Love and Betrayal (3)

Zane was having a serious conversation with his father in the crown hall. Some Ministers were present and were listening to his words

"..... So, in conclusion, I would like to propose the start of a campaign, we must look toward the south." He said.

"But your Highness, if we have instability in two fronts, west and south, we may incur a severe loss." A Minister said.

"Your words are true, alas it's the strength that speaks in the world. With enough strength and deterrence, stability is no longer the concern as it will follow the strong nations closely behind."

Zane answered him.

Hall plunged into silence. All Ministers looked toward the King and waited for his decision, even if the crown prince was the young spear of the kingdom, the king, being the backbone of the kingdom, was still in power.

"I am hap…" his words cut short when Zane unsheathed his sword and slashed at the space beside him.

A cackling sounded through the hall as space, which Zane distanced himself from, started to twist.

A figure with radiant blue hair and sharp wolf ears emerged. He looked handsome but his eyes told tales of a ferocious beast.

The royal guards surrounded him the next second he emerged and Zane was looking at him warily.

They didn't attack him immediately, his sneaking movement caused some apprehension in them.

"Who are you? How you dare to sneak to the palace?" The captain of the Royal Guards, the burly man, said.

The man smiled, revealing his fangs, and punched the air in front of one of the guards. The bloody mist caused the eyes of those present to widen and more fear crept into their hearts.

"Who are you? Have we offended you in any way?" The deep voice of the king sounded through the hall.

The wolfman, for the first time, tilted his head toward the king.

"I feel sorry for you, your ignorance of how the world works is beyond simple words. Even if you are king, you simply have no idea what are you dealing with." He shook his head.

The king narrowed his eyes at his words and stood up from his place. "Well, if you are not responding to us, don't hold on to us for being unwelcoming." He waved his hands and the guards got in position while surrounding the man. He seemed unbothered by this arrangement and looked at Zane, who have already retreated.

Three middle-grade awakened and attacked him from behind, a faint light with a blue hue covered his back as their swords bounced from the shield. The next second he extended his hand without looking back and slashed horizontally, leaving a cut clean at the same level for the three guards.

Their armors cut through and their body above the slicing cut slipped and fell, detached from the rest of their body.

There were already shouts for reinforcement and even the king unsheathed his sword. Seeing this situation the captain made gestures and soon around ten different weapons with ice and wind, metal, and fire mystical abilities pointed toward the wolfman.

Wolfman smile's grew wider as different abilities rained on him, leaving the area he was standing in the dust.

When the dust cleared and the view returned, he was nowhere to be found.

A dumbfounded guard said, "Did we kill hi…" but his words were cut short when a claw ripped his way through his head to his rear, making his guts spill around and blood spray like a fountain as the symmetrical body parts crumbled.

"MOVE!" a roar sounded when dozens of reinforcements marched into the hall.

The wolfman looked over for a second and another round of attack befell on him. The reinforcement joined the fray, however, the wolfman was nimble and when some attacks landed on him he just brushed them off with his metaphorical 'shield'.

Seeing the battle unfolding in front of his eyes, Zane was shocked to the core. 'He has multiple abilities! One, two, three, four..?' he was starting to feel nervous.

'I can't say that I will absolutely win the battle but if we wear him down…..'

"Call all of the available awakened….. Quick!" he said to the trembling minister beside himself.

The man stumbled but moved quickly.

Zane's eyes returned to the bloody wolf man. He sliced swords and armor like a hot knife cutting butter. The body parts of fallen men scattered around his path, Zane knew he was the target as for why? He had no idea.

'Maybe because of my abilities?' he shook his head. He had told no one about his 'level-uping'.

Unbeknown to him, Aurora figured out the nature of his ability but she didn't tell him about it.

A ten men team entered the hall, all of them were high-grade awakened. They didn't waste any time and attacked.

One of them was swinging his chain, the chain as if it had its own life snaked toward the wolfman. Wolfman, seeing this, shook his head and smiled in disdain, " Without a proper technique, your moves are bound to your random blessings." He said and gripped the chain. The chain wrapped around his arms but he simply broke it apart by his claws. He appeared in front of the man with a broken chain. The man put up his arms which were wrapped with chains but the wolfman's claws ripped his hands and chest like paper, ripping his heart in the process.

Zane motioned for a guard to come near him.

"Where the hell are other teams?! Didn't they inform of?!" He whispered.

"My Lord, we …can't go outside of the castle." He said, seemed confused himself.

"What?!"

"My Lord, I don't know exact details but…. Something is preventing people from entering and exiting the castle." The man said and looked at the wolfman.

Zane's eyes became cold. 'An accomplice?'

'Things are getting complicated.'

"Tell the king, the same things you told me."

Moments later, the king's voice rang again.

"Friend, why don't you tell me of your objectives maybe we can satisfy you at the same time you can help us with our ignorance." He said, surprising many.

