Phantasma

On the forest plains of Novamantus, a white-gold carriage that is being escorted by a group of knights on horses travels.

Inside the carriage sits two men. One of whom is a young man dressed in a leather vest, brown breeches, and a black tunic. The other one is an elderly man dressed in brown cloak with white fur.

The old man had the only thought of meeting her already as he was completely preoccupied by the surroundings. "How long will this take?" he asks.

The young man smiled and replied, "You seem excited, my lord."

The old man reacted with a laugh and asks, "Do I look like it, Mikail?"

The carriage abruptly comes to a stop a short while later.

Mikail asks, "What's happening?" In response, the knight operating the carriage states that a body is lying by the road. Mikail gulps, a painted look of anxiety on his face. Something seemed strange, he thought to himself.

Before leaving, he nods to the elderly guy, denoting that everything should be dealt with smoothly.

As he exits the carriage, a body of a woman is found on the road, impeding the carriage from passing through. It looks like it was done on purpose.

"Raise cautiousness! Stay vigilant en route! We will carry on with our journey," says Mikail as he orders one of the knights to check if the woman's still breathing.

The knight kneeled, saying, "The woman is no longer breathing, sire," facing his left palm on the woman's face.

Without delay, the body was immediately disposed of under Mikail's order. Put by the side of the road, the body was then incinerated, which was better than leaving it to decay.

Mikail swore to himself that by any means necessary, the duke will reach the destination unscathed. The journey continued without making a fuss.

The sun is almost setting. The light has almost gone past the horizon—an orange-hued sky that calls for a rest.

Mikail looks around for a while, looking for a spot to temporarily rest before dusk.

Mikail and his men finally stopped by the side of a forest. "We will build a temporary camp here," he says.

Fortunately, the land has a large but shallow pond. The residual water they had left wouldn't seem to last until tomorrow noon, so they refilled the water barrels they had brought

The men laughed while they quenched their thirst. The others took a bath.

Although the sun hasn't entirely set, Mikail has already made arrangements to leave as soon as dawn breaks.

Something about the place makes him oddly unsettled, not just because of his overly cautious nature.

Time slowly passed by, and the night was just as quiet as it should be. A few knights were left outside to guard and were having a faint conversation.

A knight came back from the woods, "Hey, have you seen Samuel?" he asks.

"Huh? Didn't you go together?" another knight responds.

"Yeah, but he was g—" an arrow was suddenly shot directly to his head. It came from the woods.

Three of the knights immediately stood up and drew their swords. But before they could even react, their necks had already been stabbed by a small blade.

No one could let out a scream for help as they choked on their own blood.

Several cloaked men emerged from the darkness. The remaining defenseless knights were flawlessly murdered in their sleep before getting hauled into the bushes.

Their bodies disappeared without a trace as they vanished into the darkness.

...

Unaware of what was happening outside, Mikail kept himself occupied by penning a note on a little wooden table within a tent.

Written in the piece of paper was a letter addressed to someone named 'Elysia'. After a while, Mikail sets the quill aside and smiled as he took a deep breath.

He then stood up, yawned while extending his arms up in the air before leaving the tent.

It was strangely quiet outside. He had only heard his men's laughter and faint conversations earlier that the sudden silence felt too odd.

As soon as he got out, looking both left and right, Mikail was confused to see only the lingering darkness around.

He cautiously pulled the knife from the sheath on his right hip as he walked over to the torch, seizing it.

A sudden rustle from the bushes was heard. Mikail, who was nervous, mustered up the courage before moving slowly to check the bush. He looked behind it and saw nothing, so he concluded that it must be the wind.

As Mikail turned his back to check the lord's tent, an abrupt attack from behind came so quickly that he could only block the blade with his left palm, dropping the torch he was holding.

Mikail groans, trying to endure the pain. "Argh..."

The attacker tried to pull the blade out of Mikail's hand but only ended up getting grabbed by the collar as he struggled.

Mikail's hold was firm even as his left hand was bleeding.

'Got you, bastard...!'

Using the dagger he held on his right hand, Mikail rapidly thrusts the blade into the enemy's waist.

"Kyaaak!"

The cloaked attacker cried out as Mikail stabs him repeatedly. Deep within the flesh while blood gushes out.

