A Blessing In Disguise

Sir Ferreus was obviously enraged; many of the men he taught perished, some of whom regarded him as a father figure, and he lost them due to nothing less than a betrayal by one of those he taught.

"Last words?"

Because of what occurred in the novel, Raiden couldn't let Cellor react to his own failure, so he used all he had to sneak up behind him before he could react and knock him unconscious with a knee to the back of his skull, stopping him from answering to Sir Ferreus.

"Your highness?! …"

Sir Ferreus was taken aback not just by Raiden's blatant suppression of Cellor's response, but also by the fact that he could barely keep up with Raiden's speed.

"We have to keep at least one of them alive."

Sir Ferreus nodded and bowed his head, feeling a bit guilty for not being able to control his emotions; he was going to kill Cellor, and if he did, they would miss the opportunity to uncover a cause for what had just happened.

"Hey! You two!"

Raiden called the two remaining royal guards, Sir Douglas, who had red hair and appeared to be around 28 years old, and Sir Haerton, bold and appeared to be in his thirties.

He ordered Sir Haerton to release the knights who had been captured and were tied up sitting in a group.

And ordered Sir Douglas to tie Cellor up and check his mouth and his belongings.

He remembered other groups that utilized poison to commit suicide in order to prevent giving any information; he knew it was unlikely, but he didn't want to make errors because he knew the Warthron's would collapse, and he wanted to minimize any possibilities.

Even if he didn't enjoy royalty, he was now a part of it, and he didn't want to throw away this power knowing what was coming.

Raiden looked around and was stunned for a moment; this wasn't his first time killing someone; in his previous life, he had to protect his own life as well, and the outcome was sometimes fatal.

"Your highness, can I help?"

But now it was different; there were more than 200 dead bodies in front of him, many of which had been slashed with swords and knives, adding to the horrific sight.

"Your highness..."

He understood that sort of circumstance will reoccur from now on; in fact, it may get worse, as he could lose someone he cares about, as well as friends and relatives.

The only way to avoid this was for him to grow stronger and, more importantly, to make those around him stronger.

"Your highness…"

"Elder…"

"What?"

"Did you notice?"

"Are we talking about the traitors?"

"Not exactly, we are too vulnerable."

Sir Ferreus was astonished since he expected Raiden to slap him for failing to see the traitors sooner.

Raiden, on the other hand, was talking about their weakness, not his.

"We could barely defend ourselves, imagine if we had to protect others? Or if they had powerful artifacts?"

"Should we find more artifacts, your highness?"

"Elder, if someone told you that artifacts are not the strongest weapon we have, what would you say?"

"I would say he is wrong, your highness."

Raiden understood that the best way to show something is true is with genuine proof, so he utilized the last of the spells he could receive from the contract with Sacratus without hesitation.

"Please pay attention to those bodies elder."

Raiden and Sir Ferreus were looking at the bodies that Raiden had fought with, earlier.

"Unseal…"

Raiden had to remove the seal before he could use the contract's power; the cuts on his hand had already been exchanged for a black mark, a rune used in the demon realm.

When the seal is broken, the rune will light up with a tint that corresponds to the way the contract was formed; since contract was made with blood the color will be red.

"Decoy…"

Now he had to specify what type of spell he desired. 'Decoy' is a general term for executing area spells, primarily traps.

Raiden put his hand on the ground and said:

"Hellfire…"

Hellfire is the sole powerful spell Raiden could obtain in practically every contract with Sacratus; only those who have read the novel are aware that Igith allowed some contractors to utilize the hellfire spell.

This magic can only be cast on the dead (remember it is not Raiden magic, but the contract magic), it will pulverize the body and burn the soul.

However, the hellfire provided by Igith is essentially another flame; it will indeed burn the bodies, but it will send all souls to Igith.

A magical circle emerged on the field beneath the bodies Raiden had slaughtered.

The calligraphy in the circle was similar to the rune on Raiden's palm.

