Fate/Inheritance

*Flama's POV*

"Guildmaster, all the civilians had already evacuated at the fort" Flama's secretary said while feeling giddy at the sight of the corpses sprawled around the temple. Glancing at her secretary, Flama merely returned her focus at fiddling at the God Crystal in front of her. Her secretary approaching her wiped the sweat from her forehead while she cursed silently. She kept on weaving magical symbols and muttering her incantations while helping guide the energy that is maintaining the barrier.

It had been almost an hour since that Black Knight had been rampaging outside when it's army was almost wiped out by the crazy kid whose name was... Yamada (The boy was pretty cute but his mouth…) was it? The boy had some sort of connection to the kingdom's infamous [Shadow Army] and the prevailing theory on her head is a child or distant relative of the man whom she met in a few occasions. Thinking about it, she hasn't seen the 'brother' of the kid ever since the battle started, strange.

*Shing!*

Flama suddenly heard the sound of a weapon unsheathing, unfazed she continued guiding and monitoring the town's barrier. The barrier a minimum needed three skilled mages just to guide and operate it and she is doing it alone single handedly and she may be a skilled mage, but she can't just easily focus on two things at the moment. But still…

*Putchi*

"Gyaaargg!!!" A monster's death throe echoed at the silent halls of the temple alongside the splashes of liquid which I believe to be...blood.

"Guildmaster~, is there something wrong~?" A sultry female voice suddenly was heard behind her. Relaxing her focus, she glanced behind her just in time to see her assailant's head flying and separated from its body. Looking at its features, it seems to be a goblin with stealth capabilities, again.

The pesky rascals had kept on ambushing them when some a small hoard of monsters suddenly stormed in, resulting in majority of their guards incapacitated or deceased while one of the mages to become one of the cold corpses on the ground and the other two had one who had a decapitated arm, and one who nearly died due to sever poisoning. Thankfully or not...

"Many thanks for the assist Lucy... or would you like to be called Rosa? Rosa the Reaper?" I said when she entered my vision fully.

Abandoning the usual receptionist uniform I always see her wear, she now wears a customized weaver armor. A dark-gray fitting leather uniform that is attached with various straps that carried knives and a black rope circling her right arm like a snake reaching her palm with a metallic tip attached, a grappling hook of sort. A standard tool used by the Order of Weavers if I remember.

Her gray chitin armor pieces (which only covers the necessary area) made from a powerful arachnid monster specifically cultivated at the underground caverns below the city that housed the heart of the religion she belonged gleamed as the moonlight is refracted by the stain glasses the place had.

A face that is hidden by the thin veil she wore, is paired with a gray shawl that is currently not covering her luscious blond wavy hair, hair that she had as 'Lucy' a false identity that her blue pupils might even not the true color (I won't even bother if her true figure is that of a tall and thin washboard). When she saw me giving her the cold shoulder, she merely shrugged and twirled the black scythe she carried spilling the black blood it stained and leaned at one of the white pillars the temple had.

"Well... I am currently at work, so I guess you can call me Lucy as always, Guildmaster~." She said with a teasing tone. Grunting in agreement, I refocused at fiddling with the crystal in front of me while monitoring the city through it, a hard task to do alone for my opinion.

"..."

"..."

Silence engulfed the sanctum as she busied watching me while I focused at gathering the city's magical energy using the God Crystal in front of me. Honestly how I wanted to strangle those conniving merchants every second I stay here.

Due to their oh 'gracious' requests, the development of the Fort Raft had been f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y moved forward by almost 15 years from its supposedly planned development. True it helped the kingdoms economy to flourish more, but due to some crazy merchant groups who suddenly banded in funding the place, the fort became prosperous a 'bit' too fast making some holes in the security that may had seems to be used by the enemy right now. Even the outer barrier, the one I am manipulating right now can't monitor a wide area always and merely retains a top-notch durability and energy efficiency but lacks a lot of capabilities pertaining complex commands and also, pertaining surveillance which might had been one of the purposes those grubby bastards had in selling questionable goods and I can't even remote access it using the main crystal the land have which to my growing irritation had been feeding on wasted a lot of resources and good men and women tonight.

It was a good thing that the old man of that idiot Van, the one in charge here before it passed on him made an ultimatum that was supported by the king in how the structures, roads and necessary basic living system of the growing town is strictly monitored in how they were made that even the private establishments and homes adhere properly or a lot of bigger headaches we will be having on the past hoards especially tonight's 'special' case.

"Mou~, this is boring~. Hey guildmaster~" 'Lucy' candidly said.

"Can you tell me what's happening outside~?" She continued.

Even though in the normal glance, she is just casually relaxing, I noticed her observing the surroundings with a critical look. As annoying as it sounds, she is currently the one strong enough to guard me and the injured people here while my secretary had been busy tending on them while relaying messages using a special method with Van who is inside the fort. The other associates the annoying woman have seemed to had spread around the town and had been wiping 'opportunistic' lots and monsters with extreme precision.

