Chapter 85: Shadow Guard (8)
Edited by: Kuro and Lille
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After a week of preparations, Prince Cecil and Grey had gotten news of the Associations' assassins coming their way. They would attack at night when Prince Zachary was asleep. The assassins were ordered to kill everyone in the mansion regardless of their gender or age. In the end, they had to burn the whole estate to the ground with everyone and everything inside it.
"It seems he has derailed," Grey mumbled to himself. In the original timeline, he didn't kill and burn like this. The assassins' original orders were to only kill Prince Zachary.
Prince Cecil sneered. "It seems eldest brother had become angry that nothing was going his way."
Prince Zachary was in shock, unable to utter a word or even move. No one had ever hated him this intensely. He was always kind and gentle to everyone around him regardless of their social status. He just wanted to be a painter. It was the only way he knew how to spread his compassion and love, but there was someone who wanted him dead just because of his identity as a Prince. He didn't want this title nor did he want this blood, why didn't his brother understand that?
"Your Highness, it is the fault of your brother's identity, which is why he wants you dead."
The two princes looked over at Grey in confusion.
"His identity?" Prince Zachary asked, still confused.
Prince Cecil looked at the file in Grey's hands. It seems he had finished investigating Prince Levi and finally decided to say something.
"That's correct. Prince Levi is actually not the son of Emperor Emeron, nor is he even remotely blood-related to anyone in this continent."
"Eh?"
"Ah, he is a Prince of the Liyas Empire, isn't he?" The quick-thinking Prince Cecil immediately understood.
Looking over at Prince Zachary, it looked like he was having difficulty putting all the information together.
"That's correct, Master. When the Empress gave birth to the real Prince Levi, a couple of days later, the Liyas Empire had switched the real Prince Levi with the current one, whose real name was once Prince Javir. The whereabouts of the real Prince Levi are unknown."
"And that bastard has known about this?"
"Of course. He had been told from a young age who he really was and his grand purpose. Even though he was a 'Prince', his mother was a maid who looked like the Empress of Uferna. She was raped by the Emperor of Liyas and then shipped to the Uferna Empire. Though she had already passed, Prince Levi still has several people around him who are from and in contact with the Liyas Empire."
Prince Cecil sneered as he heard that and looked through the file that Grey had just handed him. It was more detailed in the file, but reading it made him even more disgusted.
"After this is done, look for our real older brother. He must be here, somewhere."
"Understood, Master."
Even he and System 225 didn't know where the real First Prince was since he wasn't a part of the actual story. He could only hope that he was still alive somewhere in the Empire. If he wasn't in the Empire, it was very likely he wouldn't be able to find him. System 225 didn't have those kinds of cheats anyway.
System 225 didn't have a lot of system cheats. The only thing he could do was tell 18 the world plot and story, stalk the main characters of those worlds, and hold his stuff. There wasn't a system store or a place to learn skills, so Grey was mostly working with his effort.
Grey had to struggle on his own if he wanted to learn skills. He had to practice and train 10 times harder than most. It helped if the body was naturally gifted at something, but if he wanted to learn something new, he would have to learn from the beginning.
But after a very long time of doing all sorts of things, he was bound to pick skills up and remember them. He has been alive for thousands of years after all...
"18, let's do the final preparations and give my older brother a show."
"Yes, Master!"
Grey disappeared back into the darkness with Number 30 to get the other Shadow Guards ready.
****
When night descended upon them, they all got into place. There were 5 access points and there were two Shadow Guards per section. Grey and Prince Cecil stayed with Prince Zachary since he didn't know how to fight.
Prince Zachary was sitting on his bed in his nightgown, a little afraid of what was to come, but he knew this had to be done. He wasn't a fighter at all. From a very young age, he had cast aside fighting and picked up pencils and brushes. Even though he somewhat regretted this as he wanted the means to protect himself, he still knew he had done what his heart wanted.
"Zach, do not worry. You have the strongest Shadow Guard and the Knight Commander to protect you." Prince Cecil tried to help calm Prince Zachary's state of mind.
Zachary, who was anxious, finally sighed in relief as he nodded. "Thank you, Cecil." He knew that he couldn't ever repay Cecil for his kindness.
.
.
.
.
In the dead of the night, the first set of assassins, well bandits dressed as assassins, entered through the building. They had entered just as planned, one by one through windows and the back door. They saved the Prince's room for last as they plundered through the rooms to find the servants.
They were told to kill all the servants. Stealing whatever they wanted was what came with the job as bandits. They could keep it and sell it later as that was the rules of their organization. As long as you finish the mission, it doesn't matter…
They slowly opened the doors to the servants' rooms but didn't see anything. They thought it was a coincidence but after going into a few more rooms, they realized something was wrong.
In a whisper, a man asked his partner, "Where are the servants?"
He turned around to find his partner on the ground, blood coming from his mouth, mouthing something that he could not hear.
'Behind you.'
The other man quickly looked around before he felt a piercing pain in his chest. Blood quickly filled his lungs and throat before he was tossed mercilessly on the ground, not knowing how he had died.
(This area, cleared.) Number 30 signed to his comrade.
