*Snap,* I flicked with my fingers to the unconscious man.

*Tapping my foot uncontrollably against the ground.*

I was feeling out of it. Those past few weeks had been a terrible mess for the Balmung. And a succession of events had made us fall from grace. And as if fate itself wanted to mock me, to mock us; someone invaded us that day. Singlehandedly overwhelming every person that was standing on guard, before leaving as suddenly as he had arrived.

I still wasn't sure how to process it.

And the testimonies from these disgraces didn't help a bit. Different flavors of fainting, and panic.

The few that did speak said nothing useful either, breaking into tears while calling this figure a god... or a demon, or a ghost.

Nothing but incoherent ramblings!

The only thing I could deduce was that this man seemed to know the place, considering he had taken the most direct path to me, and that his facial features were eerily similar to Dad's.

*That day.*

I had felt a disturbance in the mansion and had readied myself, pulling my trusty sword out of its scabbard and placing myself in front of my desk. I was obviously not afraid; who on this continent could face me? But by the way, the presences around him kept weakening, I could deduce that he was coming my way.

And thus I waited for him there.

Still, I could feel no threat from him, no, I couldn't even feel him, which made the fact that my men's presence kept fading weird.

*What's going on?* I asked myself. *Them? No, they wouldn't... then some kind of curse?*

As I thought, standing, readying the mana around the sword and expanding my domain, filling the room with a thick coat of darkness, he entered the room.

A man entered the office. His face, strikingly similar to Father's. Still, I knew this wasn't him; I had buried him myself.

*Slash.*

Sending a blade of mana at the mysterious opponent.

*Reflect on this silly joke in your next life,* I thought.

"Wai-" the voice said distraught, before fading.

It was anticlimactic, like most of my fights.

I looked at the place where the man used to stand in annoyance. Rousing my mana further, anger clouding my thoughts. Why did he have Father's face, and why did MY man lose to such a weakling?

Advancing toward the door to go inspect the mansion.

Were my man really bested by a man of such little worth?

And then someone spoke from behind, breaking my stream of thoughts.

"Phew," the mysterious man sighed, "That was close," a voice much too relaxed for someone that had almost just died.

*Wait, how?* I thought perplexed. He was that close, and I couldn't feel him, what is going on?

"Who are you?" I said trying to maintain my composure. Looking at his face more attentively, while he did look like Father, his features seemed younger and sharper, and the bridge of his nose was scarred; a feature that Father didn't have.

"I am not a foe."

"Who are you?" I repeated again as I prepared my blade. My eyebrows twitching at the unclear answer.

"Where did you come from?"

...

He didn't say anything, simply looking at me in silence.

I would have slashed him but then I'd have lost my chance to get the answer to those questions.

*Let's not botch this,* I thought. *Let's calm down.*

Maybe the listener was simply hard of hearing.

"Who are you?" I repeated again, putting strong emphasis on every word, even lacing mana into them to make sure there was no way he wouldn't hear me.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

...

No answer?

Had the Balmungs fallen that low that nobodies thought it their right to come here unannounced. Had the Balmungs fallen so low that these same nobodies could act in such a brash way. No matter how weakened we were, we were still one of the seven great families.

I stepped forward, exuding the strongest killing intent I could muster.

I didn't care what this man had to say anymore, and I didn't care where he had emerged from, no one who dared disrespect us like that could be left alive.

His head would fall.

It's with this intent that I stepped forward,

But,

I toppled.

I toppled, crushed by a ridiculous pressure.

This was the first time I had ever experienced that.

*What, what's that? Aura?*

*Did I fall?*

*Hahaha, don't make me laugh,* I was the one who made others fall to their feet in cold sweats, from even daring to challenge me.

What was I doing looking at the ground? And why was it that I couldn't even lift my head to look at this man's face?

*A god?*

Is that why he is so powerful? Is that why I can't feel anything from him?

*Snap out of it, coward, there's no way!*

As I struggled to lift my head to look at the face of the apathetic man, my groans filling the room; the man opened his mouth breaking his silence.

"Look, don't make this harder than it needs to be. We have a common enemy, and I am not a foe; can't we collaborate at least for..."

*Condescension? Is that what I am sensing right now?*

As he said these words, as if to be diplomatic he removed his pressure. As soon as he did, I activated my wings and bolted toward him as fast as I could. He HAD to die. No way I could let a man with such irreverence to the Balmung's name alive, NO WAY I could let such a dangerous man alive.

