Chapter 158 – While She Slept

  The night raged without mercy.

  Cradled within Seraphine’s embrace, Ivaline slept in rare, fragile peace. Her breathing was steady. Her expression untroubled. For once, no blade in her hand. No burden on her shoulders.

  Beyond those quiet walls, however, the world refused rest.

  Steel moved.

  Shadows hunted.

  Blood answered blood.

  Assassin redemption

  The Grim Vulture moved like a storm without thunder.

  Hooks invented by Roderic bit into branches and rooftops, ropes tightening as bodies slung forward at impossible speed. Ravines that would take half a day to cross were reduced to seconds. Walls were cleared in a single leap. Rivers were bypassed without a splash.

  Inspection posts meant nothing.

  Guard dogs collapsed into silent sleep from feather-light darts.

  They knew every patrol route, every blind angle, every weak hinge in every gate.

  The Informant Guild had fed them gray truths and black secrets alike.

  The Thieves Guild taught them how to open anything — or break it without leaving a mark.

  The Adventurers Guild gave them open movement.

  The Assassins Guild taught them how to disappear.

  They could infiltrate.

  They could kill.

  They could vanish.

  But tonight—

  They would save.

  Clang!

  Steel rang in a narrow alley.

  Kael vaulted from the rooftop and saw the scene in a heartbeat. A famed adventurer lay cornered, her blade fallen from weakening fingers. Her skin had gone pale.

  Poison.

  One assassin lunged to finish the job.

  Kael dropped between them.

  Sching!

  Crescent steel flashed. His short blade caught one strike. His long blade halted another.

  “What’s the meaning of this, Vulture?” one assassin hissed.

  They recognized him.

  Crescent Blade Kael.

  “Withdraw,” Kael said calmly. “The Guild will issue explanation.”

  “…You’re stealing our prey?”

  “No.”

  A pause.

  “You’ve been deceived.”

  “By you?”

  “By demons.”

  Silence lingered. Assassins did not need many words. They searched his eyes for deception and found none.

  If he lied, they would hunt him.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  If he spoke truth, the Guild would execute those who ignored the warning.

  Without another word, they dissolved into shadow.

  Kael knelt beside the poisoned woman.

  “You’re not dying tonight,” he muttered.

  Across the city, Mira chose the harder method. Those who refused to listen found themselves choking on invisible powder. Poison met poison.

  Roderic pinned rooftops with a rain of darts, forcing retreat.

  Lyra’s soft voice bent wills where steel would have drawn blood.

  By dawn, every branch of the Assassin Guild within the Barony had been informed of the demon’s design.

  Half the tragedies were stopped in time.

  Half were not.

  The night spared in fragments — never whole.

  Four bastion underground

  Beneath the manor, the tunnels crawled.

  Demons skittered through secret passages carved for greed and cowardice. Servants and guards lay torn apart — not merely slain, but consumed. Stone floors were slick with what once was life.

  Garrick retched at the sight of a young apprentice maid, her small body half-devoured. Her eyes were still open.

  Bram lowered his head and began reciting prayer.

  Aldric’s blade remained raised, watching the dark.

  Nyssa returned from ahead, breath steady despite the carnage. “Too many branches. Without a mapped route, pursuit will be inefficient.”

  “Then we clear them all,” Garrick growled, wiping his mouth. “If we can’t chase them, we make sure nothing crawls up to drag someone else down.”

  His voice trembled — not from fear.

  “Twisted greed… to unleash this for ambition.”

  A scream tore through the tunnels.

  Kyaaaa!!

  They ran.

  An injured maid stumbled forward, one leg useless, demons lunging behind her.

  “Oh no you don’t!”

  Garrick charged past her.

  His blade rose.

  It fell.

  Once. Twice. Three times.

  Demon bodies split and collapsed.

  The girl fell to the stone.

  Garrick dropped beside her, pulling her into his arms as if she had saved him instead.

  “It’s okay… you’re safe now… you’re safe…”

  He was crying harder than she was.

  Bram’s healing light washed over her. Slowly, carefully, they guided her toward the surface.

  The first survivor of the night.

  If one could be found, hope had not been extinguished.

  They pressed deeper.

  By dawn, they found the tunnel exit bearing the trail of retreating demons.

  Only five survivors remained from the entire manor.

  Five.

  The night had taken more than it spared.

  Storage and caravan who need protection

  Elsewhere, the Meteor Fall group refused complacency.

  Thirty full carriages of goods stood ready.

  Elysha said with a stiff smile.

  “Include us, we could only gather six parties.”

  Normally, six armed parties would be more than enough to deter bandits.

  But this was no ordinary night.

  “If this were bandits, they wouldn’t dare,” Garron said. “But if demons are involved, we prepare beyond reason.”

  Reinforcements were requested. Escort quests were issued through the Adventurers Guild. Gold Rank authority bent bureaucracy.

  “Ahoy! Borik! Thorne!”

  “Ui!”

  “Hmpt!”

  They shout back while show their head from the mountain of goods.

  “Extend invitations,” Garron ordered. “Mercenaries. Mages. Alchemists. Even the Assassins Guild.”

  “Aye!”

  “Ous!”

  They nodded and ran away to inform another guild swiftly.

  Sister Elysha blinked.

  “Is that ok?”

  “If we survive,” he added dryly, “we can argue over the cost later.”

  By morning, four more groups had joined.

  Two mercenary companies.

  A full mage party.

  An alchemist prepared to brew potions on the road itself.

  And though some assassins refused openly, shadows in the treeline suggested pride had limits.

  Better to protect than regret.

  Dragon piercer- a speech too loud to ignore

  In the central of western camp, Sir Caelum Ardent arrived in full armor, Valeriant clad in steel beneath him. The mere sight of knight and steed silenced the murmuring crowd.

  Three beauties accompany him.

  He raised his blade toward the western horizon.

  “Adventurers! Mercenaries! Sons and daughters of this land!”

  “The Margrave holds the west with blood and iron while we stand here counting coin!”

  Murmurs stirred.

  “You fear demons? Good. So do I.”

  “But fear is not a chain. It is a spur.”

  He turned his horse, vibrant cape catching the torchlight.

  “If the demons seek to divide us, we answer united.”

  “If they sow terror, we answer with march.”

  “You are not hired swords tonight.”

  “You are the shield and spear of this Barony.”

  “Ride with me!”

  “March west!”

  “Destroyed those demons!”

  Steel rose. Voices thundered in answer.

  The schedule was abandoned.

  They would move faster than planned.

  By the time the eastern sky began to pale—

  The Grim Vulture had severed hidden fangs.

  The Bastions had sealed underground horror.

  Meteor Fall had fortified the lifeline.

  Dragon Piercer had rallied the march.

  Selene stood alone upon the balcony, wind tugging at her hair.

  Her counters had been placed.

  Her moves executed.

  But war was not a board.

  It was blood.

  She closed her eyes briefly.

  “..…”

  Far away, the girl still slept in Seraphine’s arms, unaware of the night carved in her name.

  Selene opened her eyes to the breaking dawn.

  “Let it be enough.”

  And the sun rose.