The capital was packed with bystanders, more so than usual. This was because today was special, more than usual. Normally, today would be celebrated for the founding of the kingdom. A truly proud day for the residents of the kingdom. But now they have another thing worth being in high spirits. Today, the people of the kingdom will be able to see their princess. The princess that has been living in the castle for over 18 years. They have only ever seen her when she was a young child. Ever since an incident occurred, nobody has seen her since. That is until today.

The main road was bustling with people coming into the capital. Not just the city residents were present. This made the trafficking over at the city entrance that much more difficult for the city guards, who shared the high spirits as they too welcomed everyone in open arms.

"Welcome to Lux! Be sure to not lose your place and manners when in the city or risk your chance of seeing our future Queen." They would say. Even to the few people who they should have been more aware of. At least a few people have shrouded their identity in long dark cloaks, they didn't greet the guards, or other sellers who stood by the entrance to entice visitors with souvenirs. They soon began branching away from each other. One of them went on their own, while the other four split in pairs.

"Why did we come from the front, brother?"

"Do not draw attention to the other method. Should things go wrong."

"With us in charge of the mission, it's nothing more than a waste of time." He chuckles, gloating in his own unearned ego. but that kind of remark seemed to be shared as the other was chuckling with him. And their laughter blends in nicely with the surrounding cheerful roars of celebration.

The same kind of cheerfulness that was also being shared with the other pair that arrived at the capital. In fact, they even began interacting with the locales as it were. One of them was half the size of the people walking about and was lingering with the children. The other was only speaking to the woman at present.

The last one had already disappeared somewhere and had ensured he couldn't be found until he wanted to be found.

The time passed by quickly during the bustling of the party going on. Before long, it was nearly time for everyone to be gathering at the main gate of the castle. The gate has closed for years since a certain incident had occurred that caused the King himself to be paranoid and blocked off access for the public. Until today. rumors began from the guards and reached the public ears that the king was finally going to open the gates once more and the people would finally get to see how the princess had grown up.

"Bet she has grown to be as beautiful as the Queen herself." One resident assumes. His hopefulness is shared with many of the male population that arrived to get their first peek of the princess.

The castle gates have opened at last, the crowds erupt in a roar seeing the rumors were tree. The yard of the castle was as beautiful as they remembered, special thanks to the Queen who is known for her green thumb.

Before long, the king began stepping out into the balcony where he normally addresses the public for his speeches and various announcements. This is when those cloaked individuals began making their move. Two of them managed to escape the crowds and scurried up onto one of the rooftops.

"The time has come, brother."

"Yes it has. We only have one shot at this. Then the plot will gain traction at last."

They begin pulling out various weaponry from under their cloaks, just partially revealing their red bodies underneath the daylight. Thankfully for them, no one was around to see what they really were. Nonetheless, they acted quickly to begin preparations. They set aside their melee weapons and begin to set their bows ready.

On one of the other rooftops, one of those hooded individuals that entered the gate along with them had also had their attention of the king as well. He didn't prepare for anything but simply watched. As the speech went on, the other two would continue to prepare their attack. As they get into position and aim their arrows toward their target, The solo individual gets on the move. He dashes toward them with such inhumane speed. They couldn't even react to the silhouette that was closing in on them. One small jump onto the roof they were on was enough to make them miss their mark.

The arrow flies, and just barely misses someone that was on the balcony.

"Damn it to hells!" One of them shouted.

"Of all the possible timing to have to do with the brotherhood, retreat is in order!" The two scramble about and begin to escape the scene of the crime. leaving behind the variety of weaponry they had brought with them. Just as the single individual begins to give chase, one of the brothers begins to air their palm at them.

[The Demone Race Skill: Eternal Burning has been activated]

[Description: A special flame magic that will always burn whatever the flames catch. It will not quench until the object is completely burned away. Can be classified as Fire Magic Skill]

Flames begin to materialize in front of the red-skinned palm. The flames looked dangerous for sure as he the tips of the heat whip about violently as if they were searching for anything it can burn. With a push, the flames begin shooting back toward the one chasing the two. As a quick reaction, the chaster would turn on their heel and begin to take their cloak off. Leaping forward to give themselves a great distance between him and the cloak as it catches on fire and in a moment's notice, the cloak turns to ash.

Afterwards, things went to how Yasuline vaguely saw. The sighting of the White Reaper caused global panic.

The capitol went to a severe lockdown after the events. Those who entered the capital for the celebrations have either already escaped the city before the gates were sealed or they have been ordered by the knights to stay for questioning and risk letting the White Reaper escape from their grasp. The reaction is mixed but understandable at best. A unique result that can only occur when dealing with someone like the White Reaper.

The public even cooperated with the questioning and were prepared to aid the knights, even volunteering in their patrols to scout out the assassin. But, even with how smoothly everything went, it seemed there were no hints or signs as to how the White Reaper showed up at the event and nearly killed the princess.

Hidden in one of the more unkempt districts of the capitol, the two individuals patiently awaited in the shadows up until they saw the moon begin to rise from the horizon.

"It's time for the next step."

"S-sure."

"You're hesitant, brother."

"Because we lied about hitting the mark! If they find out, it'll be our bodies that will be used to fuel the fires."

"We'll hit our mark now, by then, it will be too late for anyone to know the mistake."

"And after we complete our mission, we'll find that one who stopped us and take our revenge on them."

While night had fallen over the city, the lights were still bright and kept the streets, as well as the rooftops lit. The city was still bustling with activity, though half of it was mainly from the patrolmen.

