The hall seemed to be empty except the king and his guards. It did possess any special features either, having been made to be on the simpler side. The king sat in his throne, the only object made of silver, also possessing gold embroidering in the shape of flowers and vines, along with many jewels embedded in the center of the flowers of gold.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, the great princess of Ceal." The king greeted, the guards bowing in respect. The king lowered his head as well, his white hair and white beard matching his silver crown, and his red eyes matching the red jewels on it. "It is also a great pleasure to meet the greatest assassin to ever exist."

"It's rare for someone to find pleasure in meeting an assassin." Kurai observed as he glanced around the hall. "One who is already on an assignment at that. I believe there is a reason for that pleasure, and I would prefer for you to cut straight to the main topic."

"What do you mean to say by that?" The king inquired.

Opal turned to Kurai, still confused.

"What do you plan to offer me for killing the princess?" Kurai questioned as he placed his hand on Opal's head.

"What?" Opal gasped as she tried to pull away, stopping as Kurai lightly grabbed her hair, wincing, more in fear than pain however. Opal turned to the king with pleading eyes as her breathing became faster. The king seemed to be in shock, his mouth open and his eyes widened.

"Five hundred diamonds and a hundred thousand gold coins, along with any piece of equipment you desire from the armory, it's more than enough to buy you a smaller country and rule it." The king offered as he composed himself, glancing at Opal with a smirk on his face.

Opal closed her eyes, realising she could could do nothing in this situation.

"Truly a tempting offer, enough to buy a country," Kurai sighed. "Sadly not enough to buy a girl's life." He gently patted Opal on the head as she turned to him. "Sorry for grabbing your hair, I didn't think you trusted me so little to try and run, Kesshō would have played along without prior notice, and I am not very used to working with others."

Opal hugged Kurai, tears rolling down her eyes.

"Truly heartwarming, assassin, but how do you plan to protect her?" The king questioned just as all eight guards in the room surrounded the two, spears pointed right at them.

Opal extended her arm to summon a sword, an orb of energy gathering in her palm before bursting into a puff of mist. "What?" Opal mumbled as she attempted again.

"It won't work, I am aware of how powerful you both are, just why I did not take any risks and set a trap." The king informed as he stood up. "An anti-magic barrier surrounds this hall, you are both incapable of doing anything in here."

"I would have liked to prove you wrong myself, and I could, but perhaps you will die with your misbelief." Kurai sighed as he pulled Opal closer to himself, startling her slightly from the sudden tug. "Your plan is splendid, and it would have worked, if only you accounted for external interference." He blew a whistle, loud enough to startle the guards surrounding him.

All present in the hall waited in anticipation, only for nothing to happen even after a minute. "Perhaps you are the one to die with your misbelief." The king spat as he gestured the guards to kill the two.

Before the guards could react the gate flew open, a figure flying through just as it did. Landing a short distance away from the group, Kesshō slid on the ground, stopping right beside Kurai. Many scattered crescent moon blades followed behind her, shaped like a tunnel, slashing a wide area around her. They passed harmlessly around Opal and Kurai. The guards however, were sliced and flung away by the blades, leaving their armor and spears in pieces.

"Twenty-first form: Moonlight through the misty winds." Kesshō whispered as she sheathed her katana, a hand landing on the ground at the same time near the king.

"What is that thing?" The king exclaimed as he staggered back in pain and horror, clutching what remained of his left arm, his eyes bulging from the pain.

"Kesshō, that's her name, and she is not a thing." Kurai informed as he stepped over a guard laying dead in the way, Opal following closely behind him. "A very long name for your technique." Kurai chuckled as he walked past Kesshō, patting her on the head lightly.

"Who commissioned you to kill me?" The king groaned as he fell to his knees.

"I commissioned myself." Kurai answered as he kicked the king's head, knocking him to the ground. "The two of you, leave for a bit, there will be some grown up talk here." He ordered with a wave of his hand.

The two exchanged glances and shrugs before doing as told and walking out of the hall, closing the gate behind them. Just as they closed the gate a loud scream echoed from the hall, causing both to jump in surprise.

