsirt. I’ve long noticed that you, oh king, are a righteous and loving king. From your supporters to the plots of the Serpentari, the evidence of it are everywhere. I also know that’s why the Serpentari could not afford to take over the throne now despite having the power. They would lose more than half of the kingdom!”
“Plots of the Serpentari?” Several people asked.
“Yes. Arya’s family… Ussylys… They were tricked by the Serpentari and were used to make it look like King Ciroel was behind their tragedy. And for Usserfer, if they have testimony from someone who has such tragedy, it would draw the ire of the people to be horrified of your secret atrocities.” Dyne explained.
“So I planned to kidnap you and make you a hero. But at the same time, it would solidify the king’s reputation here.”
“How would it solidify the king's reputation?” The knight who would remain asked.
“Dyne, this is Molibus. The strongest knight of the kingdom.”
“It’s like this. Molibius will use his authority and threaten those who approach the king. Because we are going to blow this place up, Molibius shall hold whatever sign of authority that allows him to issue whatever commands that make it as if the king said them.”
“He shall hold my scepter. It contains a powerful magic that glows if wielded by someone I ordained.”
Dyne was surprised at the tech.
“Hey, Strafe… That scepter. How does that work, as he said? Is that Soul Cultivation?”
“No. It’s Mind Cultivation. The magic that is in that scepter could be likened to a tool that is activated if the one wielding it knows the password that the king sets.”
“I see.” Dyne realized that the king didn’t trust him enough and made that lie to confuse everyone about how the scepter should work.
“Alright. Once Molibius holds that scepter, he shall act in tyranny. He shall pretend to be mad and wicked and execute people who question your authority. Both those who are the Serpentari or those who are on our side."
"You want me to kill my allies?"
"Of course, the truth would be you’d only execute those you can identify as part of the Serpentari. Those on our side would only be hidden somewhere. If you are to execute those on our site, talk to some of them and have them fake their disappearance. And then leak rumors that you have been secretly giving orders to kill those who question the will of the king.”
“Why would I do that?” Molibius asked.
“A sudden change in the ruthlessness and orders of the kingdom will make the people uneasy. The Serpentari will be suspicious and would make claims that Ardnula was the one who tried to have the king and you are the traitor, which is our intention. Once that happens… the Serpentari will try to gather the people and claim that this is not how King Ciroel is. They will remind the people of King Ciroel’s kindness and compassion and put the king on a pedestal.”
“And… that’s when we return!” Jaden realized it.
“Right. We don’t know just how many more tragedies they have caused and prepared to attack the honor and reputation of the king. That’s why it would be best that they try to fix it for us. The more tyrannical Molibius is in how he weeds out and kills those from the Serpentari, the more the Serpentari will try to rally the people and remind the kingdom who their king is and how opposite the current kingdom is.”
“That sounds… amazing. The Serpentari will assume that I’m dead because of my disappearance. Even if they think I am alive, my disappearance could work to their plans…”
“Right. And then the king returns, hopefully with an Afarit and enough evidence to turn the kingdom against them.” Dyne explained.
“Amazing. You are as formidable as Chrone said. How can such a young boy be so smart?”
“Video games,” Dyne answered honestly.
"Let's go! Let's complete this last kidnap and be on our merry way!" Dyne laughed.
And so, the night of terror drew its conclusion as an explosion resounded in the throne room, drawing shock and fear to all men of the kingdom.