The attacker pleaded him to stop, but he seems not to be listening.

Swoosh!

...!?

Mikail was struck in the back by yet another dagger that was thrown at him from behind. It hit his back but it wasn't enough to make him stop.

It was the same dagger that the enemy was using.

Nevertheless, Mikail continued to stab the enemy in the waist before finishing it with a deep stab on his neck to make sure he was dead.

Thud!

Mikail releases his grip from the man.

Mikail groans again as he tries to endure the pain in his left hand.

Although he had only lost a small amount of blood from the wound on his left hand, he could feel his body deteriorating somehow.

Mikail looked behind, trying to find the other one that was lurking in the shadows.

"..."

A sudden rustle in the bushes.

The enemy takes the first move, quickly as he emerges from the darkness. Both of their daggers clash onto each other.

"Ggh..." his body slowly felt weak, but Mikail still held onto the ground.

The opponent moved back as Mikail successfully blocks the attack.

Another attack was again made by the enemy as they threw the blade straight into his neck.

The attack was too sudden that Mikail couldn't react fast enough to dodge the attack as he used his forearm to block the blade.

Mikail pulled the blade that was pierced through his flesh. As he did so, he tried looking at the enemy again, only realizes that it was simply a distraction.

As the enemy drew their range closer to him,

Mikail forced his body, quickly to avoid the attack. This sudden force in his body made him cough more blood.

Fortunately, the blade only scraped his cheek, making a shallow cut enough to make him bleed on the face.

Although the attacks weren't that successful, his headache got worse, and his vision got blurry.

In his desperation, Mikail deliberately lowers his guard down. Seemingly like he's letting the enemy initiate the attack once again.

As the enemy got closer to him, he quickly grabbed them by the collar and tightened his grip.

'Just a little bit more...!'

The enemy squirmed, trying to break away from Mikail's grip.

'They are fast, for sure. But if I do this, their speed will be useless!'

The enemy stabbed his arm three times in hope of Mikail letting them go, but it wasn't enough to stop him.

Using all of his strength, Mikail smashed their body to the ground. He then seized the moment to mount on them and threw heavy punches, beating them unconscious.

"Huff... Huff..." Mikail pants heavily. His body no longer could move but he endured despite the excruciating pain, heavying each of his punches onto the enemy's bruised face.

After a short pause to catch his breath,

Mikail ripped off the cloth of his tunic and wrapped it on his wounded left palm and right arm.

After doing so, he began to shift his gaze to his surroundings.

...Yet only the quiet darkness remains.

As Mikail barely manages to rise to his feet, the fire from the torch he dropped earlier has slowly spread through the grass ground caught his attention.

Mikail, in a panicked manner, extinguishes the flame by kicking it repeatedly.

"Phew..." he lets off a deep sigh of relief as the flame vanishes.

For a moment, Mikail took the time to recover as he stood up in the middle of the night.

Taking off the mask that concealed the enemy's face, it was then revealed that the incapacitated person is a woman.

"Gah..." his head throbbed faster as he forced his body to move further.

Mikail used the cloth on her face to tie her arms and feet as Mikail didn't feel like killing her.

After that, he then knelt to pick up the dagger that was on the ground. As Mikail looked at the weapon she used intently, it finally dawned to him.

The stench was too pungent.

'A poisoned dagger...' he thought to himself.

"Cough! Cough!" He started to cough blood to which he wipes off. Even though he felt utterly battered at the moment, there was still something that was in his head.

"The Lord..." Mikail muttered as he attempted to limp toward the lord's tent.

"...is definitely in danger."

...

Mikail's eyes widened as he approached the tent behind his. Seeing wounded enemies lying on the ground.

'Three, four, six. Nine...' he counts in his mind.

Gazing from the distance, a man's silhouette could be seen in front.

"Ah... Mikail! It's a relief that you're still alive!" exclaimed the silhouette who appeared to be the old man, soaked in blood but unharmed.

"My Lord...! What... happened here?" Mikail asks, confused while he looks at his surroundings.

Beyond the woods, a figure of something suddenly surges towards him, like a ghost flying through the wind.