Hearing what she said, I merely added an additional magical command to the crystal. Glowing briefly, the crystal gently hummed as the speckles of lights surrounding the crystal and me slowly formed on my right a small round circle that has lines and squares and different sizes and colors of glowing points appeared in it, representing a bird's eye view of a minor monitoring spell the barrier have that I can't focus.

Words also were formed just below the circle, a simple instruction of manipulating the spell for the woman.

"…" Looking at what I did, she merely shook her head and slowly walked at me while waving her hands casually here and there, noticing the brief flash of lights in every gesture I merely noted, threads. Arriving at my right side, she merely gave a glance at the note below the spell and started expertly operating it.

"…"

Silence engulfed the room again as we both busied ourselves in monitoring the town.

"…So, I heard you and your lot had failed a recent assassination attempt." I said, breaking the ice. When I heard that attempt months ago made me shocked at the daring attempt, yet what I can't put heads and tails about the information I gained is that whatever happened there had been put under heavy censorship that I wonder if all the witness at the incident had been put in a powerful silencing spell.

"Fufu~ true, we failed at that night~…" 'Lucy' said while laughing lightly making me curious what made the mirthful tone I heard from her came from. Sensing my curiosity, she laughed lightly again and continued…

"But I guess that time we failed you know was our own luck~." She said with a singsong tone.

"Why? I believe that would had tarnished a bit of your group's reputation at your efficiency right? And I especially heard that aside from a wanted heretic and some guards, no heavy casualties occurred that night." I said finally voicing out the strongest question I had about the incident. I knew that it was an assassination attempt on which on my suspicion was actually a planned massacre of every individual in that single hall if the usual modus operandi of Drakel that fallen heretic and his closest associates, the Lost Banshees.

It was too strange, especially if they had failed, casualties should had happened at the side of the assassins remembering those strong individuals in that hall when they retreated (even though no known casualties had happened at their group ever since their excommunication) when the operation had gone haywire.

"My~ I had some suspicion, but you shocked me guildmaster~. For a very busy individual and a mage at that, you seem to be highly knowledgeable in our particular line of work~." 'Lucy' said laughing seductively while I heard her l.i.c.k.i.n.g her lips lightly.

"I may be busy with my projects and managing the guild, I still put an ear at the back dealings happening in the world, 'Lucy'." I said quipping back at her. Good, the barrier is still holding, we still have enough time to let the injured personnel to evacuate into the inner barrier. Exhaling lightly, I lowered my magical energy output at the b.a.r.e minimum, the magical energy from the air and the dragon veins below (ley lines) will maintain the command I have.

"Well~, to answer your wonderful query guildmaster~." 'Lucy' said suddenly with an imposing and serious gaze making me gaze back at her with a curious look.

"Why would anybody move an inch at that night when D.E.A.T.H. itself had gazed attentively at all the people there?" Hearing what she said brought cold chills up my spine making me froze a bit. Re-orienting myself I looked at her with a shocked look. I knew I did not misinterpret what I saw at her eyes at that moment, fear.

For someone from the Temple of Death to fear something pertaining to death is a bit shocking, but when I saw that crazed fanaticism that flashed in her eyes made me curious about what truly happened there. No, shaking my head from such crazy thoughts I returned my focus at what happening at the moment.

Noticing that I did not continue my questions, 'Lucy' shrugged and returned her gaze at the monitoring spell in front of her only for her to shriek in shock making me look only to me to gape in shock.

Engulfing the whole circle, a bright blue light encompassed the whole circle with golden pigments appearing inside said light here and there. Without waiting for her naturally next request, I ordered a nearby familiar I placed there which was luckily just a few houses at the area. Knowing that I will have trouble at manipulating my familiar at such concentration of magical energy, I connected hastily the familiar into the town's ley lines making it easier for me to control it from here.

Waving my hand, visible mists of magical energy formed in front of me and we saw just in time for that 'thing' that appeared above a familiar inn's roof.

A mysterious male individual indifferently stood there releasing huge amounts of magical energy that winds had picked up around him. Wearing what seems to be a black body armor made from an unknown material, which consisted of a black tight and sleeveless shirt with sliver accents which outlined his muscles and a silver c.h.e.s.t plate that covers his upper torso leaving the stomach b.a.r.e, it also has a beautiful engraving of a blue artwork that somehow compliments and sticks his black armor, and black pants that had two black straps on his t.h.i.g.hs, and another two strapped around his shins separate from each other. He wears black metal plated shoes, which appear to be attached to his trousers.

