Commander Vitus Severa was busy overseeing the town’s night patrols when one of his subordinates reached him, panicking and out of breath, to warn that there are intruders inside Tyrin Castle. After the gunpowder explosion, there had been no reports of anything suspicious either inside or outside the walls. Somehow the intruders had evaded all of the patrols, the walls and the dozens of guards keeping watch on the castle grounds. They still don’t know if there is one or many and no one has spotted the culprits. His subordinate had only just discovered some unconscious guards hidden inside a storage room on the lower floors. Her squad members started investigating the area while she ran straight to the commander to ask for orders.

In short, no one saw anything and they don’t know what happened. It’s an unthinkable situation that Vitus has never experienced in nearly 20 years of military service. He is tempted to say that his subordinate is mistaken somehow, but the desperation in her eyes cannot be ignored.

“We will immediately scour the castle. Anyone suspicious is to be killed or captured. Raul, search the western grounds. Tell Hagan to search the eastern side, starting with the barracks. Olivia and I will go directly to the top floor and start looking from there. Do not leave a single room unchecked. I don’t care if anyone complains, this is an emergency situation. Move out!”

After handing out the orders, the group scatters while Vitus takes a handful of people with him and moves as quickly as they can through the southern entrance which was closest to their location. They take the staircase up and, using the shortest route possible, they make their way toward the 10th floor where Count Faustina and his wife reside. He notices that several mana-crystals in the corridors have been disabled or removed, plunging the surrounding area into darkness. This leads him to an unavoidable conclusion.

It must be an assassin. To think we let the enemy enter the castle so easily, what a failure.

There is a possibility that this is the work of traitors within their ranks, but commander Vitus ruled it out based on his intuition and knowledge. The timing and actions taken by the intruders cannot be easily explained by traitors. If the nobles close to the Count are responsible, they would not need to use this kind of roundabout tactic of infiltrating the castle and sneaking around. They could simply poison his food or clothes and that would be the end of it. Vitus does not believe that is likely to happen. There would be no benefit to killing Count Faustina at this time. It would only make Tyrin more vulnerable. Someone unrelated to Tyrin infiltrating from the outside is the obvious conclusion. In some ways, this makes the present situation even more unbelievable, but it’s the only explanation that makes sense.

He bites his lip in frustration as they climb through the levels until they reach the 9th floor. From this point, there is only a single central stairwell that leads up to the 10th floor. They find another guard lying on the darkened steps. Olivia checks the body.

“He’s alive. There are traces of magic here…” she whispers.

Vitus nods. Although it doesn’t explain how the intruder got in, knowing that he’s up against a mage is very important. Magic is dangerous but it takes time to activate, which gives a fast warrior like Vitus a chance to deliver fatal blows before any magic is cast. On the flipside, the limited space inside a corridor makes evasion difficult, which means a powerful area-of-effect spell like ‘Wrath of the Sky Dragon’ will hit easily. For a regular warrior, victory or defeat comes down to who can strike first. However, Vitus the Blaze also has a trump card for dealing with mages; an enchanted sword named Luminae which can literally cut through magic spells.

He takes the ornate blade out of its hilt, grips it tightly and charges up to the top floor.

First make sure the Count is safe, he thinks to himself.

Leaping up the stairs 3 at a time, he reaches the corridor in the blink of an eye. His eyes quickly scan the area and see that the mana-crystals which provided light have all been disabled. On the right side is nothing but darkness. On the left side, where the corridor meets an adjacent hallway, a single figure stands under the moonlight shining through the nearby row of windows. Upon closer inspection, another person wearing a colorful garb is lying at his feet.

My lord still draws breath!

Vitus recognizes the appearance the lord to whom he swore fealty. Olsen is making weak movements, struggling in vain against the spell that binds him. Rigel ignores him and looks directly at the new arrivals. Despite not moving a muscle, the atmosphere around him feels menacing. The black hood obscures his face, making it impossible for anyone to identify him. Vitus freezes in place, unsure of how to react. His subordinates catch up with him moments later.

“Count Olsen Faustina is alive. Stay where you are if you want him to remain that way.” Rigel’s voice echoes through the corridor, flat and devoid of emotion. He brandishes the dagger he took from the Count so the new arrivals can see it clearly.

