《The Black Knight of the Demon King》


 Awakening...

    Chapter I: Awakening...


    <hr>


    Donovan let a small groan escape his lips as his eyes fluttered open. The ground was a little cold, and for some odd reason, his entire body felt like it had been ripped apart.


    "Ugh, did I slip and fall?" He asked himself as he started to get up. He had remembered heading downstairs to get himself some water since he was thirsty, but after that, it had became a blur, so he wasn''t exactly sure if he had fallen down the stairs.


    As he got on his knees, Donovan finally noticed his surroundings and realized that he wasn''t by himself, nor was he at the bottom of the stairs. He was in a stone room with candles being the light source, and people cladded in black armor and black robes.


    The room was silent, and it looked like everyone was staring at him.


    "Um," He started, not sure what to do in this situation or how to react. "can I uh, um..."


    "It, it worked..." One of them muttered, Donovan wasn''t sure who had spoken, but their mutter was loud enough for him to hear.


    Soon the person revealed themselves by raising both of their arms and yelling triumphantly. "It worked! The summoning had been successful!"


    Donovan frowned as the other robed people put their hands in the air, and let loose their happiness. He had no idea what was going on, or why they were cheering, but he felt like he needed some answers.


    "Excuse me-" He began before abruptly pausing. He wasn''t sure if it was just him imagining things, but his voice was different. He had always had a deep voice, but his voice had sounded a little deeper than usual.


    Now more curious about his voice than what was going on, Donovan coughed into his right hand, and said to himself. "Hello, my name''s Donovan, it''s a pleasure to meet you."


    The person who had first cheered had heard Donovan''s greeting and quickly bowed while saying to him in an energetic tone. "Greetings Donovan, I am Lord Arzakol of House Bael, I am Lucifer''s right-hand, and I ask that you save them from the Hero and his party!"


    "Eh?" Came Donovan''s response as he looked to the bowing hooded figure in surprise.


    Feeling that this wasn''t enough to convince Donovan, the now named person got on his hands and knees, and said while prostrating, "Please defend the Demon King!"


    Seeing Lucifer''s right hand prostrating caused both the other robed figures and the armored warriors to get on their hands and knees, and begin prostrating as well while saying the same thing Lord Arzakol had just said.


    Donovan, who was rendered speechless by these declarations, wasn''t sure what he was supposed to do. His father had told him that he should always try to help those in need, but hearing the words, ''defend the Demon King'' and ''Lucifer.'' made him very uncertain. Not to mention, he was pretty sure his father meant helping people with simple things like walking an old lady across the street, or helping someone who''s stranded on the side of the road, and not defending a Demon King.


    "Um, I''m sorry, but can we maybe, I don''t know, take it back a few steps?" Donovan requested with traces of uncertainty in his voice. "Like can you explain how I got here, and maybe how I can get back home? I was kind of in the middle of something, and it was really important to me."


    "I''m sorry, but I can not send you back." Lord Arzakol apologized while keeping his forehead pressed to the ground. "If I tried to send you back, at least at this moment, then your body would most definitely be destroyed, and there is a chance I could put you in the wrong era."


    "I-I see." Donovan replied with a frown. He had wanted to believe that maybe this was a dream earlier, but since his body was in pain, and he could feel the stone cold ground, he knew it was real. Nonetheless, he was troubled by this information, and began to worry about his family.


    His relationship with his parents wasn''t what some would call the best, but it was still a good relationship. Now, of course, there were sometimes where he''d give them lip, and back talk them to the point where there would be screaming and yelling, but he still loved them dearly.


    "Wait, he didn''t say it was impossible to send me back, but I just can''t go back at this moment."He realized after recalling Lord Arzakol''s words.


    Needing to know if this was true, Donovan said in an urgent manner. "Lord Arzakal!"


    "It''s Lord Arzakol." Lucifer''s right hand corrected as he raised his head, a little trace of annoyance could be detected in his voice.


    "Yeah, Lord Arzakol." Donovan agreed, not exactly caring that he had mispronounced the man''s name. "You said that if you sent me back now, then my body would be destroyed, but does that mean there''s a chance that you could possibly send me back later?"


    "Yes, but there''s still-" The robed figure began to explain before the doors to the chamber suddenly flung open, and a woman with a busty figure, devil wings, a tail, and horns on top of their head entered the room.


    "Lord Arzakol is the," The woman said before noticing that everyone was on their hands and knees, and that there was a person in the center of the summoning circle. "oh, so it was successful."


    Donovan''s face had become red as a tomato upon seeing her. He had seen many beautiful girls in his life, but this person was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had long hair that was purple in color, eyes that were a fiery orange color, skin that appeared to have no blemishes, and a wonderful body. Had it not been for the wings, horns or tail, Donovan would have considered her to be an angel, no a Goddess.


    "Lady Nyx, why are you here?" Lord Arzakol questioned after getting up and dusting off his robes. "I thought I had made it clear to everyone that no one is allowed to enter this room until I say so."


    The woman in question paid no heed to the question, she was instead focusing on Donovan who had was practically ogling her.


    Eventually, she spoke. "So, this is our Demon King''s Black Knight?"


    Confused by her statement, Donovan opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Lord Arzakol spoke. He was a little annoyed that she ignored his question, but it''s not like it mattered anymore since the summoning was successful. "Yes that''s their Black Knight, but you can feel it too, right? The amount of mana that''s radiating from him? It''s incredible."


    "It is indeed." Lady Nyx agreed with a nod of her head. "However, I don''t think he understands his position or what''s going on. He looks confused."


    "I haven''t finished explaining everything so it''s understandable, but I believe he will save our glorious leader from their prophesied death." Lord Arzakol affirmed as he pulled his hood back to reveal his handsome features.


    "We''ll see in time, but for now he needs to come with me, our Lord Lucifer probably wants to see him." Lady Nyx declared.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "What do you mean by probably?" Lord Arzakol questioned with a small scowl. "Do they or do they not want to meet their Black Knight?"


    "I don''t know, they just told me to see if it was successful or not, and to report back to them." Lady Nyx answered with a shrug of her shoulders.


    "I understand." Lord Arzakol replied before directing his attention to Donovan, who was still on his knees. "Donovan I''d be happy to continue our conversation at a later point in time, but for now if you could, could you follow Lady Nyx here to meet our glorious leader?"


    "Uh, sure." He hesitantly answered before standing up. In reality, he didn''t like the idea of meeting the Demon King, but it''s not like he really had a choice in the matter. He didn''t know what would happen if he refused them, and for now, they hadn''t given him any reason to reject their requests.


    Satisfied with his answer, Lord Arzakol smiled and said, "Great."


    <hr>


    After being lead through what Donovan assumed to be a castle, and seeing a handful of nonhumanoid of the demon folk, Donovan arrived at what he believed to be the throne room with Lady Nyx since the two doors were incredibly large.


    "If you can, try not to upset them, they''re not in the bestest of moods." Lady Nyx warned with a smile after opening the door.


    "Wait what?" Came his instinctive response before she grabbed him by his arm and threw him into the room, which was pitch black. "Wait! Why am I meeting someone if they''re not in a good mood?"


    Lady Nyx didn''t even bother responding and simply closed the door on him, causing him to scowl. He could now understand why she was a demon, and promised himself to get her back on this. Unfortunately, he wasn''t given a lot of time to think about how he was going to get vengeance on her, for the room soon became lit by countless braziers.


    "So, you''re our Black Knight." Came a sultry voice, which had made him look ahead of him and see across the room a woman that looked far more beautiful than Lady Nyx sitting on a throne.


    "I-" Donovan started before she interrupted him by saying in a curt/commanding tone. "Come here."


    Hesitantly, he got up off of the floor and slowly approached the horned woman. Her horns were similar to that of bull horns, but there were still some differences. She also wasn''t as curvy as Lady Nyx, and had a little bit more of a slender figure than her. Another thing that was different between her and Lady Nyx was that she didn''t wear a revealing attire. Instead, she wore a black dress that he could see someone of royalty wearing for some reason. Her hair color was black as night, and her eyes were a ruby red.


    After Donovan reached the bottom of the throne, Lord Lucifer got up from her throne and approached him. Every step she made was full of elegance, which had made his heart beat slightly faster. She took one step down the steps before raising her left hand up. On her ring finger was a ring with a red jewel.


    Donovan did nothing at first, for he knew what she wanted from him. She wanted him to kiss her hand, which was the sign of showing fealty to someone. Seeing his hesitance made her frown.


    "Is there a reason why you''re hesitant to kiss our hand, Black Knight?" She questioned in a stern tone that had only a tiny bit of curiosity in it.


    "Yes." He answered as he gazed at her hand.


    "Mind telling us why?" She asked.


    "Well, it''s because I don''t plan on staying here for long." He answered truthfully as his gaze shifted upwards to where his head was tilted slightly, and he was staring directly into her eyes.


    At this, Lord Lucifer lowered her hand stepped down the last step to where she was on his level. Once she was on his level, Donovan had realized that she was pretty tall for a woman. She wasn''t as tall as him, but from what it looked like, it looked like she was only shorter than him by two inches.


    She stared directly into his eyes in silence for several seconds before breaking that silence by saying, "Explain."


    "I''d like to go back to my home, and because of that I don''t think I should kiss your hand, since that''s basically me promising to serve you, and like someone once told me, I shouldn''t make a girl a promise if I know I can''t keep it." Donovan explained effortlessly. He had grown up playing a game called Halo, and one of his favorites lines was something Cortana said to the Master Chief in Halo 2, and has been with him since then.


    It didn''t just involve girls though, it was in general, for he believed you shouldn''t make a promise to someone if you can''t uphold it.


    "Understandable, and respectful, but tell us, do you know what happens if we die?" Lord Lucifer said in response with a nod of their head before asking him a question.


    "Uh, no?" He answered with a small frown. He had just got here, and knew nothing about them.


    "Unending chaos." She declared with a serious expression. "Humanity doesn''t understand that if they kill us, they kill the only one who can control all of the demon folk. We are the only ones that have that power, and so far we have controlled them excellently, but humanity doesn''t see it like that. They believe that we''re behind the attacks of creatures that lack intelligence."


    "If you control all of the demon folk, then why don''t you have them not attack humans then?" Donovan replied with a confused look. He could understand what was being said, but if it was such a big deal, then couldn''t she have prevented them from attacking humans in general?


    "Tell us, do you think the Gods and Goddesses stop humans from coming to our lands and hunting down certain animals? Or even better do you think the human Kings and Queens do that?" She asked him in response, her expression still serious.


    "No?" He answered with uncertainty. Again, he hadn''t been in this world for long, so he couldn''t give her an honest answer, but if she was bringing this up, then he could only assume that this was something humans did.


    "Then why should we stop our people from living and hunting in their territory when they do the same thing?" Lord Lucifer questioned.


    Donovan said nothing, and soon found himself agreeing with her reasoning. If the Gods, Goddesses, Kings, and Queens allowed their people to hunt down demon folk, then why should the Demon King stop her people from doing the same thing?


    Seeing that he understood their reasoning, Lord Lucifer continued. "Even if we did stop them and just had the lower intelligent creatures feed on one another, which was something they did in the past, do you really think humanity would leave us alone? We are stronger than them in almost every aspect, and our land is the largest and home to many things humans consider to be valuable."


    Again, Donovan was silent. He being a human could understand why humans would attack the demon folk, and that was because of fear. He believed that they were afraid of the Demon King and her people since they were stronger than humans, and feared that one day they might try wiping them out. Not to mention, he knew that humans were very greedy and would stop at nothing to accomplish their goals.


    "I can understand where you''re coming from, and why you''re not stopping the dumber creatures from attacking humans, but why do you need me? Like, why do youspecificallyneed me to defend you from the Hero and his companions?" He questioned after a few seconds of silently thinking.


    "We didn''t need youspecifically. What we needed was someone from another realm." She answered honestly.


    "What do you mean?" Donovan asked with confusion in his voice, and a confused expression written on his face.


    "Tell us, does your body feel sore? Like your muscles had been ripped to shreds?" She asked, which had earned herself a nod from him. He didn''t say anything about how he had become more broad shoulder, and a little more muscular, but he had noticed these changes during his walk with Lady Nyx. His face didn''t change that much, in fact it had kind of stayed the same, but another thing he had noticed was that his hair had become black.


    "That is because during your transportation to our realm your body was literally ripped apart and reformed." The Demon King explained with a firm look. "Humans who come from a different realm are blessed by the Gods and Goddesse, which makes them ten times stronger and faster than the normal human, in a way they basically become demigods."


    "Wait, but why do they bless them? I could understand my body being ripped apart, and reforming I guess so that I wouldn''t be deformed or something along those lines, but why do our bodies get blessed with these supposed superpowers?" Donovan asked with confusion still etched onto his face.


    "That is something we can''t tell you, and it''s not because we don''t want to tell you, but because we don''t know the actual reason why." She stated in a slightly apologetic manner.


    "I see, so what you''re telling is me that I''m technically a hero?" Donovan asked after a while.


    "Yes," She affirmed. "but you don''t have to be a hero of humanity, you could our hero, the demon folk''s hero and protector."


    Donovan wasn''t sure what to do. While he didn''t think it was the best idea to get involved in all of this, a part of him was saying that this was his chance to finally be something. That this was his chance to become a legend, for he knew that he''d most likely not be remembered on Earth for anything grand, but if he agreed to become her Black Knight, then he could be remembered throughout history like the legendary Greek heroes.


    However, he didn''t have to be known as Donovan Rutherford The Black Knight of the Demon King, nor did he exactly want to be known as that either. He wanted something a little cooler like the names Achilles.


    Seeing that he had a pondering look, Lord Lucifer said to him. "If you save us from our prophesied death, then we will do everything in our power to make sure you return to your world. We promise you that."


    Hearing that sealed the deal for him.


    "Very well, I will do it, I will become your Black Knight." He declared with a look of resolve.

 The Heros Party...

    Chapter II: The Hero''s Party...


    <hr>


    Angel let loose a sigh as he took a seat on the log next to only other male in the party.


    It had been four months since he, and six others who he was acquaintanced with, were summoned to this world called Atalan to become heroes and defeat the Demon King, and since then he has enjoyed everything, for everything has gone his way.


    He had men that envied him and wanted to be him, girls who worshipped him and wanted his children, and so much more. This world was truly better than his old one, but alas his time here was soon coming to an end.


    While he may enjoy this world and love everything about it, five of his companions did not. It was unfortunate, but the girl heroes that he was traveling with wanted to return home to their boyfriends, and family, and all of that dull stuff. They''d rather deal with that boring crap than hunting a dragon and slaying it.


    It was something he didn''t understand, and probably would never understand, but to each their own. He wasn''t going to judge them, for they haven''t judged him for what he''s done or how he has handled things so far as the leader of the Hero party.


    "Was that a sigh of disappointment I heard from you, Angel?" Spoke the male who was sitting on the log polishing his white and gold chestplate. He had black spiky hair that fades into silver, and brown eyes. His arms were practically tree trunks, and he was half a foot taller than him.


    "Yeah, it was." Angel answered in a tired tone as he unsheathed his sword, which was a holy sword known to cut through a dragon''s scales. Because he was the leader of the party, aka the one that everyone calls the Hero, he was given the strongest armor, and the most powerful blade ever to be made by men.


    "Aw, what got the Hero all upset now?" The taller male asked in a baby like voice as he ceased polishing his armor and gave Angel a cheeky grin.


    "You know what it is Jacob," Angel replied in an agitated tone as he glared at his friend. "it''s them."


    As he said this, Angel pointed to the five girls who were standing outside of the large tent chatting with one another. They were all beautiful and could easily seduce anyone be it, man or woman with their quote on quote, smoking hot bodies.


    Jacob released his own sigh of disappointment upon hearing this, while he did enjoy this world a lot and found it to be a lot more exciting than his old one, he could understand why the girls wanted to go back to their old one and could even relate to them as well.


    It wasn''t just his family he missed, he missed playing video games, showers, watching football, and many other things, so he was able to understand why, at least to an extent why they wished to go home.


    "You know, I could tell you their reasons again, but..." Jacob started before suddenly pausing. He was going to resume polishing his armor when he noticed off in the distance a figure slowly walking towards their camp. He could make out what it was, but it looked humanoid.


    Angel who had been listening was curious as to why he stopped talking, and glanced back at Jacob and watched as he slowly stood up. He had seen the taller male''s expression harden, and out of curiosity followed his gaze only to what he was seeing.


    Squinting his eyes a bit, he was able to make out some of the characteristics of the figure. They had black armor with large pauldrons, and a red cape, strapped to their left hand was a shield, and resting on their right shoulder while being held with the person''s right hand was a large blade.


    "A Dark Knight?" Angel said aloud as he rose from the log with a look of surprise. As he said this, Jacob donned his armor.


    One of the girls, the priestess to be specific who had blonde hair and blue eyes noticed the two males stand up wonder what had gotten their attention. She couldn''t see what they were looking at because of the large tent, so she broke off from the group of girls who were still chatting with one another only to see what the two males were seeing.


    After spotting what she believed to be a Dark Knight, she turned her attention to the other girls and said, "Hey guys, something is coming."


    <hr>


    Donovan was in no rush, and took his time on approaching the Hero''s Party, for his heart had a bit of fear in it.


    The reason why it had some fear in it was because not long after he had agreed to be the Demon King''s Black Knight was he shown what the Hero and his companions looked like, and to his surprise and horror, they were people he knew.


    While their bodies may have become more mature, Donovan could still tell who they were, and that''s what troubled him greatly. They were all good people, and while he may not be close to four of them, he had never heard bad things about those four or the ones he was friends with, so the thought of possibly killing them disturbed him.


    However, because Lord Arzakol had casted an illusion on himself to pose as the Hero''s party, there was still a chance he might have been imagining things, but he didn''t plan on getting his hopes up because he didn''t want to be saddened when it turns out to be actually them.


    After he made it about halfway to their camp, Donovan saw them. He saw Shannon, Noelle, Marianna, Gabrielle, Xenovia, Jacob, and Angel. All of the people he was secretly hoping wasn''t here, were here.


    It made no sense to him because he had spoken to Angel five days ago, but he had quickly assumed that time on Earth and the time on Atalan were different.


    As he continued his slow approach, Donovan said to himself. "All I have to do right now is drive them back. After I do that, then I can start thinking of some sort of plan to save them, and once I''m done doing that, then we can go home. There''s no reason for us to kill one another."


    Had these people been complete strangers then Donovan would have most likely been okay with killing them, for the world is cruel and unfair, but because he knew who they are, he had decided that he would not take their lives, and that he would somehow save them. He may not have an idea how yet, but he believed that there is a chance where they all could come out of this alive.


    Eventually, he came to a halt, but that was when he was about twenty meters from the camp. Upon him coming to a complete stop, Donovan lifted his sword off of his shoulder and planted the tip of the blade into the gravel below him.


    After he had done this, Angel called out to him. "Does the Demon King think we''re a joke? What were they thinking sending a lone Dark Knight to deal with us?"


    "I am not a Dark Knight, I am Lord Fane, the Black Knight of the Demon King Lucifer, and she has asked to me deal with you all." Donovan declared in a bit of a firm manner. He had managed to say those words smoothly, but deep down he was a little giddy, and it wasn''t just because he was speaking to people he knew, it was because he finally got to use his new name and title.


    The thought of using his actual name had crossed his mind, but because he didn''t know how they''d react to this information, he had decided to use this new identity. That way if things did turn out bad they wouldn''t be mad at him, Donovan Rutherford, they would be mad at Fane the Black Knight.


    At this, some confusion surged throughout the Hero''s party.


    "A Black Knight?" Noelle said aloud with a troubled expression. She had been labeled as the Saintess by the demon folk due to her mastery over healing and defensive spells, which was a little bit of shock due to the clothing she wore. "Have we ever encountered a Black Knight before?"


    She wore a white strapless gown with a sheer slit up to the thigh on her left side, revealing a long, shapely leg ending in a pair of tall, pointed heels on each foot. On her shoulders, she wore an open-chested jacket with a collar that extends down to her arms as sleeves with frilled cuffs.


    She also wore a single ring on her right index finger that had a large blue jewel, and the only other jewelry she was wearing in addition to this was a pair of small golden hoop earrings. She wore a long mantle that has two layers, lined with fur at the collar, it splits into an outer layer going to her hip, and the outer edge was gold. There was also a long blank layer that draped to her ankles.


    Her chest, in addition to her white gown, was covered by a black zippered bodice, with three metal studs linking attachment strings from the left to a single stud on the right. The bodice ended just under her large breasts, which are displayed with practically little modesty. Majority of her cleavage was uncovered, and there was a brooch on her white gown that displayed a symbol Donovan wasn''t familiar with at all, but he had assumed it had something to do with the Gods.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "Not that I know of." Answered a girl that had long black hair that reached her lower back, dark brown eyes, and a smile that he believed could melt anyone''s heart. Her name was Shannon, and she was an old flame of his.


    Donovan and her used to go out back in their sophomore year, but things didn''t work out, and they ended up breaking up, but they didn''t drift apart. They had basically become friends, and had stayed that way since, but there had been times where he wished they could get back together.


    As for her attire, it was by far the most modest one out of them all. Unlike the others who revealed either a little bit of skin or a lot of skin, Shannon wore a suit of leather armor that was brown and looked great on her. It also went well with her bow.