The way to the castle proved to be tough, but the two managed to break through the defenses and were scanning the castle wall that separates the castle grounds from the city to find any form of weaknesses. Their luck is struck when they find that a tree growing from the castle yard has stretched and managed to break through the stone. With a little more work, they were able to forge a hole to get in and out.

They found that the yards were empty. Most of the guards were on the top of the walls, likely anticipating a higher plane of invasion like before. Meaning infiltration would be that much easier for the two.

"Where must we look for our mark?" One of them said as he looked to see just how high the castle structure really was and how much they would have to scout in order to find what they needed.

"Hmm, It will be difficult, but because our enemies are on high alert, they will be sure to keep their prized ones contained in one spot to ensure they can protect it."

"That's why you're the smarter of us."

They begin to look for a way in. But...

"Who are you two?" A voice breaks the silence. The two jolts turn toward the one that called out to them. It was the Champion himself, Caliber.

Caliber stood before two strange hooded beings. Neither of them looked to be the White Reaper, the main threat. So he was willing to let them go unless they proved to be threats to the crown.

After the encounter of the White Reaper that day, he had made sure that everything went in complete lockdown. Nothing was going to enter the castle, let alone leave. If anything moved, he would confront it firsthand in the chance it was the assassin himself.

Caliber was daunting with his radiant armor and sword. The shine and magic radiating from him gave a faint glow. The glow comes from the various enchantments and casted magic that he had prepared himself in order to face the White Reaper head-on.

The two hooded beings remained in their spot, stiff from the discovery. They were calculating what their next move should be.

"I ask again. Who are you two." His hand hovered over the handle of his weapon. The delay in the answer was enough to make him wary of the intruders. He would need a lot to be convinced that they were innocent.

But the two did not plan to deceive him. They both decided to take the Sword of the King down.

----------------------------------------

[Demone Race Skill: Eternal Burning, has been activated]

One of their hands was hidden behind their bodies, perfect for the concealment of their Skill attack building up. All to prepare their assault on the champion.

Caliber would then suddenly see them twist their bodies in opposite directions as they split up from one another. When they did, one of them then fired their flames toward him.

The swordsman draws his blade and hoists his shield before his person. He could feel the body of the flame crash against his shield.

strangely, the flames remained on the shield longer than fire normally does, he could feel the heat beginning to heat up the metals on his armor, which in turn, began burning against his skin. Thankfully, the flames could not burn his equipment away like they are supposed to. All thanks to its special properties.

But the flames themselves weren't the main threat. Off the corners of his eyes, he could see the two silhouettes from the intruders as they made a sharp turn to dart at him.

"A decent effort." Caliber admits to them as he recognizes they were going for the pincer attack the whole time. He begins to search through his mind for what would be the best counter to this assault.

The two can be seen leaping into the air with ugly carved daggers and short swords aiming at the swordsman. Planning to put their whole body weight into the strike to subdue him before the situation turned against him.

But now it was his turn to unleash his attack.

[Champion Class Skill: Halo Slash, has been activated]

[Description: A melee attack that as the user spins with their weapon, Light coats over it and spirals outward, increasing the range and power.]

"But I am no ordinary swordsman!" Caliber shouts just as he begins putting his weight on his toe and his body begins to twirl. His blade expanded outwards from his body with a stronger glow than the rest of him. As he moves, the light begins slipping through the tip and spirals outwards more and expanding.

The two intruders twist their bodies even more inhumanely than before as they attempt to move themselves away from the main force of the attack. However, the amount of wind blowing from the attack was enough to blow them both back from the knight.

The two find themselves eating the grass as he lands back on the yard. They quickly scurry onto their feet. Parts of their red bodies were uncloaked. The champion's keen eyes were quick to recognize what they really were.

"Demones. You dare soil our lands with your presence. What are your plans here?"

"This one is stronger than us, brother."

"Yes, it would seem that we are quite under-classed on this match-up."

"You done rambling between yourselves and will answer my questions or do you prefer my blade does the talking?" Caliber points his sword at the two. Patients running thin for the situation, but with the bigger threat of the White Reaper being about, He can't afford to be distracted nor waste his energy fighting these two.

"If we keep going at him, we will fail."

"Then perhaps we should start using our gifts to get the advantage."

Even after showing off the difference in power, the two seemed to still be eager to fight him. Caliber could not figure out what entailed them to continue on with the trivial struggle. But he knew at least it had to be something bad, he prepared for the worst.

But even then, the cunningness of the duo demones would be fruitful. The two begin to prepare for their next attack. This time, both of them were preparing to simultaneously attack the champion.

[Demone Race Skill: Eternal Burning, has been activated]

Two of those cursed flames fly at the champion. He knows better than to block both of them with his shield again, he could only face one at a time. However, he has other methods to defend himself.

[Champion Class Skill: Radiant Shield, has been activated.]

[Description: A magic shield of light that can block any magic or elemental attack. Can be classified as a Defense Skill, Shield Skill, or Light Skill]

Having two shields now on his side was ideal, using both of them, the shields did their job and protected the champion from the cursed flames. As he awaited to see the flames disperse and he could go on the assault again,

something else happened. Something zipped between the shields and struck the chest of his armor. Whatever it was, it broke into reflective pieces and something splattered all over him, his armor, and his face. He could vaguely taste something on his lips.