'Another enemy!' Mikail tries to parry the blow from the figure but he was pushed to the ground.

Clothed in black, the enemy mounts on his chest, using the dagger, Mikail was pinned on the ground.

The enemy had the dagger's blade on his neck that could kill him at any moment.

But the enemy... Wasn't doing anything yet...?

"A kid...?" Mikail muttered, seeing the enemy but had no mask.

The enemy, who seemed to be agitated by his remark, reacted by pushing the blade harder onto his neck, making it slightly bleed.

"Stop! He's not an enemy!" exclaimed the old man.

The kid turned his gaze towards the old man. He lets off a scoff before he rises to his feet, removing the blade on Mikail's neck before taking off his hood with a scowl.

The old man rushes to Mikail and asks, "Mikail, are you okay?" while covering his bleeding wound on his right arm with his hands.

Mikail groaned at the touch, the old man quickly apologized.

"He's not going to make it," said the kid.

The old man looked at the kid, his face was painted with confusion.

"Observe his wounds," the kid kneels to pick up the poisoned dagger that was on the ground. "These are poisoned daggers."

Mikail chuckled, causing him to slightly cough blood, "I noticed it, too..."

The old man looked worried, looking at Mikail as he slightly lifted his head. "Who are these men?"

The kid took a short look at his surroundings before he responded, "Phantasma."

"...Phantasma?"

"These people are from the mercenary group called 'Phantasma'. A group of mercenaries that specializes in assassination using underhanded tactics."

Mikail coughs blood again, his vision is slowly turning black.

"Mikail!"

He tried to talk but his throat seemed to be clogged. As his vision finally turned into darkness, he has finally lost consciousness.

...

The only sound in the quiet night was the crackling of the bonfire.

Sitting by the bright fire, the kid and the old man had a conversation. No one was left except for the three of them.

As they sat on the log in utter silence, the old man spoke, "Thank you, kid."

"Don't thank me yet, you made a deal with me, remember?"

The old man chuckled, he seemed to have calmed himself now.

"Of course, of course. By the name of the Mordor family, my gratitude for you is sincere."

"You can drop the formality," said the kid with furrowed brows, munching on the stale bread that he took from his pocket.

The old man grinned before he spoke once again, "My name is Sauron Mordor, what about yours?"

"Ars. Ars Goetia," the kid replied.

...

Mikail jolts from his bed awake as he exclaimed, "HAAAH!"

Looking around him, it seems that he's inside his tent. Despite the pain from his body, he got off on his feet and limped outside of his tent.

As soon as Mikail got out, the light from the sun hit his face.

It was already early in the morning.

"We're leaving," said the kid from last night.

"What?" Mikail replies, confused.

Mikail looked around and the bodies from last night appeared to have been taken care of.

'Just what happened last night...?' Mikail thought to himself.

Emerging from the woods, Sauron with a smile. "You're awake, Mikail. Oh, I thank the Gods!"

Ars looked at Sauron, looking annoyed as he completely forgot his presence.

"My lord, what is happening?"

"These people that tried to kill us were hired by a fellow of us, it appears," says Sauron.

"Thanks to the woman that was knocked unconscious last night, Ars managed to interrogate her," he added.

***

"Please let me go! I already told you what I-..." the women pleaded Ars to let her go, but was stabbed in the neck before she could even finish what she were saying.

***

'How cruel...' Mikail thought to himself as he still tried to process what had entirely happened.

"Sorry to interrupt you both, but we will have to set off with the horses as soon as possible. Bringing the carriage along would just slow us down," says Ars, preparing himself for departure.

At the side of the road, a number of knights from Novamantus were seen, sprawled on the solid ground.

"Earlier, a troop of knights came here and attacked us, even the old man. So I'm guessing they're from a certain division of knight troops from Novamantus."

"..." Mikail couldn't utter any words as he listened to Ars.

"Which means more men might come here if we stay in here much longer."

"You took care of them?" asks Mikail who was dumbfounded.

"Only injured some. Come on, we'll be taking our leave now," said Ars as he mounted the horse.

With a laugh Sauron looked at Mikail and remarked, "I am really happy that Ars is on our side. If it weren't for him, we could've been rotting on the ground by now."

"...O-Okay."