The Intruder

At the abandoned sewer beneath the empire's capital city, Anna Blackwater met Captain Edward Montfort a few days prior to her death. Only the two of them were aware of the rendezvous. The captain was concerned since it was so abrupt; Anna never meets him in secret.

"For you to meet me with such urgency, there must be a reason for this."

"I'm sorry for this sudden meeting, Ed; I need to ask you for a favor." She replied while removing the hood over her head.

"Please keep Einar safe."

***

A suffocating air envelops the room as the white-bearded man coldly stares at Captain Edward. This man was none other than the right hand and the chief advisor of the emperor, Duke Lukas Monfort. At an early age, Duke Lukas Montort demonstrates talent that is better than anyone else in his class. He was a master of both swordplay and magic (SWORDMAGE), the youngest person to hold the title of royal knight captain in the history of the Arkon Empire. He rose to the position of the emperor's right hand and chief advisor with these achievements.

To break the heavy atmosphere, one of the members of the council, Duke Alfred Buford, spoke.

"We will have the two of you talk; we can resume the meeting afterwards."

They empty the room, leaving the two of them; as soon as everyone leaves, Captain Edward conveys his words.

"Is the execution of this man necessary? How could an execution be the final verdict when there was a lack of evidence in this case?"

"Why are you here? You leave your post without any further notice." 

"Just answer my question, father."

"... I didn't make the decisions. I know you promised Anna to keep Einar safe, but there was nothing I could do. I'm sorry. The order came from above." Duke Lukas spoke with dejection.

"Who among them gives the order?" Ed asks with a baleful look. And on that same moment someone spoke from his back.

"I did." The Prince of the Arkon Empire, Corbin Drakonsideris, walks into the room with his escort knight on his side.

An unexpected surge of magic energy erupts in the room as he finishes speaking. The escort knight goes right in front of the prince, his hand on the hilt of the sword, ready to strike Captain Edward with the menacing vigor he demonstrated.

"Edward!" Duke Lukas mutters.

Hearing his father call for his name, the captain suppresses his magic energy at once.

"The man was clearly innocent; there was a lack of evidence to point him out as the culprit of Anna's death, yet you ordered the execution." The captain spoke calmly.

"I did the right thing, and you should be grateful that I got Anna the justice she deserves," the prince says.

"Right thing to do? And what about the genocide you did, burning the whole village and slaughtering its people?" With these words of the captain, the prince's demeanor changes into a cold stare.

"They attempted to prevent me from prosecuting that man." Then the prince turned and left, but after taking a few steps, the prince spoke.

"And by the way, you left your post without permission and showed a disrespectful act just now; it is punishable by law, but since you're Anna's friend and a hero of this empire, I will let this slide."

***

Night has come, and the busy streets of the city have quieted down. The soft glow of streetlights cast shadows on the pavement as the mysterious-looking man in a dark robe with a mask on his face walked alone on the streets towards the underground prison.

Step! Step!

"Hmm?!"

One of the guards moved a short distance from the entrance to investigate after spotting a silhouette in the shadows. His remarks caught the other's attention, and the others immediately turned to look at the man who was approaching.

"What's with this man?"

"Was there a notice for a visit at this hour from the warden?"

"No, there was no word from the warden."

The guards muttered with each other without taking their eyes off the mysterious man.

Hearing the others' conversation, Jack, one of the guards, napping at the corner with a greatsword beside him, rose while yawning, putting the greatsword on his back, and joined the others. With just a single glance at this approaching mysterious man, his complacent demeanor turned into a hard expression. Death! That is what his gut is telling him.

"Get ready; I'm having a bad feeling about this." Jackson said to the others in a whisper.

"Stop right there; take further steps, and we will apprehend you," Jackson barks while slowly reaching for his greatsword on his back.

But the mysterious man continuously walks toward them without showing a sign to cease his actions.

"I said stop!"

[CYRSTAL CAGE]

Woomp! A vibrating sound in the air.

A glass-like wall slowly builds up like bricks from the ground, covering the prison like a dome. The masked man creates a magic barrier, trapping the noise and restricting people from coming in and out.

Jackson and the others drop their jaws on what they just witnessed. The man just creates a high-tier magic barrier without chanting.

Ssshing! Ssshing! Ssshing!

With this display of power, Jackson's and the others' faces turned grim as they drew their swords. They knew right away that this person was no ordinary one.

As all of them were trying to grasp the situation, the masked man extended his hand suddenly; with just a flick of the man's finger, the three guards gradually fell down unconscious, except for Jackson.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Luckily, Jackson was once a knight of the empire, a talented one, but he quit and joined the ranks of prison guards due to his lazy and easy-going attitude. Thanks to his knighthood training, he got a high magic resistance against magic hypnosis.

The masked man cocked his head and spoke. "..... Hmmm?! You're quite sturdy just to be a guard in this prison." 

Jackson's eye locked on the masked man, gripping tightly the hilt of his greatsword.

'Shit! I quit from the empire knights and joined the prison guards to avoid this kind of stuff, but I just found one here. I can't even fathom his magic level. What a pain in the ass.'

Jackson takes an on-guard sword stance; the ground cracks, and he kicks up some dust as he rushes towards the masked man.

Jackson delivers a thrust aimed for the masked man's heart, but he twists his body to one side to evade the attack, and then Jackson swings his sword from the thrust into a vertical position, a heavy downward strike with his greatsword, but the masked man easily evades the attack, and his greatsword just passes its target and strikes down the ground.

Bam!

A loud explosion reverberates and shakes the earth beneath them.

'His quite fast for a mage.'

Jackson pulled out his sword from the ground and took an on-guard sword stance again, but this time, it was different; he used augment magic to amplify his speed and strength. Then Jackson gathers his magic energy on his greatsword; he intends to finish the masked man with a single strike, however.