"You dare throw wine at me? How dare you disrespect the Sword of the King, I'll personally sever your...heads...from..." The longer Caliber continued to rant away his anger, he found it more and more of a struggle to move his tongue and even lips. He could still make some form of noise, but without either tongue or lips, they only made strange unrecognizable noises that were trying to be words.

"The paralysis worked faster than expected, brother."

The two's bodies seemed to relax once they saw the shield of light disappear from the air, taking the flames with it. The other flames continued to burn against the actual shield. Like predators having cornered a prey that couldn't fight back at all, they took their time upon approaching. Their cackling only enraged Caliber as he struggled to move anything to make them pay for laughing at him.

The humiliation continued to go further as they began stripping the knight down from his protective wear. Each piece of his prized armor lands with a thud on the grass. Their red hands give a faint glow about them.

But then, "Gahh!", Knight screamed as he then felt one of their blades pierce his sides. And thanks to his inability to speak properly, the scream only seemed like more noise than a humane scream of pain. As he grits his teeth to bear from screaming, the two cackle with glee hearing the powerful enemy they were hesitant on was now at their mercy. The best part of their job for sure.

"He screams like a mere child."

"Like a child crying for their mother for help, no less. Pathetic."

"Let's see if he makes different cries depending on where we poke." Their blade is held in front of Caliber's eyes. The blade glistened brightly red from the moonlight reflecting from his blood. Hiding just how unnaturally rusted the blade was.

Caliber lost the ability to be aware of the time flow as he was helpless in feeling the various jabs from the blades. They weren't deep enough that they would result in his losing his life, the two demones seemed to know to lighten the level of the stabs to assure he wouldn't faint from the pain stimulation or from the blood loss.

"Ah, that was fun. But it is time we break the Sword of the King and be on our way." It seemed they were on a time limit, Caliber concluded with his fading mind going in and out of subconscious. His body screaming from the torment of having multiple cuts that stun from the cool nightly wind blowing over the horrific scene.

The two bicker with one another as they try to decide who will be the one to stab him in the heart. As they did, something else halted everything in its tracks. Something crashed onto the yard with an even louder thud. It scared the two demones that they let out a haunting hiss like a cat and leaped away from it. It even caused Caliber's footing to be moved enough that he falls to the ground like a lifeless body on his back, thankfully, he gets to a nice view of the stars and not having to eat dirt.

"What was that?"

"Up there, brother!"

They and Caliber look up toward the castle to find a figure fidget about in some walkway. It was scaling the railings of one of the balconies.

"And who was that?"

"I could not tell my brother, but from the frantic way they moved, they must have seen us."

With that said, one of the demones suddenly starts to scale the wall.

"Wha- what are you doing?"

"I'm going after them, you fool. If they alert the guards, we'll be dealing with the Royal Knights! We only had one for him. So get your red tail up here so we can kill them!" The other explained as he continued to climb. He was soon joined by the others.

"And what about him!? Are we just going to leave him here?"

"The paralysis will keep him in check until we get back. He should be like that within the hour."

Caliber couldn't do anything but watch as the home he had sworn to protect everyday in his life was being invaded by demones. As if the presence of the White Reaper wasn't already a nightmare itself. Truly, the sight of the White Reaper was as omen as they said he was. With that, the multiple cuts and the tender feeling of resting his body at last on the soft grass was too inviting for him to not rest his eyes for the night.

----------------------------------------

Yasuline woke with a sudden jolt. Her body felt like it needed to move so she scrambled to move and her crawls off her bed, but forgetting herself, she stumbles

onto the cold floor. The fall knocked the wind out of her and truly awoken her from her state of shock and panic.

"Run...gotta run..." She says to herself as her mind scrambled to get back into place.

When she finally calmed down, she looked around the room she was in.

She was back in her room. Though, it wasn't morning. The room was dark, the light-coloring of her furniture now had a creepy feel to her. It wasn't that the room suddenly changed on her, if the moon hanging outside the window door frame to her balcony is anything to go by.

"But, I thought I was outside for the ceremony."

Yasuline tries skimming through the last moments she can remember before this. The last thing she can recall is she was about to see the public and the public first seeing their princess. But…

"Nope, not a clue. Maybe someone else will know."

Picking herself up, she heads to the door. But when she tries pulling on the handle, the

the door wouldn't budge. "Huh?" She tries again. But the door still wouldn't move. She tried again and again, but no matter how much force she used or how she kicked the door out of rage, the door would not open.

"What the heck!? This door locks!? When did they install that!?" She says angrily.

Feeling like she was being betrayed by her own room.

Her next course of action was to try knocking on the door for anyone outside to hear her.

"Hey! I locked myself in my room! Someone get an axe and cut it down!" No response.

No noise to indicate someone heard her. She tried again, but still nothing happened.

"First the lock, now no one is showing up? What a strange mystery." The princess stood in front of the door, lost in thought. In the darkness of that room.

"This is...AWESOME!" She shouted even louder than when she had called for help.

"Something must be going on and now I am locked in my room. A mystery is stirring around me and it calls for me to take action." A large smile stretches across her face.

His fists shaking with excitement at her sides. She could hear her heart race, unclear if it was from the excitement or because she was faintly nervous about the situation.

Either way, she knew she had to take action.

She heads back to her bed and reaches under her bed. Even in the dark, she knew exactly where to move her hand to get her secret weapon.

A sword and its scabbard. It was a gift given to her before the incident by one of the kingdom's weapon masters. Back when the idea of her learning self-defense was set.