    "Still don''t you think we''re being made fun of? I mean, sending just a knight to deal with all of us? It''s like insulting as hell." Marianna questioned with an annoyed looked that she had sent Donovan''s way. She was the only Hispanic person in the group, but she didn''t have brown hair like she did back on Earth. No, instead she had wavy purple hair with greenish purple colored eyes.


    She was, at least from what he recalled, to be one of the most popular girls in school, but also a very vulgar one as well because of what she says. She had been labeled as the Bomb Queen due to her use of fire and wind magic.


    Her attire was a dress consisting of a navy blue tunic top with gold accents and a pale blue skirt with open sides, black heels and over matching thigh-high stockings that had garter belts. The top revealed a decent amount of cleavage, and is held with a gold choker with blue and red jewels. Over this, she wore a white overcoat with black and gold accents and matching pauldrons. She was also wearing a black headband with an orange jewel over her forehead to keep her long hair in place, and had a staff-like scepter in her left hand. For cosmetics, which was something Donovan didn''t expect to see due them being all gorgeous women was purple lipstick and nail polish.


    Donovan said nothing in response, but them talking as if he was an insect did get on his nerves a little. However, he could understand where they were coming from since they did manage to kill the supposed legendary black dragon Albion.


    Angel, who hadn''t said a word after Donovan''s declaration, broke away from the group and approached him.


    "Because you decided to come at us by your self and like a true knight, I''ll give you the satisfaction of dueling me." He stated with a smile as he unsheathed his blade and entered a top guard stance.


    Donovan frowned upon hearing this, but Angel didn''t see this because his helmet concealed it.


    "I have no wish to duel, I have come-"


    Whatever else Donovan was going to say was cut off by Angel suddenly attacking him, his movement was quick and had he not instinctively raised his left arm, he would have probably had a sword lodged into his neck.


    "Wow, for someone wearing some bulky armor, you''re pretty quick!" Angel said in a slightly impressed tone as he moved away from Donovan, who was still a little shocked that he had almost been cut down there by him. "Are you just that strong, or is made of Mythril?"


    "You tried to kill me.." Donovan muttered with a few traces of surprise in his voice.


    "I mean yeah, you''re an evil guy, it seems pretty reasonable to attack ya." Angel stated, not exactly understanding why he sounded so surprised by what had just happened.


    "... I see." Came Donovan''s response before grabbing ahold of his blade, which happened to be longer and wider than Angel''s sword making his look somewhat like a toothpick when comparing the two.


    Seeing Fane do this and enter a fighting stance made Angel smile a little. It had been far too long since he had gone against someone who could fight him one on one and for some reason, he had a good feeling that this guy was going to be able to do that.


    With no more words left to be said, Angel began to slowly move to Donovan''s right, while Donovan moved to his left. They were like two samurais, but unlike Angel who was in an actual sword fighting stance with his sword pointing at his opponent, Donovan had his sword resting at his side, and the tip pointed directly at the ground.


    Eventually, their circling of one another came to a stop, and Angel attacked.


    Donovan raised his shield and blocked the strike, but before he had a chance to launch his counterattack, Angel followed up with another overhand strike. The fight played out like this with Donovan mostly being on the defensive, and Angel being on the offensive.


    Each attack of his that he sent was met with cheers of encouragement while Donovan received nothing. No one cheered him on.


    After blocking/deflecting several more of his attacks, Donovan swung his sword in upwards arc only to hit nothing, but the air, for Angel easily evaded it. He then tried to follow the attack with a forty-five-degree swing only for him to once again hit nothing.


    Seeing that he had exposed more of his body, Angel attempted to end it by lunging forward with his blade aimed at Donovan''s exposed chest, but the blade was easily knocked away by his shield.


    "This guy must be incredibly strong." Angel thought as he put a few feet between them. "His attacks may be predictable, but because he can move his body with ease, I can''t land a single hit."


    In all honesty, it was a little infuriating to him that he couldn''t land any blows, but this had also excited him, and made him have a bit of respect for the pureblood he was fighting. He had faced many purebloods, throughout his time being here and there was only a handful who lasted long in a one versus one, so this was a little refreshing.


    "I need him to come to me." Is what Donovan thought upon seeing Angel get some distance between them. "He''s by far more skilled than me, so I need to wait for an opportunity to present itself, and then strike when it does. If I do that, then I can beat him."


    While Donovan was a little mad at him for attacking him with the intent to end his life, he still had no intentions of killing him. His plan was to either disarm or cripple Angel, which was probably not the smartest idea since he was aiming for his life, but he couldn''t kill his friend, it just didn''t bode well with him.


    It wasn''t long after Angel moved away from Donovan that he moved back, but unlike before, he had his blade slightly in front of and above his head.


    Assuming that he was going to attack in an overhand, Donovan raised his shield to block the attack, but no strike came, for it was a feign. Angel''s real attack was sent to the back of his left leg after doing a combat roll.


    However, to his, and everyone watching''s surprise, the blade didn''t cut through his armor at all. In fact, it had done the complete opposite, and bounced off of it.


    "What?" Was all Angel could utter before being slashed at by Donovan who had suddenly turned and swung at him with his blade.


    "Angel!" The members of the Hero Party yelled upon witnessing him go flying away from the Black Knight.


    "Shit, that was just instinct!" Donovan yelled after realizing that he had just hit Angel directly in the chest with all of his might. He didn''t mean to hit him that hard, but because Angel had literally tried to cut his leg off, Donovan just reacted by swinging at him. Not to mention he had expected Angel to either evade or catch the attack with his blade.


    Concerned that he might have accidentally killed his friend, Donovan moved towards Angel only to be stopped by a blast of lightning that had hit him in the right shoulder, and nearly knocked him over.


    "What do you think you''re doing, asshole?" Xenovia cried out as he looked over at the members of the Hero party only to see her launch another wave of lightning at him while Shannon and Noelle rushed over to the downed Hero.


    Donovan said nothing, but a small part of him wanted to say that he wanted to make sure Angel was alright, but he felt like they wouldn''t believe him. He also wasn''t given the chance to say this for he was forced to block, and dodge the magic they had sent at him.


    Xenovia was a girl with short dark blue hair with yellow eyes, and she had been labeled as the Thunder Priestess for her use of water, and lightning magic. Her attire resembled that of a Shinto shrine maiden''s outfit.


    <hr>


    Upon reaching Angel''s position, Noelle crouched down while Shannon turned around and nocked an arrow and said, "How is he?"


    She didn''t draw the bowstring back, and shoot at the Black Knight for he hadn''t tried to intercept them and was more preoccupied with her friends, but she was ready to do so if he came close.


    "He''s, he''s not good." Noelle answered truthfully and as calmly as she possibly could causing Shannon to look over her shoulder and see that the Black Knight had cut straight through his armor and that his wound was starting to fester.


    "He''s using a cursed sword!" Shannon yelled in surprise inside her head after seeing the festering wound. "Can you, can you save him?"


    "I," Noelle started as she already tried purifying his body only for it to fail. "I honestly don''t know. I think I''m going to need help."


    "So this was your plan?" Shannon muttered to herself as she looked back at the Black Knight to see him avoid the magic they hurled at him and Jacob''s attack with his spear.


    Feeling anger swell inside of her, Shannon drew her bow back and fired at the Black Knight only for it to bounce off of his armor, which only managed to upset her more.


    "Yeah, we''re going to need to go back, my purification isn''t working, and neither is my healing, at this rate I''m just going to run out of mana." Noelle declared with shock and surprise in her voice. She had been called the Saintess by thousands if not tens of thousands of people due to her ability to heal practically anything, but for once she was unable to, and this troubled her greatly.


    "Are you sure?" Shannon questioned as she loaded another arrow and infused some magic in it and fired it at the Black Knight. She didn''t want to teleport back to one of the several kingdoms, for that meant they''d lose all of this progress, and would have to sneak back into the Demon King''s territory again, but if Noelle was sure, then she wouldn''t complain.


    "Yes, I am sure." Noelle affirmed, this time there was a bit annoyance in her voice.


    At this, Shannon released a sigh before relaying the information via by shouting at her other companions.


    <hr>


    After Shannon told the others about the plan, the girls who were throwing magic after magic at Donovan combined their magic and threw that at him before grouping up with the others and teleporting out.


    Once they were gone, Donovan let a sigh of sadness escape his lips. He had managed to survive and drive them back, but that was mostly because of his equipment. Had it not been for the armor he wore, he would have most certainly died, that was something he was sure about.


    "I have to get stronger, if I am going to save them, then I need to be stronger, and better than them." He told himself with a trace of resolve in his voice.


    However, there was a part of him that wondered if he would even have a chance to save them, for Jacob''s words to him before retreating were that this wasn''t over. He didn''t know what that meant, but from his tone, it sounded like he had become their mortal enemy.


    Deciding that he could worry about it later, Donovan turned around and began walking back to the Demon King''s castle. He would use teleport, but in order to do that, he needed to have a teleport scroll. There was another way, which was the way the Hero Party teleported out of here, but in order to do that, he needed to know Spatial Magic, but that was something he apparently couldn''t learn.


    The only magic he could use/master was fire, lightning, and wind magic, which in reality sounded pretty basic, but he was fine with it because he was never able to use magic back on Earth, and it''s better than others who are born in this world unable to use magic.


    With the sun setting, Lord Fane the Black Knight of the Devil King Lucifer walked down the gravel road in silence, a path he''d become very familiar with in the months to come, for the fate he had chosen was going to be a lonely, and uneasy one like all the Black Knights before him.

 Training With Demons...

    Chapter III: Training With Demons...


    <hr>


    As Donovan swung his blade downwards arc at the Demon King, the Demon King easily avoided the attack and tripped him.


    "Sloppy." She declared in a voice filled with disappointment as she looked down at him.


    Donovan said nothing, and rose to his knees before suddenly turning his body and attempting to slash at her legs. The attack failed, he had managed to hit only the air, for she had seen it coming from miles away.


    After he had done this, Donovan rose to his feet and continuously attacked her, but his blade never reached her, for she just avoided all of his strikes, which made him look a little pathetic in the eyes of those who were watching.


    Eventually, after evading several more of his attacks, the Demon King had enough of this and disarmed him with little to no effort before pointing his blade at his throat.


    "While you do have heart, Lord Fane, you lack technique." She stated in a firm tone. "If you are to be our Black Knight, and defeat our enemies, then you must hone your skills."


    After saying this, she lowered the blade, and offered it back to him.


    "... Understood, Lord Lucifer." Donovan said after multiple seconds of silence as he took the blade, which had made the Demon King''s brows furrow, and a look of displeasement appear on her face.


    "Something the matter, Lord Fane?" She asked, a tiny trace of concern could be heard in her voice along with curiosity.


    "It''s nothing." He answered swiftly.


    The Demon King was silent, but she could tell even with his helm covering his facial features that something was troubling him. However, she had no intentions of finding out what, at least at this very moment.


    "Very well, if it''s nothing, then it''s nothing." She asserted before turning around and walking away. She believed that they had spent enough time practicing his swordsmanship for the day, and that it was time for him to move onto his training with Lord Arzakol.


    As she left the courtyard, the high-ranking members of her court that had been watching approached her and whispered numerous things to her while Lord Arzakol approached the downcasted Black Knight.


    "You know," Lord Arzakol started, which had gained Donovan''s attention. "I wouldn''t beat yourself up about not landing a single blow on her, Lord Lucifer has been around for a very long time, so she has had a lot of time to hone her skills with a sword."


    "If she is so good with a blade, then why does she need me?" He questioned in response to this information while glancing at him.


    Lord Arzakol''s outfit had changed from when he had first met him. Originally, when they had first met, he wore black robes that had hid all of his features, but now he wore some elegant clothing.


    His attire consisted of a black jacket with silver shoulder pads, and four silver buttons that went from his neck all the way down to his waist along with a silver trimming to match it. On top of this, he wore a dark red sash that appeared to be wrapped around his waist three times before going over his shoulder and wrapping again for the fourth time. On top of the sash was a brown and silver belt, which secured it in place and prevented it from falling off. He was also wearing black gloves that matched his jacket. His trousers were black and appeared to be stuffed neatly into his knee-high black boots that looked like black boiled leather armor. Strapped directly onto his knees, were black leather padding to match it.


    Lord Arzakol said nothing at first, and understood where he was coming from to a certain degree. "Because the prophecy states that should Lord Lucifer engage in combat with the Hero she''ll die."


    Donovan didn''t say anything, but he highly doubted that would actually happen, since he was able to beat the Hero in single combat, and his movements were nothing alike compared to the Demon King.


    While he may have been strong, and cunning, the Demon King was that and more, so he just had a hard time picturing her getting defeated by Angel, at least in a one versus one.


    "Anyways, I''m not upset about that, I''ve already acknowledged that she is more skillful than me, I''m more upset with how her advisors were looking at me." Donovan declared, breaking the silence that had filled the atmosphere.


    Again, Lord Arzakol could understand where he was coming from, for he was once in a similar position. Although, this was a long time ago, but he nonetheless could understand why he was bothered by the gazes they were giving him. They were looking at him disapproving eyes, and doubtful eyes that would make anybody feel worthless.


    "Ignore them," Lord Arzakol confessed. "they''re just concerned for their leader, and a few of them had never wielded a sword before, so you shouldn''t let their eyes or thoughts affect you."


    Deciding to listen to his advice, Donovan nodded his head.


    "Good, now shall we begin?" Lord Arzakol asked before teleporting the two of them to his studies, which was basically a massive library due to it having thousands of books, and scrolls along with a few other things.


    Upon arriving at his studies, Donovan set his blade on the table next to him and took his helmet off. He would have sheathed his sword, but in order for him to do that, one must have a scabbard, which was something he didn''t have.


    The sword he wielded was a Cursed Sword called Heartsbane, and it had been given to him by the Demon King, who had kept it in her very own spatial dimension pocket. How it had earned the name Heartsbane was a long story, but in short, an old human knight had to kill the one they loved, which was apparently a witch, and upon their blood touching the blade it had become tainted/cursed.


    It was supposedly already a magic sword, but because it had been long time since the Demon King had talked about it, she wasn''t quite sure. Regardless, of what it once was, the blade is extremely dangerous and should be handled with care, for once cut by it, the person has several curses placed on them, and has their heart eaten away by these curses.


    After watching Donovan place his helmet next to Heartsbane, Lord Arzakol handed him a tome and said, "As you already know, there are many categories in magic, but the only ones you can master are Pyrokinesis, Aerokinesis, and Electrokinesis. We''ve already established that, but that doesn''t mean you''re limited to that, and never be able to bend water to your will."


    "I know." Donovan acknowledged. "You had told me before that there are some other ways such as a scroll."


    "I did, but I had only told you about using a scroll, I had yet to reveal the other ways." Lord Arzakol stated with a grin. "Now, open the tome."


    Listening to his command, Donovan opened the tome. Upon him doing this, he was able to sense a bit of magic radiating from it, which in all honesty wasn''t much, but it was enough to attract his attention.


    "You can feel it too, right?" Lord Arzakol asked causing Donovan to glance up at him. "This is the difference between tomes, and scrolls. While scrolls are only a one time use, tomes can be used numerous times."


    "I see, but why does the magic feel faint?" Donovan question in a curious voice.


    "Because eventually, the magic runs out." He affirmed. "If you look at the words, you can see that they''re fading. Once the magic is completely gone, so are the words, and the book becomes blank."


    "Is that so?" Donovan said with a bit of surprise as Lord Arzakol took the book back and closed it.


    "Yes, that is so." He declared before putting the book back and gesturing for him to follow.


    The two walked in silence for several seconds before coming to an area that had a bunch of grey orbs that ranged from different sizes.


    "Now, you''ve seen some of the people here walk around with staves or scepters, right?" Lord Arzakol asked Donovan as he picked up one of the many colorless spheres. Donovan said nothing in response, and just simply nodded his head in agreement. "Excellent, now have you ever noticed that on certain ones they had a red, or orange ball?"


    Again, Donovan nodded his head.


    "Good, I''m sure you know what comes next." Lord Arzakol stated before tossing the sphere to Donovan.


    After catching it, Donovan looked at Lord Arzakol who merely gestured at the orb in his hands. It seemed that Lord Arzakol had no intentions of telling him what to do. With him not quite sure what he was supposed to do, Donovan looked down at the crystal-like ball in his hands.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    He couldn''t sense any magic or anything radiating from him, so surely he had to do something, but the question was what?


    Seeing his confusion made Lord Arzakol grin happily, for it had been far too long since he had taught someone magic, but unfortunately they were on a tight schedule, and Donovan needed to learn as much as he could about magic.


    "Focus on the sphere, Lord Fane, and try conjuring up some simple magic like a fireball." Lord Arzakol said in a low tone.


    Listening to the commands, Donovan did just that, and felt the mana inside of his body slowly leaving, and it was not long after he started to feel this did the orb begin to change colors. Eventually, after about a minute and a half, the crystal ball changed from its grey color to dark orange.


    "Congratulations, you have infused that mana ball with black fireballs, and now it can shoot black fireballs until the ball either breaks, or it runs out of mana." Lord Arzakol declared with a satisfied look.


    "Really?" Donovan said in a slightly tired voice as he cast him a curious look. He didn''t know if he was supposed to feel like this, but it had felt like his soul had been sucked out of his body, at least to a certain degree.


    "Really," Lord Arzakol affirmed. "but I also wouldn''t recommend doing this, at least frequently, for it takes a lot of mana to charge it up, and the side effect makes you want to sleep all day. I am supposed to be filling them up over time, but it''s such a hassle, so I haven''t bothered with them really at all."


    As he said the last part, Lord Arzakol gestured towards the humungous pile of grey spheres.


    "I understand." Donovan said in response. If the side effect made you want to sleep, then he could understand why he hasn''t messed with them, for he would basically be spending the rest of his life sleeping.


    With this all said and done, Lord Arzakol moved onto the next thing, which was corrupting his lightning magic, for his flames had already been tainted.


    <hr>


    Shannon had an exhausted expression written on her face, and felt like she was going to fall asleep at any second now.


    It had been about three days since their encounter with the Black Knight, and since then, she has barely gotten any sleep. As for the reason why, it was because she had been waiting for Angel to wake up, and because every time she did drift off to sleep, she would have a dream about the Black Knight.


    The dreams she had wouldn''t be pleasant, and would be more along the lines of nightmares, for she would dream about him cutting down all of her friends in front of her eyes before killing her.


    To make matters worse, this was the first time where her nightmares actually disturbed her. She had plenty in the past, especially when she was younger, but what was so terrifying about these dreams were that it felt so real, and she could see it happening.


    She could see this man, no monster, taking all of their attacks as if they were nothing, and then cutting each, and every one of them down with little to no effort. It also didn''t help that he didn''t say anything too, the Black Knight was a silent being, so she had no idea what he''d be thinking when he did this in her dreams.


    If the man expressed some emotions, then she might not have been as scared of him, but because he wore a helmet and was quiet, she saw him as this terrifying demon.


    Just thinking about him right now made her shudder.


    "I know we''ve came across a few incredibly strong enemies before, but never have we come across one that was a pureblood." Shannon thought to herself. The enemies she was referring too were some of the more brute monsters like ogres, minotaurs, and a few other creatures that one would expect to be mighty.


    "However, even then, none of them were that strong and could take a hit like that from Angel." She told herself with a bothered looked. She had known what she saw, and that was Angel''s blade, a legendary sword that could cut through a dragon''s hide as if it was a sheet of paper, connect with the Black Knight''s left leg and do absolutely nothing to him.


    What came next also took her by surprise, for she didn''t expect the Black Knight to retaliate, and send him flying like a ragdoll.


    "If he''s the Black Knight of the Demon King, and was able to beat to Angel in one on one, then what hope do we have at beating the Demon King? He''s their subordinate, so surely she''s viler than him." Shannon convinced herself after remembering that he was in servitude of the Demon King. She had also heard talks about the Demon King actually being female, but because these were rumors, and words that came from people on the verge of dying after being beaten to near death by Angel, she wasn''t sure, but Lord Fane confirmed this.


    As she continued to think about the Demon King and her Black Knight, the sound of the doorknob turning could be heard, which was soon followed by the sound of the door opening.


    Entering the room was a young woman with an innocent/cute face who had curly blonde hair and blue eyes. In her hair on the left side right between her eyebrow and ear was a white flower that had five-petals, she also had on a circlet, but there were no gemstones in it or anything of that sort. Her choice of attire was a simple snow white gown, but that didn''t hide her woman''s body. Yes, despite having what some would say a childlike face, she had been gifted with a voluptuous body.


    Upon seeing the woman, Shannon said with a bit of surprise in her voice. "Lady Irillith."


    The now named woman flinched due to her being caught off guard by her words, for she had assumed Shannon was asleep, but she had quickly recovered from her taken back state. "Miss Shannon, you startled me."


    "Sorry," Shannon apologized with sincerity. "I didn''t mean to do that."


    "Nono, I''m not upset with you, I just didn''t think you were awake." Irillith explained with a shake of her head to signify that she wasn''t mad at her.


    Seeing this made Shannon smile a little bit before asking her. "So, I''m assuming you have come to check up on Angel and to see his condition?"


