Name: Unknown

Alias: The Soprano

Type: Assassin, King Slayer

Weapon: Unknown

Personality: Theatrical, eccentric, natural born singer, joyous, playful, merciless.

Known Victims: King Arlo the Third, Prince Jonah The Sly, Queen Adesla of The Iron Lance, King Lopart Jah

Current location: Unknown

Report: The Soprano is by far the most eccentric and exaggerated of the King Slayers, being most likely the only one that is known across many lands. He's so well known thanks to his antics and eye-catching attire, that always lead to him being discovered, though in most cases there are no witnesses remaining. While many could think of him as some kind of clown, his ability is top-notch, being able to fight off entire armies of royal guards, which always consist of the most talented and loyal men a country has to offer. As such do not approach him at all costs, unless authorized

Dossier of the Soprano, Temple of the Justice Goddess Alesha.

"BEGIIIIIN PHASE TWOOOOOO!"

The Soprano sang and suddenly magic rings appeared in the courtyard, spawning an hundred heavily armored men, ready to fight at any time and right after that, the sound of explosions could be heard: all the the bridges that brought to the castle over the river that surrounded it were destroyed, and the gates sealed tight. The mysterious mad singer could only playfully rotate his cane in the air as a sign of delight, while he held his remarkable top hat. While he was most likely grinning under his mask, all his hostages were trembling in terror, apart from the king, his daughter and Edresia, who were calmly trying to analyze the situation. In that same time one of the guests suddenly bursted in anger.

"DAMN IT ALL! WHERE'S THE HERO?!?"

The Soprano stopped playing with his cane and turned towards the man, who trembled at his gaze, regretting immediately his decision.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAH" He bursted in a strangely melodic laughter.

"AMUSE ME! AMUSE ME MOOOOOORE! ALLEGRO! HERO JUPIR WON'T TURN THIS INTO A BORE! MY MEN ARE TAKING CARE OF HIM, WITH UTMOST EFFICIENCY!"

The guest gasped: if the Hero wouldn't arrive, then who could save them?

"YOU SHALL NOT BE SAVED! YOU ARE PRISONERS OF MY SONGS! A. GOLDEN. CAGE...... INDEED!"

He began laughing again, and this time he added a little dance. In the meantime, Edresia reached the princess, checking if she was alright. When she saw nothing happened to her, she started whispering:

"Princess, do you have any idea of who he is or his motives?"

It seemed strange to ask such a thing to the princess and not the king, but Apathie was incredibly informed about the most random of things, and Stolz clearly had no idea, as he was still trying to break free of the anti magic ropes, a little enraged at his inability to do so.

"He called himself the Soprano.... And he managed to capture all of us..... i think he's one of those King Slayer"

"A King Slayer?!?"

Edresia already knew about the King Slayers: they were a rare and incredibly skilled type of assassins that specialized in killing or attacking royalty. Nobody knew how many people fit into this categorization, but what was certain was that no weakling could ever become one, as such only the most incredible and greatest assassins could permit themselves to be amongst those with this title. And Soprano was the most famous of them, relatively speaking, since almost nothing is known about the majority of them, due to his eccentric demeanor that reached absurd levels.

Knowing that such a dangerous man targeted them almost made Edresia panic, but suddenly she had no choice but to feel scared, when she heard one of the men of the Soprano talking to him.

"Sir, everything's in order.... almost everything at least"

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAAAAAAN?"

"Sir, we've checked all the guests, and it seems two are missing: the prince and the escort of of the Arch-Cardinal"

"GRAVISSIIIIIIMOOOO! FIIIIIIND THEEEEEEM IMMEEEEEEDIAAAAAATELY! OR ELSEEEEEEE FACEEEE THE COOOONSEQUEEEENCEEEES!"

"Yes, sir! It'll be done"

Edresia and Apathie began to feel a chill up their spine when they realized Weisheit and Andrew were in danger, but they could do nothing apart from waiting and hoping that everything would go well.