As I flew toward him, I readied my sword for one clean slice, I'd kill him with my real blade, he had somehow escaped my mana blade but there'd be no escaping this.

Still, he looked too calm, way too calm, as if I was dancing in the palm of his hands. If he looked unaware maybe I would have ignored it, but even at that speed his eyes, these eyes! They were following me.

And the only thing I could see before I was swallowed by darkness was the faint movement of his lips.

*He's talking?*

Before I could even think of the implications, darkness swallowed me.

And worse than that it drained me of all my mana.

I was utterly powerless.

*W- how?*

"Covering this room in darkness was your first mistake."

My mistake? Using my trump card was my mistake?

*Wh-*

"For Dianthea's sake, WHO the hell are you!"

"It's not a name that you'd know, ask your men if this matter is so important to you.. I am not your foe. Now, come on the 20th day of this moon cycle alone at the crossroads of Blood, and when there head toward the Three-eyed clan's territory, when you meet their vanguards tell them that the Son of darkness invited you. If you want any hope at winning this war and at defeating Sorre, you'd better come"

"I hope by then you'll have wisened

up about where you stand, and what truly matters."

As he finished stating his piece, the thing that had swallowed me threw me away, and in shock by the name he had just uttered, I sat there in silence. Defeating Sorre? How does he know Sorre? And wait "defeating" Sorre, he's an enemy? Isn't he dead? What's going on?!

But by the time I had come back to my senses; he was already long gone.

Just thinking about the powerlessness I had felt made me want to rampage, which was why seeing this man, the only remaining witness of that day's event, sleeping so peacefully, annoyed me to no end.

"WAKE UP!" I yelled as I finally burst out in anger.

The confused man woke up from his slumber in shock.

And continued yelling as he glanced at my face brimming with anger.

I snapped my fingers.

At that cue.

A dark mage from Occulus that I had asked expressly to come, cast an illusion spell on him, and as it was done he calmed his yelling and looked in front of him his eyes unfocused.

"So he should be receptive now?"

"Positive," she replied coldly.

This man was one of the five guards that were on duty at the front gate that night, and seemingly the only one who had taken his job half-seriously. If he didn't give me any more intel, I'd have gained nothing from this whole ordeal.

"What were you doing that night?" I asked.

"I was on duty at the main gate."

"Were you alone?"

"N-no I wasn't... but my fellow guards were sleeping or drinking... so."

I sighed in shame, was this really all we amounted to?

"Did you see that man arrive?"

Immediately he shrieked.

Which prompted the Occulus mage to cast a voiceless spell.

It seemed to work as soon he calmed down. His eyes, however, looked even more unfocused.

"Hey! Don't act on your own," I said to the mage, who apologized with a bow.

I then sighed, "Will he be able to answer?"

"He should be, but this memory must have been really traumatic for him to quiver like that at the -"

"Tch-" I interrupted. "I don't need such wimps in my troops," I said to her before looking back at the man.

"Did you see that man arrive?"

"...."

"So?"

"...."

I approached the man pulling my blade out and putting that blade against his neck. A cold smile, that he most likely couldn't even see, drawn on my face.

"Will you tell me or will you die..."

"I-I-I am sorry b-b-B-b..."

"But?"

I said simultaneously pushing the blade against his neck, drawing blood; he shrieked again this time calming down, inhaling strongly.

"My good friend," I said venom dripping from my words, "wouldn't it be wiser to worry about the sword that's closer to you?"

The simple fact I had to threaten him enraged me. Since when did I need to repeat myself? Are they all mocking me!?

The man swallowed his saliva and finally started speaking.

"H-he arrived on a colossal black bird."

"His pale white skin heavily contrasting his dark hair flowing under the moonlight."

"His gaze was dark, so dark it felt like if I stared too much I'd lose my soul. His sword was too lacking to be called that, but his aura was nothing less than monstrous and..."

He began to sweat more.

"And as he landed, he introduced himself as..."

He shrieked again.

"A ghost!? A demon!? ... No-no-no this is not possible, b-but that name shouldn't exist anymore."

*Here we go again...*

"SNAP OUT OF IT. WHAT THE HELL DID HE SAY HIS NAME WAS!"

"H-h-he said a name that no one but him should know."

He swallowed his saliva again.

"He called himself #####, ###### Balmung."