"Let's wait a bit further away." Opal suggested, holding her hand and leading Kesshō further away. While following Opal, Kesshō stopped without warning, accidentally tugging Opal backwards and making her fall to the ground. "What happened?" Opal questioned as she pushed herself back to her feet.

"People, twelve of them, three with swords, four spears, three bows and two shields." Kesshō informed as she looked around. "Fight or flight?" She inquired.

"How do you even know all of that?" Opal sighed as she clutched her head. "Are they stronger than us?" She questioned, to which Kesshō simply shrugged. "Let's find out then, they will interrupt Kurai if we don't."

"Aurumsal (pronunciation: Or-um-zal)." Kesshō whispered, raising her left hand in front of herself. Electricity emanated from her hand as a bow materialized into it.

Instead of a curve like a normal bow it featured jagged edges, marked with jagged glowing purple patterns running from one tip to the other. The bow's body seemed to mainly black, with a hint of purple, the string also emitting a slight purple glow. Kesshō pulled the string of the bow, an arrow materializing just as she did. The arrow emitted electricity, sparks flying out of it as it sat on the string, prepared to pierce through the target.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Lrisma (pronunciation: similar to prism, but 'l' instead of 'p')." Opal mumbled, an orb of purple light forming in her hand. The orb extended, forming the shape of a katana. Opal raised the katana in front of her, pointing it's black blade with the fading purple hue in the same direction as Kesshō's bow.

Kesshō released the arrow just as her ears twitched, a knight in golden armor getting hit just as he appeared through the corner of the corridor. The knight flew back and hit the wall from the force of the attack, shaking from the shock as he fell to the ground. Kesshō again pulled the string, another arrow slowly forming on it. Before the arrow could form another knight appeared from the corner, a bow in his hands. Without wasting any time he shot an arrow at Kesshō, having prepared to shoot the moment his ally got hit.

The arrow flew towards Kesshō's head, getting hit to the side by Opal's katana as she jumped to Kesshō's other side, deflecting the arrow without obstructing her vision for long. The moment the arrow formed in Kesshō's hand she released it, aimed slightly to the side as compared to the first one. The archer took cover behind the wall, to his misfortune. The arrow, having been aimed at the wall, pierced through it, creating a small hole in it, the archer's body falling to the side a moment later.

"I don't think the others plan to show themselves." Opal mumbled when no one else appeared around the corner after a few moments.

"I don't know if I am allowed to cause much damage." Kesshō replied with a shrug as she allowed her bow to dissipate.

"I am certain Kurai won't mind even if you did." Opal reassured as she patted Kesshō's shoulder. "What do you plan to do?" Kesshō opened her mouth and gestured inside of it. "Eat them?" Opal inquired tilting her head.

"A dragon breath attack." Kesshō replied, turning to the corner where the people were hiding. "They are still there, and far enough for me to not interrupt master."

"Then do it, will save us the trouble of waiting here too long." Opal shrugged as she allowed her katana to dissipate.

Just as Kesshō opened her jaws another archer jumped out of the corner, shooting two arrows, one aimed at Kesshō and one at Opal. Opal flinched back, failing to move out of the way in time and falling to the ground as she tripped in attempting to do so, closing her eyes in fear of what would happen. She opened her eyes after a few moments, confused as to why the arrow didn't hit her

"Too weak to pierce." Kesshō mumbled as her tails dropped two arrows in front of her, raising above her in preparation to attack right after they did. "Too slow to hit, I am not ordered to kill you so you can go." She sighed as she turned around, leaving the archer confused as several other heads poked out of the corner. "Take your two allies as well, they are not dead, just paralyzed."

The knights looked at each other before four of them lifted their comrades and prepared to leave.

"Wait." Opal called out, causing all the knights to stop. "Why were you here?" She inquired, recognizing the crossed red swords symbol of the Mercenary Guild on their shoulder.

"We were ordered to come here by the king if things did not go well, and arrest the assassin and the princess." One of them answered, earning a hostile glare from all the others.

