A door burst open and a servant fell to the ground. Duke burned his aura; his hand on his right was leaking blood.

“Bring a… doctor! BRING SOMEONE!”

“Yes, your Grace!” At the order, the servant ran down the corridor.

“Wait! Bring reinforcements! Tell them the watch has invaded the Manor!!”

Danor struggled through the corridor, his blood smeared on the wall as he leaned. His breath was ragged, he coughed blood on his red carpet. The young Duke limped, trailing blood while paintings of his ancestors looked down on him. The wounded noble finally reached his office. A large family portrait hung high behind his desk. His child self sat smiling, surrounded by his family. Father, mother, uncle and cousin. All gone. By war and a foreigner’s blade.

He breathed out, burned his soul and collected aura to his wound. Blood dropped on the floor while Danor trudged to a cabinet. He opened his wooden cabinet to reveal a crystal ball and a rifle. He flared Aura again and placed his hand on the crystal.

“I presume you know why I am here.” said the priest. Hood made steps of blue walking his way up to the stranger.

“Heal me first.”

The man smiled and said, “In exchange for.”

“Vampires.”

The man of the church smiled wider. He stretched his hand at Hood. Hood fliched. An amber wave of energy flowed at the assassin. His wounds were completely healed. Hood checked his shoulder. Not even a mark left.

“Boy, carry me and tell me what you know on the way.”

“The peasants… they… taken over everything! The Bones, the auction… everything damn thing. My city is… under siege! A Duchy in danger of collapsing!”

“...”

A man’s sigh was transmitted from the crystal.

“The assassin who killed my cousin and uncle, the dark-skinned foreigner, murders all. He is a demon that, if left unchecked, will destroy all we have.

“A dark-skinned assassin, you say?”

“Yes, A man of many strange magic. He possesses the power to make many of himself.”

“Fascinating… “

“I managed to escape his clutches with just my life. Right now, I am talking to you as my wounds are tended to by my doctors. Now that you know how dire my circumstances are, please ask your father for help.”

A long sigh from the man on the crystal. “I am sorry that isn't possible, Duke.”

“What? What are you talking about, Sire? A quick talk to your father would solve this-”

“My father is indisposed. Sickness. No visitors allowed.”

Danor swallowed deep.

“I deal with such matters now.”

“Then…I implore you, Crown Prince. Our families, connected for centuries, have always been there for each other in our times of need.”

“I will have to stop you there, William. Although our families have a deep bond, I couldn't be more different in morality. You Northerners have a saying, right? ‘Northern business is northern business’ or something like that. Your business of selling humans to another disgusts me to my core.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Danor sweated as he heard the Prince talk.

“This disgusting tradition that your father started has been a blight on Tralor. Corrupting all it comes in contact with. And I can’t stand to see this curse grow any further than Foushire, I won't condone it like my father had done. Fourshire is in need of a thorough cleanse. So, no reinforcements, no help. Wasting resources on a lost cause is laughable.”

Danor fist turned bloody.

“Then… please, Sire. Teleport me away.”

The Crown Prince laughed. “Like I said, a waste of resources.”

“MY FATHER AND MY HOUSE SACRIFICED EVERYTHING FOR YOUR CROWN!”

“And your reward was independence. Now you are alone as you wanted. Sleep calls for me. Say hi to you assassin for me.” The connection cut. Danor took his hand off the crystal. He sat on his office chair while the doctors stitched his wound and fed him elixirs. No one heard what Danor was furious about.

“Servant, where is my guest.”

The trembling servant replied, “He arrived at the dock.”

William bowed his head, his face shaded by the candles above.

The Duke was in a pit of sorrow.

A horn blew in the distance and the city guard retreated. Maki and Marina stood on the front line, surrounded by ash and scorched stone. Exhausted and covered in soot, the women fall to the bottoms, gasping for air.

“Drac did it. The bloody bastard did it,” said Marina as she wiped off her sweat, she sat on the dirty ground, messing up her prized garment.”

“No, you did it, Marina,” Maki breathed hard beside her. She still held on to her bloody rapier.

“Saving my people, protect me and my Lucy, you did that.”

As Marina looked at the guards retreating, a soft smile grew on her face.

“Come on, hero,” Maki grunted as she and Marina stood up. “Let us go and get that wound mended.”

Marina looked confused till she remembered the icicle-made hole in her side.

“A noble girl like you seems too used to battle.”

Marina stopped walking. Her face was frozen. Green eyes bore holes in Maki’s head.

Maki turned back. A sly smile showed on the Watch leader. “Bob’s waiting for you. ‘Marina’.”

Hood Ran up the spiral staircase. Aura-charged legs carried a weightless Hood and a heavy Priest. Many flights of stairs late the reached door. Hood-activated aura sense. A unit behind the door. Long rifles point at the door.

Are those…?

Yes. Guns. Runerifles charged aura and magic. Outlawed by the imperial core after the war, none other than the imperial army could create or hold any. The Duke has been busy. He seems pretty desperate.

I need one.

Drool over weapons after we get the slaver.

Hood dropped the priest from his back. “Stay in the corner.”

“Yes, Sir.” said the smiling priest as he moved behind the wall.

Hood summoned his copies. One of them opened the door. The copy was hit with bullets faster than the average could see. The Copy fell to the ground and dematerialised. The sound of guns firing stopped.

They reload their rifles slowly. Hood and another copy ran through the door slicing the unit. Head severed, an arm slashed. A chest was stabbed and intestines dropped from a guard. The last guard aimed his gun at Hood. The long rifle was moved aside and a neck was cut.

End of the corridor!

Hood unsummoned his copy and created a thick wall of blue. It cracked as bullets pelt the exterior. The guards reload again. Hood pounced, his feet dragging the carpet under as he rushed with inhuman speed. One of the guards reloaded faster. A bullet was fired. Hood concentrated his Aura on his eyes. A bullet moved slowly. With his Heilong, Hood hit the bullet aside while he ran. His arm stung from the force of the projectile. The rest of the guards finished their reloading and aimed the rifles at the man in black.

Seven bullets are fired. Hood evaded by running to the wall, his speed kept him stepping on paintings. One more Aura-push and Hood flew off a painting at the riflemen. In the air Hood split in three, chopping at the eight till they fell.

Floor.

Hood looked down at the floor. Blood left a trail for him to follow till he reached a large ornate door, locked with a rune. Hood held the handle. Aura-tendrals fiddle inside the rune till it is unlocked. The door opened and a bullet greeted Hood. Heilong met the metal ball. The force carried Hood back onto the corridor carpet. The invader flipped off the carpet into a two-handed guard. Hood looked through the doorway and smiled through his mask.

“Honour meant nothing to you too.”

A panicked and bandaged Duke stood amongst his doctors and aimed a smaller gun. A servant added another bullet for him through the hole. Danor burned his soul. After charging his gun, the Duke levelled it with his eye.

I need that gun.

Hood positioned himself into a stance.

The duke fired his pistol.