Duke Pendragon

Cold air flowed through the small chapel located in the backyard of the governor’s residence.

The statue of the Goddess Illeyna looked down upon all the world with a gracious smile, and Raven walked up to it before carefully laying down Luna’s small body on the altar.

“Towel…”

The employees who followed him politely held out a wet towel at Raven’s quiet voice. Raven took the time to carefully wipe her face clean of blood and tear stains, trying his hardest not to disturb her last smile.

It was not long before a bloodless white face was revealed.

Her face was full of serenity.

Just as she had done with her last breath, a gentle smile decorated her face.

“…..”

Raven stared at her with lifeless eyes and remembered that her death came at the price of his life.

“I was… careless.”

There was no excuse.

His carelessness stemmed from the presence of Baltai. Raven had been disturbed when he had seen Baltai in an unexpected place. Once agitated, he was unable to make clear judgements with his mind, and in the end, he had let his guard down before the ones who accompanied Luna.

Moreover, the dark green dagger that still stuck out of Luna’s chest was a variable he had not expected. Raven did not die unless he was decapitated. Even if he was stabbed, the wounds healed in three or four days.

But this dagger was different.

He did not know the reasons, but he had a hunch of certain death from the moment he first laid eyes on the instrument.

But in the end, it was still a hunch.

The outcome might have been different if he dealt with the two assassins while bracing himself for injuries.

However, the biggest variable in this situation existed in that Raven had not expected Luna to intervene in such a short period of time. The assassin whom Luna introduced as her escort was larger and faster. Raven was able to react to the first attack. However, the escort assassin’s attack was only a bait, and the real attack came from the servant boy.

The escort had purposefully placed Raven into an unguarded posture, and the second strike would have resulted in a certain death.

Nevertheless, the two assassins could not have expected Luna to penetrate between them in such a short time. When Raven blocked the first attack, she must have instinctively flung herself.

Her instinct would have stemmed from her emotions, the very same emotions that put a smile on her face and asked Raven to call out her name.

It was love for Alan Pendragon.

The love that Raven ignored knowingly, and the love that the two assassins attempted to utilize in their attack had created a variable no one expected.

“…..”

Raven had never expected her affection towards him would be so strong and great that she would throw her life away unhesitatingly.

He thought of her as selfish, vain, and predictable.

At first, he thought of her as a materialistic snob that came crawling back after abandoning her ruined fiancé. However, his thoughts were slightly diluted during the time he spent with her.

She was a noble, a daughter of a prestigious high lord.

She was in a precarious position where she could not marry of her own accord nor pave her own future. It would be too harsh for her to continue her engagement with Alan Pendragon when it appeared that only a dark, grim future lay in store for the Pendragon family.

Rather, she had waited several years in consideration for the Pendragon family. It could be said that she had done all she could by breaking off the engagement after Alan’s awakening. In addition, the original Alan Pendragon was a coward and a weakling.

He had no qualifications as a great noble and as a knight.

He could understand how she would have felt. She had to be engaged to such a useless man because of the two families’ relationship, and it was to be after the man had his previous engagement broken off with a princess.

Nevertheless, she was patient.

She waited until Alan Pendragon revived before she came to the Pendragon Duchy and gave her ultimatum. But she came to face Raven Valt instead of Alan Pendragon.

Eventually, Luna Seyrod fell in love with Raven Valt, and not Alan Pendragon, well knowing that he had no feelings for her.

“…..”

Raven peered intently at Luna’s face. The sight of the soft, beautiful smile broke his heart once more. He felt an intense guilt weighing down on him and had to turn his face away. He could not bear to see more of her smile.

The dagger that stained her chest red caught his eye.

Raven slowly stretched out and grabbed the skull-decorated handle of the dagger.

Shoosh.

A sinister energy was conveyed.

Raven was instantly enraged.

He could not accept that such an evil-spirited object was tarnishing her beautiful smile and graceful presence.

Raven finally pulled out the dagger with all his might.

Boom!

“My lord!”

The door of the chapel burst open along with a shout. Raven turned his head towards the familiar voice.

“Sir Ron?”

“Ah…!”

Vincent’s eyes desperately searched Raven before he took on a shocked expression and began to tremble all over.

Raven felt that something was strange.

Vincent was looking towards him, but his gaze was not fixated on Raven. Rather, Vincent was looking towards the dagger that he was holding.

“Keuk?”

A dark green light began to emit from the dagger. Like magic, strange images began to pop into Raven’s mind.

An image of a pale woman wearing a bone-decorated crown with a green jeweled stick. All the knights that lined up beside her were wearing skull masks and carrying swords made up of ground bone. A long-bodied figure was holding a magic stick that was similar to the woman’s. 

Thousands, or rather tens of thousands of skeleton soldiers, zombies, ghouls, and vampires were bowing their heads in front of them. They were located in a huge tomb that was shaped like a pyramid, and the sight of the undead was reminiscent of a gargantuan green wave.