"Do you know who that princess is?" Opal inquired.

"You." The knight replied with a slight bow.

Opal thought for a moment, nodding just as she decided. "Are they your friends?" Opal inquired.

"Yes, we have known each other for the past seventeen years of duty, and are friends." The biggest of them answered before the previous one could, setting his shield in front of the other knight.

"Do you still plan to kill me? Your king wouldn't, I can guarantee as much," Opal questioned.

All the knights shook their head in unison. "We simply follow the orders of whoever hires us as long as they pay us, other than each other we don't care about anyone." The archer which shot the arrows at the two replied.

"Very well then, would you like serve under me?" Opal questioned, earning confused glances from the knights. "You will be paid, but you will have to protect people, and even put your lives on the line for them, will you do it?"

The knights discussed amongst each other whether to accept or reject the offer. "We will accept, but after you answer our question." The biggest of them with the shield replied.

"Go ahead." Opal beckoned him to continue.

"Are the people we protecting common folk, or royalty?" He questioned.

"Common folk, there isn't any royalty left in my kingdom except me, and I don't require any protection, my people are in far greater need of it." Opal answered with a sigh, looking to the ground.

"Very well then, we accept your proposal, shall we accompany you? After tending to our friends that is." He inquired with a bow, all the others following behind him.

"No, I would like you to go to Ceal and help there," Opal replied.

"Will we need any identification or phrase to make them believe us?" He questioned as he gestured his friends to go ahead.

"No, she will know I sent you." Opal answered, following the leaving knights with her eyes before turning back to the one who stayed.

"Very well, we will take our leave in that case and do our best in whichever way we can." The knight replied as he prepared to leave.

"Can I ask why you agreed to it when you were already serving someone else?" Opal inquired before he could leave.

"Yes, it is natural to not trust someone who would switch sides so willingly." The knight sighed as he turned back to Opal. "We have heard much about you in the past years, the one who has slain dragons and defeated many great sword masters, despite being a child. We have also heard much of your kindness and generosity, even from our friends who used to live in Ceal. That is part of the reason, and the other part of the reason is our unwillingness to serve under a king who would seek to harm a child for the sake of wealth."

"You are free to go with your friends, I won't waste more of your time." Opal replied with a smile, the guy taking his leave almost instantly.

"Seems like you have gotten some allies." Kurai observed as he walked out of the hall.

"That's good, right?" Opal inquired as Kesshō rushed to his side.

"Yes, it is." Kurai replied patting Kesshō on the head. "The journey to the other kingdoms would be far too long, and pointless, it's best if we send messengers," he informed.

"What do you mean pointless?" Opal inquired.

"The kingdom of Ceal has a gold mine correct? One with many gold veins yet to be mined?" Kurai questioned. "It is also a very wealthy and massive kingdom, influential as well. Along with having many other kingdoms indebted to it."

"Yes, why?" Opal tilted her head, not understanding what he meant.

"Most other kingdoms will profit more from your fall than your return." Kurai informed as he walked to her, Kesshō's attention being drawn by something else. "Its pointless to keep going like this, you won't receive assistance from other kingdoms."

"But..." Opal sighed, looking to the ground, tears shining in her eyes.

"The problem occured because of the wolves, correct?" Kurai questioned, receiving a slight nod from Opal. "Kesshō?" He called out, turning towards her.

Kesshō tilted her head as she turned to him, having been inspecting a flower in a vase near a wall.

"What do you say, should we burn the roots of the problem?" Kurai offered, gesturing her to come to him. Kesshō nodded before rushing back to him, giving Opal a slight hug before standing beside Kurai. "The wrongdoers will pay, that I can assure you. You will have to rebuild your kingdom yourself, but I can guarantee those who destroyed it won't be there to do it again," Kurai promised.

"It's my kingdom, I won't sit around and do nothing, if it's a fight they want then I will give them one." Opal mumbled, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Good then, the sooner the better, it's best to return right away." Kurai mumbled, leading the way out, Kesshō and Opal following behind him, Kesshō clinging to Opal's side.