by V. A. Lewis
"Ah, that would be quite problematic for you, then."
"And why would that be the case?"
"Because not everyone who does magic is dangerous. Whereas everyone in the Dark Crusaders are very much so. If you can’t differentiate the two, you could get hurt."
"How so?!" The guard from Bys nearly tore his hair out.
"Well, take a look at her. She’s just someone who does magic. You can tell she’s not a Dark Crusader since she hasn’t killed you yet. Not very dangerous."
The young man pointed down at me, and I blinked. He continued.
"Meanwhile, take a look at me." The young man pointed back at himself, and a grin spread across his face. "I’m a Dark Crusader, and I’m very dangerous."
Then there was a glow. A magic circle formed at the tip of his staff, as he pointed it at the other man.
The man tried to step back, but he was too slow. The wind blade cut halfway into his neck; he collapsed onto his knees, wide eyed, and trying to speak. But nothing came out. He fell and slowly drowned in his own blood.
The young man stepped over the dying man, and walked up to me. I instinctively backed up, but he raised his hands placatingly.
"Calm down. I’m a friend," he said reassuringly.
"W-who—" I took a deep breath, and cleared my throat. "Who are you? Why did you help me?"
I knew he said he was from the Dark Crusaders, and was a friend, but I didn’t know who he was; he could have his own plans for me. Why should I trust him just because he helped me?
I had to know. I felt the mana in the world around me, and prepared myself. Just to be safe.
The young man glanced at my fingertips, then back at me.
"Ah, I can see that you’re cautious. But I can assure you, I am no enemy. So please, be at ease. There’s no need to have a spell at hand."
My eyes widened, and he smirked.
I hadn’t even done any magic yet; there were no magic circles and no glowing light. I did not cast a spell, only preparing myself to cast a spell. Yet he could tell. How did he kn—
"How did I know?" the young man snorted. "That was what you were thinking, was it not?"
I slowly nodded my head, and relaxed a little. Only then did he lower his hands.
The young man looked at me from head to toe, then drew one foot back and lowered his upper body. At the same time, he brought one hand up to his chest, and the other to behind his back. He bowed and scraped, as I stared blankly at him.
"Well, to answer that and your first question: I am first and foremost a Dark Acolyte such as you. But beyond that, I am a child genius who picked up the study of magic far later than he would have liked but was still given the title of a Disciple. I am also a member of the Dark Crusaders, a rather famous organization which I am certain you are acquainted with. My given name is Victorianus, although I prefer to be simply called ‘Victor’ by my peers."
Victor held his bow for a few more seconds, before he spoke again. "Ah, and to answer your second question—"
The young man slowly returned to a standing position. He straightened his robes, and cleared his throat. He met my gaze, and then he grinned.
"I helped you because you are the daughter of the Fiend."
Chapter 25: Dark Crusader
"I helped you because you are the daughter of the Fiend."
Victorianius Valens, or simply Victor, spoke casually. He had never met the little girl prior to this moment, and yet he knew what he was speaking to be true. She was the child of Valeria Aimy Corinna.
That was the conclusion he had reached just earlier.
The young man had spotted her almost an hour earlier, back near the entrance of the city. And although her face was partially obscured, Victor— astute as he was— spotted the rare black hair and unique silver eyes even so. With that observation, he had formed a simple hypothesis. The girl had to be related to the Fiend.
But in what way?
Black hair as a human meant she was of the Corinna family, but that did not necessarily mean she was the Fiend’s daughter. Silver eyes however, was a trait that only the former-Lady Valeria and her mother were known to possess. And still, that did not confirm anything.
But Victor was both a genius and an intellectual. His curiosity had been piqued, and he was not just going to let his question go unanswered
The blue haired man followed the girl and monitored her every action. He took note of everything she did, and paid attention to the movement of the mana surrounding her.