This was to be the sword she would use once she had her bearings with a blade. In these kinds of situations, according to her father, it is best to always have a weapon on you.

Like she practiced, she straps the belt of the scabbard over her dress that she still had on from the day. It may be the adrenaline flowing inside her, but the dress didn't seem to bother her as much as before. The heels, however... She kicks them off to some corner in the room.

"Alright, now to escape out of here." She says proudly, laying her hand on the handle of her sword as if she were trying to look impressive to someone.

Another moment goes by, as she now starts to brainstorm what her next move was.

Thinking a different environment would help her, she heads to the balcony. The windowed door wasn't locked and she was able to let the cool night air brush her. The outdoors was surprisingly brighter than her own room. She didn't notice before now, but there was a trace of anxiety within her that now went away. Indeed, being outside helped her mind.

"Hmm, locked in a room. I will have to escape from here." She started to plan her route as she looked left and right from her position.

Yasuline's room sits on the third floor of the castle. So jumping down to the ground floor would be a definitive Bad End for her. A less dangerous, but still risky route would be to move to the nearby windows. They are simply rooms for maids. But whether those windows are unlocked or not will be a risky bet for her. It would be hard to simply move back to the balcony once she gets to one of them.

It's been a while since the last time she tried to infiltrate the other rooms from the windows. So she leans over the railing of the balcony to scout out the path ahead of her. Then…Something rustled over her head.

"Huh!?" She blurts out, her head jerks upward to catch whatever that was. But the object was too fast, and she could only see a tiny blob of a shadow.

"Who are you!?" She calls out to it, expecting an answer for some reason. After sensing she wasn't going to get one, she huffs and concludes that she will go after it.

"Well, if you won't answer me, then I'll force it out of you." She threatens as she begins to climb onto the railing. It was rather thick, to ensure no accident occurred. But Yasuline's eagerness to scale anything caused it to wither even then. A crack had formed on

the top railing, and Yasuline had since stopped climbing on it to ensure it didn't break off and she would be disciplined for it.

But the situation made it so that issue was the last thing on her mind. As the princess stretched and stood on her toes in order to grasp the edge of the roof, the railing gave way.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

The top piece of the railing that she just happened to be on cracked further and broke into a separate piece, the fractured piece then slid off and fell to the ground. The sudden movement of her footing was enough to make her lose her balance. She struggled and swung her arms around, trying to grab anything that she could to save herself, but nothing had anything she could grip. The wind then picked up and blow

harshly. Her balance worsened and she could feel her body beginning to lean toward the dangerous direction. As hard as she could, she could not force her body to go in the other direction, toward the balcony itself. It may hurt, but it's better than death.

At the worst possible moment, the thing she spotted passed by again, causing her to react shockingly to it. That was the final push that worsened the situation.

Her body suddenly felt weightless, time was slowing down tremendously for her. She was now seeing that the sky was in front of her. She couldn't feel anything beneath her feet.

"Ah." It was the only sound her voice could make. It was surprising that she wasn't screaming to her doom. In that stretched second, she thinks it was mostly due to the fact that her body doesn't believe what is happening. It felt too surreal, there was no way she would die like this. Not that she planned on ending her life, but if she was going to go out, she wanted it to be at least as grand as some of the infamous adventurers whose

names have been shared for years.

The fact that people will know her as a princess who died from falling from her own balcony made her flustered and embarrassed at the same time. She shut her eyes tightly and tried to think of something else as her fall was beginning to have her brush against the air her body was pushing through, causing her fall to gain more and more speed.

A burst of energy overcame her, she was not going to settle for the end of her life to end so pathetically. She stared ahead of her and she looked around for something to save herself with. That was when she saw something unusual.

A hand. It was reaching out to her from between the pillars of the railing. It was too dark to make out the person who arrived. But, now wasn't the time for such things. She extended her hand back to it and the two grabbed onto each other.

Time reverted to normal immediately and the princess felt her body jerk once the momentum of the save swung through her body. Her shoulder ached from the jolt, but it's still better than what she could have experienced.

She looked down at the possible doom, but the darkness of the night made it too hard to see anything below her. With the exception of something shimmering, she brushed it off as it was the bit of her railing that fell.

Her attention then went to her arm as she felt the person was beginning to pull her up onto the rail. She immediately grabs it and starts to pull herself on and over.

Once she felt her body on the balcony floor, she felt her body weight made it quite difficult to stand back up. The adrenaline was seeping out of her and the dread of fear paralyzed her. She could only stare at the floor, almost as if she was afraid that if she took her eyes away from it, she would find herself in free fall once more.

She finally gained enough willpower to begin changing the spot her eyes were staring at. her eyes zipped around the floor to see anything interesting until she had enough strength to get back up. That was when she noticed that she was still holding the hand of the person who rescued her. Her hand was definitely shaking enough for them to notice.

As they were stroking the back of her hand for comfort, once she had realized that, she sensed that it was working and her body was obeying what she wanted more and more. She had closed her eyes again and she focused on her breathing.

Another bit of advice she had from a trainer was that she needed to practice her breathing. It was a struggle to remember to do that, but she somehow recalled it at this moment. She took in air through her nostrils and then let it all out by mouth. With the gentle strokes on her hand, and her breathing, she felt re-energized again.

"I feel much better. Thanks for the save!" She says with such glee as she pulls her hand away and quickly jumps onto her feet with a soft thud. But then like a punch to the gut, that energy left her and she had a mixture of dread and confusion overcame her. Standing in front of her, the person that saved her, was

the White Reaper himself.

