章 125: The Eclipse Festival
"So, your name is Zero?" asked Hamil as he stood face to face with the man in black who carried a black-flamed sword. Both their swords were clashing with one another yet for some reason, no sparks or a clinking noise was heard from the interaction of their weapons.
It was as if their own weapons weren't made out of any material at all to cause a sound.
"...Hmm, that's right. I'd like to formally introduce myself to you, Hamil Crux." he said as he continues to slash away with the intent to kill.
"I think we've already moved past far from our formal introductions, so lets get straight to the point." said Hamil as he holds his ground against the black-masked man.
"Indeed, we should." as Zero said those words, the flames in his sword grew bigger and with it he slashed down on Hamil with the intent to incapacitate him, and in response, Hamil saw this growing power within the sword. To counter the slash, he conjured ten layers of Shields in front of him and merged them into a thicker barrier, but as the sword came clashing in, the barrier simply broke like glass.
"!?" Hamil had to jump back a few feet as quick as he could, but Zero was able to dash forward again to strike with the same amount of power.
'Whats up with that sword? Its not normal in any account.' thought Hamil as he tried to parry the strike but it only resorted into Zero breaking is mana sword like glass as usual.
*Crack~*
As the sword broke, Hamil had to quickly bring out another sword on hand, one that was clad in his shadow skin.
It was only but a quick second, but Hamil was able to conjure it.
'This bastard…' Zero was smirking behind his mask as he noticed the quick conjuring skill that Hamil had shown in their battle. It was only about half a second and Hamil had already conjured a weapon to counter his sword. And it wasn't just any normal mana sword, but one that was enveloped by the same skill that was plastered on his entire skin. The Shadow Skin.
The moment the shadow-skin sword and the flaming black sword clashed, a strange screech was suddenly produced in the two swords interaction.
In that one clash, a sound of unknown origin made the two of them stop fighting.
"..."
"..."
Both were staring at each other with the hopes of getting an answer to where that voice came from, but as they looked at their swords, both were completely cracked.
With the Flaming Black sword chipped at its blade, Zero looked to Hamil with a frown on his face behind his mask.
Hamil on the other hand looked to his sword and saw that his sword was also chipped…
Both swords had the same amount of damage given to one another…and both knew what this implied…
'His Shadow skin skill is strong…' thought Zero.
'His weapon is strong.' thought Hamil
And with that realization, Zero puts away his weapon and looks to Hamil with a rather curious gaze on his expression, although it was hidden within his mask. And Hamil puts away his weapon as well.
"...How are you able to temper the shadow skin to that level of ?" asked Zero.
"You should know, after all your also using Shadow skin. " asked Hamil as he lowers his shadow skin all down to his neck, showing his entire face to Zero.
"...not at the same capacity as you." as Zero said this, he took of his mask and showed his face.
"!?" as Hamil saw the features of his face, he was shock to find Zero as a man with a scar on his face. A scar so vile, it made Zero look like a monster.
It was like the skin of his face was put inside out and worn by Zero himself…it wasn't a good look by all accounts. And the Shadow skin that was on his face wasn't all the way up to his face just like Hamil was, it was only up to the lower end of his mouth.
"You should know how parasitic this skill is to use when one is not capable of handling it with the right will…as you can see, the scars of my face is the end result of such folly." said Zero.
"...I don't think the shadow skin is capable of eating on flesh." said Hamil.
"A Shadow skin reflects on a man's hidden fear…With its power that grants strength and armor, it comes with a hidden ego that swallows the user if he is not careful, if one is swallowed by the shadow, one's hidden ego will emerge and will never let go. The scar on my face is the result of my blunder."
"..."
"So I'm curious…for you to be capable of enveloping yourself fully on the Shadow skin must mean that you have no fear…or, you were able to conquer your fear."
"..."
"Fear by all accounts is only conquered by those with great will…so it must mean that you're a man with great will…a man with great potential." said Zero as he slowly puts back his mask.
As he does so, the unconscious men scattered on the floor started to rise up and walked up to his back. Slowly but surely, they gathered themselves as a group.
"I'm sorry for intruding in to your home at such short notice, but I only came here with the intention to see who you are as a fair brother in play with the clan…now that I saw how capable you are, I hope that once we meet again, we can do fairly well with one another."said Zero as he then chants a strange magic under his foot.
