Everyone has experienced regret.
Whether it is something insignificant like not preparing enough for your journey.
or something significant like not spending your last days with your loved one.
Only after my life had ended, I finally realized.
Humans are beings with lots of regrets.
'Huff huff, I should have exercised more' I thought while gasping for air.
As I looked at my surroundings, I was surrounded by trees and vegetation. In front of me, a valley of unknown depth split apart the forest in two. Despite the moonlight being present, I still couldn’t see how deep it was. And the width in itself isn’t something anyone can easily cross through.
I was out of breath. My heart and lungs were screaming from all the running I had just done. I looked at my body, full of small cuts from the hidden weapon being thrown, but none of it cut me that deeply. Apart from the sickly smell from the wound, I didn’t feel anything off about myself.
“BLARGHH”
Suddenly, Black murky blood started spilling out of my mouth. As the blood touches the ground, the grass under me wilts instantly.
'Ah, it’s poison.' I thought as my vision started to blur slightly.
Feeling exasperated, I tried to calm myself down, letting air flow into my body in a rhythmic motion.
That’s right, I remember now. I looked on my back, a male in his 20s was unconscious.
'Thank goodness Arthur seems fine'
It looked like his metal armour had blocked most of the attacks that came at us. Though, the weight of the armour sure made it hard for me to carry him.
“cough, cough, Leo? ar-are you okay?” Arthur silently speaks to me.
“you’re awake Arthur? Thank goodness”
Unfortunately for me, that feeling of relief only lasted for no more than a few seconds. Out of nowhere, I could feel a very slight murderous intent right from behind. From the bushes, a small knife flies out towards me and my brother.
CLANG
With the wooden staff in my hand, I parried the knife after turning around last second. Despite my vision being impaired slightly, I was still able to deflect it thanks to the bloodlust that was discharged.
“Who’s there?? Show yourself!”
“To be able to deflect our hidden weapon after being affected by the poison, did he feel our bloodlust?” I heard someone say behind the shadow of the trees.
With my senses, I could feel it, the murderous intent of a considerable amount of people, protruding from the forest.
From there, a person clad in all black appears in front of me.
“You’re the second son of the Duke? And I guess the one on your back is the first son, The Azure Knight?”
the person's voice sounded like a middle-aged man, but because of the mask covering his face, I wasn’t able to identify whether or not my assumption was correct.
I focused my senses, and from the bloodlust I felt, it looked like they had secured the area around us. At the very least, they have around 15 people surrounding us in a semi-circle position, with the valley on our backs.
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
a person with a slimmer build appears from behind the middle-aged man. He was holding 2 daggers in his hand, looking ready to attack us at any moment, but his face seemed quite relaxed and taking this situation quite patiently.
“I suggest you stop resisting, a clean death is better than a gruesome one”
Despite wanting to talk back, I didn't retort. My mind was completely occupied with finding a way out.
Seeing my focused self, Arthur realized what I was trying to do. He then whispered something.
“I'll buy some time”
He got off my back while limping to my side.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Who are you guys?” my brother asked the slim man.
“Hehe, why waste our time answering a question of a dead man walking?”
“If I were to die, I would like to know the truth at the very least”
“Ohh? I guess a title as impressive as yours is not just a mere decoration. Not cowering in the face of death, should I applaud you for your bravery?”
The slim man answered in a mocking tone.
my brother's plan worked like a charm. the assassins, now preoccupied with my brother's trick.
Not wasting my time, I then looked around and enhanced my senses as I looked for the weaknesses in their formation.
The assassin hiding under the tree shadows. even with my eyesight, I could not see their hidden body. The only information I could gather was the amount of bloodlust and murderous intent they exuded.
As someone who deals with people from the shadow, an assassin's rank can be inferred from one ability.
The ability to control their bloodlust.
After all, the stronger the bloodlust, the more conspicuous they'll be.
With my heightened senses, I could feel that the left side had a more noticeable bloodlust than the right. It was quite obvious that it made me wonder if they had brought out newbies for their attacks.
But, a major question appeared on my mind.
'Why would they bring low-level assassins to such a high-stakes operation?'
'What if some of them are not assassins?'
'Too many variables. If I make a wrong move, we'll be trapped in the middle of their ranks.'
“Are you analyzing the formation?”