Weisheit's room, a bit earlier

"WELCOME TO MY ROOM! I advise you to not open any drawers or touch any books without my explicit permission, else you get close and personal with my guards"

"I wouldn't dare, my prince"

Andrew and Weishet entered the latter's room and Andrew was surprised at discovering that most of it was occupied by shelves full of books, instead of expansive decorations. The bed was still decently huge, while the window wasn't very big, and stood up a large desk, the only thing apart from the books that seemed to have a great worth, full of papers, notes and pens. The whole room was colored mostly in blue and white.

"Ok, so, this's a good one: Great Battles of The Century"

Weisheit took an enormous book from one of the many shelves, black and with the image of two knights fighting on the front.

"Uhm, that does sound interesting but i thought you wanted to show me magic tomes"

"Le's leave the best for last. Anyways, this one has records of... well, the biggest battles of this century: the Siege of Eteria, the Ambush of the Kieris Mountains, the Battle of the Plains of Arolia..."

"Wait, Mountains of Kieris?"

"Oh, yeah, you don't seem to know much about this country..... Basically, five years ago, at the mountains of the eastern border of Kieris, various battalions that stood there in case of an attack of the Savage Blood Alliance were attacked during the night without any notice, being quickly decimated. The Alliance would have probably conquered the whole eastern side of the country, if it wasn't for the fact that most of the soldiers remained to hold off the enemies, gaining enough time for the rest to warn the nearest cities and prepare the defenses. We lost almost fifty thousand soldiers, but thanks to them the kingdom wasn't destroyed"

"Interesting, but what is the Savage Blood Alliance?"

"Oh, basically it's an alliance between-"

Weisheit was interrupted by an incredibly loud noise coming from the outside. To be precise, the sound of explosions.

"WHAT IS THAT?!?" The prince began panicking, while Andrew calmly tried to understand what was happening.

"It seems we're being attacked, young prince"

"ATTACKED?!? YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! OUR DEFEN-"

As he was speaking, two men clad in iron armor decorated in purple and gold and full of bloodlust, busted through the door with swords in their hands and Andrew quickly jumped to the nearest one, grabbing his head and smashing it to the ground, splattering it everywhere, surprising the survivor and giving him a chance of kicking him in the stomach, obviously holding back his full strength, so as to not scare Weisheit too much. The intruder fell to his knees holding his belly, and the boy grabbed him by the neck.

"Who are you, and why are you here?"

"Ugh......"

He kept silent.

"Hard way it is"

Andrew broke his arm by twisting it backwards, holding his prisoner's mouth, so as to not attract too much attention.

"UUUUUUUUHM!"

"Now, answer"

"Aaagh..... fuck.... you..."

"You're not the smart one, are you?"

This time he stabbed him in the knee with his own sword, still shutting him up with his hand.

"AAAAAAAHM!"

"For the last time, answer"

"Uh.... uh.... we're elite mercenaries.... we were given the task of taking over this castle.... we've taken the ball guests as hostages... we just destroyed the bridges.... i know nothing else"

"You know more, but it doesn't matter, so, bye"

He took the sword and and stabbed it through his neck, leaving his body on the floor to drip blood, along with the other one. Weisheit was still a bit shocked and pallid, but he calmed down rather quickly.

"So, now i understand why you can afford to escort Edresia..... though for elite mercenaries they were sure easy to take out and to interrogate"

"Don't underestimate the factor of surprise, they probably didn't expect anyone able to fight apart from the guards, who are most likely dead by now. And regarding the interrogation he probably didn't see us as a problem to the mission, so he just decided to tell us something, maybe even false, to get out alive. Anyway, it doesn't matter now. So, prince, have any idea how to fight? Because i need a guide"

"I know not of fighting, but i do know magic. Finally i get to use my magic tomes! Also, call me Weisheit"

"I don-"

"Shut up, you just saved my life, accept it"

"Fine then"

Weisheit took a whole bunch of books and put them in a backpack, along with potions, while holding a book in his hands. Andrew stole a sword from the now lifeless mercenaries and strapped it on his belt. He slowly opened the door, to see if there was anyone around. The only hint of people he could find were the corpses of the royal guards, now serving as new decoration for the white hallways.

"They killed all the guards? They were our best men...."

