Aleir continued his journey to the neighboring state, Fang empire.

After a few hours, he stepped into the territory of the empire. Unlike the Kingdom of Alura that had only one city so near the borders the Fang empire had numerous cities and even a huge fortress. One of the main reasons why there was such heavy fortification was the fact that it was the only entrance to the empire since it was located on a peninsula. Unless someone tried to invade them through the sea it was the only way to get through. And even then their coasts were heavily fortified as well. Among the states on the continent the Fang empire was one of the strongest and hardest to conquer.

For several years there was the fragile peace between the Kingdom of Alura and Fang empire. However, there were numerous rumors spreading about Fang empire preparing for an invasion. It was true that the Kingdom of Alura was much weaker than the empire so it made sense to a lot of people. The Kingdom of Alura tried to negotiate for an alliance with its other neighbors but to no avail. The other neighbors were actually weaker than the Kingdom of Alura and none of them wanted to perish alongside them.

“From what I read in the archives the relationship of the empire and the kingdom should be extremely fragile. If I cause damage to their defense and kill some high positioned authorities it should do the trick.” Aleir continued forward.

After an hour he was at the entrance to one of the cities.

“I can’t enter through the gate… suspicion might fall on me were I to do that.”

He then decided to wait until nightfall when most of the city was sleeping and only few guards were on watch at the walls. He covered his hands and legs with the dark energy and climbed up the wall like a spider. He waited for the guards’ change of shift so he can swiftly get in. None of the guards would ever expect that a person climbs up the walls without any equipment!

After a while, Aleir managed to get into the city without any problems. However, he realized that there would be another problem. In night the citizens weren’t allowed to go out and guards were patrolling the streets. He would need to be careful to not get discovered.

He was in thoughts for a bit to think of a way to cause something that would implicate that the Kingdom of Alura tried to weaken the defenses on the borders for an invasion.

“I will need to do it all in one night. I need to kill an official and burn their armory or barracks.”

Aleir then tailed one of the patrols consisting of 2 people. He covered his hands in dark energy once more and prepared for an ambush. With his degree of power someone like average guards weren’t capable of resisting nor escaping him. He once destroyed a whole temple of a Holy Lord. If he wanted he could obliterate an entire city by himself. However, the risk of being discovered by the woman or her master was too big. He needed to be careful.

The guards stopped after a while to look around. While they were at it one of them struck a conversation. “Did you hear about what happened on the other side of the mountains?”

“Huh? How would you even know if something really did happen?” The other guard asked curiously.

“One of the spies we got in the Kingdom of Alura is a cousin of mine. Some nasty things happened there. A lot of soldiers were killed by some monsters. They apparently attacked the city.”

The guard was taken aback. “Did your cousin mention what those monsters were?”

The other guard shook his head. “He didn’t mention any details but apparently some of them looked like the city’s high ranking soldiers. It took them a few hours to discover that they were actually monsters.”

The guard then squinted his eyes and looked at his partner. “What if you are one of them?”

The both guards looked at each other for a while then burst out in laughter.

“Haha, let’s continue the patrol. We are almost done for the day.” One of the guards said.

However, before they moved they saw a dark silhouette standing right in front of them.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Hey, who is that?”

“I don’t know but I feel like something is off.” One of the guards said and as he finished the sentence the dark figure started slowly walking towards them.

“Halt! You can’t walk in the streets at night!” One of the guards ignored the bad feeling and yelled at the dark figure.

But the figure didn’t respond. It was slowly walking towards, completely ignoring the warning of the guard.

Both guards then took out their weapons. Both were armed with regular shield and sword which was the norm for guards in the empire.

When the figure got closer one of the guards didn’t wait and charged at it. The figure didn’t move. It just stood there. The sword was about to pierce the guard when a loud ‘clank’ sound resounded. It was as if the sword struck iron, unable to even scratch it. The figure didn’t wait and immediately grabbed the guard by his throat and lifted him up in the air. The dark figure strangled the guard with one hand and then turned to look at the other guard who fell on the ground, shaking in fear. The guard was paralyzed by fear. Although he had undergone the basic military training he was never in an actual combat. The whole situation wasn’t something he was supposed to deal with.