----------------------------------------

Yasuline's speechlessness seemed to signal to him that his time was done and he needed to leave. She watched as he jumped onto the roof with each ease and he disappeared over it, the white coat disappearing.

The shock of the encounter left with him and she found her breath once more. But her mind was still in shock.

'The White Reaper? Why? Why did he save me?'

Saying it in her mind recollected the final moments of that moment before she blacked out, she recalled how someone attacked her and her family. And that person was none other than the White Reaper.

The White Reaper. It was a name to someone that the entire world of Atlas feared. Ever since he made his stance upon slaying the Lycan Queen during her ceremony. Since then, more leaders in the world, no matter how small, their rank, or age fell by his

blade. Of course, they raised his threat level each time a head fell to the ground. And because of the un-recognizable pattern of his kill list, many fear who he would assassinate next. Which is why even her own father warned her about him.

His reputation even became something that children became scared of, like a monster that always watches them until they do something bad and takes them away to eat. Weather if Yasuline still believed that would not be something that will easily get an answer.

The White Reaper is also known to be an omen. Those that catch a glimpse of him often end up experiencing something horrific happening to them. There were just as many stories like that than the amount of lives he had taken.

He is known to bring destruction and end lives. And yet, Yasuline just witnessed the sheer cold fact that her life was saved by him. Not only that...

She looked at her hand, the one he grabbed to save her. The way he was stroking her hand was too gentle to believe those were the hands of a murderer. Her hand closes to a fist.

"This is all too confusing." She thinks aloud. Looking up at the roof, she was determined again to follow behind.

Back on the railing she starts to go, this time, she was being more careful than usual.

Being observant this time, she noticed how the edges sunk more on the other end of the railing side. Shifting sides, she found it much easier to get on the roof.

She had a brief moment of being proud of herself for managing her escape. Being on

the roof gave her many options and ways to get into the castle again. But that wasn't her goal now. She looked around her to find any hints on where the White Reaper went.

The Adventure Guilds all should have quests that ask the very best to hunt down the White Reaper. His bounty is in every pub. Any way that can show how the world would be better off without him, it was done.

So with so many possible people hunting him, how was she going to fare any better?

Just as she was pondering on where she should search, a faint blue glow caught her attention, she looked around again to find the source of the glow. It was one of the towering pillars of the castle. Just when she looked at the tower, the glow faded away. Almost like it was specially signaling to her on his location.

The specific tower was thankfully one she knows by heart. Some of the stones were quickly placed and some stuck out perfectly to grip onto when she climbed on it. Only on a real bad day would she actually slip and fall.

She takes a deep breath before she begins to scale the tower. She ensured to look at the stone she was going to grab first and always made sure her feet were on a firm stone to step on. By the time she paused to rest, she was already near the top. With one last push, she managed to get to the top.

The wind was harsher than below. Likely because she was higher up than ever before. Wind always gets stronger the higher you go, Yasuline learned firsthand long ago.

She paused once more. That man was standing there in front of her again. She didn't get a good look at him before, but now. He was still like a portrait. He didn't look at her, he was staring down at the capitol that its lights were still on. Some even were moving slowly and in grids.

The man in the white coat before her looked quite young, likely around the same age of Caliber himself, she couldn't say for sure since he had his hood covering a good portion of his face. His skin was darker than others she had seen here at the castle. His hair was the opposite, again, from what she could partly see. It was brightly white, matching his coat which was the biggest recognizable thing about him. The coat fluttered behind him like the flags that proudly flap at the tip of each tower of the castle. On the coattail, blue flames can be seen on them with a faint glow. The glow must be playing a trick on her eyes as the flames nearly looked like they were moving like real flames, not just a stitched design.

Seeing him there, she struggled to think what to do. Now that she encountered the White Reaper again. 'Should I attack him? Should I talk to him?' Attacking him may seem rude, but she needed to know if he really didn't intend to hurt her. Not that she wanted to hurt him, but test him. But talking to him would also display a chance for diplomacy. Something her parents often spoke about a fundamental need for a ruler.

The silence between them stretched for a while. Which only made Yasuline feel very awkward. She never behaved like this with anyone. Not to the other champions, not to any visiting kings, or princesses. She never felt intimidated to speak her mind to

anyone. It was more of a problem to everyone but her.

It was the White Reaper who made the first move, just him turning to look at her was enough to make her shiver with nervousness. She subconsciously placed a hand on the handle of the sword she still had on his hip. But even such a gesture didn't seem to bother him at all. Least, she couldn't read any emotions through his blue eyes.

His hand stuck out from under his coat pocket. She looked down to find some kind of thing resting on the palm of his hand. She can't recognize it for the rest of her life. It looked like one of the treats that the chefs often made for her, but it was less decorative than that. The wind made it hard to smell what it was.

The White Reaper was impressively patient with her as she eventually took the small bit and sniffed it. As she suspected, it was some kind of chocolate. The smell was lighter than the ones she had, it was more inviting. Her stomach growl signaled her to just eat it.

It was fairly more sweet than the ones she had, which meant she loved it even more than the castle variations. 'No offense to the chefs.' She apologized.

The White Reaper tucked his hand and pulled out a larger quantity of the chocolate, which Yasuline didn't hesitate to snatch from him and nibbled on the goods. Each bite only made her feel more comfortable with him.

"Can't really distrust someone who saves me and feeds me yummy sweets, huh?" She says loudly, half to herself and half to him.

He half-shrugged as a response to her question.

