Reagan White:

Calvert's fist tightened around his sword as his eyes became algid, and his aura turned murderous. He could sense more than three hundred soldiers on the palace walls surrounding his men with crossbows in hands waiting for their orders. One word from Belor and they would be flooded with arrows. But, Calvert was more concerned about the nobles who were in the palace. If they decided to join, it wouldn’t be a fight. It would be a massacre.

They were all waiting for Belor. Attacking him was akin to starting a war. The outcome wouldn't matter. Whether he lived or not, Belor will find himself facing a Vedan army. A single word will kill tens of thousands, if not millions and they were waiting for Belor to sow the seed of chaos.

Calvert glanced at Helian and General Felix. Both were related to the crown and were in line to the throne. Besides them, there were many people including several High Princes who could all gain something from this incident. The assassination might have been their plan, but who could he blame? There were also his brothers. Unlike Belor, he didn’t suppress or kill his brothers. He chose not to, but what if they were involved? It was also possible that neither of them was involved. A third party could have been behind the entire scheme.

There were too many variables and too many possibilities. One thing was for sure. Whoever it was, they'd an ally within both empires. Gavril, Calvert thought. He studied the assassin and narrowed his eyes. The assassin had all the answers. But, how do he get them out? How to convince Belor? Calvert, however, knew that it was already impossible. He could no longer delay. Peace was a thing of past. No amount of proof will erase the hatred in the man's heart.

Delian soon arrived with a dozen men and studied the situation. His eyes briefly paused when he saw Feya in Favian's arms. Calvert noticed his gaze and the killing intent flickering in their depths. It wasn't directed just at him. Bastard, Calvert gritted his teeth.

I have no choice, Calvert told himself. He looked torn and troubled as he glanced at his men. A hundred men stood by his side. They were all his people. They had families back home. They would die for him and trusted him. It was a matter of choices; he could no longer make one selfishly. Besides, there was Feya.

Forgive me; Calvert prayed in his heart, and the last bit of conscience he'd in his eyes disappeared with it. He couldn't win against Belor and his army, not in his capital. But, I just have to escape. Winners and Losers, they call men. I'll be a winner even if I have to embrace the cloak of maleficence, Calvert thought.

“Gavril,” Calvert called. The assassin glanced at the Crown Prince, and so did Belor and others. Several men’s eyes widened as they heard him. Calvert's heart hardened as he ordered, “Destroy any and all Arcane reactors you can find in the Imperial city. Escape and find me immediately.”

His words were like thunder in the ears of every man present in that garden. Vedan soldiers believed that someone had framed their prince but what was the meaning of this order. Belor, Delian, and Felix trembled in rage. Only Favian closed his eyes and sighed. So you finally reveal your true self, he thought.

He'd been with Calvert almost all his life. The guards were just soldiers, but he was the one responsible for his safety. The feeble and spineless crown prince they called him, but he knew it long ago. The man was anything but spineless. He was ruthless, cruel and cunning under his disguise. And he'd just shown his conviction by ordering Gavril.

Ordering Gavril meant many things. The first and the foremost among them was accepting his crime. Calvert just announced to the world that he'd ordered the assassination of the Mogul prince. He'd to face Belor and the wrath of Moguls, so he instead chose to accept the crime he never committed rather than stay a victim. He was consciously choosing to become the instigator of the war shattering the peace of a century.

Belor's eyes widened, and then the air around him began to swirl in a frenzied whirl of raging arcane. Felix gritted his teeth, but he didn't move an inch. All his attention was on the Crown Prince. He wasn't going to let him escape.

“The minute you move will be the second I'll swear to kill every last one of you,” Delian whispered in a cold voice. The whisper, however, was like a roar of raw anger in the silence of the darkened skies. Gavril looked at Delian and then at Calvert, the darkness of his helm hiding the smile in his eyes.

It matters not who orders, Gavril thought. I'm just a defiled. I'll sin in your name, but you'll be the one opening the gates of hell here on earth. He nodded and ran towards the wall. His actions shaking the foundations of the fragile peace holding everyone in their place.

“K...kill him!” One soldier shouted before anyone else. His words were like embers of chaos, and soon all soldiers were roaring with killing intent. No orders were passed, and no sirens were blown. Belor just stared at Calvert, his eyes finally exploding with incomprehensible rage. His body moved, and so did the wind. Delian’s body flickered and the next second he disappeared from the grounds following the assassin.

