It was only a short run to the end of the hall, where a man in dark armor stood with an open portal yawning behind him. Several guards lay in pieces at his feet, blood pooling across the white marble and staining it a deep red.

  Evan and a handful of guards stood ten feet away, his sword raised as if to ward off the armored figure. He had Byron by the collar, holding him between himself and the others like a shield.

  I summoned Ember and Flash Stepped. The ether spat me out onto the path of an incoming white line slashing through the air aimed at my chest. I bent at the waist, ducking beneath it, and Flash Stepped again.

  This time I emerged directly before the armored figure. He crossed his arms in front of him, white lines forming in a cross-shaped barrier. My Limit Slash came down hard, striking the glowing cross. Ember stalled for a heartbeat, then roared through, shattering the lines and hurling the figure backward.

  Another portal flared open behind him, and the black-armored man was flung into its darkness. I shifted aside instinctively, just as a vertical white line carved into the stone where I had been standing a heartbeat earlier.

  I activated Limit Break, senses sharpening as I scanned the hall for any trace of the enemy.

  Captain Tale had arrived, running forward to join his men, taking his place at the front of his guards. In his hands he held Twin swords glowing with mana, their light casting sharp reflections across the marble.

  Balt was at my side when a disembodied voice echoed through the hall. “So, you’re the one who took down the Ardents.”

  My eyes kept sweeping the shadows as I answered. “Guilty as charged. And I take it you’re Kelv?”

  “Guilty as charged as well. So where did someone like you come from?” Asked Kelv.

  I smiled and told him the truth. “I was transported here by a System Overseer as part of a tutorial meant to familiarize me with the system. This is floor three of five. After I kill you and stop that army, I should be able to advance to floor four.”

  A long silence followed before the voice returned. “Fine. Don’t tell me. In the end, it won’t matter where you’re from.”

  I shrugged. “You asked.”

  “Well, whatever. I’ll make you a deal. give me Byron, and I’ll leave… for now.” Said Kelv.

  A woman’s voice rang out from the shadows. “Master, what about me?!”

  The voice chuckled. “Oh, Alexzandra… that’s going to be a pass. You were never really part of the team. And let’s be honest, that night we spent together? Not exactly memorable.”

  “Ewww, that’s cold,” Balt muttered next to me. I nodded in agreement.

  “You bastard!” Alexzandra shouted. “You think it was all sunshine and rainbows for me? You think I liked eating out your as...”

  A white line ripped through the stone, streaking toward her. But Captain Tale was already there, twin blades flashing as he cleaved the attack in half.

  I laughed. “Touchy, touchy. Tell you what—why don’t you just show yourself assclown, and we can get this over with.”

  Several seconds of silence ensued.

  I went on. “What was your plan? Weaken the citizens and the army with Blackfern, make sure the duke couldn’t mount a force against you while his son was held hostage?”

  Still nothing... I frowned. “What I don’t get is, why?”

  The sound of the voice now came from the stands. “Well, since you’ve already pieced most of it together and since you’ll soon be dead, I’ll share this much. It’s an open secret, anyway. There are several dukes in this kingdom, and the king has no male heirs. His health is failing, and the other nobles would prefer to… simplify matters. Removing rivals from the line of succession makes the eventual transition much easier.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  I searched the stands for any sign of Kelv then the voice returned, but behind me, colder now, carrying a cruel edge that filled the hall. I turned but there was no one there.

  “You know what? Let’s make a deal. Give me the duke, and I’ll spare the people of this city from my army. Refuse… and all hell will break loose.” Said Kelv.

  It was my turn to be silent, and I let the words linger in the air, as I searched. “So, I can believe the obvious psycho who has killed hundreds if not thousands of people that he will just suddenly stop killing?” I asked.

  “Just hand him over, and you can go back to wandering, or whatever it is you were doing before stumbling into this place. One life for thousands. Seems fair, doesn’t it?”

  The air began to shimmer about twenty yards away on the dais where the throne sat, and then Kelv was simply there, no portal, no warning. The armored figure sitting on the throne looking at us like he didn't have a care in the world, his dark helmet on his lap, arms resting on the chair like he owned it.