“What do you hope to gain by taking him hostage?” Vitus responds defiantly. Normally he is able to set aside what he doesn’t know and take the initiative. At this moment however, he is hesitating. The hooded figure before him is not acting like an assassin. Instead of killing his target and then escaping, he takes the lord hostage and confronts the castle guards, putting himself and his mission at unnecessary risk. Vitus can’t make any sense of it.

“First of all, I wish to know who I’m talking to.”

“Commander Severa Vitus, leader of Tyrin’s armed forces.”

“I see. Unfortunately, I cannot give you my name at the moment. I hope for your understanding.”

Is he playing around? Vitus asks himself. An assassin acting like he cares about etiquette is oddly irritating to his pride. His subordinates, standing behind him, also frown with confusion written on their face.

“I wish this could be done in better circumstances, but Tyrin’s actions left me with no choice. My purpose is simple. I want all of you to cease hostilities toward Zamora immediately and honor the terms of the Treaty of Talab.”

Vitus flinches as if he received a punch in the gut. Because of the timing, he already suspected that Rigel was sent by Zamora, but to have this situation turn into a demand for diplomacy is something he could not have imagined. He feels his common sense crumbling.

The treaty with… King Leo’s relationship to Hamal of Zamora…

His hesitation becomes apparent to all around him. The soldiers behind are stunned as well, not by what Rigel said, but by their respected commander’s reaction. After a minute that feels like an eternity, the commander opens his mouth to speak.

“This is not something I can decide on my own…” his voice has none of the attitude he displayed earlier.

“Of course you can, commander. I doubt there is a single man, woman or child in this region who doesn’t know your name. If Vitus the Blaze decides to open negotiations, no one can stop you.”

“Negotiations you say…” he mumbles incredulously.

“Come to Zamora’s camps south of here at dawn. I don’t care who you bring with you.”

Two loud voices erupt from the soldiers standing behind Vitus.

“This is obviously a trap!” a man says.

“A lowly assassin demanding negotiations is a bad joke!” the mage named Olivia shouts.

“You speak of honor when you are the ones who violated the Treaty of Talab which your king went to great pains to obtain. Where is your loyalty? Where is your pride as soldiers of Amisos? Did you sell it off as soon as your king died?” Rigel retorts with a voice full of contempt. The other two become silent. Everyone’s gazes return back to Vitus.

To be admonished by an assassin…

While thinking for a moment, Vitus remembers that the rest of his subordinates should arrive soon once they are finished with the lower floors. They will approach from both sides of the castle, which means Rigel has nowhere to run.

“I’ll be your hostage, so let my lord go. Negotiations on behalf of Tyrin should be done by him.”

Although he acts selflessly, he knows that it’s an unreasonable demand in the present situation. His goal is not to persuade the hooded figure before him. Instead, he wants to buy some time and possibly make Rigel hesitate.

Without taking his eyes off the soldiers, Rigel shakes his head from side to side. “That won’t do. The Count will be staying with me until you fulfill your part of the deal.” While speaking, he places a small crystalline object on top of Olsen’s body. The air begins to shake as a white light spills out of the object, cutting through the surrounding darkness. Vitus’ eyes become wide in shock.

“It’s a teleporter, Olivia!”

“I’m on it!” the woman behind him shouts. She steps forward and begins focusing mana into her outstretched hands.

So we’re doing it the hard way after all, Rigel sighs inwardly.

A teleportation spell generally requires two markers, one for the origin and one for the destination. The magic catalyst Rigel placed on the Count’s body acts as the origin, enveloping surrounding objects in a mana field and teleporting everything within based on certain conditions. The floor is ignored and only the Count and the things he wears are affected. The process is complex and takes a bit of time to activate. While it charges, the catalyst can be easily disrupted by outside interference, causing the spell to malfunction or simply fail to activate.

Rigel steps away from the Count and stands between him and the mage named Olivia whose aura flares up as she constructs a spell. She intends to stop the teleport without harming the Count, a difficult task. However, she can’t do this if Rigel is in the way.

It’s a Lightning Orb with 4 meter-per-second projectile speed; a textbook example.

While Rigel evaluates Olivia’s magic, Vitus and the other swordsmen take an aggressive stance and rush forward. There are several meters of distance between them. A competent warrior can cover that distance in a fraction of a second at top speed. Even for an exceptional mage, this is not enough time to cast a spell. This is why Rigel prepared before they arrived.

After taking only 3 steps forward, a glimmer of blue sweeps across the floor beneath their feet. The glowing lines of a magic circle briefly appear on the stone surface before erupting into an upward blast of energy that engulfs all of the swordsmen.