The wolfman stopped his movements and looked at the king.

"The matter can be resolved with the death of the guardian." He said and looked at Zane.

Everyone was confused, including Zane. Without any more words, the wolfman continued his slaughter.

When someone finally managed to land a blow on his body, three high-grade awakened were sacrificed.

Seeing the shallow scar on his hand, the wolfman frowned. He then looked at Zane "Seems I underestimated lower realms.." he murmured.

He walked straight toward Zane. Zane readied himself and positioned his sword.

Left and right awakened throw themselves at the coming wolfman and stalled him.

Zane step forward and slashed. The man defended with his claws and a dull sound resounded.

"Hmm. Anymore longer and we could be no match for you…" the wolf man muttered.

His words surprised Zane but he attacked relentlessly. Eventually, with the collective efforts of the group, they cornered him.

Even the king was pushing forward, helping awakened Zane.

*Boom*

Suddenly an explosive force pushed the palace's fighters back.

"You should be proud for forcing me to use this move." He said as he stood straight and looked at them.

The blue fur grew on his arms and the previously normal hands were now permanently looked like claws.

"CHARGE!" The king shouted.

Unperturbed, the blue fur wolfman swung his claws in different directions. Even defense-type high-grade awakened pushed back by his force, unfortunate ones have ripped apart immediately.

*Clang*

Zane confronted him and the duo exchanged blows.

After a few moments, the only ones standing were the king, Zane, and two guards with the Royal Captain.

Panting slightly Zane looked at the intruder, several cuts could be seen around his body but the wolfman didn't flinch at all.

"It's time for me to wrap this up or else that bitch won't stop yelling." The blue hair said.

He moved like wind knocking out the standing guards and stood in Infront of the burly captain.

The move was simple, since the beginning of his killing he never used any exaggerated move and killed with efficiency.

The metallic skin of the captain tore apart and his torso divided into three parts.

He then moved toward Zane, as fast as he could, but the king blocked him.

Without much stalling the right arm of the king, the one holding his weapon, detached from his body.

Blood flowed out of his wound like a river as he stumbled backward.

"Father!" Zane, looking distressed, ran to support his father.

Seeing nobody else around, the wolf man smiled slightly and looked down at the fallen king and prince supporting him.

"Do you know the fate of The last Elysian Guardian?"

he answered himself;

"He plunged his sword deep in the heart of his lover…. Well, when I say lover I mean that whore of fox. Who slept with my grandfather, bewitching him and lording over his true-borns with her manipulative nature. She killed him in the end, but in return, my father helped the guardian."

Putting aside the now stable but pale king, Zane stood up from his half-kneeling position.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" He asked coldly.

"It's alright to not know what is beyond you."

"But let me tell you, the last guardian was a miserable man. After killing his 'love' he descended into madness."

He slowly walked toward Zane.

"He knew that she loved him, in her way, he wasn't denied in his entire life. But the Serpents are quite good in the ways of mind."

"I don't know a single thing about this Gods damned guardian!" Zane roared and attacked.

His Golden Hands brought enormous force down to the wolf man.

"Great force. Alas, not enough." He said as he caught his sword with some difficulty.

He then pushed him but Zane persisted.

"Curse yourself and your damn luck for falling in love with a slutty fox." He said.

'What? Fox... slutty... Rora? But he said something about guardian….. Shit….. Don't tell me…' his thoughts soon interrupted

..............

"I think something happened in the palace," Dan said while riding a warhorse at full speed.

He saw the castle being enveloped by some mysterious force with his Farsight. He knew something must have happened but he wouldn't go back to check.

He looked at another rider beside him, Aurora, who was riding her horse without looking back.

"We will leave." She said at that time and Dan remembered.

"But weren't you in love with Zane?" Dan asked with complicated feelings.

"Love? Honey, the bond between me and him is just a physical one." She said and kissed his cheek.

"Love must be both physical and mental. The only one in the whole world who fits in that definition is you, dear husband." Her words warmed his heart.

...............

"S-she is gone….. Sir… please believe me….. Her quarter is here….." A guard with a broken arm answered the blue wolf man.

Axl had his suspicions but he firmly believed that the prince was the guardian. His strength far surpassed the current realm limits and if left alone he would be the overlord of the realm.

The prince's behavior was a little odd but the more suspicious thing was fleeing the Nine-tailed bloodline before descending of the Veil.

'How did she know?' he looked at the unconscious Zane, whose body was bloody, and frowned.

'Why she left her lover? She can't abandon him… or could she?'

While he was deep in thought a red-haired beauty came into the chamber.

"Veil is still up, haven't you found anything?" she asked in a tired voice.

"I think we must interrogate him." He shook his head and pointed at fainted Zane.

"Then I guess we need to heal him….. Sigh. It became troublesome." She rubbed her temple.