  Kelv was a man in his fifties, his face weathered but unbowed, every line carved deep with battles fought and choices made. Long gray hair, tied back in a severe ponytail, framed his stern features. His eyes were sharp, cold, and calculating.

  This was no faceless enemy hidden behind steel now. This was a man who carried himself as if he had already won.

  Captain Tale stepped forward, his aura flaring to life in a surge of raw mana. The air rippled around him, heat and pressure rolling off his body like a storm breaking its chains. His twin blades thrummed with power, their glow intensifying until the marble beneath his boots cracked from the force.

  With a wordless roar, Tale launched himself forward, closing the distance in a blur of speed and fury, his blades arcing toward the gray-haired warlord. Kelv shot up, producing a long red dagger, I recognized that dagger as the one he had used to turn Jory with.

  A voice slipped into my mind; it was the Duke’s. "When Tale creates an opening, I can lock down space for a moment. Will you use that moment to strike?"

  I didn’t know how the dukes voice was able to enter my thoughts; but I went with it. "Yes. I will."

  Captain Tale’s blades crashed down with force reminiscent of Limit Slash, but Kelv barely shifted. More white lines shimmered into existence, thin as cracks in glass, and the captain's steel met them with a shriek. The arcs of Tale’s fury dissolved against those slashes of light.

  "Those are small portal tears he's using to block. I didn't even know that was possible. Balt stated.

  I was watching the captain and Kelv closely waiting for Tale to create an opening for me. Kelv’s expression never wavered. He moved with the ease of a man swatting away flies, his white slashes tearing through the air in deliberate, unhurried counters that met Tale's grey mana blades with ease. The red dagger appearing to counter any strikes the white lines missed.

  To the captain's credit he never let up; each one of his swings left a trail of grey mana as he battled Kelv trying to pressure the man. Tale brought down a powerful dual strike pinning the white lines and dagger close to his chest.

  The marble floor began to shudder. A ripple of force tore through the chamber as the duke stepped from behind the corner where his office was, his presence nonexistent a second ago to now a sudden weight pressing down on the battlefield. Kelv’s gaze flicked toward him, just for an instant, but enough for Tale to make a move.

  “Twin Sword Slash!” Tale roared, his blades crossing in a flare of light. A portal shot open behind Kelv as the mage tried to retreat. But before it could fully stabilize, the rift winked out, collapsing like candlelight snuffed in the dark.

  “The Duke’s voice returned in my head, but this time it was strained, taut with effort: Now… the space is bound, move!

  I tried to Flash Step but the Talent sputtered, refusing to ignite. So, I had to rely on Regalia and Limit Break for my movement. Superhuman speed carried me across the fractured marble, I raised Ember high, its edge burning with aura.

  Kelv stood braced, gauntleted hands holding his red dagger against Tale’s twin blades. Ember was about to strike true when I saw him bite down on something, crunch and the floor beneath us dissolved into nothingness. Whatever Kelv had done it had slowed my body, as though the air itself had turned to tar.

  Kelv turned his head to me ignoring Tale, his lips curling into a predator’s smile as gravity began to slowly take him downward.

  “Did you think, after all these years of knowing the Duke’s abilities, that I wouldn’t prepare for this possibility?”

  I hung suspended by whatever Kelv had done, Tale hung as well still trying to strain forward less than a foot from me, the Duke’s will anchoring the collapsing space faltered, and we all began to fall.

  But I realized quickly that I actually wasn’t falling. A golden shield shimmered beneath my boot, holding me aloft.

  “Go, Riven! I’ve got you!” Balt’s voice rang out, fierce and defiant.

  I roared, channeling everything into one strike. Limit Breaker Slash activated the Talent instantly putting a stop to whatever Kelv had done. Ember snapped from near-stillness into blinding speed, sapphire fire erupting along its edge until the blade blazed like a star. Kelv’s eyes widened in sudden horror as I brought it down on his shoulder.

  The impact landed with a thunderclap. The blow smashed through his defenses like paper, the force of my technique slamming into the portal mage like a runaway train. Balt’s shield that was holding me aloft shattered beneath the backlash, golden fragments scattering like sparks.

  The blow’s recoil hurled me through the portal. Tale and I plunged after Kelv, down into the waiting darkness.