Chương 29: Chapter 28: Thank You

Their brief break below the clock tower ended. Yuto took to his feet exactly after an hour had passed. There had been no ambush during the rest, but Yuto wasn't relieved. If the enemy knew all about that, but hadn't attacked, it probably meant every available resource had been brought together, and was waiting for Yuto and his companions.

"Yuto," Rivian said, and handed Yuto three more ether potions. She had brought a total of five with her. One of them they had shared while they rested here. And Rivian kept the remaining bottle for herself, just in case of an emergency.

"Thank you," he said quietly before leaving the building. The Iron Horses looked up from their relaxation. These loyal creatures did not have a hint of resentment in their eyes, despite the harsh day that they had been having. Yuto petted their manes and undid their reins. He jumped into the horseman's seat.

"We're leaving," he said, and tugged. The Iron Horses put their heavy feet forward. The ether dove was now flying in a straight line in the direction of the royal castle. Only three crystals remained. The closer they got to the castle, the redder the purple fog became, almost like blood. Proof that the ether pollution was reaching a threshold. The process of shattering the eighth and ninth crystals had been nothing short of chaotic. Yuto had been right. The enemies were even better prepared than before, and rasher.

Crossbowmen hid on rooftops and behind ruined walls by the dozen, pouring out arrows, and orc warriors wearing heavy armor blocked the roads.

"On your right, Flokiro!" Yuto shouted. He instantly shot from the horseman's seat. He used Void Steps to reach the rooftop of the building and unleashed his Void Hands. Tendrils of darkness harvested the tops of the bodies of the thieves, who were equipped with crossbows, and left their legs behind. There was a wicked snapping of bone, and the corpses, only the bottom halves remaining, collapsed. In the meantime, Flokiro summoned a massive firestorm on the ground and blasted through the ranks of the orcs.

"Wind Blast!" Rivian cried, unleashing a powerful spell in her own right. A gust of ether from the tip of her staff blew away the skeletons that guarded a crystal, and Yuto saw his chance. He promptly destroyed the ninth crystal, which exploded. The freed souls screamed as they were liberated. Only one more to go. The royal castle was just around the corner. * They had finally arrived in the square before the gate of the royal castle. What Yuto saw here tested his sanity.

The final tenth crystal was bigger than all the other crystals combined. In fact, it looked like a huge tower made only of crystal, standing tall in the center of the square. He could not even begin to guess how many spirits were trapped in that tower. Around the massive crystal construction were several individuals Yuto had never seen before. They were wearing black robes that were so dark they seemed to be woven directly from shadow and held staves made of human bone.

The dark hoods made their faces invisible, but their eyes still flashed yellow like will-o'-the-wisps. These were the black mages, the ones who controlled the disgusting pests that had overtaken the city. And it wasn't just the black mages. Every path to the crystal was clogged with great orc warriors wearing heavy armor. The human criminals who had been forced to slave away for them were nowhere to be seen.

"Ah..." Yuto said, and his gaze stopped, not because of how big these orc warriors were, or how infuriated he was about what the black mages had done, but because of two pitiable men who were watching him from outside the barricade. Their bones were black and discolored. And there was a suit of armor over them. Underneath their helms burned purple points of light where their eyes should be. Yuto started to shake when he saw the armor they were wearing. It was the armor of the Royal Guard, who protected the castle.

They had once been loyal to the royal family, but now they had been turned into Death Knights by the dark magic of the black mages, who hadn't allowed the bodies to rest even after death.

"No... no..." Yuto moaned. The Royal Guard had taught him how to fight with a sword in the past life, in place of his father who had passed away long ago. The knights had been his teachers in the ways of combat.

"You insects. How dare you... How dare you?" Yuto remembered the name of every person in the Royal Guard. They had been dedicated to the royal family until the end. Yuto had drunk with them. On the day that Shiro betrayed Yuto, they had gone down swinging their swords, trying to protect him. The fact that they had been turned into Death Knights against their will nearly drove him out of his mind. The ether of the Void exploded from his body.

Void Hands that were several times bigger than usual swayed angrily behind his back.

"Kill the intruders," said a black mage, and the voice shook the square. The two Death Knights drew their swords immediately and rushed forward. Yuto did not doubt that to them, the words of the black mage seemed like a royal decree.

"Rivian! Flokiro! Stop the orcs!" Yuto bellowed. Then he ran. He did not want anybody's help this time when he freed the bodies of the Death Knights. The Void Hands glided with the magical swords that the Death Knights wielded. Once the strongest knights in all of Velkyne, they were able to resist the Void Hands without much struggle. Won't be enough. They had been far stronger than that while they were alive.

Death Knights utilized only the dead bodies from which they were made; no corruption of the soul was involved. Their power, therefore, was not equal to that of their living counterparts. Which made it even more of an insult to the dead, and to the name of the Velkyne Royal Guard. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Yuto screamed, his voice tearing through the air of the square. Two Void Hands whipped about and struck the Death Knights.

But these had been the most elite knights of Velkyne in the past and refused to go down easily. Their bodies were rotting away and their souls had been robbed away from them, but their bones still retained the swordsmanship they had possessed when they were alive. They executed precisely orchestrated strikes that took advantage of openings in Yuto's movements. Their styles allowed Yuto to remember their names.

"Sir Kael! Sir Delma!" Emotion overwhelmed him. He almost felt as if he would break down in tears. Kael and Delma—two of the strongest in the entire Royal Guard. He couldn't count the times they had disciplined him as he learned. Yuto put back the tears and adjusted his grip on his dagger. He leaped using Void Steps and reappeared behind the knights. These men, however, or what remained of them, were his teachers. They didn't even have to turn around and look. They raised their shields easily to block Yuto's blows.