More silence came up. Though it wasn't because she was intimidated by him, but more so that she was unable to find something she was settled on saying first.

"So...do you normally carry around chocolate with you?" The reply to such a casual question was a no. The question seemed to open the floodgates on her mind as she asked other various questions. And each one had the White Reaper shake his head or nod or make an odd gesture as he struggled to give a good answer to her.

"You here to kill someone?" No.

"You here to steal something from the castle?" No.

"You here to see your secret lover?" No.

"You here for our delicious food?" Maybe.

"You here for the ceremony?" He turned his hand about, making it difficult for her to label it as a yes or no.

The princess continued to bombard him with more questions. Only halting when the White Reaper offered her another chocolate bar to nibble on. Which rewardingly shut her up so he could peacefully stand by.

"You know, it's still pretty surreal." She says suddenly after swallowing down her fourth chocolate treat. She wasn't looking at his direction when she spoke, she was now looking at the view of the capitol with him. "To think I would just be sitting up here with the world famous White Reaper. Who saved me no less."

"I mean, you are an actual assassin, right?" She could see him nod from the corner of

her eyes. "And you've actually killed a lot of people, right?" Again, another nod as a

answer.

"But then you saved me. Why?" This time, the White Reaper didn't seem to have a

answer for her. He looked at her and then away to show he wasn't ignoring her, but he still didn't have an answer for her. When she was about to press him further for it, a new noise broke out in the air. Yasuline looked around to see what it was, but nothing was there. As she turned to the White Reaper for an answer for it, he too was gone.

"What? Where did you go?" She called out to him, but no answer. Her ears picked up the noise once more and she climbed back down the tower to find the source. As she moved toward the more vacant area on the roof, she then heard it more clearly. It was cackling. Standing before her were two hooded beings.

----------------------------------------

Yasuline quickly assumed that the two were some of the White Reaper's allies. It wouldn't be that strange for him to have allies if he is actually this easy to interact with as long as he wasn't planning to end you.

"Yo! So you going to give me the silent treatment too?" She called out, assuming that the two would just nod their heads like their fellow assassin.

"This one is quite the forward one, brother." One of them spoke up which shocked Yasuline since she didn't really expect them to respond with actual words.

"Woah, so you assassins CAN talk." She says in a playful and exaggerated shocked tone.

"That confirms she saw us, so she really is the one. How faithful it is to be the princess." The other spoke next.

"This certainly makes things more complicated."

"No, it makes things easier, we can take her and use her to force the king to submit.

"Huh?" Yasuline blinked. 'Did they just talk about kidnapping me to blackmail dad?'

Their stances confirmed everything. They pulled out their blades in front of her. 'This is no joke.'

As a reaction, she grabs onto the handle and frees her sword, the weight was still heavy for her, so she holds onto it with both hands.

"Oh, she plans to put up a struggle. How cute."

"Just knock her out and let's hurry on back to end that man before we leave." One of them said as the other was walking toward her, eager to begin the play session.

Yasuline took a few steps back to give herself some distance from her approaching enemy. She didn't anticipate this at all, only in her imaginative adventures did she think of fighting bad guys. Professional assassins were not one of the bad guys she expected to fight.

The approaching assassin snickered as he could see she was nervous about their duel. Yasuline only stopped once she realized she was backing up to the edge of the roof. But the enemy was still approaching her with a sinister smirk showing his sharp fangs of yellow and red.

"Nowhere to run, princess. Now come on, show me what you can do with that sword and I'll show you mine. Fair enough?" It's unusually narrow and long tongue stuck out of its mouth and hung about.

Yasuline stared at him down and reaffirmed her fingers around the leathered handle of her sword. No thanks to the lack of training, she had no idea on how to really approach her foe. She had seen knights charge at one another, but it never looked effective, especially against Caliber who would easily swat their blades away and win the matches. She felt like charging at her enemy now would be a repeat of that, she needed something else. She didn't have any skills to rely on either. And that was another disadvantage. Her enemies likely have skills they could use against her.

'If only I had a skill of my own.' She thought to herself. Even just knowing one would have boosted her chances from actually being possible that she could run from this match-up.

The assassin twirled its weapon in its hands which Yasuline noticed it was strangely reddish. She can't recall which of the World Races would have red-skin like that.

"Not going to come at me? Oh, I guess you want me to share what I got, first." Its tone was dripping with condescending as it puts the weapons away and opens his hands, that cursed flames begin to ignite on his palm.

Yasuline sensed magic was being built up. Just how she could sense it whenever Caliber used his or the Castle Healer when she scraped herself during one of her many antics.

[Demone Race Skill: Eternal Burning, has been activated.]

The flames grew more intensely and violently twirled about as if it were about to devour everything.

Yasuline scrambled through her mind on what to do. She searched in her memories on what people have said or what Caliber or the knights did when in this kind of situation. But nothing came up. She was completely unprepared.

The assassin let out a disgusting laugh as he tossed the flames at her.

"You idiot! We need her alive!" The other shouted at the one casting the magic, but it was far too late. Yasuline kept looking behind her at the abyss and wondered which option she should take.

Yasuline flinches and curls her arms in front of her as she prepares to get burned by their flames. A sudden gust blows over her and she peeks her eyes open to see a shield had been thrown in front of her and has managed to hit the flames.

Quickly the flames engulfed the shield and began to eat away the metal material until it all turned to ash and it got blown away in the wind.

"W-where did that come from!?" One of them shouted. The other simply growled angrily like it was some dullbeast.