"Well, you should upgrade your standards, but that's for another day. Now, bring me to the main hall, because i don't remember the route"

"Are you sure you can order the p-"

"WEISHEEEIT. NOT THE TIME"

Andrew began releasing a scary aura, taught to him by Edresia, not intentionally though.

"Ok, ok, i'm doing it, calm down"

The two unlikely saviors wandered through the many hallways, searching for the main hall, while avoiding any enemy that happened to be in their way, and offing those that couldn't be avoided, taking care of them thanks to some super clean fire magic, efficient in taking out trash of any kind, not very efficient in combat. The reason a royal had this was unknown.

At the same time, Main Hall

"SIR! SIR! THE ARMY IS COMING! THEY HEARD THE EXPLOSIONS!"

One of the mercenaries went to his boss to warn him of the incoming menace, attracted by the chaos coming from the palace. The Soprano laughed slightly.

"PRESTISSIMO! FASTASTHEWIND, WEAKASTHEGLAAAASSS! NOTARMYOFCOUNTRY, BUTARMYOFNAUGHT!"

"E-excuse me sir, what?"

"DOGSOFTHENOBLES! GUARDSOFTHEPRIVILEGED!"

"Oh, i-i see, but what do we do?"

"COMEWITHMEEEE!"

The King Slayer left the room under the confused gaze of his hostages, who could only wonder what he had in mind. The Soprano and his nameless announcer walked towards the castle wall where the closest pack of soldiers was arriving. The singer and his unremarkable companion watched, as an army arrived. The right hand-like mercenary was kind of new to the business, so he didn't realize that they couldn't do anything till they had the hostages, as such he panicked.

"Sir, what do we do?"

"WEHAVETHELITTLEBIRDS! THEYWON'TBREAKTHECAGEEEEEEE! IFITHURTSTHEEEEEEM!"

"I-I understand, you're right sir, but could you sing slower?"

"FIIIIIIIINEEEEEEE. NOOOOOW THEEEEN, MY LITTLEEEE COMRADEEEEE"

"W-what?"

The Soprano walked to the edge of a small watch tower in the middle area of the wall.

"WHAT DO YOUUUUU THINK MY FAVORITE INSTRUMEEENT IIIIIIIIS?"

"Ehm, lyres?"

His leader laughed at his answer.

"NO. CANNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONS!"

Suddenly a myriad of magic circles engulfed the walls, cannons appearing from them, and the moment the Soprano began swinging his cane in the air like a director they somehow began shooting. Spheres of iron flied through the air and shredded everything in their path until the moment they reached something with too much resistance and exploded, spreading chaos, death and destruction. The onslaught of cannon balls seemed endless, destroying houses, slaughtering men, women and children alike, turning a glorious city into pathetic remnants of ash and stone. The people that got in the trajectory of the deadly rain of fiery iron could do nothing but scream and beg as they were slaughtered along with the soldiers, who brought this calamity upon them.

"O-o-oh, sir, isn't this ex-exaggerating?"

The director of this lethal orchestra turned his attention away from the instruments of death and towards his little helper, chuckling a little, but not in a pleasant manner.

"Littleeeee buddyyyyy, why do you think we wereeee hireeeed?" He was still singing, but at a much lower tone of voice.

"To capture the castle?"

"NO! TO SPREEEEAAAAAD CHAAAAAOOOOOS AS LONG AS OUR ROTTEN SOULS COULD ALLOW UUUUUUUS!"

"W-what?"

"THAT IS OUR JOB! TO SPREAD CHAOS! BUT MY CUSTOMER UNDERESTIMATED ME! AND MY TASTEEEE FOR DESTRUUUUCTION! AND NOW! RAPIDO!"

He resumed his annihilation of anything in the range of his cannons, waving his cane in the air like a madman, the cannons shooting at its rhythm. The little helper could do nothing but watch, until finally the Soprano stopped, after assuring himself that he killed all the soldiers. As he watched towards the city, only bodies and ruins were left, almost like the Gods themselves came down from the heavens and smote the sinners with rightful justice. He only laughed slightly at that spectacle.