    "Y-Yes." The woman answered sheepishly with reddening cheeks. "I would have come a lot sooner, but-"


    She stopped and let loose a tired sigh. "-I have had a lot of matters to attend to, and just couldn''t come down here, at least not without angering my father."


    "It''s fine. It''s not like I had been expecting you to do that." Shannon replied with a shrug of her shoulders. She had never been a Goddess, so she didn''t know what they go through every day, but what she had been in her life was a daughter, and understood that it isn''t wise to upset your father.


    Not exactly knowing what to say, the Goddess said, "Thank you." before turning her attention to the male sleeping on the bed and approaching him.


    When she had seen him, she knew he was the one, so it was a little shocking to see him in this state.


    "Who did this to him?" Irillith asked in a low tone that had only a tiny trace of curiosity in it.


    "Lord Fane, the Black Knight of the Demon King." Shannon answered in a solemn manner.


    The Goddess said nothing, but she was surprised to hear this information, for she hadn''t heard about this person before, and believed that there were only a few people who could best the Hero, and that was the Demon King, Lord Arzakol, Lady Nyx, and two others.


    Wait, now that she had thought about this, she had remembered her father speaking about how there will be no more summonings anymore very recently, so could this person possibly be the reason why he brought it up in the meeting.


    "... What did this Lord Fane look like?" Irillith questioned as she gently placed her hand on Angel''s chest, which happened to be covered in bandages, and began to apply some healing magic.


    "I don''t know," Shannon answered with a bothered expression. "he wore a helmet, but he was tall, and looked like a football player."


    "Football player?" Irillith said in confusion. She had never heard that before and no idea what she meant by that.


    Hearing her confusion made her remember that these people had no idea what football was. "Basically broad shoulders, and muscular."


    "Oh," Came Irillith''s response. She had decided that she would speak to her father about this, and see if he knew the identity of Lord Fane. If it turns out that he is a person summoned from another world, then she would ask him why he gave this Lord Fane his blessing, and how her once dear sister figured out how to do summonings as well as a few other things.


    <hr>


    After finishing his training for the day with Lord Arzakol, Donovan returned to his room.


    It was a large room, with a big bed that could fit ten people on it, but besides that it was mostly empty. Sure, it had some furniture and the armor stand for the armor he wore, but those things didn''t really stick out, which was why he felt like his room was empty.


    "And now I do nothing for three hours." He thought to himself as he sat down on his bed while setting his sword on it next to him. He hadn''t bothered getting out of his armor yet, for he hadn''t decided yet if he was going to stay in his room.


    He had also assumed that he had broken a spring, for he had heard a somewhat loud noise upon sitting down, but he wasn''t quite sure, since he had never broken a bed spring before. Nonetheless, he wasn''t that concerned for it, for he was sitting at the very end of the bed, which was a decent distance away from the head of the bed.


    With that in his mind, Donovan grabbed the sides of his helm and took it off of his face. After he had done so, he turned it around to where he was staring at the part that protected his face.


    "When I look at this, I can understand why people see me as a villain." He muttered to himself as the thought of someone approaching him while wearing the helmet crossed his mind.


    Placing the helmet next to his sword, Donovan then picked up the blade, and began to examine it.


    "And this definitely makes me look like a villain." Donovan whispered as he ran his fingers alongside it, while inspecting the design and engravings.


    As he continued to check the blade out, someone knocked on the door.


    Bringing his hand to a stop at the near tip of the sword, Donovan looked at the door, and said in a loud and clear tone. "Come in."


    Listening to his command, the person entered, and to his surprise, it was Lady Nyx, who immediately let loose a giggle upon seeing him, for the sight of the heavily armored human sitting on the bed was hilarious to her.


    Donovan simply frowned while raising an eyebrow. "Is there something you need?" He didn''t know what she was laughing at, but he found it to be a little weird.


    She didn''t say anything, and just continued to laugh at him for some time, which had made his frown deepen. He wasn''t much one for hitting girls, but for once, he found it to be very appealing.


    Eventually, her laughter came to a stop, and she spoke. "Ah, I''m sorry, I just wasn''t, I just wasn''t expecting to see you like that."


    "Okay?" Donovan replied with uncertainty in his voice, not exactly sure how he was supposed to respond to that.


    "Anyways, I had seen your training with Lord Lucifer, and saw that you looked trouble, so I''m here to cheer you up." Lady Nyx declared as she approached the Black Knight.


    "I see, well I appreciate what you''re trying to do, but that''s not needed." Donovan said in response. He didn''t know what she had in mind, but he had an idea, and he had no intentions of having sex with her. Sure, he may have had some perverted thoughts about her, but that didn''t mean he''d actually do it if given the chance, he just wasn''t that kind of guy.


    Plus, the thought of them having sex just to make him feel better upsetted him.


    "Oh don''t be like that, you have yet to experience really anything in this world, so don''t you want to try it out and see what it''s like?" She questioned after climbing onto the bed and wrapping her arms around him.


    Now, had he been on Earth, Donovan would have most definitely felt the weight of her and her feminine parts pressed against his back, but because he was on Atalan, he basically felt nothing. If he wanted to, he could easily stand up without any problems whatsoever.


    He also wasn''t exactly sure what she was referring to, for he doubted sex here would be that much different than on Earth. Of course, there would be some differences, but it wouldn''t be this whole new type of world thing, no he just couldn''t picture that.


    With curiosity in his voice, Donovan looked over his shoulder, and said to her. "What exactly are you wanting to do?"


    At this, Lady Nyx grinned.

 A Knights Talk...

    Chapter IV: A Knight''s Talk...


    <hr>


    After going out with Lady Nyx on her pet wyvern, which had black and red scales, Donovan made his way back to his room only to be stopped by a Dark Knight at his door, who had been told to get him and bring him to Lord Lucifer.


    Donovan upon hearing this information released a yawn, and had asked if this could wait, but the Dark Knight was very persistent, and said that he shouldn''t make the king wait any longer than she already has.


    Knowing that the Dark Knight wasn''t going to let him enter his room, and that this would most likely get him into some trouble, Donovan decided to go to the Demon King''s chambers where she was apparently waiting for him.


    Upon arriving at her quarters, Donovan knocked on her door only to hear the faint word. "Enter."


    After hearing this, Donovan entered the room, and saw the Demon King sitting down in an armchair drinking from a gemmed chalice. He didn''t know what she was drinking, but if he had to guess, then it was wine, for wine seemed to be the thing everyone drinks. Her attire had also changed to a short nightgown.


    "You needed me?" Donovan questioned after closing the door behind him, which had caused her to look over at him.


    "Yes, come sit with us." She said with a small smile before gesturing to the armchair that was a few feet away from her.


    Listening to her request, Donovan walked over to the large armchair, and took a seat in it. Once he was sitting, he spoke. "So, is everything alright?"


    "What do you mean?" She asked with a trace of confusion in her voice before taking a sip of her drink as flames inside the fireplace crackled softly.


    "Well, you wanted to see me, and it is somewhat late in the night, so I figured you wanted to discuss something with me." Donovan replied as he rubbed his neck with his left hand.


    "No, there isn''t much we have to say to you, but we believed it is you that had things on your chest that you wanted to get off." She said in response while gazing at him in a solemn manner.


    "Me?" He said in surprise. "Oh, no I don''t really have anything on my mind-"


    "You looked troubled today." She cut him off in a stern tone. "We have also noticed that ever since you had faced the Hero''s Party, you have lost much of your enthusiasm."


    Donovan had fallen silent, and didn''t say anything. Truth be told, he was looking forward to learning magic, and wielding a sword, but after being shown who the Heroes were he lost a good majority of that excitement, and after confronting them he lost it all.


    "It''s nothing. I have just simply not-"


    "Donovan." She said in a serious tone that had made him go quiet again. She would usually address him by his fake name and title, but because he was acting like this, she believed it was appropriate to address him by his actual name. "You are my Black Knight, and I am your King. If there is something bothering you, then I need to know of it."


    It was extremely rare for her to refer to herself as one person, but because he was acting like this, she decided to make it clear as she possibly could that at the end of the day he was her one and only knight.


    Seeing that she was insistent on this, Donovan let loose a sigh, and said, "Okay, okay, I''ll talk about it, if you wanna hear what''s going on, then I''ll talk about it."


    Deciding to ignore the traces of anger in his voice, the Demon King listened to the problems that were bothering him.


    At the end of it all, she said to him in a somewhat understanding voice. "I see, so the Hero''s Party is full of people you know from your world, correct?"


    "Yes." He answered. He had felt better explaining all of this to her, but he highly doubted that it would change or fix the problems he was facing.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "That is truly unfortunate to hear, and I''m sorry for not realizing this sooner. Had I figured this out sooner, then I would have never gotten you involved in all of this." The Demon King apologized after setting the goblet down on the small table next to her.


    Donovan didn''t expect this kind of response from her at all. If anything, he had expected her to ask him if he still wants to be her knight or something along those lines.


    "Why are you like this? I mean you are the Demon King, so why aren''t you a little more, evil?" He asked with a troubled expression.


    At this, she laughed.


    "That is because I was a Goddess before I became the Demon King." She answered with an amused smile. She couldn''t remember the last time she had talked about her past, but hearing his question made her want to enlighten him of who she once was.


    "You were a Goddess?" Donovan asked with shock in his voice.


    "Yes, and so were Lord Arzakol, and Lady Nyx, but that was a very long time ago," Lucifer answered as she recalled some of the joyful times she had back then. "and when I was very young."


    "What, what happened?" Donovan asked hesitantly. As much as he wanted to talk more about his problems, he was far more curious about her past and how she came to be known as the Demon King.


    "Heh, shouldn''t we be discussing how you''re going to deal with the Hero''s Party?" The Demon King questioned in an attempt to avoid the topic.


    "We can do that later. Right now, I would like to hear more about you." He said in response with a tiny grin. He had found her attempt to change the subject to be a little cute, but he wasn''t going to allow that.


    Releasing a sigh of defeat, she said, "Very well, I will tell the tale, but only once, so listen closely."


    After saying this, she began to tell the story of how she was the firstborn of dozens upon dozens of Gods and Goddesses, and how she had been gifted the domain of Wisdom. She told him about her mother, who was the Goddess of Life and Death, and of her father, the King of Gods, Order, and Chaos.


    She informed him of many things, and throughout the story, she had a smile on her face, but eventually, her smile disappeared, and she revealed to him that the Goddess of Love and many more had grown envious of her.


    She didn''t exactly know why at the time, and had thought nothing of it, but her carelessness had cost her, for not long after noticing their jealousy did hundreds of her siblings go to her father, and demand that she be stripped of her divine powers.


    Knowing that if he refused his children there would be war amongst the Gods, her father decided to make a compromise, and banished her from Heaven and forbid her from going to any of the human, eleven, or dwarf kingdoms ever again.


    With no way to refuse her father, she agreed to leave Heaven, but she didn''t go alone. A handful of her siblings who were outraged by this had followed her to the mortal plain, and those were the God of Magic, the Goddess of Darkness, the Goddess of Winter, and the God of Storms.


    After they had arrived on the mortal plains, they headed to the far North where they wouldn''t be disturbed by any of the Gods or races created by them, and built themselves a kingdom for them to rule with the help of their mother, who had aided them in secret.


    "So that''s how you became the Demon King, huh? It''s not what I expected, but what I''m mainly curious about is why does it matter if you live or die? I mean, yeah dying would be terrible, but wouldn''t these other Gods and Goddesses who have come with you be able to take your place?" Donovan stated upon her finishing her story.


    "No, because not only would I die, so would they." She said with a crestfallen face. "How the prophecy goes is that the four of them perish in a fight alongside five members of the Hero Party in an attempt to stop them from reaching me. The Hero survives alongside one other, and the two of them confront me and kill me while dying in the process."


    "Wait, so all of you die!?" Donovan practically yelled as he stood up from his chair, shock written on his face.


    "Yes, but my mother had told me that there was a chance to prevent this, but in order to do so, I needed someone from their world to be my champion. That is why you''re here. You are the one who can save me, my siblings, and possibly your friends from their fates." She declared in a calm tone, not even fazed by his sudden and loud outburst.


    "B-But how? How can I save you guys and them from death without anyone dying?" Donovan questioned in a slightly demanding tone. He had already planned on trying to do this, but that didn''t mean he knew how to do it. He was only a man, and a young one at that, who barely had done anything grand in his life, so he couldn''t help from doubting himself.


    "I do not know. I only know that my fate, no our fate lies in your hands." She answered with an apologetic look. "It isn''t something anyone should bare, especially someone so young, but life is cruel and unfair. However, I believe you can do it."


    "But what if I can''t do it?" He questioned as he scowled. " What if I fail, and I can''t save any of you?"


    "Then, we die knowing Lord Fane, our Black Knight, did everything in his power to prevent our deaths." She said with a small smile after getting up and placing a hand on his cheek.


    He didn''t say anything in response, but a part of him hated the look she was giving him. It wasn''t because it was a smug grin, but it was because it was one of acceptance. It was like she had already accepted the possibility of dying, and that was something he didn''t want to see. He didn''t know why, but he didn''t want her to be okay with dying.


    Placing his hand on top of hers, Donovan squeezed it slightly, and said in a firm tone. "I will prevent all of your deaths, I may not know how, but I will find a way, I promise."


    "Thank you, Lord Fane."

 The First Assignment...

    Chapter V: The First Assignment...


    <hr>


    After checking on the Hero, Irillith returned to Heaven, and went straight to her father, for she had a lot of things that needed answers. However, she wasn''t able to see him right away due to two of her siblings having a dispute, but after he had solved it, she was able to see him.


    Upon entering his chambers, and her siblings leaving the room, she was greeted by the sight of her father with an exhausted expression written on his face. He appeared to be a man in his late thirties with snow-white hair, and emerald green eyes. He had a small beard, a chiseled face, and wore white robes.


    "Father, you look tired." She said as the angel who had prevented her from entering the room earlier closed the door behind her.


    "That''s because I am tired." He answered in a slightly agitated voice. He didn''t hate her, but he, in all honesty, didn''t want to talk about whatever she wanted to talk about, for all he wanted to do at the moment was lay down and sleep.


    "Oh, well if you''re tired then we can discuss this-"


    "Just tell me what''s bothering you Irillith." Her father demanded in a firm tone, which made it clear that coming to see him right now was a mistake.


    "Well, I believe my sister Lucifer has summoned someone to our world, and I wanted to know if this is true did, and if so, why did you bless them with powers?" Irillith declared in a strong manner. As much as she wanted to say that it was unimportant and they could discuss it another time, she realized that this was something that needed answers immediately.


    "... It is true, and I did it because she is my daughter and because I am allowed to do that." He answered after a few seconds of silence.


    "But she was kicked-"


    "Because you and a bunch of your siblings left me no choice." He interrupted in a powerful voice that made the Goddess of Love fall silent. "If I had refused then a war amongst the Gods would have started. Plus, I don''t see why you''re troubled by this, you had summoned seven otherworlders to try killing her, so why can''t she have one to defend herself?"


    "Because..." Irillith started in a weak-willed voice. She had been hoping that her father wouldn''t be like this, but even after everything, he was still choosing Lucifer over her.


    "Irillith, I have allowed you to do whatever you please and get away with many things, but if you try getting me involved with your sister, or bring this up again to me, I will strip you of your divine powers, is that understood?" Her father declared in a serious tone that had no traces of joking in it whatsoever.


    Getting frustrated with her father, Irillith said, "If you wanna protect her so bad then why don''t you just get involved in all of this? You could easily prevent everyone from inflicting harm on her, so why don''t you?"


    "Because that is not my role in this, and because if I did get involved, then there would be chaos." He answered with a sigh. While he did care for his banished daughter, he cared more about the order of things and knew what awaits everyone should he get involved in these petty disputes between the Gods. "However, I will step in and have a ban on all summonings on the otherworlders, for I have realized that what me and your brother, the God of Craftsmanship, have created will be misused."


    "But, but how do you know Lucifer won''t summon more people? What if she summons more of these people and build-"This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Don''t be so ignorant Irilllith it''s unbecoming for a beauty like you." Her father interrupted with a disappointed tone and expression. "Lucifer would never do that, for she knows that if I don''t bless them, then they will be weak and useless to her."


    "I, I understand." Irillith said with a hesitant nod of her head.


    "Good, now if you don''t have anything else to say to me, then please leave." He stated before averting his eyes to his desk and having a pen appear out of nowhere in his right hand.


    With nothing left to say to him, Irillith quietly left the room, but as she did this, some tears started to form in her eyes. "Even with you gone, father is still choosing your side over mine."


    <hr>


    After having a talk with the Demon King in front of the fireplace, Donovan continued his training, but with a new attitude. He poured his heart into it, and trained until he felt like he was going to collapse and then he would do it again the next day. It was the same with magic too, Donovan would use up all of his till he had nothing left, and then after doing so would rest until it was all restored and then do it again.


    Time flew by at an alarming rate, but eventually, his training came to an end when the Demon King said to him. "We have an assignment for you, Lord Fane."


    "An assignment?" Donovan said in surprise with a slightly puzzled expression.


    "Yes," She affirmed with a nod of her head. "We have heard from our spies that the Hero Party is on their way to the Dwarven Empire, and would like you to make sure nothing happens there."


    "So, what? You want me to attack them, and stop them from whatever it is they''re doing?" Donovan asked with a small frown that was hidden by his helmet.


    "Violence should not be initiated, at least by you." She answered with a shake of her head before letting loose a troubled sigh. "The Dwarven Empire has been a neutral party throughout this conflict, and has aided both sides, but we feel that the Hero Party is going to try convincing them to join humanity in their fight against us."


    "I see, so you want me to go there and make sure that nothing of that sort happens, right?" Donovan asked in an understanding tone.


    "Yes, but you won''t be going alone." She affirmed with a small smile.


    After those words left her mouth, she snapped her fingers, and suddenly two dozen purebloods clad in black armor that wore armor that was similar to Donovan''s armor, but not as bulky, appeared out of thin air behind him. These were Dark Knights, and while Donovan wore a red cape, they wore black capes.


    As he turned around to look at who was teleported behind him, the Dark Knights went down on one knee, and said in unison. "We''re at your command, Lord Fane."


    "Is this really necessary?" Donovan questioned as he looked back at the Demon King.


    "Of course, as we have already stated, you will not be going alone. Lady Nyx will be going as well, but she will need a full security detail if she is going to be our ambassador, so we picked the best of the best for you to command." She said with what could be considered as a sweet smile before crossing her legs over one another.


    "I see, but I''m not really suited to be a commander..." He trailed off as he glanced at the knights who were still kneeling.


    "We know, but because you''re our Black Knight, you are expected to be able to lead troops, so this will be a good learning experience for you, Lord Fane." She declared as her grin got a little bit wider. She wasn''t concerned for her sister''s safety, and that was because she believed that he wouldn''t fail her when it comes to protecting her.


    She also doubted that the Hero Party would be stupid enough to attack them, for if a conflict arises in any of the Dwarven Empire''s kingdoms between either group, then the one who initiates the attack will be detained and sentenced to death.


    As for the one who gets attacked, depending on what they did, they would either be allowed to stay, or they would be banned from entering the Dwarven Empire''s territory ever again.


    Realizing that he had no choice but to accept the twenty-four Dark Knights, Donovan bowed slightly, and said, "Very well, when do we depart?"


    "Right now." The Demon King affirmed. "Lady Nyx and her attendants are already ready, and are currently waiting on you and your detachment at the stables."


    "I see, then I shall go now." Donovan stated as he straightened himself. He then turned around and walked in between the two lines of Dark Knights, who had stood up and began to follow him after he passed them.


    As he and the Dark Knights exited the throne room, the Demon King let loose a sigh and muttered under her breath. "Even though he''s agreed to be my Black Knight, he still hasn''t addressed me as, Your Grace, or Your Highness, or even My King."

 The Journey To The Dwarven Empire...

    Chapter VI: The Journey To The Dwarven Empire...


    <hr>


    Donovan allowed a sigh to escape his lips as he disembarked from the carriage with Lady Nyx right behind him.


    They had been traveling for a couple of days now and weren''t that far from the mountains where the dwarves dwell, but because they have been riding from early in the morning; it was decided that they would stop and rest for the remainder of the day.


    It was unfortunate, just like how it was unfortunate that he couldn''t ride on the back of a warg like the Dark Knights, but at the end of the day, it is Lady Nyx''s call. He may be in charge of her security detail, but that didn''t mean he gets to decide when they go, and when they stop.


    As Lady Nyx''s assistants disembarked from their carriage and began to set up camp with the help of the Dark Knights, Lady Nyx spoke aloud. "Such a beautiful place to set up camp, don''t you agree, Lord Fane?"


    "I guess." Came his response in a tone that lacked interest, which had made her pout a little.


    Throughout their journey, Lady Nyx has come to know that Donovan is just a quiet person. She had assumed that he didn''t talk much because he wasn''t comfortable around people he wasn''t that familiar with, but after spending hours in the carriage with him, she found this not to be the case.


    "Can you at least have some amazement in your voice when you talk, Lord Fane?" Lady Nyx requested with a sigh. She was okay with him being silent, for she believed it suited his position rather well, but the dullness in his voice was killing her.