After all, if she was the Fiend’s daughter, it was highly likely that she was taught magic by her mother. And at the end of the day, a child is a child. So even if she was as prodigal as her mother, she would have not had the maturity to hold herself back from doing magic involuntarily.
Victor was disappointed when there was no disturbance in the ambient mana during the whole incident at the fruit stand. However, he did not let that cloud his judgement, and he continued his observation. Finally, his dedication paid off.
The girl was chased through an alleyway by a man trying to sell her into slavery. Victor did not follow them in, because that would have been too conspicuous. Instead, he focused on the mana around the vicinity of the alley.
And when the mana in the air was not just momentarily disrupted, but also fully manipulated, Victor finally came to his conclusion. The same conclusion that he had just presented to the subject herself.
The girl was the Fiend’s daughter.
Victor looked down at her. He saw a wide eyed stare. Her jaws were wide open, working for words to say. Such a deduction could have only been made by one as brilliant as he was.
The young man couldn’t help but revel in the moment. His lips curled up to a smirk, as the girl looked on at him amazed. Just like how he predicted her thoughts, and noticed her pre-spellcasting, he had left her dumbfounded.
There was nothing to say. Nothing but praise, perhaps. And even then, how could you articulate it? Victor did not know, but he waited to hear her comments. Waited for her to find the right words to say.
And finally, she spoke.
"...who?"
***
Many thoughts were flying through my mind at the moment. They were mostly questions like who was this ‘Fiend’? How was I her daughter? What was this guy even talking about? Was he mistaking me for someone else? Suffice to say, I was very confused right now.
I thought he would elaborate, but he just stared at me expectantly. So I said the only thing that was in my mind at the moment: who?
I guess that was not the reply he was waiting for, since the smile vanished off his face; the young man frowned, and placed a hand on his chin.
"...the Fiend?"
"Yes. Who’s that?" I asked dumbly.
"Lady Valeria."
"Uh, I still don’t know who that is."
"Valeria Aimy Corinna!" Victor snapped. He raised his hands and waved it in the air wildly. "A former Lady of the Ducal house Corrina in the Holy Xan Empire! She was disgraced and disowned when she was found to be a heretic, and went on to become one of the founding members of the Shadow’s Evangelium. That’s who the Fiend is!"
"Oh…" I blinked. The Shadow’s Evangelium? I recognized that! That was the organization my mom was in. Which means— "You mean my mom?" I asked.
"That’s what I said!" he shouted.
Victor looked ready to tear all his hair out; I sort of understand his frustration since I probably should have realized who this ‘Fiend’ was earlier just by context clues alone, but I’ve only ever known my mother as… Aria.
Although mom taught me a lot of things about this world, she never liked talking about her past life much; I had only ever gotten bits of information which I used to piece together a rough idea of her history, but I never knew she was called the ‘Fiend’.
"I see." I nodded my head slowly. But Victor did not seem satisfied with my reaction.
The young man had his arms crossed, and was tapping his fingers impatiently, a
s if he was expecting me to say something else. I continued to stare at him for a few more seconds before I finally spoke. "What?"
The tapping stopped. Victor’s eyebrows furrowed for a second, then he took a deep breath and sighed. "Is there anything you want to say? Anything you want to ask?"
"Uh,"— I raised my eyebrows and shrugged— "does that mean I’m a Duke’s daughter…?"
Victor inhaled sharply, and pinched the bridge of his nose. This time, I was the one to frown.
"I’m sorry Mr Victor, but I don’t even know you. What do you want from me?"
Victor just shook his head and muttered under his breath. "Nevermind."
"What? I’m curious now! Come on, what was I supposed to say?" I threw both arms in the air, but he ignored me.
"So, you are the Fiend’s daughter." Victor inclined his head to the side.
"Oh— uh, I guess so?"
"Interesting. And I take it by her absence and you being on your lonesome, that something has happened to her: either death or abandonment?"