"Oh, and my master said to give you this." Said Zero as he tossed an item to Hamil's direction.
Having to catch it by hand, Hamil received a small box that was gift-wrapped with a weird seal all over it.
"This time, its an actual gift." said Zero as a smirk shows on the back of his mask.
and with it, as Zero was able to give Hamil the gift, a shadow like hole started sucking them in to itself. In just under five seconds, the shadow hole was able to devour all sixteen men in that yard and it disappeared like nothing happened.
"...Weirdo." said Hamil as he started making his way to the owls who landed near the tree.
Having checked on their condition, it was safe to say that the owls were only given a scratch from their fights against the dozen or so people who attacked them. by his measurement of their strength, it was surely accurate to state that almost all of the people who attacked him were around C-rank at best. And only Zero was around B-rank…the same level as Hamil was.
"Now then...lets get everything cleaned up." said Hamil as he starts cleaning up the whole left by those people.
***Fifteen minutes later***
Everything was now speck and span clean…right back to before it was ruined. Thanks to genesis, it was easy to clean the mess.
And with it, Aunt Mary came home just in time…along with a man that wasn't familiar to Hamil.
"I'm back Hamil, how were things while I was gone?" asked Mary.
"Good. Nothing so bothersome happened while you were out."
"Okay, Oh, I forgot to introduce you…this is Master Yukashi, he was once great friends with your Father. If I'm ever away on a mission, you can rely on him if you have trouble with the clan's ways."
"You have really grown a lot since I last saw you, how was life in the city?" asked Master Yukashi as he tried acting nice to Hamil.
"You were friends with my Father?" asked Hamil.
"Yeah, we go way back in the day when we were students in the clan." said Yukashi as he reminisced on the past.
"Come on, lets go and get ready for the Eclipse festival." said Aunt Mary as she handed me a bag with a pair of clothes inside it.
From the context of her handing him these clothes, it seems like all three of them were going to the festival to enjoy the celebration of the coming saint.
"We're going?" asked Hamil.
"Yeah, before you were admitted into studying inside the clan, you were always taken to that festival by your mother and father. You were pretty young then, so you probably didn't remember a lot about it, but a lot of the villagers went and prepared a whole course of food that you can splurge on. So come on, it's a great time to experience the village once again after five years of being away." said Mary as she tries to persuade Hamil into coming.
"O-okay then." having seeing no faults with it, he agreed to come.
And as he agreed, a soft smile appeared on Mary's face…one that felt as reminiscing of the past.
"Come on, go and get ready in your room." said Mary.
And as Hamil wore the traditional clothing of the villagers, he came out of his room wearing something that resembled that of a yukata.
"Hmm, nice." said Hamil as he walks out with his arms crossed.
As he walks out of his room, wearing the yukata, he was greeted outside by his aunt with a smile and a smirk from Yukashi
"Aww…You look so cute~~"said Mary as she came and hug her nephew tightly.
"Ah…T-thanks." said Hamil awkwardly as he tries to get away from her hug, but being an S-ranked assassin, it wasn't easy.
As he finally gets free, they made their way to the festival, but before they could, Hamil had to ask permission for something."
"Can I bring the owls with me?" I asked.
"Hmm, as long as they behave. But sure why not…I'm sure the kids would enjoy seeing these animals out in the open." said Mary.
And with it, Hamil called out to the owls and they followed with their cute little steps to where the festival was happening.
As they walked side by side, Yukashi stared at the moon and saw the upcoming event happening.
"Hmm, the eclipse is happening earlier than expected." he said.
"About an hour from now, it should start happening then…" said Mary.
"Will St. Gara really appear?" asked Hamil as he looked at the moon as well in that night.
"Oh yeah…He will definitely appear. And once he does, he tells the whole village of the upcoming nature of our years upcoming activities…mostly he tells the condition of the crops and the nature of the Island's development towards the future. Something like a foresight of sorts." said Yukashi.
"Is that all?" asked Hamil.
"Well…no. Its not known to the people not apart of the clan, but after the message that St. Gara tells, he'll move on to visit his Daughter…the princess of this island." said Yukashi.
