n

n

nDrenched in the rain, Sylvester returned to his room through the window. He knew questions were going to be raised against him about the whereabouts of the Princess, and before that happened, he had to deal with many things.

n“Chonky, wake up. The end game has arrived.” He woke up the snoring cat. “It’s going to be a long and tiring night full of battles, so prepare yourself.”

n“Hm? What happened? Did you take a bath?” Miraj woke up.

n“Princess Fernis was not the enemy we thought she was. Instead, she was the secret helper, giving us clues every so silently, allowing me opportunities to get close to her brothers and father. Let’s go; we need to check her chamber first. I have a feeling I’ll find what I’m looking for there.” Sylvester cleared all his luggage from the room and moved out.

nMiraj ate up all his toys, which were mainly pebbles and yarn balls. Then, he jumped onto Sylvester’s shoulder, ready to head out.

n“We go back home now?” He asked excitedly.

n“Yes, once we have Masan under control, we will be heading to the Holy Land. Tonight, let’s try to breakthrough as well, Chonky. But I will need your help in distracting the enemies if they attack me together.” Sylvester, this time, took out his Spear of Infinity, his ultimate weapon.

nThen, at last, before leaving, he sat down on the bed and took off the hollowed prosthetic that was covering the part of his missing leg. Now, there was a new leg, fully grown to its size with complete mobility.

nAt last, he also used a small blade to etch a few Elder Runes on his own body, mainly to help him heal in case of any injury or Solarium depletion. He needed all he could tonight, and falling unconscious wasn’t in his plans.

n“Let’s go.”

nFinally, he moved out and, without making any noise, entered Fernis’ chamber. It was as grand as ever, yet an overwhelming emptiness permeated the air. After learning about Fernis’ true nature, he did think about the tears she must have shed in the room, all alone.

n“Miraj, try to look for any secret trapdoor or a vault. Try to chase the scent of human flesh.” Sylvester ordered and began to look around himself. Thankfully, with the help of his control of Solarium Particles, he could sense when particles took extra time to pass through a wall, telling him if there was something hidden behind them.

nThey were quick and first aimed for any possible place for the hidden storage to be. In the ceiling, on the roof, and then finally, they came to the walls with paintings on them. Sylvester was careful not to touch anything stupidly, as it could trigger some sort of an alarm.

nSniff! Sniff!

n“Maxy, I smell leather here!” Miraj timely exclaimed and called. “Something under this tile.”

nSylvester rushed over and looked at the white marble with care. He checked if it had some sort of rune-based modular locker that Prince Jinn had made.

n“There’s certainly something inside here, but I see no runes. It looks like the Princess made this herself.” Sylvester knelt down and used a dagger to pluck up the marble piece.

nTick!

nA clicking sound came, and the entire marble tile popped up like a planned mechanism. Sylvester then easily took it off and looked, finding a small half-a-meter by half-a-meter cubical hole. A wooden box was inside it with no locks on it. However, over the box was a sheet of paper with only a few lines written on it.

n‘My amazing bard, you are not alone in this journey. I was ordered to get these human faces ready for you so that you may use them for…something? Long ago, I came to realize that I am merely a pawn for greater things, and I stopped questioning it—I hope you know the answers—with love, your Fenris.’

nSylvester sighed and burned the paper away. “The masks are for me?”

nHe opened the box and checked closely. Other than another letter, there were dozens of folded preserved faces of people spanning across genders, ages, and diverse ethnicities. He chose one and scrutinized it closely. “This can certainly help me tonight…Did she plan for this even before she met me? But she only met Solis after dying…”

nThere was too much confusion involved in the situation. A lot of questions remained unanswered, and even guessing about them was futile. Whenever he thought about Solis pulling the strings from somewhere, he just felt frustrated as he could feel all his plans were naked to the supposed God’s eyes.

n‘My peace won’t be mine without freedom from manipulation. It seems, In the end…All roads lead to the inevitable fallout between us.’

nFinally, he opened the letter left in the box. “It’s for Prince Jinn?”

nStill, for his own safety, he read the contents of the letter. He did feel pity for the girl, but he didn’t know her long enough to feel blind compassion. He still had to prioritize his own life above everyone else.

nAs Sylvester read the letter, he realized the reason why Fernis tried to introduce him to Jinn before. She genuinely loved this one brother of hers, as the man held no ambition to enter politics or fight for the throne. Just studying runes was enough for him, and of course, treating Fernis with affection.

n“Chonky, do you still have my Archbishop’s mitre?” He asked his furry friend. “I think I will be anointing someone as a Clergyman tonight.”