The Arcane reactors were the epitome of the human arcanology. They were built using technology closely guarded by the royal family and were responsible for producing all the arcane power utilized by the humanity.

Their only flaw was their small capacity. One reactor cannot provide enough arcane power for the entire capital and they'd to be built away from each other to maximize their ability to collect the arcane power present in nature.

Destroying even one arcane reactor will be enough to destroy a part of the capital. An ordinary soldier will never be able to damage a reactor, but the assassin was a Rune Knight and an arcane user. What if he succeeds? He would cause the greatest disaster in Belor's reign killing tens of thousands of people.

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“Fall back! Maintain formation around me and retreat. Evade and block. Don't engage any enemy,” Favian’s loud voice shook the soldiers out of their stupor. They were still confused. Did his Highness order the assassination? They questioned themselves.

Calvert glanced at Belor charging at him. Felix's body was emanating a crimson aura as he exchanged glances with Belor. They were going to attack to kill him. Two generals with Rune artifacts and Arcane powers. They were a force equalling the strength of a thousand men.

A savage smile lit Calvert's face. Weak, a voice responded to his thoughts. Calvert smiled. Pitiful, it said. I know, Calvert agreed. I didn't raise a coward, it sighed. Calvert grinned. They don't fear you. They think you're their prey. Calvert, what're you? It questioned. Calvert bent his body; his aura changed as he replied, “White!”

The sword in his hands shook with his words. The wind trembled, and his hair stood on its end as an aura of supernal power rose within him and flowed through his weapon. White it was, the sky and the ground. The heavens appeared white to his eyes, and he ruled it.

Favian glanced back as he retreated. He could sense the deadly aura of Calvert. His eyes narrowed and he frowned but deep in his eyes was fear. Events of past flashed in the back of his mind, and a cold sweat drenched his back, but he pushed forward. He'd to protect Feya. He never once questioned Calvert's words. If she were hurt, Calvert would kill him regardless of how many years he'd served him.

Belor suddenly felt an intense sense of danger, and so did Felix. Years of living alongside death told them to stay away from Calvert. They could sense that something changed in him at the moment. He'd activated his Rune artifact, they knew, but it was unlike any other activation. It was as if he'd changed along with his sword. It was as if he was the sword and the sword was him.

They saw a white flicker from the corner of their eyes. Then they were in a white world. Belor and Felix. It belonged to just them. It was obviously an illusion, they knew. But, how were they trapped? Was it the activation? Was it his eyes? Was it their minds? How do they cancel this illusion?

Calvert narrowed his eyes. Belor and Felix stood still like statues, and their eyes were staring blankly at him. Kill them, the voice urged. No, Calvert replied. Not yet, he thought. He turned around and followed his men ignoring the stunned gazes of soldiers who were watching him in frozen silence.

War is inevitable. I can't kill them yet. Not when I'm unaware of the person who'd framed me, Calvert thought.

"Kill him,” a commander shouted. Calvert glanced at the man. His sword flickered, and the man's torso neatly slid down the palace walls. Calvert's eyes were like depths of hell freezing every man in his tracks. Afraid and intimidated, they were unable to take a step forward.  Delian wasn't present, and Belor and Felix were in a forced illusion battling unknown demons in the abyss of the white world.

Calvert's eyes grew dim as he stared at the soldiers blocking his men's path. “White Decimation,” he murmured. Arcane power swirling around him weakened as he reached his men. Favian prepared to receive the attack of the Mogul soldiers, but it never came. A hundred soldiers just watched with dazed eyes as they passed the palace gates.

“What're your doing? Stop them,” another commander roared as he followed Calvert. Many soldiers glanced at the captain. Their eyes became a little bright as they raised their crossbows and fired. Not at the Vedan soldiers but Moguls.

It didn't stop with just that. Those hundred soldiers were like demented souls. They jumped down the walls and attacked with swords, and bows. They chewed and scratched and attacked in any way possible. Ignoring pain and deaths, they killed and killed. Even on the verge of death, they took another with them.

Complete control over the fate of spirits trapped in the dimension of the white abyss. Reagan White.

Favian noticed the clamor and then Calvert who caught up to him. Reagan White, he thought. Many knew of the arcane ruled by the Crown Prince, but none knew of its true limits. But, he knew, it wasn't just powerful. It was terrifying.

*****

AN: Reagan means ruler/king in Irish. Reagan White translates to Ruler of White/ White Emperor.

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[url=https://kannablogs.wordpress.com/chapter-9-neroblack/]Chapter 9 - Nero(Black) 

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