"Hmm…If he's a father, he has a daughter, then who's the wife?" asked Hamil insensitively.
"Hmm, no one really knows…but it was said that one day, on an unusual period of time, St. Gara visited the Island without the use of a lunar eclipse and on his arms was a baby, the princess. He said that it was his daughter and that he had the elders care for the princess. Without asking for anything, the elders accepted the Saints request." explained Yukashi.
"There should have been a history book about this in the clans library, haven't you read about it when you were young?" asked Mary.
"No…sorry." said Hamil as he tries to act innocent on this manner. But in truth..he knew the secret of this whole ordeal.
The truth is…St. Gara isn't the father of this said Princess. He was simply the Godfather…one who protects the princess under the order of a certain God's request. A God that gave seed to a mortal woman…
In other words…the Princess was a Demigod.
A powerful one at that.
Although no one other than the Elders has seen the face of the princess, it was said that she was beauty comparable to that of a Diamond shining under the moonlight. She was a saint of mercy and mission…one that could predict the world's turning and stopping…
She was one that could read the fates of the world and its people.
Just like Randull, the Great Divine who was capable of looking into the fates of the people, she was one that was purely for the talent of foresight.
She had no talents for all magic like Randull, but she was superior in the aspects of foresight. It was a natural born gift given to her at birth. With her added gift lended to the elders, the missions became more large at scale compared to what was usually given…each word of mission she spoke was filled with priority as it was all true to its core. Where once before she was brought into the clan, the missions were mostly filled for assassination, but now with her presence of mind and order, each mission given out was specific and prioritized.
But despite being a Demigod, she was living at the pace of what was normally made for mortals. She aged just like that of a person who lived day by day…now she is at the age of 18…and as she ages, her powers only grow with such ripening.
As Hamil and the other finally arrived at the festival, it was already crowded with villagers all over the place. With stalls of food by the side and games as well, it was a festival filled with colors and joy.
"Oh look, the people are starting ceremonial Eclipse dance, we should go and join in on the fun." said Mary.
"No thanks, I'll just watch on the side." said Hamil.
With that said, Mary just smiled and grabbed on Yukashi as they both danced along with the other villagers.
Seeing the faces of these people enjoy the festival, it wouldn't seem like this place was anything at all like what the novel would describe, where it was blood-filled and strict to its core, if anything, the island was at peace And no hands uninvited could touch this land.
Hamil enjoyed himself by eating at the stalls with the owls, playing games with the children who were interested at the owls. He even made some of them ride the owls up to the air…it was fun to see just how much people were enjoying the company of the owls.
And at some point, the students who follows under Mary also came by to enjoy the festival.
Tenshin, Eloise, Mark, and Elven came with greetings. They joined Hamil as he tried to watch over the children playing with the owls.
"...so, you worried about the test tomorrow?" asked Tenshin, the Gal who was hugging the fluffy owl by her side.
"Why wouldn't I be? You guy said it yourself that its almost impossible to survive those test being that its one of the hardest." said Hamil with a nervous smile on his face.
"Hmm, but you don't sound worried at all." said Elven as he looks to Hamil with a curious eye.
"Yeah, it sounds like your actually looking forward to it." said Eloise curiously as well.
"And what about Teacher Mary, how is she holding up with all of this happening?" asked Mark.
"I think she's trying to make herself busy…keeping her mind off the trials by having fun with Master Yukashi." said Hamil as he pointed to Aunt Mary out by one of the stalls, eating with Yukashi.
"It does look like she's enjoying herself." said Tenshin.
"...hey ,wanna visit the shore after this?" asked Mark
"Why would I go to the shore?" asked Hamil.
"Why not? Its fun seeing the huge waves clash against the sand and we can even swim on the sea if you guys are interested." said Mark.
"...I'm interested, but I'm not swimming." said Eloise.
"Me too." said Tenshin.
"I can swim, my house is just by the shore, we can swim right by my house if you guys want to." said Elven.
"..."
"And you Hamil?" asked Mark.
"...I-"
But before Hamil could answer, a bell suddenly rings across the festival streets, and all of the lights by the stalls and streets turned dark.
It was pitch black by then…and the only light source was the moon.
It was finally time for the finale of the Eclipse Festival.
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