n“Jinn? He’s not the bad guy?” Miraj asked with interest. “We should kill everyone, Maxy…We can’t trust anyone. I don’t want to lose you again.”

nSylvester hummed in agreement. Indeed, the best option was to kill them all, but Jinn’s talents were too great to be wasted. “Let’s judge that when we meet him. For now, we have to go and deal with the Grand Wizards. We only have this night.”

nAfter spending a few more minutes scouring the chamber for more things, they decided to leave. But Sylvester needed to reach the underground dungeons for his next task.

n“Time to try the human faces.” Sylvester took out one human face belonging to a middle-aged man with brown skin, an unremarkable appearance. It felt slightly disgusting, but once he put it on, it felt like an extension of his own body.

nHe checked himself in the mirror carefully and changed his clothes to look like an ordinary servant in the castle. Regrettably, the new face he wore also belonged to a bald man, albeit with a beard, fortunately.

n“How do I look?”

nMiraj stared carefully. “Older, brown, and bald…Will you look like this when you get older, Maxy?”

n“…”

nSylvester glanced at himself in the mirror with terror in his eyes. “I hope not, Chonky…I sincerely hope not.” 𝒷𝓭ℴ𝓋𝓵.𝒸ℴ𝓶

nOnce Chonky stored his armor and other belongings, they finally set out to the underground dungeon. Given the vast size of the castle, the dungeon was also expected to be massive. Fortunately, Sylvester had already mapped out most of the passageways within the structure.

nOn his way, he changed his entire demeanor, from walking to speaking, to that of a servant of the castle. He had already met many of the servants and had seen their identification tokens. So it didn’t take him long to fabricate one that could allow him into the dungeon.

n“You!” a Knight suddenly called him. “Come here…Clean this floor here.”

nSylvester went close to the man, his head held low like a good servant. Someone had vomited on the floor, and he had to clean it.

n“I don’t have time for this.”

n“What d—Argh!”

nWithin a second, Sylvester stabbed the man in the heart and didn’t take the dagger out, preventing blood from splattering. With disbelief and confusion, the man fell down.

n“Chonky, quick!” He ordered.

nWithin a few seconds, the body vanished into Miraj’s belly, and Sylvester again made his way toward the dungeon. Of course, he was stopped a few more times by some random Knight tripping on power, and he graciously took their lives as a sacrifice.

nBy the time he reached the gates to the dungeon, he had killed about a dozen men, and the next target was the two men guarding the entrance.

n“Halt! Who are you? Never seen you here before.” One of the two asked.

nSylvester didn’t look up and acted cowardly. “Ah, Sir, forgive me… my companions have left work, so I was assigned to care for the respected Grand Wizards held inside.”

n“Grand Wizards?” One of the knights exclaimed.

n“Yes, Sirs…I am to bring them food as per their choice.” Sylvester answered. It was a fact that although five Grand Wizards had been imprisoned under the suspicion of theft from the royal treasury, they were still well cared for as the investigation yielded no results. They were only interrogated once; after that, they lived in the dungeon as if they were on vacation.

n“Fine, go and ask…bloody thieves.” One of the knights disdainfully scoffed and opened the gate.

nSylvester proceeded inside and waited until the door closed behind him with a loud bang. “Chonky, map the area.”

n“Aye, aye!”

nMeanwhile, Sylvester began to draw circular, layered runes on the gate so no one may enter and no sound could escape. To confront five Grand Wizards in one night would require his full power and element of surprise.

n‘Six years of training…let’s see where I stand.’

nAt last, he turned around and walked right in. It was called a dungeon but was reserved to detain high-ranking political prisoners. Hence, it resembled any other giant hall and chamber in the castle. Marble floor, tiled walls, curtains, torches all around, and a pleasant atmosphere altogether.

n“Maxy! They’re all playing table games.” Miraj flew back and announced.

nSylvester chuckled. “So much for being prisoners. Are they injured?”

n“Only bruised a little, and some had bandages,” Miraj answered.

nSighing, Sylvester changed into his armor and held the spear in hand. He lowered his helmet as well and began walking in while tapping the spear’s butt on the ground.

nClank!

nClank!

nSoon enough, drawn to the sound, the five Grand Wizards emerged from a room. Some were bare-chested, and some were clothed, but none of them carried any weapons.

n“Oh, did His Majesty send you? So we can leave now?” One of them asked, mistaking Sylvester for one of their Imperial Knights.

n“What’s with the spear?”

n“What’s your name?”

n“May the Holy Light enlighten us!” Sylvester assumed a fighting stance. “And yes, you can leave…this world.”

nThank you for reading. GT votes are much appreciated.

n