As if to answer, the White Reaper leaps from one of the towers of the castle and lands in between the princess and the two assassins. Both sides were stunned, but the assassin's were clearly the most shocked by the entirety of the situation.

"The White Reaper!? He really was here!?"

"Not only that, but he is protecting the princess! This changes everything!"

The two of them shouted at each other on what could be going on. Meanwhile, Yasuline lets out a sigh of relief seeing that she wasn't at all abandoned as she was assuming but not wanting to believe.

"You had me going for a second there, sheesh." She puts up a front and pretends to be offended. That front gets cut off when the White Reaper offers her something in a cup. Steam was coming from it and it had the sweet aroma of chocolate as well.

She quickly takes it and looks eager to gulp it all down, but she remembers her stance and puts on a pouty face. "Fine, I guess you are forgiven, a bit. If you wanna be really forgiven, then put on a good show when kicking their butts."

He responds with a nod and gestures to her to hide behind the tower he jumped from. Leaving him to deal with the two assassins.

Finding that they need to take a serious approach to their enemy, they cast aside their cloaks.

The two were red-skinned beings, with scale-like armoring covering some parts of their bodies, but didn't leave much to the imagination on their physique. Their yellow eyes shined through even within the dark of night. On their legs and limbs were small belts that had attached blades in all shapes and sizes.

It took a moment for Yasuline to process what they could be, in terms of their race, but the sight of their horns and arrowed tails was the key feature she needed to see for what they were.

"Demones." She mutters to herself.

"Indeed, we are demones, from our Hellfire Gang! And we will be taking you with us!"

"Quiet brother, we have more pressing matters to focus on."

"True, but how can the White Reaper stand against us?"

"Less focus on the questions, and start focusing on taking him down. Don't hold back!"

[Demone Race Skill: Eternal Burning, has been activated.]

The two brothers fire a pair of Fire Spells at the White Reaper. They doubt that all of them would land, but throwing so many would keep him at bay.

But that did not happen. They winced from the shock as they see the villain fling himself between all of the flames keeping his momentum forward at them.

Once he got near enough, they halted their fire barrage and pulled their swords out. Both at once began to swing at him, but even then it wasn't enough as he was able to slip between each of their swings. No matter how hard they tried to land a cut, it didn't quite make it. He practically was dancing between the two without any effect. As they grew more frustrated, their onslaught was cut short.

The demone brothers just barely held their blades in front of them in time to block the two sudden strikes from the White Reaper. Somehow between all that dodging, he pulled two short swords from his person and tried to strike both of them at the same time.

[Assassin Class Skill: Backstep, has been activated.]

[Description: The User will feel their body move backward without any restriction stopping them.]

They sensed something was wrong. When the two forces pushed back, they felt their energy was being drained from just having to hold back the Reaper's blades. They felt their arm muscles aching and they screamed for it to stop. They needed to withdraw. Using their skills, they each slide about 1 meter away from him. The blades of the reapers struck the roof flooring, but didn't leave any mark.

"What the hell is going on?" One of the brothers muttered.

"I feel so weak. Did that champion drain us more than we realized? Or..."

"Or does the Reaper have some kind of skill that drains their opponents' stamina?" The other finished the assumption his brother was making.

The White Reaper simply stood by, holding his dual swords at the ready for another attack should they try anything else. The weapons didn't seem anything special. They looked like they were taken from the Knights themselves. Standard swords, no magic enhancements could be detected on them.

A frontal assault was no longer an option to consider at that moment. But neither was a ranged one as the White Reaper had the capabilities to avoid a barrage that close up. They needed a different approach than they ever hoped in taking down this major threat to their organization and securing the victory they have worked for hundreds of years on.

"We'll try something else." When said, the two would look at one another and then nod simultaneously. Their plans likely went to the other through their sibling bond.

One of the demones then switches to a bow and arrow and begins to fire at the White Reaper. Their hand movement was so swift, that they were able to fire three arrows within a second and even more so were able to release their hand with other arrows for another 3 seconds.

Faster than the fire spells they unleashed before, but it still wasn't enough to pose a threat to the White Reaper as he moves his body out of the way for them and any he can't avoid, he could deflect with the flat portion of his swords.

[Assassin Class Skill: Backstab, and Poison Blade]

[Description: The User will swiftly move toward behind the enemy, and if a weapon is on hand, can pierce the foe for incredible damage due to the lack of awareness.]

[Description: The weapon of the blade will become coated with a liquid that poisons anything it cuts into.]

"You got him!" The demone with the bow shouted, halting his assault once he saw his brother appear behind the White Reaper. But that was a mistake.

It left the White Reaper now enough time to react to the surprise strike. He didn't have the time to turn to face his assaulter. Instead, he remained front-faced and pokes his swords behind him in a cross. Catching the poison dagger in the demone's hand before the tip pierced his neck.

"No!" He shouted as he saw his attack fail.

It was now for the counterattack. Keeping his blades behind him, he prevented the attack, but now he had nothing to attack with. But that didn't stop him at all. As the Demone tried to pull his dagger away, the White Reaper spun his body forward. The demone then felt the boot of his enemy connect on his chin.

The White Reaper performed a somersault to get at him! The princess was amazed at how quick and maneuverable he truly was in combat. Nothing at all like Caliber.

But that wasn't the end of the attack. Once the demone was stunned from the hit. It left him open for a secondary action. The White Reaper releases his swords to leave his hands open to grab onto the leg of the demon and begins to twirl him around.