A red shawl hid his visage which somehow connected to a tight long red sleeve on his left arm while a loose one on his right making me notice a gleam of metal inside the sleeve. A similar open red skirt is worn on his waist which ends above his shins which somehow is connected by a metal plate. I noted the strange reading I get from the red material that have a somehow holy signature my magic senses.

Curious, I focused on his face only to freeze. Gleaming golden-amber eyes coldly looked afar with a somehow intense gaze greeted me, his face hidden by some sort of magical spell made me have a hard time at remembering or understanding his features except a black mask that covers his lower face.

Boom!

Blinking my eyes incredulously, I was shocked to notice that he was already gone leaving a damaged roof and a cloud of dust with an obvious trail of magical energy. Following the trail using my senses and the network I currently have access to, I was startled at the huge distance he crossed and reached the very roof of the castle fort at the center of the town while somehow bypassing the barrier on it (which means he is either an ally or someone so powerful and skilled).

The next thing that happened made me question countless theories, knowledge and wisdom I had studied and heard as a mage and even the very magical phenomenon the current intellectual world have. Like really! A damn magical sword and a powerful one at that!!!

To alter it to such a degree and with such speed makes me want to bow down and ask for some pointers at alchemy and I might even ask to be his student if he is skilled at other branches of magic.

As we watch him with slight rapture and shock, I barely managed to act quickly when that 'arrow' literally ripped apart the barrier and majority of that clinging miasma and rushed to make an emergency repair at the barrier. I barely managed to note that he vanished again but this time without me noticing.

Yet questions had popped in my head at that time.

Who was that man? Will he pay for the damn repairs the barrier sustained?

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*The Dark Lord ??? PoV*

Fire, a wrecked burning wasteland of flames greeted the borrowed eyes of the body I am remotely controlling. I 'shook' my head at the ringing sound that my 'ears' kept on hearing. Staggering, I stood up from the ground as I checked the condition of my 'child'.

Irritation flood me as I checked at the wrecked state the body has. The beautiful corrupted blade it held on its right hand had already been damaged to the point it was merely looked like a broken porcelain that was unskillfully patched together by a toddler… and it was lying a bit farther from me alongside the right arm I had which is still clinging to it tightly.

Countless burnt wounds deckered the body while the gourd on his waist had already cracked and broken, the souls inside had f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y acted as a shield to block the majority of the damage alongside the instincts engraved on the body making it barely survive such a powerful attack.

*Crunch*

His musing was suddenly stopped when he heard a distinct sound of crushed soil a bit farther than him. Looking at the direction of the sound, he gazed a bit farther from the twisting smog and smoke coming from the flames and the burning ground as the information of someone approaching him was known by the silouette that aproaches him, making the aproaching creature clearer.

Looking at the individual, he instantly recognized the magical signature emitting on him similar to the 'arrow' that just hit him. A strange feeling of fear crawled his skin that somehow reached his original body when he saw the stranger. For a visage had somehow appeared behind the man (or just the smoke and the disorientation was merely tricking him).

*Grrrrr*

A red snarling dragon gaze at him in rage and bloodl.u.s.t, countless blades stuck and comming out of it's body and decorated the dragon as it growled at him with those dangerous looking fangs and teeth. It's giant pair of wings open and seemingly shields the man's sides akin to protecting something precious.

As fear and a cold chill crawled his spine, the Dark Lord suddenly regained some clarity and recognized what he was feeling. Preposterous! To fear someone who attacked him with underhanded means!!!

"Raaaaaaaarrrrgggghh!!!!" Rage overtook him as the dismembered arm flung to him alongside the blade it held as it re-attached itself at the body while he, in a single second re-appeared over-head the man ready to cut him in half.

*Boom!!!*

The ground screamed and cracked once again as the man blocked his attack with a pair of similarly crafted falchions, as the black and white sword crossed, sparks danced while his blade. A pair of cold golden-amber eyes greeted the red burning soul fire as the battle between the newly inaugurated 'cleaner' and the self-proclaimed Dark Lord started the final battle for the frontier town.

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Author's Note:

Sorry for the late chapter… again. Yesterday was pretty much shitty, electricity was temporarily cut off to rehabilitate some problems and damages a bad weather had done at our place so I did not have the time to write the chapter. I know the cliff is pretty shitty and you all know what will be the ending but… cut me some slack will ya, I want to put some POV about the local's reaction about the annoying bro Yamada and the act of a certain Assassin. Next chapter will be the final fight which will be posted tomorrow (I still need to finish some personal stuff here sorry.).

Also the mask he is wearing if someone is curious, looks similar to the one worn by Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier) of MCU when he was mind controlled. And the loose sleave is akin to those big sleeves you usually see in cultivator's but this one merely reaches his hands, barely hiding it. While the silver c.h.e.s.t plate is similar to Artoria Pendragon's c.h.e.s.tplate, just more masculine.

Your annoying and weird author~

Signing out~!!! o7