I felt a pain strike my chest; for a moment, I almost couldn’t find the voice to speak, but I managed to utter a few words. "That’s… blunt. But it’s the former. She— my mom’s dead."
"Ah." Victor nodded his head. "You have my condolences. The Fiend—"
"Can you please stop calling her that?" I stared up at the young man. "I don’t think she likes the name. If she did, she would’ve told me about it. But she didn’t." My voice came out soft, barely a whisper.
Victor blinked, then sighed. "Very well. You have my apologies and my condolences. But the Fi— your mother, was someone I looked up to. Truth be told, I would have loved to have met her, but she disappeared when I was only a child. Believe me, her loss is truly a tragic one for us all."
"Thank you." I bowed my head slightly.
"Of course." Victor rubbed a finger on his nose and sniffed. "Now, I’m sure you have more questions to ask of me, and I do have some for you as well. But I don’t believe it would be wise for us to stand around here any longer," he spoke casually.
"Why not?" I blinked.
But he was not listening. Victor had thrown his hood over his head, and was now digging into his bag; he grabbed a shirt and tossed it at me. "Cover your head with this," he said simply.
I did as I was told, but the question still remained on my mind. "Wait, but why rush?" I glanced down at the dead man at his feet and pointed. "You killed him, didn’t you? We’re fine for now... right?"
"Well, in any other scenario, I’m sure we’d be able to stay in the city for at least a day or two before they discover who did this. But"— he gestured around at the alleyway around us— "people do live in these houses. And this man was shouting quite loudly about your… ‘heresy’."
The realization sunk in before he even finished. But it took me a second to work my mouth.
"You mean that—"
"City guards will be arriving right about… now."
"Halt!" a voice bellowed into the alley from the outside. About half a dozen guards armed with swords and spears were gathering at the exit, and more were on their way.
"Right on cue." Victor gave me a smirk, then turned to face the exit.
I felt my heart begin to race as I stared at the carefully encroaching guards; they had their weapons raised and were shouting something at us. I backed up, hurriedly speaking. "Wait— what do we do?"
"Didn’t I tell you? I’m a Dark Crusader." The young man did not even turn around to face me. He took a step forward. "Do you at least know what that means?"
I blinked. Everything I ever learned about them flew through my head. And I realized, I did know that meant, actually.
"That means you’re a terrorist." I frowned.
"Well, I prefer the term zealot. But you are correct." Victor raised his staff and pointed it at the guards. "I am indeed a terrorist."
Then a red magic circle flashed in the air in front of him, and a ball of fire flew at the exit.
The Fireball landed right outside the alley, detonating behind the fleeing guards. A loud, ringing noise filled my eardrums as the explosion blasted a crater on the brick road, crumbling parts of the stonework on the walls closest to it. The shockwave knocked me off balance, and I began coughing as wispy gray smoke filled my vision.
I felt a hand grab me, pulling me upright; Victor steadied me on my feet, and turned my face to him. His mouth was moving. It was like he was saying something, but I could barely make it out.
"I can’t hear you!" I yelled back at him and pointed to my ear.
Victor grasped me by the shoulders, and leaned over my ear. "Follow me. Just trust me." He whispered.
I blinked as sound and sight returned. And then felt myself being pulled along by the man.
"I—" I tried to speak, but a cough came out instead.
We burst out of the alleyway. My gaze swung across the street, glazing over the charred bodies of the guards. Screams and shouts came from all around me as civilians ran in terror. But I didn’t have time to take all this in.
More guards poured out from a street in the distance. Victor tugged at my arm, and we ran the other way. We ran around the dying flames, and I hopped over a black and burnt corpse.
Victor ran down the street and I followed him. A group of guards appeared ahead of us, and we ducked into a side street. He shoved aside a man as we forced our way through the narrow space.
We turned a corner, then another. Left, then right, then left again. A clamoring of footsteps followed after us as we turned the next corner—
A dead end.