    "Excuse me?" He questioned, traces of confusion in his voice.


    "I said- ah, nevermind." She said before walking away and towards one of the other carriages.


    Frowning slightly, Donovan thought about following her and asking her to repeat what she had said, but was prevented from doing this, when one of the Dark Knights approached him.


    "Lord Fane, may I have a moment of your time?" He inquired in a polite tone.


    "Of course, what is it, Sir Azath?" Donovan declared with a nod of his head. He had still not gotten used to being in charge of others, so he has been getting assistance from the pureblood before him.


    "I have heard tales that a dragon lives nearby, and was wondering if we should go subjugate it?" Sir Azath stated in a serious tone that had a tiny bit of questioning in it.


    Azath was the son of Lord Ugdrath Andras, who was the current Marquis of House Andras, and was rumored to be the most cunning of Dark Knights. He was supposedly a master duelist, and was always three steps ahead of his opponents.


    "Uh, no. I don''t think we need to do such a thing." Donovan answered after a couple seconds of contemplation. While the idea of fighting a dragon was interesting, Donovan remembered that this wasn''t a game and that dragons were pretty big. Unlike wyverns, which had only two legs, dragons had four, and were almost two times larger than the average wyvern.


    They could easily swallow someone whole, and it was because of this alongside the ability to breathe fire that Donovan didn''t want to do it. Sure he may be a lot stronger than the normal human, but he wouldn''t be going up against any humans, he would be fighting a dragon, which was a legendary creature that was known for its power.


    "U-Understood." Sir Azath said in response, a little taken back by Lord Fane''s refusal. It had been quite some time since he had been out of the castle, and had expected that his new commander would want to do something like this, but he had thought wrong. "Anyways, I have already assigned who will be our sentries for the knight, so you need not to worry about that, my Lord."


    "Have you?" Donovan questioned, who got a confirmation nod in return. "I see, thank you."


    "Think nothing of it, my Lord." Sir Azath stated with satisfaction in his voice. "I am at your command and will do everything I can to make your job easier."


    "And I appreciate that." Donovan affirmed as his lips curved a bit upwards. He was glad that the Dark Knights at his command weren''t being a pain in the butt, and was also glad that they were willing to help him out with stuff like this, for a small part of him had feared that they were going to be a rather prideful group and would literally go out of their ways to make his job not easy.


    With nothing else to say to his superior, Sir Azath bowed while saying, "Lord Fane." before walking away to go speak with a couple of the Dark Knights who weren''t doing anything at the moment.


    After he walked away, Donovan released a sigh and grumbled to himself while turning back around to look at Lady Nyx. "I can''t believe he wants to hunt a dragon, he mus-"


    His muttering came to a complete stop upon seeing that both Lady Nyx and the attendant she was approaching were no longer by the carriage. He didn''t see them inside of it either, so he began to look around, but was unable to spot the two of them.


    With him being unable to spot them, Donovan walked over to where he had last seen them, and had his eyes averted downwards towards the ground. Upon reaching their last position, he spotted their footprint and began to follow the tracks, which had led away from the camp.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    He followed the trail for quite some time, and as he did so, he listened to nature. It was relaxing, but eventually, the trail came to a stop, and he arrived at what he believed to be a natural hot spring. He wasn''t sure if it was a hot spring, for he had never been to one before, but there was steam coming from the water, so he assumed it to be one.


    Looking around, Donovan noticed a set of clothing on a rock, and it wasn''t long after that when he heard someone call out to him.


    "Lord Fane~." The person said in a sultry like singing voice, which had made him look back at the hot spring and see Lady Nyx''s head sticking out of the water.


    "Lady Nyx," He greeted as he prepared himself to look away the moment she emerged from the water. He had seen naked girls before, but those situations were different, and unlike this one, he wanted to see them naked. "where''s your attendant?"


    "She''s gone back to the camp." Lady Nyx answered as she slowly moved closer to his position, a small smile that was deemed to be mischevious written on her face.


    "I see." He said in response with a small frown. He didn''t see the woman at all on the way back, but he guessed that they went different paths or something along those lines. "Well then, please let others know where you''re going, okay? Also, have one of the Dark Knights escort you as well, they''re here to be your security after all."


    "You do know that I''m incredibly powerful, right?" Lady Nyx asked as her face became crestfallen. "And that I can easily kill whatever tries attacking me if I wanted to."


    "Yes, but it makes my job easier knowing that there is someone there with you." Donovan answered in a slightly tired tone. He didn''t doubt that she was powerful, but he didn''t want to hear from the people under his command that Lady Nyx had suddenly disappeared and a whole commotion happen because no one knows where she is. He just didn''t need that stuff.


    "Aww, are you worried about me?" She questioned in a teasing tone as her mischievous grin reappeared on her face.


    Not even bothering to answer her question, Donovan looked away and muttered in a low tone that was loud enough to reach her ears. "Just hurry up with your bathing, please and thank you."


    At this, Lady Nyx laughed before submerging into the water.


    <hr>


    Shannon had an exhausted expression written on her face as she and the other girls of the Hero Party returned to the room they would be staying in during their time in the Dwarven Empire.


    It had been quite some time since the Black Knight appeared, and her nightmares about him had yet to go away. This had troubled her greatly, and what made the dreams worse is when she would try to figure out why he is doing this. He would barely talk, and when he did, he would say that because he wants to before cutting her down.


    She wasn''t the only one who was having dreams about him. Both Noelle and Gabrielle also had nightmares about the Black Knight including Angel, but their nightmares about him eventually went away.


    She was surprised that Angel was able to get over his fear for the Black Knight so quickly, for she remembered how he would avoid the subject in general after waking up, but then one day he suddenly claimed that he would get back at the Black Knight and make him pay. As for both Noelle and Gabrielle, they took a little longer, but eventually, they had stopped dreaming about what had happened and declared that next time they would get him.


    "So, was anyone else surprised by what the Dwarven Emperor looked like?" Gabrielle questioned in an attempt to start a conversation. She had waist length crimson red hair, and light blue eyes, and like the others, wore something that was little of modesty.


    Her attire consists of a white breastplate with gold and pale blue accents and matching, fingerless gauntlets, boots, hip guards, and wing-shaped hair clips. She wore a black leotard underneath her breastplate, black thigh-high stockings, and a pale blue cloth wrapped underneath her hip guards, all of which are clad with pink lacing along with her hair clips.


    "Fuck yeah I was!" Marianna exclaimed as she jumped on her bed, which was big enough for two large males to sleep on. "I was expecting some short, fat, and ugly guy. Not some guy who had muscles upon fricking muscles and was like six feet tall."


    They had been in the Dwarven Empire for nearly a week now, and had finally met the Emperor, but to all of their surprise the dwarf leader was a tall, burly man that made Jacob look like a twig, and Angel like a child.


    "I just can''t help but wonder what his daughter looks like..." Noelle said aloud in a slightly awed voice.


    They had come across many female dwarfs during their time here, and while there were some pretty/gorgeous ones, there were also a lot of not so pretty ones. It had amazed them and made some of the girls wonder if the dwarf males had an ugly fetish, for there seemed to be a lot more not so good looking girls than pretty ones.


    Just thinking of the Dwarven Emperor''s daughter made some of them shutter. They didn''t know why, but all they could think of was a female version of the Emperor.


    "I mean, we should technically be able to see her since none of us are men, right?" Xenovia questioned with traces of uncertainty in her voice. One of the dwarf law is that if a man sees an unmarried woman face, who is not of the same blood, must take them as their bride. If the man refuses to do so or the head of the household deems the man unworthy, then they perish or be banished to the surface, but the latter depends on their status, so that the woman can remain veiled and undefiled.


    This law made no sense in any of their minds, but then again, there were a lot of things in this world that made no sense to them. Another thing the girls of the Hero Party found to be strange is how dwarves label themselves as the Children of the Stone. They refer to the Stone as both genders, but they do not worship it as if it were a God. The Stone is believed to be a living and a shifting entity with a will that surrounds and guides the dwarves.


    Dwarves apparently experience a unique and all-encompassing relationship to their progenitor, the Stone. They are born of it, they serve it in their deeds, and they feel its impact upon their lives in many ways.


    "Yeah, but we can''t see her unless she asks for us." Marianna pointed out as she sat up and began to take off her shoes.


    "I know, but it''s rare that we haven''t met her yet." Xenovia said in response. "Usually, the child of the ruler would want to speak with us or at the very least Angel, but that hasn''t happened at all."


    "Well, it''s not like it matters." Shannon said as she sat down on her bed. "We''re here to convince Emperor Havel to help us fight the Demon King and her forces, not his daughter."


    "We know that, but still, it''s strange that we haven''t met her or her siblings." Noelle declared.


    Not seeing the need to say anything else on the matter, Shannon closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep while her friends continued to talk to one another about their situation and dwarven culture. As she did this, she thought about her parents and how they were doing back on Earth.

 The Children Of The Stone...

    Chapter VII: The Children Of The Stone...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Upon arriving at the surface entrance of Kal Vorum, the largest of the dwarven cities, and the one where Emperor Havel rules from, Donovan and Lady Nyx exited the carriage they have been riding in.


    The surface entrance was a large stone wall with two stone statues of dwarven warriors standing at attention on both sides. It had around a hundred dwarfs to garrison it, and the gate part was made entirely out of metal with all kinds of gems in it.


    "Could this even be called a gate? It looks more like a fort than anything else." Donovan said with a bit of astonishment as he stared at the high-end walls that not only had been designed beautifully, but had ballista turrets on it too.


    "Gates are designed to keep people out of it, so it shouldn''t be that surprising to you, right?" Lady Nyx declared with a cheeky smile before walking over towards the metal gate.


    Deciding not to say anything, Donovan followed her in silence as Lady Nyx looked to the driver of the carriage, and informed them of the plan.


    They had stopped a bit of a distance away from the gate, so they had some ground to cover, but as they moved closer, Donovan was able to see and realize that the walls and gate were massive. He had already considered them to be huge, but after getting closer, he estimated the walls to be around 60, if not that 70 meters tall.


    After they got about halfway from reaching the entrance, the gate slowly opened, and Donovan was able to see about a dozen or so figures.


    "They''re a lot more wider than I expected." He thought to himself as they drew closer to the dwarfs who waited in front of the gate as it closed behind them. When he thought of dwarfs, he had expected them to be robust of course, but the men he was seeing was a little too muscular.


    They may have been wearing plated armor, but he could tell from their physiques that they were muscle and nothing more. They may be a foot or two shorter than him, but that didn''t mean they were pushovers; in fact, he was certain that if he was a typical human, they could easily whoop his ass.


    Upon reaching the group of dwarfs, the two of them came to a stop, and Lady Nyx greeted them with a polite bow. "Greetings Commander Dairis, it has been far too long since we have last seen each other."


    The one Donovan presumed to be the leader of the group was the white-haired dwarf that stood in the middle. He didn''t wear a helmet unlike the others, and had a warhammer strapped to his back. He had a beard that anyone would expect when thinking of a dwarf, which was a long and burly one with braids.


    "It has been quite some time Lady Nyx," Commander Dairis greeted as his lips curved upwards into a smile. "but I must ask, what brings you and this company of yours to our great city?"


    "I have official business with the Emperor, and I''m afraid that is all I can tell you." Lady Nyx declared in a firm tone.


    "I understand, I was just surprised that you brought some retainers. Usually, when you come here, it is either by yourself, or with your attendants." Commander Dairis stated before scratching his left cheek.


    "Times have changed, and there are rumors that the Hero and his party are here, so His Highness insisted that I go with escorts." Lady Nyx stated with a small shrug of her shoulders.


    She was hoping that Dairis would confirm this information for her, but unfortunately, he didn''t, and said, "Bah, I still don''t get why you address your ruler as His Highness or His Majesty, when they have tits and are a woman, but that''s just me."


    Donovan couldn''t help from agreeing with that, for he also didn''t understand that, but of course, he wasn''t going to voice his agreement. It was one of the tinier reasons why he hasn''t said anything like, "His Highness has sent me." for he felt it was weird and wrong. She was a woman, and therefore, he believed that when people are talking about her, they should use the female pronoun.


    "You are entitled to your own opinion, Commander Dairis. Now may we enter the city?" She said in response before requesting for confirmation.


    "Yep," He said before looking at one of his soldiers. "Duncan blow the horn."


    Obeying his superior''s orders, the black-bearded dwarf that was on Dairis left lifted the horn that he was carrying from his waist, and blew into it.


    As the gates slowly opened once more, Lady Nyx turned around and raised her right hand, which was the signal to have the three carriages, and the Dark Knights to move forward.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    After they had passed through the surface entrance''s gate and being told not to cause problems, Donovan, and company boarded the surface shoot, which was in reality just a large steam-powered elevator that could hold up to fifty people, and headed down to the dwarven city Kal Vorum.


    The time it would take to reach the bottom was about thirty minutes due to the descent being slow, and during this time, Donovan asked about their wargs as well as many other things, for he had been told that they weren''t allowed to bring them down to the city.


    Lady Nyx didn''t say much to him on the topic, but had told him not to worry about it, for this wasn''t the first time Commander Dairis had watched over wargs. Although, after she had said this, she muttered that it might be okay to be a little concern for this was the first time he was looking after so many.


    Once he had heard this information, he had raised a skeptical eyebrow, but Lady Nyx didn''t know that due to the helmet he wore, and as for his other questions/concerns, she answered them to be the best of her ability.


    Eventually though, Donovan''s ceased asking questions, and spent the rest of descent in silence. The reason why wasn''t because he had nothing to say, but because Lady Nyx was teasing him, and he didn''t want to fuel the flames of that.


    Upon reaching the near bottom, the lift''s doors opened, and Donovan''s eyes were greeted by an astonishing sight. There were no words that could describe the dwarven city Kal Vorum, and if there was Donovan couldn''t think of them.


    "This place is beautiful..." Donovan muttered in awe as he stared at the wonderfully designed buildings, while dwarves of both genders walked the streets wearing clothing that gave off an elegant vibe.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "Hmph, His Highness'' castle is better..." Sir Azath grumbled. He had been standing next to Donovan and had heard his comment, and would have agreed, but he had felt like he would be betraying his kingdom if he had done that.


    "Huh, this place has changed a lot since I''ve been here, it''s become a little more advanced." Lady Nyx said as she spotted a few things that weren''t here the last time she was here.


    "I know our city is glorious and certainly a mouth dropper, but could you all please step off the surface shooter? I have to send it back up." The dwarven soldier who controlled the lift demanding after boasting a little about his city.


    "Of course, my apologies." Lady Nyx said before disembarking along with her party. It had taken them about a minute, but once they were all off of it with all of their belongings, the doors to the lift closed, and it began to make its ascent back to the surface.


    Donovan watched it slowly make its way back up for a couple of seconds before losing interest in it and turning around to gaze at the city. He had expected them to attract some sort of attention, but no one approached them. The most they got were glances from the dwarfs walking by.


    "So, where do we go from here, Lady Nyx?" Donovan questioned with a tinge of curiosity as they continued to stand there while dwarfs continued to pass by them and go on about their day.


    "Isn''t it obvious?" Lady Nyx said with a smile as she cast him a side glance. "We go see Emperor Havel, and make sure the dwarves stay neutral in this war."


    "I know that, but don''t you think it''s going to be a little difficult?" Donovan asked with a bit of concern in his voice. He didn''t know what this Emperor Havel guy was like, and had only heard so much, but he highly doubted that they would just be able to walk into the dwarven ruler''s palace, and say hello.


    "No, because I have a seal from His Higness, and we''re here for diplomatic reasons." Lady Nyx declared proudly. "So, you should stop worrying about all of these things, and just leave it to me, okay Lord Fane? Because it really doesn''t match with your look."


    "Okay, sorry for being concerned and worrying about this stuff." Donovan said in response with a trace of annoyance in his voice. He didn''t want to come off as a worrywart, but so far, she has kind of kept him in the dark, at least when it comes to the plan of action.


    "It''s okay, I forgive you." She said happily which had caused herself to receive a slightly irritated look from him, but Lady Nyx paid no attention to this, and just simply said with a grin. "Now, let''s go see Emperor Havel."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Havel let loose a sigh as he rubbed his forehead in exhaustion. He had thought he had made it clear to this, Hero Party, and the human envoys that he has no intention of getting his people involved in this war with the Demon King, but he had apparently thought wrong.


    They had demanded that they have another audience with him, and were now asking for his reasons why he wouldn''t get involved, which was something that vexed him greatly.


    "Isn''t it obvious?" Havel asked himself as he opened his eyes and stared at the humans below him. "My Empire barely gains anything from this, and even if you all offered more, I would call you all liars, for I know your race is a deceitful kind. Not to mention, I prefer King Lucifer''s people over yours."


    Havel of course didn''t voice these thoughts of his, but if he had to choose which side to fight for in the surface dwellers conflict, then he would have most likely sided with the Demon King.


    There were many reasons why, but one of the more simple reasons is because she had been keeping the Goblin Kingdom along with many other races away from his cities, so if they were to side with the humans, then his cities would have to deal with hordes of goblins every month along with many other things.


    "Emperor Havel," The Hero shouted from the bottom of his throne in a serious tone. "if you do not help us thousands upon thousands will die! The Demon King is a threat to us all, if we do not stop her, then we will all perish, you understand this, right?"


    "King Lucifer, and her people are no threat to me and my kind, and if she is, then that is because of you lot, for you all were the ones who went into her kingdom and began to cut down her people." Havel declared in a stern manner as he glared at the Hero.


    "Your Imperial Majesty, those creatures you are referring to, are not like you and I. The beings the Hero Party valiantly defeated were demons who feast on the flesh of humans, dwarves, and elves." One of the envoys stated with his lips curved slightly downwards.


    "Uh-huh, well if that''s the case, then I thank you, now I believe we are done here, yes?" Havel said in response.


    "No, you have yet to tell us why, and we have heard from hundreds of your people that they want the Demon King gone for good, so why are you so scared to fight them!?" Angel yelled in anger after finally having enough of what he considered to be this man''s shit. He had been trying not to get angry, but this Emperor before him was stubborn as hell, and it was getting on his nerves.


    They, and the envoys had offered many things to Havel, but it was like it wasn''t enough and that the dwarf wanted more.


    "Oh my, aren''t you a bold one to talk to His Imperial Majesty like that?" Came a voice Havel was familiar with, which had caused him to look up a little and see Lady Nyx, seven Dark Knights, and what he could assume to be the one, and only Black Knight being escorted by his guards.


    "Lady Nyx!" Havel said in surprise upon seeing the woman as the Hero Party and the ambassadors turned around to face the person who had just spoken.


    Seeing the Black Knight was a shock to Angel, but his shock didn''t last long, for he had begun to draw his blade, while saying, "You, you''re going to-"


    "Angel, violence in this city is prohibited!" Noelle interrupted, which had made him stop and look at her before looking back at the Black Knight and seeing that he didn''t get in a defensive stance. He had also noticed that the dwarfs escorting the newcomers had their hands resting on their weapons, and were ready to pull them out the moment he completely unsheathed his blade.


    Gritting his teeth in frustration, Angel pushed the blade back into its scabbard.


    Watching this scene amused Lady Nyx, and she couldn''t help from saying, "Aww, what''s the matter? Is the little Hero troubled by the fact that he can''t cut down the Black Knight while he''s not defending himself?"


    "Nyx, stop it." Donovan stated in a curt tone. He usually would address her as Lady Nyx because she was a Lady of the Demon King''s court, and it was a way to show respect, but right now, he needed to have her understand that she can''t be teasing them.


    Hearing the seriousness in his voice, Lady Nyx released a sigh of disappointment that could have been deemed as an irritated sigh as well. "Fine, I won''t do it again."


    "Why are you abominations here?" An envoy demanded with a scowl.


    "Abominations? Are you really-"


    "Enough, I will not have you all hurling insults to one another while I sit idly by!" Havel declared from his throne after slamming his fist against the stone arm. "Lady Nyx, why are you here?"


    "Well, Your Imperial Majesty," Nyx said as she walked past the group of humans, a small grin written on her face. "His Highness had heard whispers that the Hero Party had come here to try getting you involved in this war, so she sent me here to make sure that didn''t happen and that you were staying neutral in this conflict."


    "I see, then I apologize, for your journey was a pointless one, I have already made it clear to the Hero and all of the envoys he brought with him that the Dwarven Empire will not be getting involved in this war." Havel declared in an apologetic tone. It didn''t go unnoticed by any of the humans that Havel was talking to Lady Nyx as if she was a very close friend of his.


    "Is that so, Your Imperial Majesty?" Lady Nyx said as she turned to face the human faction with a smug grin.


    "You, you demon! You have seduced the Emperor, and have him wrapped around your finger! I can see it clear as day!" An envoy yelled upon seeing her smirk.


    "By the Stone, can someone get this lot out of here? I have heard enough from them for today."


    "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty!" The Commander of the Palace Guards declared happily before waving his hand at the guards who had escorted the purebloods. The guards didn''t need any other signal, and quickly moved to escort the humans out of the throne room, albeit some were a little resistant and didn''t leave acceptingly.


    As they left, Donovan silently watched as the members of the Hero Part eyeballed him.