"Your… highness…"

Sir Ferreus was taken aback as a blue flame more than double their size emerged…

"This is ancient magic elder."

and the corpses disintegrated like dust in the wind.

"Not limited by artifacts restrictions, pure and powerful magic."

Even though Raiden understood that this magic was not his, he needed to use it as an example and demonstrate the power of magic without Artifacts.

The knights who had just been freed noticed the flame and froze still, as did both royal guards, who were in astonishment.

Kaian, who was on his knees grieving for the loss of one of his buddies, saw the flame and his eyes widened in astonishment.

A minute later, the flame and bodies were gone, and Raiden rose up, realizing the mark on his hand was slowly disappearing.

He began to feel lightheaded; the first spell he had performed was physical and mana augmentation; he sensed these effects fading, and exhaustion overcame him.

He wasn't sure whether to hide or display his exhaustion, but he decided it would be preferable to indicate that the spell was too powerful for him.

Then he collapses to the ground on his knees.

"Your highness!"

Sir Ferreus was still in shock when he realized that the prince had fallen so he went towards him.

"It's fine elder."

Raiden began taking deep breaths and circulating more mana to help his recovery.

"But you seem weak now your highness."

"The spell… was too strong… for me now."

Raiden pretended to have difficulty breathing; he was weary, but not that much.

"So why you did?"

"If I didn't would you believe?"

Sir Ferreus was silent for a moment.

"Your highness the knights are all here."

Raiden turned to face the voice that had addressed him; it was Sir Haerton on his knees, introducing the 15 knights who had surrendered when they saw they were outnumbered.

Raiden patted Sir Ferreus twice and got up, indicating he was fine now.

He then approached the royal guard and helped him back to his feet.

"Thank you!"

He was grateful not just for the assistance in liberating the imprisoned knights, but also for not betraying him or surrendering.

"No need your highness."

Raiden gestured for him to stand at his side.

"Knights!"

The 15 knights were on alert and on fear.

"You disappointed me…"

It was to be expected; many of them woke up when the prince arrived in battle, they saw the power that the prince had.

"The moment of most need you gave up out of fear."

They tied in a battle of knights, but battling royal guards was out of the question for them.

"How can I ever trust you guys again?"

The prince, on the other hand, slaughtered the royal guards as if they were nothing and just a moment ago made their bodies vanish with a powerful flame.

"We will accept our punishment your highness."

'I didn't say nothing, yet they accepted?!'

"I will give two options."

Raiden even in his past life was not known as a naive or heroic figure; after what they had done, he would not let anybody who renounced his knighthood escape; what was coming could turn them into his enemies.

"Give up your Warthron knighthood and be imprisoned for a few years."

He also didn't want weaklings to quit up in the face of overwhelming odds when they still had a chance to succeed.

"Or you may become my direct subordinate and live-in hell for one year."

But he also did not want to toss them away without first attempting to alter them.

"Get up and head to the backside for the first choice, and stay in your knees for the second. If you have a question, please ask."

He needed allies now more than ever, they did not have to be all talented or outstanding; they only had to meet a simple requirement: they could not quit up when confronted with crisis.

"What would hell be like, your highness?"

One of the knights said.

'Oh! she still alive."

Raiden recognized the knight as "the Dewny's boy," the knight who had warned him of what was about to happen and had given him the poison as proof.

"The so-called Hell will be a special combat training ground for which I shall be in charge."

"Will be any requirements your highness?"

The Dewny's descendent said.

"There are no gender requirements, but bravery and perseverance are essential."

Some of them stared at each other, puzzled, but no one got up after a few minutes.

Raiden anticipated that everyone could accept it, but he expected at least one person to rise up since it may be a deserter involved in the artifact's robbery scheme.

But even if they had previously given up, it may have been due to a lack of morality; after all, they did not want to perish attempting to save the worthless prince who was going to send a unique item to another kingdom and had no idea he was doing so.

Raiden could now concentrate on strengthening himself and his few yet promising subordinates.

'Isn't it, a blessing from misfortune?!'

Well, at least, that's what he thought at the time.