“P-Please, spare m-me…” Below the guard there was a puddle of something wet.

The figure continued to stare at the guard then started slowly walking towards him. As it was getting closer the guard in its hands let out his last breath. The figure dropped the person on the ground and stood above the guard who was shaking in fear and his own piss on the ground.

“P-P-Please… I got a family…”

The guard on the ground was begging for his life but the figure seemed to not have even heard it.

“I need information. Where is this city’s council? Tell me their location.”

“Uh-uh if I do you will let me live?” The guard nervously asked as he was shuddering in fear.

The figure didn’t respond, just looked at him. The figure’s face was hidden under a hood so the guard couldn’t see it.

When the guard noticed that the hooded figure wasn’t interested in answering he immediately started explaining the locations of the members of this city’s council. It turned out that it was almost identical to the Kingdom of Alura however all of the city’s council had a chairman that was directly answering to the lord of the nearby fortress.

“Thank you.” The figure plainly said. Behind it suddenly there was some movement. It was the guard that had died. His body turned first into a dark figure without any distinct feature and then the body formed into shapes of the guard’s appearance.

The figure then smiled at the guard on the ground who was now violently shaking in fear as he realized what fate awaited him. The guard tried to get up and run but it was too late. The figure already grabbed him by his throat and snapped his spine. The guard then turned into another dark figure.

Of course the person behind all this was Aleir. He didn’t want to use his own powers to kill the council members, as that could be quite suspicious, so he would borrow their guards to do the dirty work for him. He imbued more dark energy into the figures and sent them to the locations. One went to the council’s Chairman and second to a senior member of the council.

Later that night, one of the figures was hiding behind a corner near a luxurious three story tall house and silently observed. It was the council chairman’s house. It was very late at night so the guards were tired as well. However, the house still had 2 guards at the entrance and several more in the interior of the building, guarding the chairman and his family even at night when they were sleeping.

The figure waited for one of the guards to take a piss and when he did it moved. It silently sneaked behind the guard who was doing his natural need and took out the sword and swiftly slit his throat. The guard fell on the ground, dead.

“Elmer? What is taking you so long?!” The second guard called out and left his post to look for him.

“Elmer?” When the guard went behind the corner and saw the dead body he was shocked. His mind was racing and he was immediately covered in cold sweat. He tried to scream but before he managed to someone was already behind him, covering his mouth while slitting his throat. The figure looked at the two bodies and took the key to the entrance from one of the guards.

The figure entered the building. After a careful observing there were only 2 more guards. The figure took them out one by one.

It finally entered the chairman’s room. It looked at the chairman and immediately covered his mouth as it slit his throat. The task was done.

However, at that moment something unexpected happened.

“Daddy, I can’t sleep…” Said a child’s voice as it was rubbing its eyes.

The figure turned around and looked at the child about 4 years old. The child was stunned and scared. There was a ton of blood behind the figure. It was very obvious even for the child that something was wrong.

“D-Daddy?” The child then started crying.

The figure started walking slowly to the child. The child stepped back as it was scared.

“Who are you! What did you do to daddy?!” Shrieked the child.

No response came. When the figure was right in front of the child, it fell on the ground. The child was too scared to move from the spot, paralyzed by fear. The figure looked down one the shuddering child, giving it an ice cold gaze. It then left by the front door, completely ignoring the child.

The figure then left the building and went to hide in the streets. When the figure was far enough from the building it then took out its weapon and slit its own throat, effectively killing itself.

Similar situation happened in the other location as well. However, there the figure killed the council member and killed itself at his corpse.

Aleir, who was hiding in the city then left and went back in the direction of the mountains, waiting for his plan to play out.