    Once they were gone, Havel let out another sigh, and said, "That lot has been very persistent on getting us to join their cause, and they weren''t wrong about some of my people wanting King Lucifer gone for good."


    "Really?" Lady Nyx said in surprise. She knew of course there would be a handful of dwarfs with that type of idea in their head, but if it was getting to the point where Havel was hearing it, then it was considered a problem.


    "Yeah, but you shouldn''t worry, so long as I rule, the Dwarven Empire shall stay neutral." Havel said with a resolved look.

 Trouble In Kal Vorum...

    Chapter VIII: Trouble In Kal Vorum...


    <hr>


    "Black Knight, if you care about your kingdom and Lady Nyx, then come to the Garden of Emperors tonight unarmed while the palace sleeps, and come alone."


    Those were the words written on a sheet of paper he had found on top of his bed, which was in his mind pretty ominous.


    He didn''t know who had written the letter, nor who had left it there, but he had figured them to be someone high ranking, for not just anyone would write something like that.


    Nonetheless, he listened to the letter''s instructions, of course, it wasn''t easy, for he had to sneak past the palace guards, but he managed to get past them and enter it.


    After arriving at the Garden of Emperors, Donovan walked past dozens of statues of whom he believed to be former Emperors until coming across a short and curvy woman who had what looked like slightly dark skin, and greenish-blue black hair. She was wearing a white gown and veil.


    He wasn''t sure if this was the person who called him to this place, but the letter did have a trace of perfume on it, and the writing looked a little too neat for a dwarven male.


    As he slowly and cautiously approached her, she spoke. "Black Knight, you came."


    Her voice was soft and angelic, which had made him loosen up a bit, but it wasn''t enough for him to drop his guard. He was still cautious and was prepared to cast magic if needed too.


    "Were you the one who wrote the letter?" He asked in a way manner.


    "Yes, I was the one." She affirmed as she looked away from the statue and at him.


    "Okay, is it alright if I ask you who you are?" Donovan inquired in a respectful tone.


    "You may, but I cannot reveal, for I do not know if you are friend or foe." She stated in what sounded like a sad voice, which had caused him to frown.


    "What do you mean?" He questioned, traces of confusion in his voice. He didn''t want to come off as rude or impatient, but he didn''t understand her at all. She had sent him a letter telling him to come here, and then instead of revealing what he needed to know, she was talking to him in a peaceful way like an angel would.


    "Tell me, do you love war?" She questioned. She was a little hesitant to ask him that, but had managed to get the question out there.


    "No, I don''t." He answered immediately. "I understand that wars are things that happen, and are sometimes inevitable, but that doesn''t mean I love it, nor do I want it. All I want is to return home, and go back to living a normal life."


    He couldn''t see this due to the veil, but her lips had curved upwards slightly. "I see, then you''re a friend, Black Knight."


    "Okay, so can you answer my question?" Donovan requested, still a little confused about this whole ordeal.


    "Yes, my name is Camillia Tethras, and my father is Havel Tethras, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Black Knight." She declared with a refined curtsey.


    "Havel Tethras?" Donovan said in surprise. "Wait, you''re the daughter of the Emperor!"


    "Yes." She affirmed with a nod of her head.


    "It''s an honor to meet you, but why did you want to meet me?" Donovan requested after giving a small bow. He would have done a deep and graceful bow, but he kind of had a feeling that she didn''t care about greetings. After all, she did hide her name from him.


    "I, like my father, have no wish for conflict, but there are many who do." She stated in a somber tone. "They cannot forget what had happened many years ago, and believe that it''s only a matter of time before your leader begins attacking us."


    "I see, but what does that have to do with me?" Donovan asked. He was troubled by this information, but he didn''t see how he could be of any use. "As unfortunate as it is to hear this information, I don''t see how I can be of much help."


    "You can be of help by stopping them from taking my father''s throne." Camillia proclaimed. "They believe my father has become weak, and have been plotting against him for some time now. I have tried to thwart their plans, but there are too many enemies inside the palace, and I barely have anyone I can turn to for help."


    "I..." Donovan said before pausing. He wanted to help, but he just didn''t see how he could help really. Even if he did have access to a lot of the palace areas that didn''t mean he could go into someone else''s room, and start an investigation or anything like that.


    "Please, Black Knight. Please protect my father." She pleaded as she clasped her hands in front of her chest.Stolen novel; please report.


    "I, I will try, but I''m still not sure what I can do in this situation." Donovan said in a concerned tone.


    "I understand, Black Knight." She said in response.


    "I don''t think you do understand. If I go sneaking into someone''s room, and get caught, then I could lose my head." Donovan thought with a frown. A small part of him wanted to say this to her, but he had kept his mouth shut, at least on that subject.


    "You don''t have to address me as, Black Knight, Princess Camillia. You can call me, Fane." Donovan suggested after a few seconds of silence.


    "Oh, then you can address me as, Camillia. If we are going to be allies, then we should treat each other as equals, yes?" Camillia said, a little taken back by the change of topics, but not against it.


    "I guess," Donovan said with a shrug. His intentions weren''t to get on a first name basis with her, but if she was going to treat him as an equal, then he wasn''t against that. "anyways, I should probably return to my chambers..."


    As he said this, Donovan started to turn around, but before he could turn around completely, she called out to him.


    Wait!" she requested, which had caused him to turn back around.


    "Yes?" He said in a questioning manner.


    "May I, may I see your face?" She asked hesitantly.


    Furrowing his brows, Donovan replied with, "Why?"


    "No reason in particular, I just would like to see my ally''s face." She said sheepishly. He didn''t know this, but her cheeks had become slightly, and that was because she was embarrassed by this situation.


    "... Sure, but can you promise not to tell anyone what you''ll see?" Donovan said in response after pondering the request for a while. He wasn''t sure if this was the greatest idea, but so far, Camillia didn''t seem like a bad person to him, and he was pretty sure she would keep quiet about this if he asked, so he saw no harm in revealing his face.


    "Yes, I promise to keep this between us." She affirmed with a nod of her head.


    After hearing her swear not to reveal this to anyone, Donovan grabbed ahold of his helmet and lifted it off of his head.


    "You''re, you''re human." She said in surprise upon seeing his face.


    "Yeah." He confirmed as he ran his hand through his hair before stopping at the back of his head and scratching it. "It''s a long story, but I''d appreciate it if you didn''t tell anyone about this."


    "I won''t, you have my word, Fane." She stated in an earnest tone.


    "Thanks." Came his response with a smile. He was curious now of her face, and was half tempted to ask if she could show him hers, but had remembered that if he saw her face, then he would have no choice, but to marry her.


    With nothing else really to be said, Donovan put his helmet back on and said, "I need to go now, but it was a pleasure to meet you, Camillia, and I hope we can see each other another time."


    "We can, tomorrow night we can meet again." Camillia avered.


    Surprised by this information, Donovan said, "Oh, okay then, I am assuming we will meet here again?"


    "No, it wouldn''t be wise, but don''t worry, I will have the information relayed to you tomorrow." Camillia said with a shake of her head.


    "I see, well then, I will see you tomorrow, Camillia." Donovan said before turning around and walking away.


    <hr>


    Angel had an irritated expression written on his face as he vented his anger to Jacob and the few envoys that were staying in the same room.


    He had hated how that Nyx women ridiculed him, and how the Emperor treated them as if they were the eyesores, but most of all, he hated how that Black Knight didn''t react and just stared at him.


    If Fane had reacted, then he would have felt some satisfaction, but because he didn''t move a single muscle, he felt like he was being looked down on and considered to be not a threat. This vexed him, and made him want to fight Fane the Black Knight even more than before.


    "I''m telling you, Sir Angel, that demon has seduced His Imperial Majesty!" An envoy declared in anger. He was a man with silver hair that appeared to be in his late forties, and was the ambassador of the Akaneian Kingdom, which was one of the smaller human kingdoms. "She''s manipulating him against us!"


    "Yeah, so we must get rid of her!" Another emissary agreed vehemently. He was a little younger than the diplomat of the Akaneian Kingdom, but he nonetheless believed that Nyx was the sole reason why the Emperor was against joining their cause. He had brown hair, and was the ambassador of a kingdom called Palum. It was one of the more larger countries, but was closer to the Demon King''s territory, so it was almost always dealing with monsters.


    Jacob, who had been silently listening to all of the rantings, couldn''t help from rolling his eyes, for he believed they were overreacting, which in all honesty, was a little unbecoming of their statures.


    As the other two envoys stated their opinions on the matter, Angel released a sigh of frustration. "I just can''t understand why he''s so against fighting them! We''ve offered him tons of resources that he can''t down here in return for his help, but even then, he still doesn''t want to get involved."


    "It''s probably because he doesn''t want dwarven blood to be spilled in a war that barely affects him," Jacob said in a tired tone, which broke his silence. "I mean, have you looked at this place? It''s like an oasis, and doesn''t seem to be suffering from any problems."


    "Yeah, but what His Imperial Majesty is failing to realize is that if we lose this war, then the supplies from the surface stop coming." The envoy of the Akaneian Kingdom declared in a firm voice. "We are the ones supplying them with wood, food, and a few other things that are extremely rare to get down here."


    "Which is most likely why he''s remaining neutral in this conflict." Jacob said in a slightly peeved tone. "Think about it, if he sided with us, then the Demon Kingdom will cut off whatever it is they''re trading with them, and if he sided with them, wouldn''t we do the same?"


    "You''re not wrong, but that-"


    "Kyyyyaaaaa!" Came a scream from outside of their room, which had made the envoy cease talking.


    Upon hearing the scream, Angel wasted no time and got off of his bed while grabbing his sword, which was at the end of it, and rushed outside of the room with the others right behind them.


    After exiting the room, Angel looked around and saw a dwarven maid with her back against the wall. Directly across from her and laying on the ground was the palace guard who patrolled the hallway.


    "What, what happened?" Angel questioned after running over to the maid, and looking around only to finally notice that the door to the room where the other envoys slept was open slightly.


    "I-I don''t know." She stammered as the female members of the Hero Party arrived in their night clothing.


    Angel said nothing, for he was no longer interested in what she had to say. Instead, he was more intrigued by the slightly open door. With his curiosity at an all-time high, Angel approached the door and opened it.


    "My God..." Angel muttered upon seeing that the room was a mess, and that the envoys were sprawled all over the place with pools of blood underneath them. "The envoys have been murdered!"

 Accusations, Plots, And Investigations...

    Chapter IX: Accusations, Plots, And Investigations...


    <hr>


    "Your Imperial Majesty, it is obvious that the ones who had brutally murdered our friends were none other than those demons!" The ambassador of the Akaneian Kingdom shouted as he pointed his index finger at Lady Nyx and her party. "I demand that their heads be taken at once! They have killed in this city, and the punishment for that is death!"


    "You''re an idiot if you truly believe that we killed your colleagues, Mister Redfield." Lady Nyx said as she crossed her arms. "We gain nothing from these murders, and it''d be nearly impossible for one of my own to slip past all of the guards, and enter the East Wing."


    "Nearly impossible, doesn''t mean that it''s impossible!" The man declared in a rage like tone which had caused Donovan to frown. "And for all we know you could have blundered and entered the wrong room! After all, the Hero''s room was only one room away, so it is possible he could have been your target."


    "Your accusations are too far fetched, and anyone who believes them is a complete and utter fool." Lady Nyx said with a sigh as she rubbed her temple.


    "Now hold on Lady Nyx, while I do think his accusations are a bit too unlikely, I do have to point out that one of your attendants isn''t present here." Emperor Havel pointed out. "I''m not saying you had orchestrated this, but do you think it''s possible she had acted alone in this?"


    "You think a mere servant girl was able to slip past your guards, kill three of them, and then murder six men?" Lady Nyx questioned with a bit of bewilderment in her voice as well as some anger. When they had been brought to the throne room, she had noticed that her maid was missing, but had assumed that they went out to view the city.


    "You say that, but for all we know she could be an assassin posing as a maid." Angel stated in a slightly low tone that was still loud enough for everyone to hear.


    "She isn''t, and if she is, then I was unaware of this." Lady Nyx said vehemently as she glared at the Hero.


    "Your lying, and are just simply trying to cover for yourself, demon." The envoy of the Palum Kingdom declared in a hate-filled voice.


    The Dark Knights upon hearing this let loose a small growl. They had so far remained silent, and were starting to get sick of how the humans were talking to Lady Nyx, but before they could say anything, Donovan held up his hand signaling them to hold their tongues.


    Emperor Havel released a sigh of frustration as Lady Nyx, and the Hero began trading words with one another. While he didn''t think his friend, Lady Nyx, was the one who had plotted this. He had to keep in mind that one of her people was no longer in the palace.


    This sigh that Havel let out hadn''t gone unnoticed, for the dwarf who was standing next to the throne had heard it.


    "Your Imperial Majesty?" He started in a voice filled with concern. He was the Emperor''s most trusted advisor, and would have been present at the meeting yesterday had he not been preoccupied with other things such as paperwork.


    "This is getting out of hand." The Dwarf Emperor muttered in an irritated tone as he watched Lady Nyx deny the ambassador''s and the Hero''s Party''s claims.


    "I agree, Your Imperial Majesty." The white-haired dwarf stated with a nod of his head. "In all honesty, I think it''d be wise if we just confined them all to their rooms, while we investigate this matter."


    "Hmph, I think that''d be for the best." Emperor Havel said as he scratched his chin with his thumbs. "They may not be happy with it, but it would surely be for the best."


    With his decision made, the Dwarf Emperor opened his mouth to speak, but held his tongue due to the Black Knight breaking his silence.


    Donovan, who had been listening to everyone who had put their two cents in had grown tired of it all and tried to be the voice of reason. "If our plan was to kill the Hero and his party, then don''t you think we would have waited for you all to leave this city? And do you really think we would have sent one assassin to kill him, when some of our best fighters have failed? I don''t know if you''re using your brain or not, but he is not worth getting the Dwarven Empire involved in this war between us."


    "I, unfortunately, have to agree with the Black Knight." Jacob said breaking his silence and shocking not only Donovan, but the people standing right next to him as well. "While Angel may be strong, I don''t think the Demon King would risk their relationship with the dwarves. Not to mention, I just can''t see one person being able to do all of this."


    "I''m glad at least some of you have a brain." Lady Nyx said in a satisfied voice.


    "God, you''re such a bitch." Marianna declared in an annoyed tone after hearing Lady Nyx''s comment.


    As Lady Nyx was about to respond, Emperor Havel said in a loud and clear voice. "Enough, there are already enough problems as it is, and I do not need more, so, for the time being, I am restricting you all to your wings. If any of you are found outside of them, I will deem you as the murderer, and have you executed is that understood?"


    "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty." Came the responses from the majority, but there were a few who had remained silent and disagreed with this.


    Unfortunately for them, Emperor Havel didn''t care for their complaints, and said in a slightly satisfied voice. "Guards, see them to their wings!"


    <hr>


    After being escorted to the West Wing, Donovan let loose a sigh. He had expected assassinations to be carried out, but he didn''t expect them to happen so soon. It hadn''t even been twenty-four hours since he had spoken to the princess, and there were already things that needed his investigation.


    During their trip to the West Wing, Donovan had asked the guards escorting them if there was anything he could do to help, but all they told him to do along with the Dark Knights who wanted to help was to stay put in their quarters and not do anything.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    This had infuriated him a little, and he had tried to convince them that he could be helpful, but the dwarves were pretty adamant on this, so he had no choice, but to give up on the matter.


    "Is everything okay, Lord Fane?" Sir Azath question in a concerned tone after hearing the sigh escape his lips.


    "No, we''ve technically been imprisoned, and until this matter is solved, we are unable to go anywhere." Donovan answered in a slightly peeved manner.


    "I mean, it could be worse, My Lord." Sir Azath said in response.


    "How so?" Donovan asked with curiosity in his voice. He was curious as to how their situation could be any worse than this.


    "Well, we could literally be imprisoned or even worse had our heads chopped off on false accusations." Sir Azath explained. The Dark Knight''s lips had curved upwards as he said this, but Donovan wasn''t able to see this due to the helmet.


    At first, Donovan didn''t react, but it wasn''t long before he let out a laugh, and said, "You''re not wrong, when you throw that out there, it literally could be worse."


    Hearing Donovan laugh had prompted Sir Azath to chuckle as well. "Yeah, so why don''t we just relax and let the Emperor''s men do their jobs, okay My Lord?"


    "Okay." Donovan answered before breaking off from the group and entering his room. He had exchanged a few more words with Sir Azath and a few other Dark Knights who had joined in on the conversation, but because he had nothing of importance to say, and Lady Nyx had gone straight to her room, he decided to return to his room and relax.


    The thought of following after her and making sure she was alright had crossed his mind, but he thought it might be better if he left her alone, at least for now, since she didn''t look to be in a very talkative mood.


    After he had entered his room and closed the door behind him, Donovan idled for hours on end, for there wasn''t much he could do inside his room.


    <hr>


    Upon returning to the East Wing, Jacob was slammed against the wall by Angel.


    "Is there a reason why you sided with that piece of shit?" Angel demanded as he stared up at Jacob, who at first was surprised by this, but had quickly recovered his composure.


    "Angel!" Noelle, Gabrielle, and Xenovia yelled out of shock due to the sudden violence he directed to their comrade.


    Angel paid them no heed, and simply gazed into the taller male''s eyes, while saying, "Well, is there?"


    "Besides his reasoning? No, there isn''t." Jacob stated in a calm tone. He could easily get out of this situation if he wanted too, but he was curious to see how this would turn out.


    "Angel, let go of Jacob right now." Shannon ordered after watching the two men stare intensely at one another.


    "No, I''m wondering if Jacob here has a change of heart now." Angel proclaimed as he continued to gaze into Jacob''s eyes.


    "Are you for real?" Jacob asked in a serious tone. "Are you actually for real?"


    Seeing him not say anything made Jacob laugh. "Oh my God, you''re not kidding. You actually think because I agree with the Black Knight''s logic I''m turning on you guys."


    "Jacob stop it, and Angel let go of him now." Shannon said with traces of irritation in her voice. She didn''t say anything unlike Jacob, but she did think that the Black Knight was right. Even if she was afraid of him, she could understand what he was saying, and also couldn''t see why they''d risk their relationship with the Dwarven Empire when they could have done waited for them outside of the city.


    "Angel, as much as I don''t like that asshole, I do have to agree with his logic." Marianna stated in an apologetic voice, which had made him avert his eyes away from Jacob, and at her. "It just doesn''t seem like something they''d do and not to mention, I''m sure that asshole would want to finish you off himself, so I don''t know why he''d let an assassin do that work."


    "Yeah, I don''t think they were behind this one." Xenovia agreed with a nod of her head. "I think they''re innocent on this."


    After seeing more of his teammates agree with Shannon and Jacob, Angel released a sigh and let go of the taller warrior. "Alright, if the demons aren''t the ones behind this attack, then who is?" He questioned with a frown.


    "I don''t know, but are we even sure that you or any one of us are the targets?" Jacob asked in a stern manner with a tiny trace of irritation in his voice. "What if this is just all a coincidence, and there is actually someone who has beef with the envoys?"


    "I''d say it''s possible, but very unlikely." Gabrielle said in a tired tone. "Unless they all had done something terrible, the assassin wouldn''t gain much from killing a bunch of diplomats, no offense you guys." As she said the last part, she looked at the four envoys who had silently been watching all of this go down.


    "Uh, none taken?" The envoy of the Palum Kingdom said in a slightly confused tone. He felt like he should have been offended by that statement, but he didn''t feel like he had been insulted, which was why there was confusion in his voice.


    After this was said, the Hero Party discussed the murder and who could be the one behind it. Unbeknownst to them, someone was listening in on their conversation and had a scowl written on their face.


    <hr>


    After several hours of lazing about, Donovan loitering came to an end by clicking sound, which was immediately followed by the sound of wood moving.


    With his interest piqued, he looked up from the book he had been reading and saw that the mahogany bookcase had moved, and that there was a hole in the wall. Standing inside said hole was a dwarven girl he had met not even twenty-four hours ago.


    "Camillia?" He said in surprise as he got up from his seat while she entered the room. He had also put the book down on the table next to him. "What''s with that getup?"


    Had it not been for her greenish-blue black hair, and the black veil that concealed her facial features, Donovan would have assumed she was an assassin, for she was wearing black and dark green armor. Strapped to her waist were two blades that were more along the lines of short swords than daggers, and on her back was warhammer that had a large head.


    "What do you mean?" She asked, not understanding or seeing why he was asking about her armor.


    "Well, for one isn''t it a little, I don''t know, revealing?" Donovan stated with a small frown. While there was a decent amount of skin that was covered, Donovan couldn''t help but notice that her chest piece only covered her chest really, and not her abdomen, which was a little toned, but not too toned. She also wasn''t wearing anything to protect her shoulders, and her thighs were exposed as well.


    "No, not really." She answered bluntly.


    "I see." Donovan said as he looked away, his cheeks were just a smidgen red. "Well, it looks good on you."


    "Oh, I, um, thank you." She had been completely taken back by his compliment, and had fumbled her words, but eventually, she managed to say her thanks. "Y-Your clothes, they, they look good, I mean, they look good on you."


