Epic of the Desert King

Bang!

A barrel of oil burst into flames as it was shot by a flaming arrow, raising a commotion in the already crowded and rowdy streets of this little desert city.

"Run!" The people cried out as they hastily sought shelter. The shopkeepers in that street hurried to put away their goods before they would be damaged or lost in all the commotion.

"Hunt down the assassins!" A soldier wearing the official guard uniform of the desert city yelled as he rushed through the crowded streets with a squad of guards. They held golden sabers and their arms were rather standard.

The man's gaze rose to the rooftops and he soon spotted the figures of three humanoids rushing through the darkness.

"This way!" He rallied his men and rushed after the fleeing assassins. They had committed the gravest sin possible against this city that belonged to their noble Lord. They had murdered the Lord himself! "We can't let them escape!"

The soldiers continued to charge through the streets in a bid not to lose the assassins, but it was all for naught. The assassins were not mere weak humans who had not cultivated their strength. They were trained killers that were able to wield mana!

Before long, the squad of city guards had lost sight of the assassins. However, they did not despair for long because the captain of the Lord's guard troops had appeared!

The middle aged man rushed to them and asked. "Where?! What direction?"

"They went that way!" The soldiers did not waste time and quickly pointed the man in the right direction. Already, there were splatters of blood staining his clothes and swords, showing that he had taken care of a few assassins already.

The man's body blurred as he jumped up to the rooftop and chased after the fleeing assassins. The city was already on lockdown and the guards at the city wall had been put on high alert. However, his worries did not abate one bit.

'His Lordship has been assassinated... This situation reeks of treachery!' The captain of the Royal Guards' name was Gustavo. He was a soldier who had been in service of the City Lord for many years, ever since the now late Lord had founded this humble desert city in the hopes of turning it into a flourishing kingdom.

It was not as if the late Lord was crazy, to think he could build a flourishing kingdom out in the desert. Rather, it was because he was a mage who possessed a good control over the earth element that he had the confidence to do so. He was not too powerful, but he was strong enough to carve out a name for himself out here, where no one else was there to compete with him.

Unfortunately for him, he had provoked the true lords of the desert, the Sand Shamans. The Sand Shamans were mages who had great control over earth, and more particularly, sand. They usually roamed in groups within the desert, searching for relics and treasures that could grant them more power.

The late Lord had found one such relic, and had entered into a contest with the Sand Shamans, to which they had sent assassins to kill him in his sleep. Now, they were here.

'I told the Lord to reign in his greed and work with the Sand Shamans. We could not afford getting on their bad side. Now he is dead. The poor young master is wholly unequipped to take over.' Gustavo lamented to himself.

The City Lord had only a single child. The young master was already twenty, but he had no magical talent, and his education was still ongoing. He was not ready to lead as of yet. Gustavo could already imagine the commotion that would arise as whatever sleeping dragons that laid while the former City Lord was alive would not be rising from their slumber to contest over the seat of City Lord.

'I must protect the young master!' Gustavo resolutely declared in his heart as he finally caught sight of the fleeing assassins.

"I won't let your sins go unpunished!" He declared as he raised the scimitar in his hand. The blade of the weapon was golden and it glowed with a golden light as Gustavo imbued it with his qi. He waved his blade and an arc of blade energy was sent forth, slicing one of the three remaining assassins in two halves.

The assassins comrades saw this and exchanged a look. They both nodded before splitting up in opposite directions. This was a mission that they had accepted. Every mission had a certain risk chance where the assassin group that took it might not return.

For example, this mission was a high paying one to the assassin group that was behind these killers. They had accepted it and sent a portion of their fighters while knowing that they might not return from it. This was a mindset that every assassin developed. Each mission could very well be their last.

Gustavo gritted his teeth as he made a decision. He turned and chased after the assassin with a slightly stronger aura. He could only hope that the city guards cornered the other assassin.

Two figures jumped over the rooftops, their movements fast and sharp. The distant city walls loomed closer and closer.

Gustavo held up his sword to his chest and charged it with his qi. The scimitar glowed golden before he slashed forward several times, sending forth several attacks that cut off the path of escape that the assassin could use to escape.

"Argh!"

The assassin grunted in pain as his leg was sliced off just below the knee. He felt down from the sky, unable to make the jump to the next rooftop, and landed on the roof of a wooden stall. Thankfully for the stall owner, the person had already packed their wares and taken cover so nothing but the stall itself was lost.

Whoosh!

Gustavo landed beside the twitching body of the assassin and he moved quickly to prevent the assassin from killing himself. He inserted his own qi into the body of the assassin, paralyzing him temporarily. His eyes oozed murder as he glared at the man that was covered in black clothes.

"I will make sure you suffer for you sins."

With that, Gustavo picked up the man and bound him with ropes before quickly returning to the palace that stood at the center of the city. The place was swimming with city guards that had been deployed to protect every other important person in the city.

"Sir Gustavo!" As soon as he arrived in the large courtyard that surrounded the palace, he was noticed by the guards who were on patrol. They also noticed the stiff figure in his grasp.

"Bring this one to the dungeon. Make sure he does not have a means to kill himself. Be thorough!" Gustavo handed over the man and passed orders sternly. In fact, he would head down to the dungeon to personally search the man for anything he could use. First, though, he needed to see the young master.

He quickly made his way into the palace and began making his way to the safe room that the prince had been evacuated to as soon as the City Lord was killed. A multitude of guards swarmed the corridors, and even Gustavo himself had to be checked at checkpoints to make sure it was not a mage who had transformed into him. But eventually, he arrived before a thick metal door that had been engraved with protective runes by the late City Lord.

"Young Master!" Gustavo immediately called out when he saw the prince seated in the far end of the room while surrounded by guards. "Are you unharmed?" He knelt when he reached two meters of the prince.

"I am fine, Gustavo... Did you catch the assassins?" The young prince asked as he raised his head. His usually sharp blue eyes were dull with grief, and his usually finely combed hair was rough and shaggy, as if he had been running his hands through it.

"One is still at large, but I have managed to capture their leader. He is in the dungeon now." Gustavo said, his own tone drooping at the thought of his deceased master.

"Haa..." The prince sighed sadly and his head fell forward once again while his shoulders shook. He was still shaken from the entire ordeal. Gustavo placed a comforting hand on his shoulder to soothe him, although he knew it was pointless.

"Don't worry, young master. I will make sure your father's efforts do not go to waste." Gustavo said with a firm conviction as he rose to his feet and turned to leave. He was going to squeeze out all the information that assassin had!