"Eh?!" Jackson was suddenly dumbfounded; the masked man just closed the gap in a heartbeat, and a flash of light was right before his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time for this." The masked man muttered.

[INCINERATE]

Boom!

The explosion launched him like a rocket against the wall.

Thud! Jackson fell down, facing the ground.

His eyes slowly followed the masked man walking closely to the gate. 'A warmage. I thought they were wiped out during the Second Great War.' His vision went black.

The guards are already taken down, and the only thing that is left from stopping the masked man from going in is this enormous gate. The gate to 'TARTARUS.' The largest prison in the continent, located at the capital of the Arkon Empire, despite being the largest prison, it has only a few guards due to the reason that the gate was protected by magic, and it will be unlocked only with the use of magic codes, and only a few individuals know these magic codes: the guards, the warden, and the royal family.

The masked man scanned the enormous gate and extended his hand, touching its surface.

"They say it was an ancient magic they used to reinforce this gate."

[RADIX NAUFRAGII]

Magic circles appear as the gate suddenly shakes. He tried to crack the magic codes with the use of analysis magic.

Analysis magic is a low-tier, first-circle magic that is rather prevalent on the continent. This was typically employed by magic scholars to collect and analyze information about the structures of magic circles. However, the majority of magic users had little interest in this kind of magic; instead, they would typically select high-tier magic over low-tier and concentrate solely on creating a potent and destructive kind of magic for battle. But it would be different in the hands of someone who had truly grasped this magic.

Creak!

The gate slowly opened. The man removed his mask and used magic to enhance his vision to see in the dark as he entered the underground prison.

***

Clang!

Captain Edward hit the barrier with his sword imbued with mana, but it just absorbed the impact and distributed it all throughout the barrier.

 '....hmm?! I don't think I can destroy this barrier even with all my prowess.'

A soldier approached from his back and knelt down with his right leg.

"We have received word from the Magic Tower regarding your request for his help in this situation, Captain; however, the Master of the Magic Tower won't be available as of this moment and said you can handle this."

Captain Edward tutted internally.

"Tsk! That lazy old man. Prepared to evacuate the civilians."

'Let's hope this won't get ugly.' 

Captain Edward scanned the magic barrier from outside. He was stunned by the scene of an enormous barrier enveloping TARTARUS. A kind of magic that was comparable to the Master of the Magic Tower. He looked in the direction where a group of mages was trying to destroy the barrier, but even the empire's mages couldn't destroy the barrier or scratch it. Captain Eward clutches his chin; a lot of questions flood his mind while looking at the unconscious guards inside the barrier.

'.... What kind of person would infiltrate this prison without killing the guards? What are they aiming for, or who? 'There are no more valuable people inside the prison; all of them were executed after the Second Great War ended.'

Then the thought of Einar escaping entered his mind.

'No! Einar has no value; he is a peasant, a farmer in a small village in the southern part of the country. Why would someone infiltrate just to save him? He's a walking corpse already, a waste of time; it's a stupid act, and only fools would do it.'

Out of nowhere, Prince Corbin arrives at the scene with two escort knights on his side.

"What is the situation, Captain?"

'.... This is surprising; the prince never shows himself in this kind of matter, and he also got a new escort knight.'

"We are still finding a way to destroy the barrier; the mages are trying their best for half an hour though but still not enough. Whoever made this barrier is quite powerful. Still, I don't know what the motive is; there are no prisoners who had value inside." He replied while gazing at the barrier.

"There is one, Einar." The prince replied in a glacial tone.

With the words of the prince, Captain Ed frowned, looking at him, and asked. "Is there something I should know about your highness?"

"Just get the soldiers prepared, Captain. Whoever this man is, he must not leave this place with that prisoner."

"Destroy the barrier." With the words of the prince, the new escort knight in black armor steps forward and holds out his hands as if they were a sword in his chest; a brilliant light flashes as the sword gradually materializes in the escort knight's hands.

At the same moment, Captain Edward's eyes rose on what he just witnessed. 'Impossible!'

"What is the meaning of this, Prince Corbin? How the hell did you manage to acquire that sword?" Captain Edward spoke in rage.

"How I acquired the swords is not your concern, Captain; just follow my orders and prepare your men for this skirmish."

The captain can't help but clench his teeth. He is a soldier of the Empire; he had an oath to protect and follow orders from the royal family without asking.

***

Drip!

A drop of tears hit Einar's face.

Einar was woken up by the teardrop of the unknown man. He was holding Einar in his arms, shivering, caused by guilt and rage.

"I'm sorry, I was late."

Einar was confused about what was happening. The room was pitch-black; there was no way for him to recognize this person, but he sensed pain in the man's voice.

He had a lot of questions in his mind that needed to be answered, but the man in front of him was providing a means of escaping the prison. He decided to trust the man. Though he already accepted death, in his heart, he wants to leave the hellish prison.

"... I have a request; will you bury me beside my family?" He muttered.

"Let's go home." The unknown man spoke with a warm voice.

[VOID GATE]

A magic circle beneath them appears, but it disintegrates suddenly.

'What?! My teleportation magic was canceled. Did they manage to break the barrier? But that would be impossible since there are no mages around in the Empire capable of doing it. And for the Magic Tower's Master, he has never left his tower since the second great war ended. Who could possibly destroy the barrier?'

***

Step! Step! Step!

The masked man walks out from the gate of TARTARUS carrying Einar on his back, and he slowly places Einar at the wall side of the gate. "Just hang on there; we will be home soon."

The masked man casts a barrier for Einer to protect him from the battle that's going to happen any moment. Turns his back and takes steps further from Einar.

"Where did I hear this voice? I think I heard it before." Einar muttered.