A trap!? Vitus realizes at the last moment.

He swings Luminae downward as the mana washes over him like the violent wave of a sea storm. The blast is deflected sideways by the enchanted blade as though it hit a shield instead, sparing Vitus from the brunt of it. He lands safely on his feet after being forced backward a bit. The rest of his soldiers are completely blown away, flying back through the air in a wide arc until they almost touch the ceiling before falling back down.

Was that a glyph? How can that be?

Glyphs are a type of spell which is embedded into solid surfaces and can be set to activate on its own, like a bear trap. The technique for creating them is a closely guarded secret of the Waldemar clan and is only passed on to direct descendants of their bloodline. The only person known to use them is Archmage Waldemar, one of the Magic Guild’s most well-known figures. No one could have expected to see it used here. Rigel gained the time he needed with this move. The teleport is just about ready to activate.

“Lightning Orb”

With Rigel still in her way, Olivia becomes desperate and pours as much mana as she can into the spell, releasing an unusually large sphere of energy. The sphere travels in a straight line toward Rigel who stands ready to intercept it. He can guess how much mana is packed inside simply by looking. Being hit directly is very dangerous and potentially lethal for any human, as it is capable of severe damage to internal organs.

What a reckless mage. If I dodge, the spell might kill the Count. Is she fine with that?

However, Rigel does not need to dodge. He injects mana into his dagger until it reaches the maximum density. With a swift slash, he intercepts the magical sphere flying toward him. To Olivia’s shock, the enhanced dagger wins easily and the sphere of lightning is cut in half, dissipating into the air like a puff of smoke. She doesn’t understand what happened.

Lightning magic is different from natural lightning which one would see in a thunderstorm. It would be correct to call it a fake or an imitation of the real thing. Although the Magic Guild classifies it as a derivative of the air element, the truth is that simplified arcane magic is required to create lightning. Without it, mana cannot be converted into the stream of energy known as electricity. Additionally, the process is reversible. This makes it possible to turn lightning magic back into mana using the same method, which is exactly what Rigel did. The mana inside the spell was merely returned to its original form and then faded away. It should be noted that true lightning cannot be converted in this way.

The area behind Rigel flashes white, enveloping Count Olsen in a blanket of translucent energy. It disappears a moment later, taking Olsen’s body with it. The teleportation succeeded without problems.

“No! You won’t get away with this!” Vitus shouts as he leaps toward Rigel with his enchanted sword raised high.

He failed to save the Count but he hopes to gain something by capturing Rigel. Holding his blade with both hands, he slashes forward at a low angle but is deflected by Rigel’s dagger. The mana inside reacts violently upon contact with Luminae’s blade, producing a small blast that knocks the dagger out of Rigel’s grip.

“Hyah!” he shouts while aiming another swing.

“Air Burst”

Moving to evade, Rigel propels himself and Vitus back with a spell positioned directly between the two. However, he could not avoid his opponent’s attack completely and suffers a rather deep cut on his upper leg. A sharp pain coursing through his nerves confirms that the hit landed. Vitus recovers from being knocked back and lashes out once again, pushing himself to the limit. He knows that he can’t win this fight without going all out. One wound is not enough.

Having accomplished his goal, Rigel has no intention to continue fighting. With a wound on his leg, running away is no longer a viable option.

Enough of this foolishness.

He jumps into the air with his remaining leg and then brings all of his limbs tightly together, curling his body into a ball. In an instant, his aura density increases tenfold as magic is unleashed. The atmosphere shifts violently.

“Cyclonic Burst”

Rigel is enveloped by a violent torrent of compressed air, forcing his body to spin and propelling him like a cannonball toward the window in the other direction. His body crashes through the glass and wooden frames before falling into the empty space outside. Vitus loses sight of him.

“What the… Suicide?”

He rushes to the broken window and looks down. It’s a drop of more than 20 meters to the ground below, with no balconies or anything else that could break the fall. This would be certain death. However, there is no sign of Rigel’s body or pieces of his robe.

“Commander!”

Hagan, one of the subordinates, arrives with a group of soldiers from the hallway. After searching the barracks and lower floors, they heard noises on this floor and rushed here to investigate.

“We came as soon as we could. What happened here?” he asks.

“The intruder escaped. He’s a mage wearing a black cloak. Split up and scour the castle grounds immediately!”