    Seeing her all flustered like this had made his cheeks even redder. "N-No problem, and thanks." He muttered into the hand he had placed over his mouth. He had already considered her to be a cute girl despite not seeing her face, but her reaction just now was way too cute in his eyes.


    Unlike Lady Nyx, or the Demon King, who give off a mature and Mlif like vibe, the person before him gave him this innocent vibe that made him want to pamper and tease her to see how she''d react.


    "A-Anyways, shall we begin our investigation?" She asked after a couple seconds of what felt like a little bit of awkward silence. "I believe I know who is responsible for Lady Nyx''s missing attendant as well as the one who is behind the murder of ambassadors."


    "Y-Yeah, we probably should." He had still not gotten over that reaction of hers, but he had realized that he needed to focus on the objective, and that was finding out who was responsible for today''s events. "Just give me a few minutes to get ready."


    "Sure, but be quick please, time is of the essence." She stated.


    "Will do." He said as he already started to switch his clothing to what he wore underneath his armor only to stop due to him noticing that she was still in the room, and staring at him. "Um, you can wait in the like tunnel or whatever, you don''t have to watch."


    "Hm? Oh, um, yes I''ll just wait in there for you." She said after realizing that she was staring intently at him.


    With that said, she left the room, and gave him some privacy.

 A Day Out With The Dwarf Princess.

    Chapter X: A Day Out With The Dwarf Princess.


    <hr>


    Donovan couldn''t help from feeling a little concerned as he walked the city streets with the Dwarf Princess Camillia at his side.


    He had forgone his pauldrons, red cape, and shield to avoid sticking out as much, but he had might as well wore these things, for he still was getting everyone''s gazes. As for the reason why it was because the person he was traveling with was so small compared to him, and because most of the dwarfs had never seen someone as tall as him.


    While there were humans and demon folk who came to the great city Kal Vorum, it was rare for them to see someone this big, so they couldn''t help from looking at him.


    As for Camillia, she didn''t seem to mind these looks they were sending their way, and walked down the streets as if it was an average day for her, even though she wasn''t the center of attention this time.


    "Camillia, if you don''t mind me asking, do you mind telling me where exactly we''re going?" Donovan asked in a low tone that was loud enough to reach her ears and those that were within a few feet.


    "We''re going to see someone who might know where your missing attendant is." She answered, while keeping her eyes forward. "He''s called the All-seer, and has eyes everywhere. Unfortunately, the crowd he is with isn''t the nicest of people, so be prepared for some ridiculing or worse."


    "I see," Donovan said with a frown. "so we''re going to be dealing with the dwarven mafia, that''s wonderful, I can''t wait to see how this goes."


    He didn''t say this out loud, but he was pretty sure this is what she meant. That or she just meant that the dwarves they were about to meet had a short temper; it was one of the two.


    After walking for another ten or so minutes, the two of them arrived at what looked like a high-end bar, which was a surprise, for he was expecting the building this All-seer to be at a sketchy place.


    Nonetheless, the two of them entered with Camillia taking the lead, and Donovan right behind her.


    Upon entering, Donovan was greeted by a bunch of rowdy and armored dwarfs who appeared to be having the time of their lives, which was something he didn''t expect at all. It was because of the building that he didn''t expect the dwarfs in it to be like this, for he had expected the dwarfs to be wearing suits, and acting very noble-like.


    However, after closing the door behind them, all activity came to a halt, and the dwarfs slowly turned their attention to the two of them.


    Donovan opened his mouth to speak, but upon doing so, Camillia began walking toward the bar. Seeing her do this, Donovan decided to follow her lead, but had noticed that everyone''s eyes were still on them, and that the dwarves were still painfully silent.


    "She must have nerves of steel, or she is familiar with these guys, for there is no way she could just stroll on as if nothing was happening." Donovan thought to himself before casting some looks and see that some of the dwarfs'' hands were on the handles of their weapons.


    Once they reached the bar, the dwarf who was working it said in a gruff tone. "What will it be, miss?"


    "Not what, it''s who, and the person I''m looking for is the All-seer." Camillia answered bluntly, her voice no longer carrying that gentleness or warmth that was usually found in it.


    Donovan remained silent, but he had a small growl come from the men behind him along with some of the chairs being pushed back.


    "I''m sorry, but I don''t know anyone-"


    With no warnings whatsoever and movement as fast as a cheetah, Camillia reached over the tabletop, grabbed the man by his beard, and pulled him towards her.


    The dwarves who had already rose from their seats unsheathed their weapons, and took a step towards them, but were stopped by Donovan who had taken his blade off of his back and had it aimed at the closest dwarf''s head. He had been taken back by what Camillia had just done, but he unfortunately didn''t really have time to ask her what she''s doing or thinking, for if he hadn''t moved, there was a high probability that he would have had an axe planted in his back.


    "Now," Camillia started in a slightly more friendly tone as she pulled out one of her blades and played with it in front of his eyes. "what were you saying again?"


    "I, I said that he''s upstairs." He croaked as he stared at the blade. "He''s in the room on the left."


    "Thank you." Camillia said in a satisfied voice as she let go of the man''s beard. As soon as she had done this, the man moved as far as he could away from the bar top.


    The Dwarf Princess didn''t seem fazed by this, and simply took out a small purse, and said as she placed it on the slightly bloody tabletop. "Sorry for the mess, but we''re on a tight schedule."


    The dwarf, whose nose had been broken at first was silent, but eventually, he signaled for his friends to lower their weapons and said to her. "I had it coming, sorry for being difficult, miss."


    Happy with how things played out, Camillia turned around and made her way to the stairs with a shocked Donovan right behind her.


    As they climbed up the steps, Donovan called out to her as he grabbed ahold of her wrist. "Hey, mind telling me what all of that was about?"


    "Sure, I was in no mood to play games, and he tried to play games with me." She answered in a slightly curt manner.


    "I see, and did it not cross your mind that there were like thirty people in there all armed to the teeth?" He explained with a small frown. He wasn''t condemning her for actions, but he had to know what she was thinking.


    "I did, but I knew you would have my back, and you did, which is something I''m happy about." Despite her talking in a curt tone, Donovan could hear the bit of warmth in her voice, but that didn''t mean he was happy or approved of her actions.


    Letting loose a sigh, Donovan said in a troubled-filled voice. "You confuse me, Camillia. You tell me you don''t want war, but then very next day you slam a dwarf''s head against a table, and act like you have no problems with killing him, just what are you trying to accomplish?"


    "What I am trying to accomplish is peace, Fane." She answered sternly. "If I don''t get a little bit of violent with some stubborn men, then my father loses everything, I lose everything. So I will do extreme things if it means preventing the Dwarven Empire from going to war, the question is, will you?"Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Donovan said nothing, but it seemed like they weren''t going anywhere, for she continued to stare at him. She wanted his answer.


    "I guess, but I don''t think that was the way to handle that situation." Donovan said in an attempt to change the subject.


    "You don''t know what I''ve had to deal with, Fane, so don''t tell me how to handle these things." She declared in what sounded like a disappointed voice.


    After she said this, she turned around and took a step up the stairs, but once again was stopped by Donovan who had grabbed ahold of her wrist.


    "Fane-"


    "You''re not wrong," Donovan started in a somber voice. "I do not know your situation, nor do I know anything about you, so I can''t really be the one to judge you."


    Camilia was silent.


    "However, if you could enlighten me, tell me what you''ve been dealing with, then maybe I can help. I want to do good, and I want to prevent your people from entering this war, but I don''t want to lose who I am while doing so, you know?" Donovan stated with a bit of firmness in his voice now.


    "... This is who I am, Fane." She said after several seconds of silence. "I am someone who is willing to accomplish their goals, no matter the cost."


    "Then..." Donovan started with a frown. "Then was the person I met in the garden fake? Were you just acting sweet and innocent to get my help?"


    Camillia said nothing, and just simply freed herself from his grip by yanking her arm away, and then walked up the remaining steps. Donovan in response didn''t try to stop her, and just stood there, for he couldn''t help from feeling like he had been hurt by her, even though she knew nothing about him, and he knew nothing of her.


    "Excuse me sir, but do you mind getting out of my way?" Someone requested from behind him causing him to turn around, and see a one-eyed dwarf standing directly behind him.


    "... How long have you been there?" Donovan asked with a bit of surprise in his voice.


    "Since she said no matter the cost." He answered truthfully.


    "I see." Donovan said in response.


    "Yeah, my word of advice is to probably not take all of this to heart because from what it sounds like, it sounds like she''s been through a lot." The one-eyed dwarf stated before moving past Donovan after he had given him some space to squeeze on by.


    "Thanks, I guess."


    <hr>


    After speaking with the All-seer alone, Camillia exited the building to find Donovan waiting outside for her.


    The two exchanged looks with one another, but that was basically it, for Camillia looked away not long after this and started to walk off towards the palace. Donovan in return didn''t try to stop her, nor did he say anything to her. He just simply followed behind her in silence.


    However, the silence eventually came to an end when Camillia stopped walking and said aloud in a low tone. "Hey Fane?"


    "Yeah?" He answered, a little surprised that she stopped and called out to him.


    "We''re still allies, right?" She questioned, traces of concern could be found in her voice. "What had happened back there isn''t going to change anything between us, right?"


    "That depends on you." He answered after a few seconds of muteness.


    Camillia said nothing, but after a while, she said hesitantly. "If, if I tell you what I''ve been through, and why I acted like that, would you listen and still be my ally?"


    Donovan said nothing at first, but he couldn''t deny that his curiosity was piqued.


    "Sure, but can I request something when you do tell me all of this?" He said in response.


    "O-Of course." She affirmed as she turned around to face him, traces of happiness in her voice. "If it is within my power, I will grant it, but in return I want you to listen to everything I have to say."


    "I will." He promised with a nod of his head. "You have my word."


    With that said, the two of them returned to the palace and entered through the palace''s tunnel system, but to their surprise, and Camillia''s horror the Dwarven Emperor Havel, and his most elite guards were waiting for them.


    "I have many questions that I want to ask you Camillia, but first I have to deal with the Black Knight." Havel declared as he stared at his daughter before shifting his attention towards Donovan.


    "Father, I-"


    "Quiet." He coldly interrupted as he sent her a sharp look, which had caused Camillia to fall silent. "Now, do you remember what I said, Black Knight? To be specific, what I said back in the throne room?"


    "If you''re found outside of your wing, you will be deemed as the murder and executed." Donovan answered solemnly.


    "Yes, I did say that, but I''m going to give you one chance, one chance to tell me what you were doing, and why you were with my daughter." The Dwarf Emperor declared as he lifted his hand off of his large warhammer, and raised his index finger to emphasize on the one chance.


    "I can''t answer that." Donovan said, which had made Emperor Havel furrow his brows. "Only your daughter can."


    Looking at his daughter, he said one word. "Explain."


    Thus Camillia told the tale of how she met with the Black Knight, and all of the events that lead up to this moment. However, she didn''t reveal the information she had learned from the All-seer.


    At the end of it all, Emperor Havel said, "I see, so you two were just trying to help."


    "Yes, father." Camillia said with a single nod of her head.


    "Well, it seems I will not be taking your head, Black Knight, but if you disobey me again, your skull will become paste, is that understood?" Emperor Havel declared as he stared at Donovan, who in return nodded his head.


    "Good, now my guards will escort you to your chambers, and this time you''re not allowed to leave it." Emperor Havel said before gesturing towards his guards to take him away.


    "Father, wait I have-"


    "No, your actions were foolish, and you could have gotten yourself killed or worse, now step aside, Camillia." He stated in a serious tone after watching his daughter get in between the Black Knight and his guards.


    Camillia hesitated, and quickly glanced over her shoulder at Donovan who gestured for her to move out of the way with his head, but she didn''t do that. Instead, she looked back at her father, and said, "I will not move."


    Completely taken back by his daughter''s response, Havel said, "What did you say to me?"


    "I said that I won''t move aside!" She practically yelled. "I have acted like your perfect little girl, and have done everything you have asked of me, but I will not let you take Fane away from me, not when I have things that we need to discuss!"


    Donovan, who wasn''t exactly sure what was going on couldn''t help from thinking. "What the fuck is going on right now?"


    "Camillia, what''s gotten into you?" Her father asked with a confused look. "This isn''t like you, the Camillia I know is sweet, innocent, and-"


    "I''m only like that because you want me to be like that father!" She shouted in frustration. "Ever since mom died, you began treating me as if I''m something fragile that could break easily, but I''m not that, or at the very least that isn''t all of me. I''m more than that, and I have just been keeping it all a secret from you."


    Havel was speechless, and in all honesty, didn''t know what to say to his daughter. His eyes had darted upwards towards the Black Knight to see if he understood what was going on, only to remember that a helmet hid his facial features, so he was pretty much useless.


    "Camillia, I-"


    "I''d appreciate it if you could trust me, father." Camillia interrupted in a much more calmer tone. "I know you''re concerned for my wellbeing, but me and Fane make a great team, and I believe we can find out who was the one behind the murder of envoys, and the people that are plotting to overthrow you, but you need to give us a chance."


    Havel was still at a loss, but with a sigh said, "Alright, I will give you two one chance to find out who is responsible for the ambassadors'' deaths and who is plotting a coup. Do you hear me? I am giving you and only one chance to figure this out."


    Shocked that her father actually agreed to this, Camillia said in an energetic tone. "Father!"


    "Don''t thank me yet, I''m not done speaking." He said in a firm tone before looking at Donovan. "Black Knight, understand that I''m trusting you with my daughter''s safety. If she so much as loses a single strand of hair, I will destroy you, you understand? I swear it by the Stone that I will completely and utterly destroy you."


    "I understand, and I will do my best to protect her." Donovan affirmed.


    "I don''t want your best, I want you to protect her, and make sure no harm comes to her, got it?" The Dwarf Emperor stated.


    Seeing as he was practically asking for something that was borderline impossible, Donovan thought about saying something else, but realized that if he did he would most likely screw everything up, so he just said to him. "I got it."


    Happy that the Black Knight got his point, Emperor Havel looked to his daughter and said, "Now can my guards escort him to his chambers?"

 The Aftermath...

    Chapter XI: The Aftermath...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "I see, and did it not cross your mind at all that the Dwarf Princess Camillia could have been playing you as a fool?" Lady Nyx inquired with her arms crossed as she stared at Donovan, who was on his knees with his hands on his thighs.


    It had been about ten minutes since he had returned to his room, and upon returning to it, he found a not so happy Lady Nyx inside of it waiting for him. She didn''t waste any time with him and ordered him to get on his knees and start explaining everything to her.


    "Well, I mean, I did have some doubts..." Donovan said as he scratched his cheek out of nervousness while looking away.


    "Look me in the eyes, and say that again." Lady Nyx ordered curtly, which had caused him to look back at her and see once again that she was in no mood for jokes.


    "Okay, I did have some doubts." He repeated after a few seconds while keeping eye contact with her. He, in all honesty, didn''t like how she was treating him as if he were a child, and wanted to tell her that he knew what he was doing, but was positive that would piss her off even more. Not to mention, he would technically be lying to her if he did say this to her, for he wasn''t one hundred percent sure he knew what was going on.


    "Really?" Lady Nyx asked with an eyebrow raised, which in return got a nod of confirmation. "You really, and honestly had some doubts about Camillia?"


    "Yes, I did." Donovan affirmed in a slightly annoyed tone. He had understood that he wasn''t the smartest being out there, but that didn''t mean he was a complete idiot who trusts everyone he comes across. No, he just had a good feeling about Camillia, and thought it might not be so bad if he investigated the situation with her. Although, in reality, the thought of leaving the palace had never crossed his mind like at all.


    He had figured that they were going to use the tunnel system she used to enter his room to infiltrate one of the people she believed to be a traitor to the crown, but he was wrong.


    "Oh, don''t you dare get snarky with me, Donovan." Lady Nyx warned upon hearing the bit of attitude in his voice. "You were the one that decided to be an idiot and follow someone you barely knew, which could have been a ploy to frame you or worse."


    "I won''t get snarky with you if you don''t treat me like a child, which is what you are doing right now." Donovan nearly yelled in response in an irritated voice.


    "I wouldn''t be treating you like a child if you had never done something so idiotic like this!" Lady Nyx pointed out as she raised her voice as well.


    "I took a risk, and it paid off, so why are you giving me shit for it!?" Donovan shouted as he got up off of his knees. "Am I not allowed to make choices like this? Do I have to get yours and the Demon King''s approval on everything I do!?"


    "When you''re putting our relationship with the Dwarven Empire on the line? Yes, you do." Lady Nyx declared in a voice that was more stern than angry. "When you''re on the battlefield fighting the Hero Party or the human armies? No, you can do whatever you like."


    Donovan didn''t say anything and clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn''t want to get into a fight with Lady Nyx, but how she had been treating him at the moment had pissed him off.


    Believing that he had calmed down a bit, Lady Nyx said in a much more calmer voice. "I don''t want to treat you like a child, but you need to understand that you were very lucky, and that if you take everyone''s words at face value, then you''ll wind up dead."


    "That''s understandable, but how am I suppose to form relationships with others if I can''t take risks?" Donovan questioned with a frown. "I don''t know anybody in this world, and the people I do know would prefer to see my head removed from my shoulders, so tell me how can I make friends and allies with people that aren''t demon folk if I''m not allowed to take any risks?"


    "Oh, for the love of Stone, you are making me wanna hit you." Lady Nyx declared in an exasperated tone. "I''m not saying you can''t take risks, Donovan. I''m just telling you not to take risks like this when our relationship with another kingdom is on the line, and if you are at least try to get some more information on the situation and tell somebody like me in advance."


    Donovan said nothing at first, and just simply pondered her words, but after a while, he let loose a tired sigh, and said, "Okay, I will do that next time."


    "Thank you." She said happily. "I''m sorry for ridiculing you and treating you like that."


    "It''s fine, but if I may ask, why do you act as if Camillia is a stranger, don''t you know her?" Donovan said with a wave of his hand before asking his question.


    "No, I don''t know her. I mean, I have met her a couple of times, but even then it wasn''t for long, so I couldn''t really figure out what type of person she was." Lady Nyx stated before letting out a sigh. "All I really know about her was that after her mother passed away, His Imperial Majesty became very protective over her, and basically confined her to the palace, which had led me to believe she had grown up a sheltered life, but apparently I was wrong."Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Yeah, how she acted wasn''t someone who group up a sheltered life." Donovan stated with a bit of laughter as he recalled her slamming a certain dwarf''s head against a table. "Like she had become a whole another person the moment we entered that bar."


    "Mhm," Lady Nyx hummed her agreement. "which leads me to believe that she''s been sneaking out of the palace for a long time now, and has probably had her personal servants cover for her when she does."


    "Most likely." Donovan agreed.


    "Well, in any case, I am happy that you have become..." She trailed off to contemplate what word to use when describing his relationship with Camillia. "Friends with the Dwarf Princess, but you still need to tread carefully, and make sure nothing bad happens to her. She is all His Imperial Majesty has left, and him allowing her to do this is something I would have never expected."


    "I will do my best." He said in response.


    "Good because if something does happen to his daughter, then you need to understand that he will most definitely try to take your head." Lady Nyx stated in a serious tone.


    "I understand, trust me, he had made it very clear what awaits me should something happen to his daughter." Donovan affirmed in a slightly tired tone.


    With that said, their discussion slowly came to an end, and it wasn''t long after that when Lady Nyx left his room.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Camillia had a solemn look written on her face as she stared at the mirror''s reflection of her.


    As for the reason why, it was because her heart seemed to be troubled by all of today''s events, specifically the ones that had happened not too long ago.


    She had been sneaking out of the palace for the past seven years now, and not once had she got caught by her father, but that streak had finally come to an end. A part of her was happy that he had found out, but there was another part of her that was bothered by this, and that was because she wasn''t exactly sure how to act around him anymore.


    She had pretended to be this sweet and innocent girl who loved to sing, read, and write, but now that the truth was out there, she didn''t know if she should continue to act like that, or not.


    With a troubled sigh escaping her lips, Camillia looked down at the dark green gauntlet on her left hand and began to remove it.


    As she did this, someone approached her door, and knocked on it three times while saying in a slightly loud voice. "Camillia, are you still awake?"


    The person at her door was none other than her father.


    "Yes, father." She answered as she stopped what she was doing and gazed at the door.


    "I see," He muttered under his breath before requesting something. "is it alright if I come in, or are you busy?"


    "You can come in, father." She affirmed before returning to her work, which was removing the armor pieces that protected her hands and wrists.


    With his daughter''s approval, His Imperial Majesty entered the room, and saw that her back was turned towards him, and that she was currently fiddling with her armor.


    "So," He started as he closed the door behind him. "how long have you been doing these type of things behind my back?" His tone wasn''t as authoritative as it usually was, and was more along the lines of curiosity.


    "Too long, father." She answered, a trace of embarrassment in her voice.


    "Oh, I see." He said in response before rubbing his beard and left cheek with his left hand.


    Camillia said nothing upon hearing this, but she did want to say that she was sorry for keeping it a secret. Unfortunately, she couldn''t find the strength to say those words.


    "I guess in a way it''s my fault for not noticing when it was kind of obvious." He said as he moved to take a seat on her bed.


    Curious by what he meant by that, Camillia turned around and asked him. "What do you mean?"