Suddenly, I felt a conspicuous look from the slim man. His gaze which had been focused on my brother, now turned towards me.
he looked at me, with eyes filled with excitement like he had found a new toy to play with.
“I guess even a broken genius is still genius."
Broken genius, a nickname given to me by the people of the empire.
Hearing those words makes my focused eye rattled for a second, reminding me of unpleasant memories.
"But unfortunately for you, even if you get out of this encirclement, there's no way for you to run away from us.”
“ENOUGH!!" someone roared right behind the slim man.
"Don’t talk more than you need. Even though you are higher ranked than me, I am the Commander of this operation. We need to finish this fast and help the squad that's dealing with the duke”
The middle-aged man reveals his bloodlust towards the slim man. Even though it wasn’t directed towards my direction, his bloodlust was strong enough to make my blood curdle.
“geez, you need to relax sometimes Commander. It’s not like this kid can outrun us while carrying someone on his back"
"Besides, are you sure you want to make an enemy out of me, the next leader?” The slim man answered back with his bloodlust.
They both stared at each other, their bloodlust prickled my sense. Surprisingly, the middle-aged man was the one who retreated first, his sigh could be heard as he fell back to the sideline.
Knowing he had won the confrontation, the slim man sneered while shifting his attention towards us.
"You must be joking if you think the Duke will fall to the hand of a measly assassin group” Arthur claimed while gritting his teeth.
“Duke Ragnar, The strongest man of the empire. Do you think we would half-ass our preparation to annihilate him? The arrangement has been made"
I stood there in silence, my mind swirling with thoughts of all kinds.
'Father is dealing with 2 groups of assassins? so if we leave these guys, they will head towards Father's location.'
the time of the attack...
the fact that they knew our location...
a speculation appeared in my mind.
'Is there a spy in the duke ranks??'
I shuddered at the mere thought of it.
if there's a spy in the family, it's not just us three that's in danger. the safety of the whole family is compromised.
“What about Mother and Rose??”
The family left at home.
“Mother cannot fight. She has never held a sword in her life”
At this point, my mind was too disoriented to make a decision.
The thought of dangers approaching the family.
The thought of making the wrong moves that might cost people their lives.
It all halted me from doing anything.
My mind was frozen.
My already impaired sight, now becoming blurry from nervousness.
“Leo.."
"Leave me here”
a whisper came from Arthur.
Despite hearing his voice, I stood there without replying. My foggy mind cannot comprehend what he just said.
"Run"
"running... away?"
I looked at Arthur, his eyes were like a flame that was burning brighter than ever. Seeing my startled face, he smiled confidently.
With a ferocious look, he glared at the slim man who was enjoying this scene.
He then gestured his hand towards the slim man, asking for a fight.
But as my eyes trailed towards his stature, I could see it...
Under that bravado, He couldn't hide his trembling legs.
The tremble, not out of fear, but because he had just woken up from being knocked unconscious before.
Despite all of that, He didn't falter.
He probably knew that death would come.
But in his mind, there was something else more important than himself. the safety of his family.
At this moment, I could see the essence of a man named Arthur.
Courage.
Kindness.
Loyalty.
Compassion.
He was unarmed, but he was ready to fight them to death.
That day, I saw Arthur's true self.
His core identity, not hidden under any guises.
The values that made him into the person he is today.
'what am I doing?'
My mind was now as tranquil as the still water.
The shock that came from the thought of sacrificing someone had woken me up from the depths of my nightmares.
I sighed, as disappointment rose from the depth of my heart. I stood behind Arthur while being supported by the staff that I had stuck to the ground. my head drooping low, clearing my mind from any useless thoughts I had.
"You wanna fight me?"
The slim man's question came, painted with a mocking tone. even he could see that Arthur was not in any shape to fight.
"Are you that afraid to fight an unarmed man?"
With a grin on his face, Arthur retorted back. He took a stance and decided to envelop his body with Aura. As the mana swirled around him, it took the form of a bluish armour resembling a sapphire.
".... I won't hold back even if you have no weapon"
The slim man brandished his dual dagger. He hopped around on the spot lightly, warming himself up.
Looking at the man, Arthur's face expressed a slight smile, satisfied that he had taken the attention of the man.
Now all he had to do was wait for Leo to run from the scene...
THUD
Bewilderment came across their faces. One was out of dismay, while the other was out of excitement.
I stood right in front of Arthur.