“Begin!”

Sahul stepped back.

[I am black, black is I]

For the briefest of moments, the world flashed an oppressive white. It had been blinding at one point, he barely registered it now. The next moment form returned to his eyes, in only two shades. The wrathful white remained, but now dominated by a welcoming black. Out of that black, grey bodies emerged.

He took a step to the side as two such bodies swiped at his previous location. They wisely assumed he’d have already moved and even correctly guessed where to. He stepped back as three projectiles made acquaintances with the wall to his right. He too drifted closer to that wall, as two new bodies attempted to strike him from behind.

This wall i—Ah.

Just as he noted the frequency of his visits to this particular section of the wall, he discovered their scheme. They had been guiding him to this position. Not long after his feet touched ground, the raging white invaded. Their whisperer had stripped away all the soothing black, exposing him.

Sahul smiled.

This was not an easy ploy. Simple in conception, it was painfully difficult in execution. It must have taken months to slowly build this trap. Slowly chipping away at this spot would have taken two months on its own. Who knows how long they’ve been influencing him to move right. Alas, for all that effort they’d spoiled their plan themselves. They were too eager.

Blackness poured out from within him. The white, spiteful as it was, could not contest it for long. With his dear students all focused on reaching him rather than keeping him exposed, Sahul comfortably rejoined the commune. By the time they converged on his position, he’d already moved back to the center of the room. They never got close to him again.

RONG!

“Stop! Weapons down!”

Frustrated and dejected, he hadn’t needed to tell them to stop this time. They had long been ready. The timer must have sounded like honey to their ears. Apart from the whisperer, who still seemed relatively pleased, the rest of the seven looked well-beaten. Their fight stolen the moment he escaped their trap.

“First person to lay a hand on my back will be excused from exposure training today.”

That got them moving with a bit more energy. He chuckled at that. Though he would be lying if he said it wasn’t also to give them a hint that he was hiding in at the other end of the room. With a general idea of where to look, it didn’t take long for the group to come charging at him. They all paused once they were within touching distance however. Figuring out where he was, was one thing. Correctly identifying more than just a vague silhouette would require more precision.

He had to wait several minutes as they encircled him.

“Wrong.”

The first to reach forward, Jul, failed. He touched his shoulder.

“Wrong.”

The second did the same, though the opposite shoulder.

“Correct.” He let his voice travel naturally, “Good job Camila.”

“Yes!”

“Damn it!”

“I knew it.”

“I told you!”

Sahul glanced at Jul. The boy at least had enough shame to divert his eyes. He could only shake his head, “Line up!”

As the students arranged themselves, Sahul soaked in the blackness for a few more seconds before thanking it for accepting his presence. Returning to the realm of color always left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he had his responsibilities.

“So. Let's talk about that little scheme of yours. Who’s idea was it?”

They all turned towards the whisperer.

“Oh? It was your idea Fo—”

“Lord.”

Sahul turned to see his Shadow dash towards him at a typically disrespectful speed.

Trouble.

He turned back to his students, “You’re dismissed.”

Camila pouted, her victory sullied, but the rest made a mad dash in the opposite direction of his Shadow.

Hmph.

“What is so urgent you had to interrupt my teaching?”

His Shadow didn’t speak, instead she waited until all his students had left before stepping into his shadow and merging. That meant one of two things.

They wish to kill you. There are assassins on their way now.

Sahul sighed.

Adri couldn’t stop this nonsense?

Adrian is dead. They killed him first.

“What?”

Sofia is alive, but she’s fled the city.

That news barely soothed him. Between the two, Adri was his closer friend. They had known each other since they were children. Their friendship was already strong in the Before, it had only grown since the Invasion. That they both reached the pinnacle together was the ultimate sign of their bond.

And now he’s dead…

It just couldn’t be.

Did you see his body?

No.

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Then how are you sure?

… I watched Roman die.

Sahul went silent. Shadows were effectively immortal. The only way to kill a Shadow would be…

No. His Class is different. We haven’t spoken about the depths of either of our skills in months. Who knows what he’s learned or how he’s progressed. No. I’ll believe he’s dead when I see his corpse.

Sahul…

I’m sorry Saoirse. I know it was difficult seeing that happen to Roman, bu—

[I am black, black is I]

Sahul disappeared as ten white chains rattled on the floor.

[Where there is black, there can not be white]

Darkness engulfed the room, as well as the rest of the manor. Amongst their people, it was usually useless to use darkness as a weapon. However, Sahul Sauda was anything but usual.

[All that is black, is mine]

Immediately, the black began choking the five that were foolish enough to pass through the door.

“Help!”

Their cry met deaf ears, the remaining nine were too busy struggling to understand why darkness had forsaken them. Both their skills and their spell were useless while he was in command.

He dashed from body to body, restraining them and carefully extracting their essence. Death would be too kind for them. They would stand trial for this betrayal.

These can’t be the ones. They’re too weak.

While of the two of them, Sahul was far better suited to fighting their own species, Adri was technically more powerful. Even a surprise attack, like this was supposed to be, wouldn’t fell him. It would at most be a costly inconvenience.

As he finished sapping the fifth assassin, the other nine had regained their composure. They’d unsheathed various white tools and armaments. None of the first five had such.

Testing me?

It was beyond foolish to test his limits rather than assault him with all they had, but he supposed they couldn’t have known the depths of his power. Armed with his antithesis they at least summoned the boldness to finally charge in. The trinkets would indeed protect them from being effortlessly disabled, but that was all they would do.

