I had to give Lord Reign credit. He really had done his homework. Most of the crimes were either somewhat true or at least difficult to prove. As long as the King never left that dungeon, then for all anyone knew, I had killed him. As long as they found Raissa, they could claim I stole her. The Knights were the most damning evidence. I believed I had gathered the life stones from them, but perhaps they believed if they killed me, they’d find them on me. They’d be right, but even if they weren’t, things could be fabricated after the fact.

“I plead not guilty!” I responded anyway. “I have paperwork on me confirming that Raissa is not a slave! I never touched any Knights of Aberis. The King is still alive at the bottom of the dungeon waiting to be saved. Your charges are laughable!”

“Enough!” The speaking Knight drew his sword, prompting the rest to do the same. “We’re not here to discuss your case! You have killed many Knights, some of them were my friends! Do you deny this?”

“I don’t. I absolutely killed quite a few Knights in the dungeon.”

The man’s eyes widened in surprise but then narrowed with a pleased expression. “So, you admit it then. You killed almost two dozen Knights of Aberis!”

“I did kill some Knights, but you and I both know they weren’t Knights of Aberis, right?”

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The man stepped back, and then his face turned ugly. “Watch your tongue!”

“Aberis is a small nation, and Knight tokens are limited. I only got two. I was wondering how Lord Reign seemed to have an almost inexhaustible supply of elite Knights. Then it came to me. His Knights don’t come from Aberis. They are from the Imperial Cloud Meadow!”

“Interesting theory…” A cruel smile formed on the man’s lips and he chuckled, relaxing slightly. “Not that it really matters, as you won’t survive much longer.”

“It honestly does matter.” I nodded. “If you were just Knights of Aberis who happened to find yourself loyal to Lord Reign, then it would definitely make things harder.”

“Haha… why is that? You’re a pathetic weak lord, who works under a small country. The Cloud Meadow has only allowed this country to continue to exist on a whim. Even Lord Reign is a pathetic creature who will be disposed of when he is no longer useful. As for you, you were never useful in the first place!”

“Why, he asks?” I shrugged. “Because I don’t like killing people, and my own people least of all. Your disgusting colosseum should have never been allowed on Aberis soil. Once I’m done with you, I’ll make sure to close that down for good.”

“Haha… kill us? How do you plan to do that?”

“Quite easily, since you’ve allowed me to waste your time for the last ten minutes so my ladies could set this trap up. I have to say, I had my doubts it would work.”

“Enough of this! Kill him!”

“Create Dungeon!”

The area around the small village suddenly glimmered, and the sky which was just starting to lighten with the morning sun suddenly turned into an unyielding blackness.

{You have entered the temporary Dungeon, Knight’s Demise.}