The queen floated into the air and emanated a flamelike dark green glow throughout her body. Suddenly, she jerked her head.

Raven’s gaze met her eyes.

Crack!

An intense feeling of malice and hostility pierced through his head like a blade. 

“Ugh!”

Raven was forced to drop the dagger in the end as an intense headache threatened to split his head.

Clang!

“Your excellency!”

Vincent quickly ran to Raven’s side and helped him up.

“Are you all right?”

“Ugh.. I’m fine. Anyways, why are you…”

Vincent let out a light sigh at Raven’s words and turned towards the dagger.

“I am here because of that object.”

“What do you mean?”

The lingering headache and Vincent’s vague words caused Raven to narrow his eyes. Vincent responded in a grim voice.

“That is the dagger of the Nameless Necromancer. The person who is killed by it…”

*** 

“Motherfuckers, get the ladder down!”

As soon as Baltai neared his boat, the crew quickly lowered the rope-lined ladder. Baltai quickly climbed onto deck before roaring at the crowd.

“What are you all doing? Let’s go! Raise the sails and set off!”

“Yes!”

The sail was raised, and the sailboat quickly picked up pace in the fierce winter sea breeze. Baltai walked across the deck into the cabin.

“Heuk!”

Baltai became startled as he entered the cabin on the second floor. Only Baltai could enter the room, but someone unexpected was present as well.

The other presence stood in front of the window leading to the balcony. Recognizing the identity of the figure as the Nameless Necromancer, Baltai sighed violently and picked up a bottle of rum from the table.

“You should have let me know if you came. You shocked me.”

“What happened to the job…?”

The restful, gloomy voice usually sent chills down Baltai’s back, but the voice did not seem as scary as usual. Baltai had just met someone who was much more frightening than the Nameless Necromancer.

Baltai burped after a large swig of the strong rum and spoke.

“Whew! I don’t know. I did everything that I could. I took the girl and the two of them to the Duke of Pendragon.”

“…..”

The Nameless Necromancer remained silent, as if waiting for a satisfactory answer. Baltai became a little scared and quickly answered once more.

“Ah, I’m telling you that I did the best I could! I even lured out the knight that was guarding the side of Duke Pendragon. It must have made the job much easier.”

“You mean the Valvas Cavalier.”

“Huh? That bastard was from Valvas? No wonder his skills with the blade was unusual. Ah, why didn’t you mention something like that earl…”

Baltai stopped his complaint midway.

The gaze that slipped out of the Nameless Necromancer’s hood was terribly cold and somber.

“Ehem! Anyways, I did my job right. You would be able to know how it went down by now, right?”

Baltai spoke with a subdued tone. The gaze that fluttered inside the hood glowed even deeper. The glow soon materialized into a spirit and quickly filled the cabin. 

“Ugh.”

Baltai took several steps back in fear, and the light streams gathered together to form into a shape. Baltai became shocked at the identity of the figure.

It was a woman wearing a high crown decorated with a bizarre sculpture of two snakes, formed with carvings of human bones. She wore a pitch black dress and held a long, big stick wrapped in green light. She was a queen.

Her eyes had no expression and no focus. Baltai screamed when she turned towards him.

“Guak!”

Baltai froze on the spot as the queen’s gaze fixated on him. 

The gaze belonged to the dead.

Anyone who lived and breathed could not help but be frightened by such eyes. Moreover, Baltai recognized the familiar face, which was painted green all over with red eyes.

“It seems that it was… partially… successful…”

The Nameless Necromancer spoke in a hoarse voice while staring at the floating ghostly queen. 

“W, what the hell is this…?”

Baltai became scared at the necromancer’s words and asked in a quivering voice.

“The Sword of Resurrection has done its job. But I guess the target wasn't the one I wanted.”

“…..?”

Baltai’s confusion grew even more at the ambiguous words. 

“But it’s not bad. The new queen still has a strong feeling for Pendragon. The stronger her feelings, the stronger her hostility will be.”

The necromance spoke before turning around.

A strong, cold gust of air swept into the cabin as he opened the balcony door. The Nameless Necromancer continued with a dismal voice while facing the wind.

“Just wait, vile gods and dragons. Çarcas’ divine judgement will be completed soon…”

“…..”

Baltai wanted to speak his thoughts, but he shut his mouth. His voice was no different, but the Nameless Necromancer somehow looked happy. 

Baltai had not closed his mouth to avoid disturbing the necromancer’s mood. Rather, he could not muster up the courage to speak up. The necromancer controlled the dead. As his mood improved, Baltai’s fear grew as the ‘only living person’ remaining in the room. 

‘Th, this bitch is definitely…’

Baltai stole glimpses at the queen of the ghosts with fearful eyes.

The queen’s face was the same of Luna Seyrod, who had accompanied him to Leus only a few hours ago.