With one step he stared into the eyes of the closest assailant, a woman. He didn’t recognize her. She recognized him too late. He caught her throat and etched the ground in her silhouette. Consciousness left her quick enough.

He leapt forward as two spears barreled toward his flanks. It was an obvious attempt to coral him into the center of their formation, but Sahul was more than happy to oblige. His path had began as an AOE Specialist after all.

[Overwhelm]

All eight of the remaining assassins flinched.

[Silent Prison]

Three of the six directly surrounding him instantly froze.

[Tethered Hearts]

Now all six were frozen.

He had a little less than a minute before they broke free, but down to only two, he might as well have had an hour. Well, now one. The other made the intelligent decision to run away. For now Sahul would let them run, there was nowhere they could hide.

The final assassin stood their ground, though the small shake to their fingers spoke to their true feelings on the prospect of facing him. Within three breaths, they’d met the same fate as the first woman. By the time his spell had worn off all eight had been drained of their essence.

Again, Sahul felt confounded. Sure, these would be power adversaries to most of their people. By they’re essence eight of the top thousand or so were within this bunch, but that meant precious little when none of them had completed Reformation talkless of reaching Confirmation. For him and Adri, the first and only two to have completed Confirmation, they were no more a threat than his students were. The councilors wouldn’t be daft enough to send anyone but their very best, if not ambush them themselves. Likely both if they really wanted to get it done.

He briefly wondered if this was a mere diversion, only Adri and Sofia would know that his mana reserves were essentially exhaustless.

How did you know Sofia fled?

She was with Roman and I when he…passed.

It's okay. We don’t know the full story. We don’t know what happened. It's impossible for Adri to die to the likes of them.

But..I saw him..I heard his groans. He said they were killing him. They were killing them both.

… We’ll find out for ourselves.

Sahul grabbed the strongest out of the thirteen and jolted him out of the starvation induced coma. “Ay. Ay. Look at me.” He slapped him, “Look at me!”

“Lo…Lord please. Please. Have mercy.”

“Did you attack Adrian Lovato?”

The man attempted to prostrate himself, “Have mercy. Please.”

Sahul picked him to glare in his eyes, “Did. You. Attack. Adrian?”

“Yes Lord. We ha—”

“Did you kill him?”

The man shook his head violently, “No Lord! We caught him in the chains. We were only tasked with restraining you.”

The chains?

As Sahul walked over to examine them, the man kneeled so low his tongue was in the floor, “Please Lord. Have mercy. We had no choice. They took our families.”

Of course.

Sahul put that thought to the side for a moment and examined one of the ten chains. It certainly felt powerful, likely heavily restricting, but it wasn’t anything debilitating. He touched each of the ten chains and only got the same feeling.

Wait.

He gathered two chains in his hand, the feeling doubled. His eyes went wide. The moment he gathered all ten, he understood. Someone had discovered or been rewarded with a Legendary weapon. They would not only completely halt the movements of anyone ensnared by them, they had a similar function to his own core skill, no skill or spell rooted in darkness could be manifested.

Would that kill a Shadow?

He held out hope.

“Who gave you these chains?”

“Mercy. Please.”

“If you tell me, I can rescue your families. You’ve seen my power, you think theirs is greater?”

“No Lord! But they have anot—”

Burning white pierced through Sahul’s chest. Then his arms. Then his legs. Then all three. Then all three again. When the white retreated, it left Sahul burnt and riddled with holes. He didn’t even have the strength to cough out the blood caught in his throat. But he was alive and still in the black embrace. He would heal. If given time.

Did he have time?

Three beings of pure white hovered down from the hole he didn’t realize was in his roof. As they descended, whiteness overtook the room. He instantly realized who ‘they’ were. It would seem his kindness had truly come to bite him in the end.

“Lord Sauda. You are one tough man to displace.”

His lungs were already healed, but he didn’t dare show any signs of the fact.

“Gr.h—lg.”

“It is truly a shame to see you like this. You were to be a guardian for our people, yet you choose the role of shepard. A position for visionaries. You could once count yourself among such, but you cowered. You chose to deny yourself new vision, new opportunity. Instead of embracing our rebirth, you clung to the old ways. So you must pass, so that we can all move forward.”

Thankfully, the self-absorbed priestess had always loved to hear herself talk. Her speech gave Sahul the time he needed to heal all his basic functions. He just needed a bit more.

“I..hrl—k.” He finally coughed out that blood, “I spared..you.”

“You did. Do not worry. Officially, our chapel will always remember you as a great, kind patron. History will forget your role as a wayward guide. It is the least we can do for the benevolence you showed us. But anyway. With you and the Devil out of the way, we have much work to do. I pray there is a heaven for your kind, you would be deserving of it.”

The priestess began gathering whiteness in her palm, her intent clear. Sahul still wasn’t completely healed, but it would have to do. He lunged off the ground. Thankfully, the priestess was a woeful combatant. She flinched before he even reached her. Unfortunately, her subordinates weren’t so craven. They stepped up, a barrier already propped around their high priestess. Sahul was sure he could eliminate them all regardless, but whatever or whoever had attacked him first was still unaccounted for. Which meant retreat was the better option.

[Where there is black, there can not be white]

The skill didn’t work as well against those who wielded white, but it was effective all the same.. Just as he turned to run away, the most unlikely of voices halted him.

[Congratulations Adoranocs! You've successfully defended your people and planet! Your tenacity and ingenuity are great marvels. They have won you the opportunity to further your people's prosperity in a competition against your peers. Good luck! A great future awaits you!]

The Devil had returned. With another cruel task no doubt.

Sahul put it out of his mind and continued his escape. He didn’t make it three steps.