    "Well, if I think about it, there were a lot of times where you told me you wanted to be left alone for the day, or how you weren''t feeling well, and would go to your room." He explained with a chuckle.


    The Dwarf Princess remained silent, but her cheeks did become slightly red from embarrassment. She had believed her excuses to be pretty good, but now that she thought about it, she couldn''t help from wonder how her father didn''t figure this out sooner and if there was someone who knew of what she had been doing for the past seven years.


    "Anyways, why did you seek the aid of the Black Knight, and why do you want his help specifically?" Her father asked in an attempt to change the topic. "What makes him stand out compared to everyone else that could aid you on this investigation?"


    "... I don''t know to be honest. At first, I just saw him as someone strong that I could use, and I kind of still do think like that," Camillia answered truthfully after several seconds of thinking. "but after spending some time with him, I can''t help but feel like he''s my support."


    The Dwarf Emperor said nothing, and frowned, for he wasn''t sure where she was going with this.


    "Like, even though we barely know each other, I feel as if there''s this connection between us." She continued with a tiny smile. "I feel like I can be whoever I want with him, and he would accept and defend me with no hesitation."


    "... You''re not in love with him, right?" Her father asked him after a while with a concerned look. "You just see him as your protector, and only that, right?"


    "No, I don''t think what''s between us is that." She answered with a serious expression. "I think I see him as a friend."


    At this, the Dwarf Emperor released a sigh of release, for he was going to be worried there if it turned out that Fane, the Black Knight of the Demon King Lucifer stole his daughter''s heart, but if this was the case, then he didn''t have to worry much.


    However, that didn''t mean he wasn''t going to keep tabs on their relationship. Oh no, the Dwarf Emperor was going to make sure no love could ever be formed between the two of them, for if she somehow develops feelings for the Black Knight, then major problems could arise. Unfortunately, he wasn''t sure how he could prevent love from blossoming between the two, at least at the moment.


    After talking about Fane the Black Knight for a couple more minutes, the two dwarfs changed topics, and discussed something else entirely.


    What was intended to be a ten-minute conversation to twenty minutes turned out to be a three-hour long talk, which was the now the longest the two of them talked to one another without any interruptions or with anyone else there.

 Getting To Know One Another...

    Chapter XII: Getting To Know One Another...


    <hr>


    "You know it''s a real shame that we''re locked up here." The Dark Knight named Razzoth Phenex declared as he released a sigh while submerging more of his body into the hot water. "I had never really been to a dwarven play, but from what Aishela tells me, they''re apparently really good."


    "Really?" Another Dark Knight named Geren Vepar questioned as he cast his comrade a look of surprise that was also one of interest.


    "Yeah." Razzoth affirmed with a little nod of his head.


    "Huh, who would have thought dwarfs would have a thing or two for that type of art." Geren stated as he tilted his head back to where he was looking up at the ceiling and closed his eyes.


    "I know, you''d think with their type of statures all they''d care about was drinking, fighting, and drinking, but you''d be surprised how many dwarf males apparently go to these type of things." Razzoth said with a chuckle, which had caused Geren to laugh.


    Meanwhile, as those two were chatting and discussing various things, Donovan and the Dark Knight Azath sat next to each other in silence.


    It was Donovan''s first time being in a hot spring, and while he had talked to Azath lots of times now, he couldn''t really strike up a conversation with him, at least not at this moment.


    As for the reason why? Well, it was because Donovan was a little uncomfortable. While he may be a big guy with a manhood he wasn''t ashamed of at all, Donovan couldn''t help from noticing that he was the only knight who didn''t have a single scar on his body.


    All the Dark Knights who were in the hot springs nude like him were littered with scars, which had caused him to feel less manly. Sure, he was stronger than all of them, and could probably take on several of them at once, but that was only because of the blessings he received upon arriving on Atalan.


    It had made him realize that they had worked their butts off to get to where they are now and suffered injuries for the position, while all he did was just come from a different planet, and be given the rank/title Black Knight.


    "So, Lord Fane," Azath started in an attempt to begin a conversation with his superior. "what do you think of Kal Vorum so far?"


    "Eh? Oh, um, it''s a, decent." Came his fumbled response, which was a little bit of a shock to the Dark Knight, for he had never really seen his superior taken by surprise. He was almost always on edge, or at the very least, that''s what it looked like from Sir Azath''s perspective.


    Because of this, Sir Azath became more interested in what was preoccupying his leader''s mind and decided to change topics. "My Lord, were you perhaps having lewd thoughts about Lady Nyx?" The white-haired pureblood questioned with a grin that spelled mischevious while moving slightly closer.


    A few of the Dark Knights who were close enough to hear this question couldn''t stop from directing their attention to the two, for they were curious about what type of relationship the two of them had.


    At this, Donovan let out a burst of laughter that sounded forced before abruptly cutting it off by saying, "No, I''m not."


    The once startled Lord Fane had disappeared, and the one the Dark Knights had gotten familiar with had returned.


    However, Sir Azath didn''t give up just because his attitude and manners changed. No, his second in command decided to push it. "Are you sure, my Lord? It''s not like you to be caught off guard by a question, and I remember hearing from Aezrelle that Lady Nyx spent quite some time in your chambers yesterday."


    "I assure you I wasn''t, and it was because Lady Nyx and I had many things we needed to discuss with one another." Donovan answered sternly with an expressionless look. He didn''t know why, but he suddenly felt like the hot spring had turned into a boy''s locker room.


    "I think Lord Fane is lying!" A Dark Knight named Vagron who was apart of House Stolas declared in a loud voice. "He''s getting a little too defensive if you ask me, and only people who are trying to hide something act like that."


    "I agree!" Sir Razzoth shouted energetically. "His response was a little too defensive, and if you look closely, you can see that he''s a little tense."


    As other Dark Knights voiced their agreements, Donovan was now sure that the place he came to relax had turned into a boy''s locker room.


    "Am I just not allowed to deny it?" He asked in an irritated manner, which had caused the Dark Knights to fall silent. "I feel if I avoided the question you all would still react like this, so am I just not allowed to deny what you believed happened in my chambers?"


    At this, the Dark Knights exchanged looks with one another, for they had realized that had he dodged the question/subject, they would have most likely still believed he was hiding something.


    "No, you''re allowed to deny it, Lord Fane." Sir Azath stated with an awkward smile. "We just believe you were a little too, formal."


    Donovan said nothing at first and simply frowned. "Too formal?"


    "Yeah," Vagron started as he adjusted his sitting position to a more comfortable one. "you could have just said nothing happened, but instead you were explaining yourself as if you got caught stealing something."


    "I see." Donovan said before releasing a sigh. "Well, in the end, nothing happened between us."


    "That''s unfortunate." Sir Razzoth said with a bit of disappointment. "I think you two would have a wonderful couple."


    "What are you talking about?" Donovan asked while sending the Dark Knight a look. "Our personalities are like complete opposites."


    "Exactly, which is why I think you''d be the perfect man for her." Sir Razzoth declared happily. "I mean, think about it, my Lord. Lady Nyx is, without a doubt, one hundred opposite from you, and it''s because of that I believe you both would be a wonderful couple, for opposites attract."


    Donovan was about to say that they didn''t, but after thinking about different types of relationships, he realized that what he was saying was the truth.


    Changing what he was going to say, Donovan said as he tilted his head back slightly. "Even if opposites are attracted to one another, that doesn''t mean I have those types of feelings for her, and I doubt I ever will."


    "Is that so, my Lord?" Sir Azath asked curiously.


    "Yes, it is so." He affirmed while keeping his gaze glued onto the ceiling above them.


    "And why do you believe that, my Lord?" A different Dark Knight inquired with a voice full of curiosity and interest.


    "She''s just not my type." Came his simple response. "Sure we get along well, and in a way, it may look like there''s something between us, but at the end of the day, she''s not my type of girl."


    A silence filled the hot spring for several seconds as the Dark Knights gave each other all kinds of looks, for no one was sure how to respond to this information.


    "So," Sir Razzoth stated, breaking the quietness that had filled the room. "is His Highness your type?"


    "I''m getting out now." Was Donovan''s immediate reply before getting up, and out of the hot bath.


    <hr>


    After exiting the hot spring, Donovan put on his clothes and returned to his room, only to be greeted by the sight of the Dwarf Princess Camillia and Lady Nyx having a chat and eating some sweets, and drinking what he believed to be tea, since the glass looked more like a tea glass than a wine glass.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Camillia, Lady Nyx?" He said with a tinge of surprise along with a frown. "Why are the two of you in my room?"


    "Welcome back, Lord Fane, and isn''t it obvious? We have important things we need to discuss with you, so we decided to wait until you return from the hot springs." Lady Nyx answered with a small smile before taking a sip of her drink.


    "Yes, and while I did think about returning another time, I had realized it had been far too long since I spoke with Lady Nyx here." Camillia stated in a sweet like tone that was very similar to the one she had spoken to him when they first met.


    "It really has been." Lady Nyx agreed as she directed her attention to Camillia. "The last time we spoke you were just a little girl, but now have become a fine looking woman who could charm any man, except probably Lord Fane over there."


    Donovan''s brows furrowed as Lady Nyx glanced at him and sent him a wink.


    As Camillia let loose a small giggle, Donovan thought about asking what she meant by that, but decided not to pry and just took off the towel that was on top of his head.


    "Anyways, what are these important things you need to speak with me about?" Donovan inquired as he touched his hair to see how wet it was.


    "Aww, you didn''t take the bait." Lady Nyx said with a pout while crossing her arms like how a child would when their toy gets taken away from their parent, which made him wonder how in the hell she was in charge of diplomacy.


    "Lady Nyx..." Donovan said in a slightly tired voice that had a hint of irritation in it.


    "What? I''m just trying to loosen you up since you''re always so stiff and serious." She replied in a defensive manner.


    "Just tell me what you wanted to talk about." Donovan demanded in a more irritated tone than before. He wasn''t trying to come off as a dick or anything like that, but when he gets told that they want to talk to him about, he can''t help but be more interested in that stuff over her jokes and teasing.


    Letting out a sigh, Lady Nyx said, "Fine, I came because I wanted to know if you''re still concerned about the Hero Party finding out who you are, for I heard you went to the hot spring without covering up your face at all."


    "Wait, what do you mean by that?" Camillia asked with curiosity and interest in her voice. She had planned on being quiet and if it came to it, leaving the room so that they could discuss whatever it is they needed to discuss, but after hearing that, she couldn''t stop herself from asking what Lady Nyx meant by that.


    "It''s a long story." Donovan answered swiftly as he quickly looked at her before looking back at Lady Nyx.


    "Shorten it then." She practically ordered in her not so sweet voice.


    Donovan looked back at her once again, and was about to respond, but Lady Nyx beat him to it. "Another time, but not right now."


    Detecting the seriousness in her voice, the Dwarf Princess simply nodded her acknowledgment before staring at Donovan, which made him wonder what kind of look she was giving him at the moment.


    However, he wasn''t able to linger on these thoughts for long, and that was because Lady Nyx was back to questioning him.


    "Well, do you no longer care if people see who you are and that you''re a human?"


    Donovan was silent at first as he pondered this. In reality, he was still concerned about them seeing his face, but as for other beings that weren''t apart of the Demon Kingdom, he wasn''t as worried, for he doubted anything would happen even if they saw it.


    The worst thing he could think of is somebody telling the Hero Party that he is human and then the Hero Party confronting him and asking him why he is serving the Demon King and fighting his own kin.


    "I guess in a way I don''t." Donovan answered finally with a small shrug of his shoulders. "Of Course, I don''t want the Hero Party seeing my face, for they''ll most likely figure out who I am, but as for others, I''m not as concerned. Plus, everyone would eventually find out that I''m a human, it''s not like we can keep this information a secret forever, especially since almost everyone in the Demon Kingdom knows that I''m a human."


    What Donovan said was true, word of the Demon King''s Black Knight being a human was something a good majority of the demon folk knew. However, there were only about three dozen that knew he came from another world, or at the very least knew for sure.


    There were many who suspected Lord Fane to be from a different world like the members of the Hero Party, especially in the Order of the Dark Knights, and were pretty sure their thoughts on the matter were right, but have yet to confront him, the Demon King, or anyone who knew to confirm if this was true or not.


    "Huh, I had figured had just forgotten to hide your features, but I guess I was wrong." Lady Nyx said aloud with a trace of surprise.


    "Yeah, it''s not that big of a deal." Donovan affirmed while rubbing his nape.


    After a few seconds of doing this, his eyes shifted to Camillia. "Anyways, what do you need to discuss with me?"


    "It''s," She started before pausing for a second or two. "it''s something that has to be discussed in private, alone."


    "Is that your way of saying you don''t trust me?" Lady Nyx asked in a little bit of an offended tone.


    "Yes." Camillia answered firmly, which came as a shock to Donovan. "I''m sorry, but Fane was with me at the time of the murder, so I trust him. You, however, I had no idea where you were, so I''m not exactly comfortable with you hearing what I have to say."


    "You do know I''m technically his superior, and if I was the one behind the murder, then he would support me." Lady Nyx explained with her lips curved slightly downwards.


    "Actually-"


    "Shush, Fane." Lady Nyx curtly stated while giving him a sharp look. "Also, another point of mine is that I can have him tell me the information he hears, or whatever the two of you discuss, for me and him are very close, and keep no secrets from one another. Isn''t that right, Fane?"


    "I feel like you''re not actually that concerned about what is going to be said between us after hearing that last part." Donovan said with a small sigh. He was really starting to wonder how she could be the one in charge of diplomacy when she acts like this.


    "How rude!" Lady Nyx said aloud as if she had been struck or manhandled. "I''ll have you know that I am somewhat curious about what will be discussed between the two of you!"


    Not long after this declaration, Lady Nyx released a chuckle before getting up and out of her seat, and making her way to the door. "Anyways, I''ll leave you two alone to talk about whatever it is that you two need to discuss."


    As she moved past Donovan, she patted him on the shoulder, and said in a low tone only he could hear. "Remember to tread carefully, and to stay on guard."


    With that said and done, she exited the room, leaving the two of them alone.


    Once she was gone, Donovan averted his attention back towards Camillia, who had spoken as he did this. "Lady Nyx isn''t exactly how I remember her at all. She''s changed."


    "Is that good or bad?" Donovan asked as he approached Camillia and sat down in the chair Lady Nyx once was sitting in.


    Camillia pondered this for a couple of seconds before saying with a shrug of her shoulders. "Both?"


    "I see." Was his response.


    "Yep," Camillia affirmed before lifting her tea glass up off of the table and taking a small sip from it. "so why don''t you want the Hero Party to see your face?"


    Donovan remained silent at first, and noticed the bit of hesitance in her voice. The thought of telling her had crossed his mind, but after recalling what Lady Nyx told him before leaving, he shook his head and said in an apologetic tone. "I''m sorry, but that''s a little too personal, and isn''t something I really wanna talk or think about."


    He wanted to believe that he could trust her with this information, but because he didn''t know almost anything about Camillia, he realized that it would be foolish to tell her this, and then hope she doesn''t say anything about him to anyone.


    Surprised by his refusal to tell her, Camillia let out an, "Oh." for the thought of him denying her didn''t cross her mind at all.


    "Yeah, anyways, I''m assuming you wanted to talk to me about the murder and our plan of action?" Donovan said before deciding to change the topic to what he assumed to be her reason for coming.


    "Well, that is one of the reasons I came here, but there is another reason as well." Camillia said in response in a bit of a sheepish manner that made it sound like she was bothered/troubled by something.


    "Okay, what''s your other reason?" Donovan inquired with a curious look.


    "I wanted to hear your story." She answered as her eyes dropped down to her lap where her hands were. "We agreed to be partners, but neither of us knows anything about the other, so I wanted to get to know you more."


    Donovan stayed quiet as he thought about what she said and what to say. While he wasn''t against the idea of getting to know her, he wasn''t exactly sure what to say on his part, but that was because he didn''t want to lie to her.


    "Makes sense." He said after a while with a nod of his head. "I''m not sure if I can tell you everything because there are somethings that I''d rather not talk about, but I''ll try to answer to the best of my ability."


    "I understand," She affirmed before asking him. "so do you have a family?"


    "I, I had a family, but now I''m alone." He answered hesitantly.


    "I''m sorry to hear that." Camillia said in response. She wasn''t surprised by his reply, but she would have been if it turned out he did have a family.


    "Yeah, what about you? Is your father all you have or do you have some relatives?" He inquired with a tiny trace of curiosity. He wasn''t troubled by his response, for what he said was technically the truth. He did have a family, but upon being transferred to this world he became separated from them, and had no ways of contacting them.


    "I do have some very distant relatives, but my father is all I have left, so I guess no?" She answered after thinking for a few seconds. "Anyways, what was your life like before becoming the Black Knight? I remember you saying you don''t crave war, so I assume it was pretty peaceful, but I''m not sure."


    "It was," He said with a firm nod with a tiny bit of sadness in his voice. "I lived a peaceful and quiet life, but all of that came to an end one day, and eventually, I found myself in front of the Demon King Lucifer."


    "Did, did she take you away from her home?" Camillia asked nervously.


    "In a way, I guess," He answered in a slightly skeptical manner. "but I plan on returning to them one day, I may not know when and I know it''ll be hard, but I promised myself I would see them again, and I intend to keep that promise."


    After that was said, the two continued to talk about their past as well as many other things such as things they like, or what they want to do.

 The House Of Shadows

    Chapter XIII: The House Of Shadows...


    <hr>


    After talking about Camillia''s past, and a few of the problems the dwarves are currently facing, Donovan changed the topic by saying, "So what did you find out from this All-seer fellow?"


    "What did I learn?" She repeated only to get a nod and ''yeah'' from him. "Well, I had learned a lot of things, but I feel like some of the stuff he told me was false."


    "Like what?" Donovan asked with curiosity in his voice.


    "Well, one of the things he had told me was that a carriage used for transporting prisoners was spotted leaving the palace the night of the murder, but I don''t know if that''s true or not," Camillia answered in a serious tone. "I''d have to ask around to confirm this, but if it is true, then do you think it was possible the ones behind the assassination used it to transport the assassin out of the palace?"


    "I mean, it''s possible, but couldn''t they have just been taking prisoners out of the palace?" Donovan said in response with a small frown.


    "Yes, but prisoners that are taken out of the palace are usually taken in the middle of the day. It''s rare for people to be taken very early in the morning." Camillia answered with a troubled expression.


    "I see." Donovan said after a few seconds before beginning to ponder what this meant. It could have, and most likely was nothing, but he couldn''t help from wondering if this was something else entirely.


    "What if," he started as he gathered his thoughts. "what if this is related to Ashura''s disappearance?"


    The person whom Donovan was referring to was none other than Lady Nyx''s attendant that went missing the night of the murder. Ashura wasn''t a pureblood, she was a fox demon, or in other words a type of beastkin, which was something that resembled that of a human, but had animal characteristics.


    "It''s possible, but are you trying to say that Lady Nyx''s servant had nothing to do with the murder?" Camillia inquired with a small tilt of her head.


    "Yeah." He affirmed after a few seconds of thinking. "Well, I''m not saying she might not have something to do with the murder, but I do believe she is innocent. She didn''t give me a killer vibe at all."


    "I haven''t met this woman, so I cannot really say anything on this matter, but if you truly think she''s innocent then I''ll believe you." Camillia firmly stated. "However, what makes you think the prison wagon has something to do with her servant and nothing to do with the assassin?"


    "I don''t know, but what makes you think the person was a hired assassin?" Came his response in a stern manner. "The one who could have murdered the ambassadors could have been an assassin that works for the empire, right?"This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "Because our prime suspect is my father''s most trusted advisor." Camillia rebutted in a curt tone. "I don''t know if this is true, but apparently my father''s advisor was spotted meeting some of the high ranking House of Shadows members, which is a criminal organization my father has been trying to root out from his Empire for quite some time."


    "I see, so when did they meet?" Donovan asked with curiosity in his voice.


    "Not when. How many times have they met, and that answer is too many times." Camillia declared with a bitter smile that Donovan could not see. "Apparently, my father''s most trusted advisor has been colluding with the House of Shadows for a while now. I don''t know how long, but that is what the All-seer has told me."


    Donovan said nothing at first, and just simply pondered this information. He hadn''t met the Emperor''s advisor, so he couldn''t really say anything about the dwarf, and even with what he did see, it still wasn''t much.


    It annoyed him a little how he couldn''t figure out who is possibly behind this, but he knew deep down that none of it couldn''t be helped, for there was just too many possibilities. However, he was certain that the demon folk were innocent, or at the very least, the demon folk who were traveling with Lady Nyx.


    Letting loose a sigh, Donovan said with frustration in his voice. "So, what are we going to do? If your father''s most trusted advisor is meeting in secret with this House of Shadows, then how are we going to proceed?"


    "That''s easy; we''re just going to pay the House of Shadows a visit." Camillia answered as if that was the obvious solution.


    Donovan didn''t say anything, and simply raised an intrigued eyebrow, which in return earned himself a small smile from Camillia, but of course, he didn''t see this.


    <hr>


    Angel couldn''t help from gritting his teeth as he sat alone in the room he was sharing.


    He had requested an audience with the Emperor not that long ago, but had been rejected by the guards, who had told him the Emperor was busy and to piss off.