"Brother!" The other cried out as he aimed his bow at them, but couldn't muster the strength to fire and risk hitting his own. That hesitation would cost him as the White Reaper, one gaining enough momentum, flings the demone at the other.

The two collide into one another and crash onto the floor. Such a move impressed Yasuline enough to excitedly cheer for the White Reaper.

As the two struggled to climb off each other and get back up, they felt a stinging pain hit them. To their surprise, the White Reaper didn't end his counter with just a throw. He also flung the two swords he had at them and they each pierced them.

"Agh!" The other cried as he angrily pulled the blade out and with his anger, snapped the blade in half.

The other simply pulls it out and tosses it off the roof.

Yasuline assessed the fact that both the demones have suffered quite the amount of damage and have yet to land a single blow at the White Reaper.

"Should we retreat?" One asked.

But the other quickly rejected the idea. "No! We must succeed here. We can't go empty handed!"

Yasuline could sense that they felt cornered in their options. This was an all-or-nothing moment for them.

"If that's the case, then we can go all out then." When said, the other thought for a moment before nodding. With a determined look on their face, both stared down at the White Reaper. Who still remained apathetic to the whole thing.

[Demone Race Skill: Hell's Touch, has been activated.]

[Description: A demone's body is always with the fires in the world's core. They can tap into its power to enhance themselves for the sacrifice of cutting their lives shorter.]

Their reddish bodies began omitting a red hue around them. Their muscles expanded more and more. They began growing in size twice, thrice, and kept going. Stealth was no longer capable for them.

"This should be enough to take him down." One said, his voice deep and loud. The other nodded with a grunt.

Still, even in the presents of two formidable looking opponents, the White Reaper did not bulge or appeared shocked by the new empowerment.

They suddenly start charging. With the blades in their hands that now look more like they were daggers for them than anything.

But the White Reaper remains to be unfazed. Yasuline can see that he didn't seem at all worried about the charging behemoths coming at him with such bloodlust stares. As they got closer, the intensity and weight of their bodies made the roof shake with each step they took.

Their tree-trunk thick arms were raised as they ready to slam their weapons down at the White Reaper. From Yasuline's perspective, there looked to be nowhere that the White Reaper could go in order to avoid the attack. She noted how as they widen the gap between the two demones, their hands rested at their sides, ready to swing at him if he tried to escape through them.

But the White Reaper again attempts a move that neither party seemed to expect. He simply jumped back from them and off the roof itself.

With no target at their sights, the two gargantuan demones switched gears to now abruptly halt their charge. This is where Yasuline finds what their weakness seems to be. With such a large amount of power going into that charge, they failed to be concerned about where they were going. Watching the two simply run off the roof was a good lesson for the princess.

But then, as the princess began to lean outward to see the rest of the battle.

[Champion Class Skill: Radiant Blade, has been activated.]

[Description: A powerful aura flows over the weapon with Light Magic. Upon landing the attack, the Light Magic will continue to damage the enemy. If the enemy was already weakened, the enemy will return the Godbeasts as offerings, leaving behind their possessions.]

A heavenly glow blew up from the spot where the three assassins fell from the roof. Someone immediately shot up like they were shot from a cannon.

"That armor..." Yasu says, quickly realizing who it was.

"Caliber!? But how!?"

"He...should still be stunned from the nightmare paralysis potion. There shouldn't be any miscalculation!"

The two demones were aghast. Completely unaware of their own bodies' conditions.

"I would never fall for such a tactic! Now you two have faced the wrath of the King's Sword. Now disappear back into the abyss you came from!"

The champion would hold up his sword skyward, that same radiant glow that always follows him was on his sword, and also...

The two demones finally look upon their bodies and find that a deep cut has been made through their center. At the edges, was also that same glow and it was beginning to spread over them.

While it didn't seem like it should be harmful, the two began to make noises Yasuline couldn't comprehend other than the fact they were in pain.

Their bodies were completely enveloped in the light and they began to deteriorate into light dust. Any materials they had on them fell to the floor. Daggers, equipment, and items.

Two of those items were bottles of some kind and both, of course, shatter upon impact.

Caliber didn't seem phased by it and landed near the site, as he had spotted far more important.

"Princess, are you unharmed?" He says calmly as he puts away his sword and extends his hand to her. Yasuline knew better than to keep the bias up and take his hand.

While he leads her back to her balcony, they pass by the puddles that came from the potions that were dropped. Both of their nostrils were filled with the strange smells, but neither took any notice. Likely because both of them were looking at their surroundings for a certain white coat.

Once Yasuline's feet were planted on the floor of the balcony, Caliber let out a sigh.

"Truly, the White Reaper is a omen for demones to be attacking the castle."

"What could they be doing here?"

"Obviously, to finish the job they failed to do many years ago."

"What job?"

"Best to forget it for now, we should be more focused on the defenses we have at our disposal. Not only do we have the White Reaper to worry over, but now the Hellfire Gang is now something we have to be aware of too."

Yasuline wanted to press further, but she suddenly felt her eyelids beginning to feel heavy. As she rubs the sleep out of them, only to feel them get heavier, she can catch glimpses of Caliber holding his forehead.

"What the hell, my head is starting to hurt. I guess the attack must have strained me more than I thought." He mutters.

Yasuline was having trouble staying conscious, she attempted to walk toward her bed, she could feel Caliber's hands on her to keep her standing as she kept going. She can't recall if she actually made it to her bed or not.