The shock wave from the collision pushed Yuto backward. The orc warriors saw this opportunity and tried to swing their massive axes at him.

"Yuto!" Rivian screamed. She swept her staff forward, but the enemy was too quick and vicious. She had set up a barrier to protect him, but the orc warriors were too strong and it looked ready to break. Then Flokiro raced past Rivian, right at Yuto, and a pure white fire that none of them had seen before exploded from his body. This was different from a simple release of ether.

It was a combination of the tragedy that they had witnessed together, Yuto's anger, and Flokiro's own desire to protect his partner that triggered it. The light meant Flokiro was evolving. Soon, he was completely swallowed up. As the flames raged around him, Flokiro's tiny body expanded rapidly. The cute paws grew extremely sharp claws capable of shredding rock like cheese, and the short fur extended like a lion's golden mane and wrapped around his entire body.

When he jumped out of those flames, he was no longer the adorable Evomon who looked like a plush toy. He looked as big as a house, a sacred beast whose body plumed with red and blue flame.

"Flo... Flokiro?" It was a bond with their partner, and ether shared with them, that allowed Evomon to evolve. Evolutions were rare as a rule, and it was even rarer for any third party to witness the moment an evolution happened. The beast raged forward with the flames and rammed right into the heavily armored orc warriors. They were sent flying into the air as if they had been struck by a carriage going at full speed. The beast opened his maw toward the sky.

A hot ray shot out of it and turned the warriors into ashes.

"I am no longer Flokiro. I'm Flokai," the beast said, revealing burning teeth. There wasn't much excitement in his voice since he had already experienced evolution in the past life. More than anything, he was angry at himself for putting Yuto in danger. If he had saved more ether in his body, he could have evolved right away into his final form, Floknight. Flokai suppressed his disappointment and leaped toward Rivian. He grabbed Rivian's clothes and tossed her gently onto his back.

"Don't get in his way," Flokai said. Rivian was momentarily taken aback. She was also afraid that the flames coming from Flokai's body might burn her.

"What...? This is incredible..." she said. Surprisingly enough, he didn't feel hot in the least. She felt a little warmth, and that was all. Rivian soon pulled herself together and nodded to him. Flokai roared, and the earth seemed to vibrate and bubble like lava. With Rivian on his back, he shot forward at the orc warrior formation like a cannonball. Every swing of a front paw crushed more of the warriors and sent them flying like rag dolls.

Rivian sensed the overpowering ether that came from Flokai's body, and she raised her staff. Now she was channeling not only her own ether, but that of Flokai as well.

"Fire Rain!" she yelled. Their magic combined, and fire collapsed onto the heads of the warriors. The black mages panicked and spread barriers over their heads like umbrellas, but the flames pierced their defenses and burned the entire square. As the orcs screamed and burned, Yuto was able to focus solely on the fight with the Death Knights. Kael's shield slammed into a Void Hand head-on and blocked Yuto's approach. There was a heavy metallic thud, and the earth sank under Yuto. He lost his balance for a moment.

Delma struck at that time, moving like a cobra for Yuto's neck. Yuto used Void Steps to get out of range just in time. It was a close call. Cold metal grazed his cheek and left a deep cut. The orange points of light from under the helmet did not contain any emotion, but Yuto sensed terrible sadness within the glow. The technique they were using was identical to the one they had taught Yuto. Their swords, once dedicated to Yuto's protection, were now being actively employed to kill him.

It nearly crushed Yuto's spirits. Yuto clenched his dagger and darted forward.

"The Sir Kael that I knew... was never this slow!" Because he had learned their every technique, he was able to read their movements. A Void Hand struck Kael's shield powerfully from below, making an opening. Yuto used the other Void Hand to block a swing from Delma and slashed with the Obsidian Dagger. Kael's sword blocked the attack. The body was nothing but bones which creaked as they moved, but the power was still impressive.

"Intru... der..." Kael said, his jaw clattering. This wasn't really Kael speaking; it was just the bony figure repeating the command given to him by the black mages. But hearing it made Yuto's eyes cloud over with abyssal darkness.

"Do not... use their voices! You have no right!" he yelled. The surge of emotion squeezed power from the core. This was power that Yuto had not yet learned to handle, and it now spread through his body with his heartbeat. The two Void Hands rippling behind his back fused into one, forming what looked like a great, ominous scythe. Delma struck with his sword from one side. But Yuto vanished, Void Steps taking him elsewhere. The Death Knights began looking around for him. By then, it was too late.

He was already overhead, bringing the scythe. The power of the Void erased the evil ether in their bones outright. Kael's shield ripped like parchment, and Delma's sword shattered completely.

"Enough... enough of this!" Yuto spat in an unsteady voice as he guided the scythe. The blade slid through the necks of the Death Knights as they tried to regain their balance. The negative ether that had forced their bodies to move was devoured by the Void. It dissipated like smoke, with faint screaming sounding in the background. The yellow glow of their eyes faded away from their severed heads. No more ether remained to move their bodies, and the bones collapsed where they stood.

Just as the bones were about to disintegrate, Yuto caught a glimpse of their real souls. Faces he remembered. They seemed to have recovered their real form for a brief moment, found peace.

"Thank... you..." one of them said. It almost sounded like a voice from a dream. Yuto bit his lip so hard that it bled. No tears came, however. Today wasn't a day for shedding tears. If he poured anything on the ground today, it would be the blood of the enemy who had committed these unspeakable acts. Yuto turned away.