Victor did not hesitate. He picked me up and threw me over the ten foot stone wall. He backed up a bit, giving himself a running start. He jumped, kicked off the wall, and gripped at the edge, pulling himself over. I helped him on his feet, and we were off.
We lowered ourselves down the other side, and Victor ran up to the closest door. He tried to swing it open, but it did not budge. He raised his staff, and shot a bolt of energy at its handle, knocking it open.
The two of us barged in as a screaming family backed away from us. We ran through the living room, knocking over all the furniture behind us. Then we sprinted down the hallway and out the front door.
We came out to another side street with two guards passing by. Victor immediately shot two wind blades one after another. One of them barely managed to draw his blade before the magical attack slit his throat, while the second ducked out of the way. By the time he got back up, we were gone.
Corner after corner, we turned. My legs were burning. But I ran. Around another intersection, more guards. And they had guns.
They opened fire at us, as we ran the other way. Victor blocked a bolt of energy with his staff, and let go of my hand. "Go, I’m right behind you!" he shouted.
He deflected another two bolts, then fired a small missile of magic back at them. I saw flashes of yellow light coming from Victor as I ran for the stairs. But the gunfire did not cease.
I flinched as I took my first step. I bit my tongue as bullets soared overhead, and took the second. The third. And then the rest.
I flew down the first flight of stairs, sprinting as fast as I could. I kept up my pace as I approached the next flight, and jumped over all the steps.
I felt a sharp pain on my knees as I landed, and shifted the forward momentum into a roll. I got back up and stumbled a bit, but was back to running in an instant.
I ran out an exit, and into the market street. There were dozens of guards running past stalls as people fled indoors. My eyes flickered to a wagon as the driver hopped off and ran away. Victor appeared backing up behind me, as I pointed.
"Horse, there!" I called out.
The young man’s head snapped to the horse-and-cart at the same time as a guard saw me. I knocked over a nearby fruit stand, and Victor made a dash for the animal.
He hopped on top of the animal, and cut its bindings as he did. I followed behind him. He reached out and pulled me up in front
of him. Victor clasped at the horse’s reins, and it took off in a gallop. Some guards tried to block our way, but Victor blasted them apart with magic.
A swordsman raised his shield to block the glowing yellow missile. It exploded on impact, and sent the man’s arm flying. He collapsed on the ground, screaming in agony. It was like Marcus’s gun!
More guards ran at us, but Victor tore through them. A spearman ran from carnage, as another swordsman had his head blown off. A rifler took aim at us—
But I shot a bolt of fire at her. I missed, of course. Yet it served its purpose as she ducked for cover from my attack.
We made our way down a few more streets before we saw the city gates. A row of guards formed a spear wall just before the fountain, and guards from the walls aimed their guns and bows at us. Someone was lowering the portcullis. They’re trying to lock us in!
We zigzagged down the road as bolts of energy and arrows flew past us. Victor raised his staff up, and a dark green magic circle appeared above his head. Small bits of stone broke off our surroundings, forming four shapes hovering over us.
A volley of glowing blue bolts shot at us, and Victor pulled on the reins. We made a sharp turn, dodging the hail of bullets, and ran straight at the spear wall.
The Dark Crusader pointed his staff forwards as four spears of stone finished taking shape overhead. They shot forward like a ballista. Two flew at the guards on the battlements and two flew at the spear wall. It tore into the ranks of guards barring our path, and with a yank, Victor made the horse leap over the opening.
The horse was galloping as fast as it could, past the fountain, towards the walls. A storm of projectiles flew at us, and Victor put both hands on his staff. A translucent barrier covered us like an umbrella, the rain of fire pattering on it.
We were almost there! But the gates were closing too fast. Victor was focusing on his magical barrier. He couldn’t do anything. But I could.
I turned my attention to the portcullis. I saw the guard lowering the chain, and pointed. My arms were shaking, but still three blue magical bolts flashed through the air at him.