Meanwhile, in one of the many hallways of the castle

"Andrew, did you hear that?!? It was like the sky itself was falling down!"

"It was more like cannons.... lots of them, and i'm willing to bet they're not ours, nor normal cannons for that matter. I mean, did you hear that rate of fire?"

"Are you saying the mercenaries used them?!? But that wouldn't make any sense! Unless their mission wasn't to simply take control of the castle... but to cause as much mayhem as possible while doing it"

"That.... sound plausible. Still, we have to move quickly. Have any ideas where the shots came from?"

"I think they came from the eastern wall, though it will take us a while to reach it. The way from here to there is quite intricate"

"It doesn't matter, we just have to reach it. We have at least to stop the cannons"

"Did you forget they have hostages?"

"I doubt they'll do anything to them unless an entire army comes in, since we're only two people they'll probably only send their men"

".... Makes sense, i guess. Then follow me"

Weisheit guided Andrew through the many halls of the castle, till they reached a set of staircase that led to the eastern wall, guarded by a squad of ten guards, a bit excessive for one staircase. They hid behind the corner of a wall and tried to find a way to take care of them efficiently. Andrew could have eliminated them easily, but not without revealing part of his power, as such it wasn't an option. So he decided to rely on Weisheit.

"Weisheit, do you have any tome with wide area attack magic?"

"Uhm.... let me look...... fire... no... too noisy.... heal.... no..... earth..... wind..... Oh yes wind! Now, i really hope this works, i found the silentest one, but i'm still not sure if it'll work...... let me concentrate....... [Whirlwind Assault]"

Weisheit read the magic from one of the tomes and a dozen of small tornadoes appeared from nowhere, ripping apart most of the soldiers instantly, while leaving two or three heavily wounded. Andrew was surprised.

"....That was..... really good"

"Yeah..... really.... good..... *bluuuuuuh* *guaaaaah*" The prince started vomiting on the floor.

"Weisheit! What's the matter?!?"

"No.... nothing.... just..... never done this.... before... just..... let me....*bluuuuuuh*"

"I understand.... take your time then"

"No.... no.... i'm good.... let's just go"

"As you wish.... just be careful"

"Yeah, yeah, i will"

They took the stairs, slowly climbing them, while being mindful of any possible surprise attack. Andrew kept an eye on Weisheit, so as to make sure he wasn't having too may problems, but he didn't look good: pretty pallid and seemingly tired. He decided that he would let him rest as soon as he could. After a minute or two, they finally reached the top of the wall, where Andrew barely managed to parry a sudden attack.

"What the?!?"

"AND A GOOOOOD EVENIIING TO YOUUUU SCOUNDREEEEEELS!"

They were met by the Soprano, his attire obviously distracting them a little.

"Who are you?!?" Weisheit shouted.

"THE LEADER OF THIS JOLLY GROUP OF MERCENARIEEEEEEEES!"

"You are quite theatrical" Andrew could only tsukkomi in front of such extravagance.

"INDEEEEEED I AAAAAAAM! NOOOOOW! SURRENDEEEER OR DIIIIIIIIE!"

"Sorry, but i intend to kick your ass"

".....THEN SO BE IIIIIT MY CROOOOOW HAIREEEEED FRIEEEEND! LET THE FIGHT...."

They both jumped at each other, swords in their hands and killing intent on their sleeves.

"BEEEEEEEEEGIIIIIIIIN!"

Hello guys! Liked the chapter? Hope you did! Liking the Soprano? I'm really proud of this guy! Also, for any of you that have knowledge of music, yes, i do know gravissimo isn't a thing but i don't care, deal with it. (For any of you that care i'd put it between grave and lentissimo, even if it's like a minimum difference from them, and yes, i invented a new musical time, new world, new rules, MY rules). So, how will Andrew handle this new enemy? Spoilers: not as easily as you'd think. Also, pun title counter: 1. Last thing: Overture 1812 is highly recommended while reading, just for that one part.

p.s. I noticed that this chapter is a bit shorter than usual, as such, i'll try to upload something between tomorrow and tuesday to make up for it.