(These bandits aren't anything special. It's funny how the Association doesn't take the Crown Prince seriously.) Number 29 scuffed as he signed back.
30: (We must hide to make sure there aren't any more intruders. We can't underestimate the enemy.)
29: (Understood.)
In other areas, they were being protected and guarded in similar ways.
In particular, Blaine, who wasn't able to conceal his Aura or presence was becoming the focus of attacks. He had three Shadow Guards around him as he was fending off 10 enemies on his own. He was like the tank of the party, grabbing all the aggro.
His use of Aura made it a bit easier to manage as his halberd was used to defend as well as attack. He took down quite a few people on his own while the rest were being slaughtered by the other Shadow Guards.
When all the intruders died, the Shadow Guards looked at the man whose body was covered in blood. He looked like a madman on the battlefield, ready to take the blood of their enemies as a tribute to the Gods.
Number 17 signed to his partner, Number 16. (For a Royal Knight, he is strong. Kind of like his Commander but a bit weaker. He could still hold his ground though. His growth in the future will be nice to see.)
16: (Yeah.)
Number 26: (Well, this was fun.)
"I understand you all have your own way of communication, but please don't leave me out." Blaine pouted.
He was the only one besides his Commander and Prince Zachary who wasn't a Shadow Guard! No fair. He wanted in on this new form of communication!
Number 17 coughed. "Apologies. I keep forgetting that it isn't just us Shadow Guards."
Number 16 immediately shut everyone up as he heard a noise. He mouthed as he signed. (Another intruder. Move out.)
By the end of the night, Blaine and the other Shadow Guards killed more than 50 bandits. A bit more than they predicted...
****
"Brother... I can hear fighting but..." Prince Zachary called out to his brother who was standing by his bed.
"Shh. They are saving this place for last. Just lay down. 18 and I will make sure they won't even have the chance to lift your bed curtain."
"Hmm..." He nodded his head before he laid down and got comfortable.
He wasn't holding any weapons or wearing any armor. What good could it do when he didn't even know how to hold a weapon properly? He could only trust 18 and Prince Cecil to get him through this night.
The moment he closed his eyes, he heard something climb through his window.
"Sleeping?" The man softly whispered to his partner.
Prince Zachary knew the assassins were in his room, but where was his brother?
"Seems like it. Scout the place. We have to make sure there's no one hiding in here. It was reported he had Shadow Guards assigned to him by the Emperor. We must kill them first."
They were whispering. If a person was sleeping, they wouldn't have heard these men talking. However, it was foolish as they didn't understand the nature of Shadow Guards. If a Shadow Guard wanted to hide in the shadows, they would stay hidden.
In the world plot, Number 18 was the one who killed Prince Zachary. The other Shadow Guards could only helplessly watch as they knew they couldn't beat the man even when putting their forces together.
Prince Zachary could hear a few more voices so he knew there was more than one assassin.
"Clear."
"Good."
Where in the world was his brother?! Even Number 18?! Anyone??
Before he could even open his eyes, he heard a grunt before something hit the ground.
"What the hell?! Where did that attack come from?!"
"Are you sure you are assassins or just a bunch of rogues?" That was the last thing the man heard before he felt a sword pierce through his chest. He wasn't even able to reply before he was tossed to the ground. Prince Cecil flicked his sword to get the blood off of it.
"These aren't assassins..." Grey had jumped out of the shadows, wiping the blood off of his daggers. He killed the last couple of enemies that crawled in. "The Association wouldn't send their assassins for something like this... It seems they don't take Prince Levi seriously seeing as how they made a bunch of bandits dress up as their assassins..."
Grey used his dagger to lift the black mask off the man's face to see a bearded man with a scar down the right side of his face. "Assassins aren't allowed to have facial hair, you see. Leaving any kind of evidence, whether it be blood, hair, or prints is not allowed."
Even the so-called assassins in the forest were just a bunch of bandits hired by the Association. If they were real assassins, this mission would've been even more difficult.
That's how you knew?! Prince Cecil and Prince Zachary couldn't help but exclaim.
Prince Zachary wanted to cry as he sat up in his bed. It was such an exhausting week that all he wanted to do was cry for a bit and then paint his frustrations!
"Wait... Why doesn't the Association take Eldest Brother seriously?" Prince Zachary asked, confused out of his mind.
Prince Cecil didn't know the answer so he looked over at Number 18.
"This may be a hunch, but the Association probably knows that he isn't the real Prince Levi..." Grey closed his eyes and thought about everything, the plot, the world, and even the clues left behind by the people around him...
He may have gotten one step closer to finding the real Prince Levi.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
MakusCorner
MakusCorner Mini theatre by kuro_kama:
Blaine: “searching for reliable and experienced sign language tutor asap. waiting online.”
Grey who saw this: System, should I teach him?
System 225: ...
Grey: System?... 225?! Why aren’t you replying?
System 225 could almost see what the next search in God System’s Search would be.
“my lover is teaching sign language to that same ‘another’ man. what to do? waiting online”
Lille: *gasp* Could the real Prince Levi be…?
Grandpa Marky: Hey everyone, I will be posting the last three chapters of this arc tomorrow! I will see you all then. Have a lovely day/night my beautiful grandchildren :D
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