    What made this infuriating was because he could have easily killed the two guards, and he didn''t even need to unsheathe his sword to do so, but he nonetheless complied and walked away from them.


    His roommates weren''t here when he returned, which was strange to him, but then he remembered them saying not long before he left that they were going to visit the palace''s library.


    "Why does it feel like I''m being treated like shit?" Angel asked himself with a scowl as he sat there with his hands on his head. "I''m the Hero, aren''t I? I''m the one that''s going to save everyone from the Demon King and their army, right?"


    He had to ask himself these questions because he couldn''t help from feeling like the Black Knight was being treated better than him here. Of course, he didn''t know the Black Knight''s situation, but for some reason, he believed that the Emperor was treating Lord Fane more like the hero and him as the villain.


    "If that is the case, then why are the dwarves treating the enemy as if they''re relatives they haven''t seen in a long time?" Angel then asked himself with anger in his voice as he recalled how the Emperor treated that demon girl named Nyx.


    "That is a good question." Came a voice causing Angel to jump and look around and see a short hooded man appear out of thin air.


    Without wasting a second, Angel grabbed his sword and unsheathed it while saying in a commanding tone. "Who are you?"


    The dwarf in response raised his hands, and said in a friendly tone. "An ally."


    Angel wasn''t convinced, and said in a more curt voice. "Who are you?"


    "Someone who wants change, and thinks that the Emperor has grown weak." The dwarf answered in a firm tone. "Now, can you lower your blade? I come with a warning and advice."


    At first, Angel didn''t lower his blade, but after thinking about it for a while, he did and said, "Alright, what is it that you want to tell me?"


    The dwarf smiled at this before opening his mouth and speaking.

 The Princess And The Slums...

    Chapter XIV: The Princess And The Slums...


    <hr>


    It wasn''t long after Camillia told Donovan that they were going to pay the House of Shadows a visit did she return to her room to change into the armor she wore when they paid the All-seer a visit.


    Of course, Donovan had accompanied her to her room via the secret passageway she uses to travel, but that was after he donned his armor. He wasn''t allowed into her room, at least while she was changing, and even after that they didn''t stay long, for all she did was summon and then tell her trusty maid that they were going out to investigate a few things and to inform her father about this if he comes to see her.


    After all of that was said and done, the two of them then made their way out of the palace, and at the moment were about two-thirds of the way there from their destination.


    The House of Shadows was, from what Donovan was told, in the quote on quote, slums, which was something that made little sense to Donovan, for the streets they were currently walking through didn''t give him that feeling at all.


    While the streets could be a little cleaner, they weren''t being overflowed with poor people, nor did really any of the buildings look shabby. Sure, there was a handful that were pretty bad and appeared to be on the verge of collapsing, but that was only a handful.


    "They must be calling this place the slums because of how people dress; I''m sure of it now." Donovan thought to himself with a frown as they passed some dwarves who were idling and wearing clothes that had holes and whatnot in them.


    It was the only logical thing Donovan was able to think of, for this was practically the only difference between the dwarfs he was seeing at this moment, and the dwarfs who lived in the upper-class district. If this wasn''t the case, then he didn''t know what the reason was at all.


    Not long after he reached this conclusion did he remember who exactly he was traveling with, which had given him the urge to facepalm for being an idiot.


    "Hey," He said in a low tone as he glanced at Camillia, who happened to be a little closer to him than before. "do you mind if I ask a question?"


    "No, what''s up?" She said in response, while keeping her eyes ahead of them.


    "Why do the um, nobles call this place the slums?" He questioned, traces of curiosity in his voice as he gestured to their surroundings. "It doesn''t look like a dump, and the people don''t look that poor, so what''s the reason?"


    "Because almost everything here is seen as inferior in the eyes of the rich." Camillia answered without missing a beat in her step. "The clothes, the jewelry, the armor, the weapons, the buildings, just everything about this district is looked down on by them."


    "Really?" Donovan said with what sounded like genuine surprise.


    "Yep." She affirmed with a nod of her head. "It''s truly unfortunate, but it''s how the world works."


    "I see," Donovan replied hesitantly. "so what about you?"


    "What about me?" She asked as she cast him a curious look.


    "I mean, do you look down on them?" He asked in a slightly firm tone as he kept his attention forward.


    "Of course not." She answered almost immediately in a stern manner. "I didn''t spend my life cooped in my room all day. I''ve been here numerous times, and have seen some of the work created down here, and can tell you that there are some craftsmen, who are ten times better than the craftsmen in the upper-class''s district."


    "Huh, I guess I should have expected that." Donovan muttered to himself.


    "What did you say?" Camillia asked with interest in her voice. She had heard him, but because he had practically whispered, she didn''t know what he had said.


    "Nothing of importance." He answered swiftly. "I just forgot that you weren''t like most princesses."


    "What do you mean, have you met others?" Camillia asked in a slightly demanding manner with nothing but curiosity in her voice. While she didn''t spend a lot of her early years in her room, Camillia had not once ever left the city Kal Vorum, so she couldn''t help herself from being curious about the surface and the princesses up there.


    "No, but usually when you hear about a princess, you think of someone who is basically sweet, delicate, pure, and someone who can''t defend themselves." He replied with a small chuckle.


    "Oh, is that so?" She said in response with a tiny frown. She didn''t know why, but for some reason, she felt like he wasn''t happy that she wasn''t any of that. Sure, she could act defenseless and pure if she wanted, but that was it, an act.


    Sensing the bit of melancholy in her voice, Donovan quickly added. "However, it''s okay for a princess to be outgoing like how you are. It may be a little rare, but I think a princess should be strong in certain aspects, and be able to handle herself a little. I mean, it''s not like they can always rely on someone to defend them or come to their rescue, you know?"


    At first, Camillia stayed quiet, she didn''t know if he was trying to cheer her up or not, but after a while, her lips curved upwards into a smile. "Yeah, and thank you, Fane."


    After that was said, the two of them continued their travels with little chatter.


    <hr>


    The Demon King sat in her throne-like chair with a neutral expression written on her face as she listened to the leaders of the pureblood households express their opinions about what they should do.


    Sitting on the Demon King''s right in a chair similar to hers, but not as throne-like was Lord Arzakol of House Bael. In the past, he was the head of House Bael, but that was a long time ago, so right now his great-great-grandson, Borath Bael was present and the head of their family.


    On her left was her sister, Katerea of House Beleth, who was once the Goddess of Winter. She had long icy blue hair, sapphire blue eyes, and icy blue eyebrows with light blue eyeshadow. Her skin was pale, and she had an hourglass figure with a cold atmosphere radiating from her. Her attire consisted of a pure white dress with light blue accents, silky white gloves to cover her slender hands, and a silver necklace of a snowflake.


    Unlike her sisters, she didn''t change her figure or any of her characteristics to that of the purebloods, but she did take on a last name like them. She was the only member of the House Beleth, and was one of the two Generals of the Demon King''s army.


    Next to Katerea was their brother, Azrael of House Belial, the former God of Storms. He was Arzakol''s twin brother, and although he was younger than Lucifer, she saw him as an older brother. He was one of the first ones to go to her defense when her siblings wanted her stripped of her powers, and was considered to be one of the strongest Gods besides their mother, father, the God of War, and the God of Strength.


    He had retained his human appearance throughout his years on the mortal plane, which was a young man with somewhat long black hair that reached his shoulders and a handsome face. His eyes were a dark brown, and he had a beard and mustache.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    He wore armor that was very similar to the Dark Knights, but unlike theirs; his armor was black and gold with a golden cape. He was the second high ranking officer in the Demon King''s army besides his sister and was the one who trains the Dark Knights in combat.


    Like his twin brother, he was once the leader of House Belial, but now his great-great-granddaughter, Ingvild Belial was the one leading his household, and representing them in their interests.


    Deciding she had heard enough, Lucifer raised her hand causing the Lords and Ladies to fall silent. Once they had all completely gone silent; she lowered her hand and spoke. "As much as we love listening to you all argue with one another, we feel you all are forgetting the reason why we summoned you all here, and that was to decide if we should go to war or not."


    The human kingdoms may have united together and declared war on the Demon Kingdom, but the Demon King hadn''t decided yet if they were going to go to war with them, as in gather their forces, and launch an attack of their own. Sure she had sent small armies compromising of different types of demon folk to keep them at bay, but these were, in the end, small armies, and nothing compared to her main army.


    "It is obvious what we should do, My King." One of the nobles started as they stood up. "We should mobilize all our forces, and crush the pathetic humans and make them an example to those who did not join their alliance what happens when they go against us!"


    As several nobles voiced their agreements with the man''s thinking, another noble stood up, this one a woman that had black angel wings sprouting from her back with long and luscious black hair. "There is no need for us to go to a full out war with them; in fact, there is no reason for us to go to war with them at all. They are just simply afraid of us, and fear is something that can easily be controlled, but we need to talk to them."


    "They have killed hundreds, if not thousands of us, and you want to talk to them!?" Another noble questioned as she if was a madman. "Are you an idiot or a fool, Lady Sitri?"


    "I am neither of those things." She vehemently declared as she glared at the Lord who asked her this. "I just believe that going to war is unnecessary."


    "I agree with Lady Sitri!" Another noble yelled as they stood up, this one being a very beautiful, and well-endowed woman with long flowing crimson red hair, and slitted yellow eyes. "Waging war with them isn''t something we should do, at least not yet. We should at least try to negotiate with them and come to a peaceful resolution. Especially if they''re misguided."


    As the arguments with one another started to resume, Lucifer raised her hand for silence once again and had them all cease talking. "It seems we are all still divided on what we should do, which is sad, but understandable."


    A man with golden hair shook his head disapprovingly at this as he crossed his arms. "It is not understandable. It is just sad."


    "Lord Phenex!" A nobleman yelled as if he had been deeply insulted.


    "What? It is that, and you can''t deny it." The leader of House Phenex boldly stated as he looked at the other Lord. "In the past, we were all once united, but nowadays? Pfft, we can barely agree on anything, and that is because we are at war with ourselves."


    Lord Phenex paused after saying this for a quick second to allow what he said to sink in before continuing. "You all can deny it if you want, but I know that there is bad blood between a vast majority of our Houses, and that blood will probably never go away, but you all need to understand that this is the time to put all of that aside and come together to fight the ones who want to do nothing more, but erase us from this world."


    Upon hearing this, dozens of the nobles sent one another looks, for what Lord Phenex had stated was the truth. While most of them have prospered over the centuries, none of them could deny that there have been conflicts between some of the households; in fact, there had been a few families that had been destroyed because of these conflicts.


    Proud of what Lord Phenex said, Lord Azrael rose from his chair, and spoke. "What Lord Phenex has said is the truth, and the truth hurts. Humanity wants us gone, and so do their Gods. It is unfortunate, but this is evolution, and what we do here may-"


    "Lord Azrael, stop." Lucifer interrupted, which had caused her brother to immediately stop talking and shoot her a glance of surprise only to see her giving him a serious look.


    "Understood, My King." He said after seeing this expression and before sitting back down.


    Once he had sat down, Lucifer looked around the room before releasing a sigh. "We know that if we go to war, then this will attract the attention of their Gods, and if we start wiping the humans off the face of Atalan, then they will most definitely get involved, so we have reached a decision, and that decision is..."


    She paused for a couple of seconds to add effect. "To build a wall."


    At this, confusion broke out.


    "A wall?"


    "My King, what do you mean by that? What type of wall do you have in mind!?"


    "Are you serious, my King? Why would we do that? What purpose would that serve?"


    Lucifer listened to all of these questions they shot at her for about a minute before raising her hand for silence, which didn''t come for a while, but eventually, it did. Once she had her silence, she spoke. "A wall that can keep the humans from entering our kingdom because at the moment we don''t have anything like that, and that is because there has never been these types of problems before, but if we do this, we can avoid a pointless war."


    "But My King, we could-"


    "We know we could wipe them out, and we know what we''d be doing is seen as retaliation, but do think the other nations would stand by and watch if they heard we were destroying the human kingdoms?" She stated, which had made the nobleman fall silent. "Our kingdom may be one of the biggest, but if other factions get involved along with the Gods, then we could be the ones who would be wiped out, and not them."


    After letting them think about this, Lucifer added, "We will not mobilize all of our forces, but about one-third of it will be mobilized and sent down to the South to protect the ones who will be building this wall, is that understood?"


    "Yes, My King." The majority of the nobles declared except a few.


    "Good, then this meeting is adjourned." She declared before rising out of her seat and walking away with Lord Arzakol and an escort of Dark Knights.


    <hr>


    Upon arriving and entering the tavern, Camillia and Donovan made their way to one of the back doors. Of course, this hadn''t gone unnoticed, for the Black Knight was a sight to behold, but no one dared to get in their way.


    Once they had reached the back door, the two of them were welcomed to the sight of a heavily armored dwarf sitting on a stool with a double-bladed axe strapped to his back guarding what people could only assume was the hatch, for this was the only thing interesting in the room beside the man.


    At first, he didn''t react upon them entering the room, but the moment they approached the wooden hatch, he acted. "Nono, you no go unless I say so."


    "We have business down there." Camillia revealed in hopes the armored dwarf would let them pass, but the response she got was the complete opposite.


    "And I have business with one of the whores at the Kingsmen, what''s your point lass?"


    At this, Camillia frowned, but before she could say anything, Donovan spoke.


    "What will it take to let us pass?" He demanded in a stern tone.


    "Nothing, so piss off." He curtly answered.


    "Look-" Camillia started as she took a step forward only to be stopped by Donovan, who had placed his hand on her shoulder as he thought about how this guy was an asshole.


    As she turned to look at him, the armored dwarf let out a chuckle. "What lass? You going to nag and tell me that you have very important-auugh!"


    Whatever he was going to say next came out as an incoherent mess, for within a second Donovan had not only covered the distance between him and the dwarf, but had sent a devasting uppercut to his face, which had caused him to go flying out of his stool and into the ceiling, and then back down on a couple large sacks of vegetables.


    Taken back by his speed, Camillia couldn''t stop herself from saying in an impressed tone. "Wow."


    "Shouldn''t have been an ass." Donovan said as he straightened himself. He had been told almost all of his life to keep his hands to himself, but this guy''s behavior just pissed him off, and they didn''t have time to waste with him, so he felt his reasons to hit him were reasonable.


    As he turned back around, he saw that Camillia was still standing in almost the exact same spot before he attacked the man. The only difference now was that she was leaning back with her left shoulder and had her right foot forward.


    Remembering that he had used her to move slightly faster, Donovan asked with concern in his voice. "You alright?"


    "Yeah, I was just not expecting you to move that quickly." She answered after a second or two. When he had put his hand on her shoulder, she had felt a lot of weight on it, so she couldn''t help from wondering how much it weighed, and how he was able to move in it so easily.


    Donovan said nothing in response, at least at first, but he couldn''t help from smiling a little. "Angel was taken back by that too."


    Not even three seconds later after recalling the events between him and the Hero Party did a frown replace his grin. He knew he was kind of at fault for not telling them his name, but that didn''t give Angel the right to attack him midsentence.


    "Wait, why am I thinking like this is a video game?" Donovan asked himself after realizing that he was starting to compare what had happened to situations in video games. "This is the real thing, and it''s best to attack someone in the middle of their monologuing."


    Deciding it was best to stop thinking about what had happened, Donovan snapped back to reality and saw Camillia open the hatch.


    "So, you ready to meet the House of Shadows?" She asked as she shot him a look.


    "Yeah, or at least I''m ready as I''ll ever be." Donovan answered with a nod of his head.


    At this, Camillia smiled.


    "Good."

 Dirtying Your Hands...

    Chapter XV: Dirtying Your Hands...


    <hr>


    Angel had a stern expression written on his face as he sat on the bed with his left hand on top of his right hand in front of his mouth.


    It had been a couple of hours since he talked to the dwarf who had intruded, and since then, he couldn''t stop thinking about what he had been told.


    The dwarf was, from what he had revealed, someone who wanted change in the Dwarven Empire. He had told him that he was part of a movement whose goal was to replace the current Emperor with someone who wants the Demon King, and their people, gone.


    Now, Angel wouldn''t mind having Emperor Havel replaced, for he did think the man was unfit to rule, but the problem was that their goals weren''t to replace him. No, they planned on removing everyone who believed in neutrality from leadership roles, and purging their kingdoms from demon folk. In short, it was going to be a mass-murdering.


    "The soon to be new Emperor has requested your aid in this purging of demons. He has asked that you, and your party members cleanse his palace of the demons that dwell in it. Do this, and he will reward you with the finest weapons and armor."


    Those were the words that echoed the most inside of his head, and were also what troubled him the most, for he wasn''t sure if they could pull it off, nor was he sure if they should do this.


    He may hate and want a rematch with the Black Knight, but if they were to go up against him, and his entourage of Dark Knights, then he wasn''t sure who would win. As for why, it was because the mana that was radiating from them was remarkable. Theirs may not be as vast as the Black Knight''s mana, but all of them had a large pool of mana.


    Not to mention, he had a feeling that these Dark Knights weren''t any ordinary Dark Knights, he didn''t know why, but how they carried themselves were different from the ones they had faced in the past.


    Nonetheless, he didn''t know if they could win the fight, for he''d be far too preoccupied with the Black Knight, and wouldn''t be able to help his friends out against the Dark Knights if they were to go at them. He also had a good feeling that the Nyx woman wasn''t going to stand to the side and watch this all go down either.


    Letting loose an exhausted sigh, Angel wondered about what they should do.


    "Even if we do get involved and remove Emperor Havel, how can they be so sure everyone else will fall in line?" He thought as his face contorted to that of a small scowl. "They might be able to gain control of Kal Vorum, and some of the other dwarven cities, but do they really believe that all of this will work out without a single hitch?"


    Angel didn''t consider himself an optimistic person, but he did at the very least attempt to look at the bright side of things, but in this situation, he didn''t see anything good. If they helped the ones who want change, then there was a chance they could fail, and the risk of the dwarves joining the Demon King''s side.


    If they did nothing, then there was still the chance of them entering the war on the Demon King''s side, and if they helped deal with the revolters, then the Dwarven Empire would most likely stay neutral and have to deal with the revolters. In the end, he didn''t see any outcome where they''d come out with more benefits than losses.


    Letting out another sigh, this one being more along the lines of irritation, Angel continued to ponder about what they should and shouldn''t do.


    "I really don''t know what we should do. I think it might be best to help stop these guys from overthrowing the current ruler, but if we do that, then our best chance of getting the Dwarven Empire to join our cause goes down the drain." He thought to himself.


    Eventually, after about thirty of thinking of the situation, Jacob and the remaining ambassadors returned to the room.


    As soon as he saw them, Angel called out to him as he got up off of the bed. "Jacob, we need to talk, like right now."


    Confused, and startled, Jacob said, "Okay, what''s up?"


    "I''ll tell you in a little bit, but first we need to gather everyone else." He answered in a firm tone.


    "Okay." Was his reply.


    Meanwhile, the ambassadors had concerned looks on their faces, and couldn''t help themselves from asking him if everything was alright.


    "Everything is alright. I just need to have a moment in private with my friends." He answered as he shot them a look before dragging Jacob out of the room and taking him to the girl''s room.


    <hr>


    After knocking the doorman''s lights out, the two of them went down the hatch with Donovan slightly in the lead.


    He had imagined that they were going to enter a cellar-like room and search for a button or switch, but upon going down the steps, they found themselves in a somewhat large room that had stone walls with four torches and a dirty stone flooring. There was a couple of barrels on their left up against the wall, and not far ahead of them were two very old looking banners.


    "Not very hidden if you ask me." Donovan said aloud with a frown.


    "Yeah, I agree." Camillia affirmed as she moved away to see what was in the barrels.


    As she did this, Donovan walked over to one of two old banners, and began examining them. It was dark blue in color, and had quite a number of holes in it. It had an insignia on it, or at least, Donovan believed it to have one, but he couldn''t exactly make out what it was.


    From first glance, it looked like a helm with two swords crossing blades with one another behind it, but as he looked more closely, he noticed that swords were actually axes, but was still unable to make out what was in the center.


    "Huh, I thought it was a helmet, but now that I look at it more, it kind of looks like a little ghost." Donovan thought as he continued at the banner with interest.


    "Fane," Came Camillia''s voice from behind causing him to turn around that she was looking at him. "can you come over here and take a look at this? I found something very interesting."


    "Sure." He replied before walking over and looking into the barrel she opened up only to find about a dozen swords in it.


    "Why do you think they have all these weapons in here?" She inquired in a voice filled with curiosity.


    "I have no idea." He answered truthfully as his lips curved slightly downwards. It was obvious they were going to be transporting them or something along those lines, for there was no way they''d just keep barrels full of weapons at the front entrance of their secret hideout. It just wasn''t possible in his mind.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "However, we''re not going to find out if we just stand around here doing nothing." Donovan pointed out in a stern manner.


    "Yeah," She affirmed before putting the barrel''s lid back on. "let''s continue."


    After that was said, the two pressed forward, and eventually came upon a room that had a dwarven woman sitting behind a large desk. There was a stone wall behind her that had two torches on it, and directly behind her was a wooden door.


    Unlike Camillia, who was wearing a veil, the dwarven woman didn''t hide her face, which meant she was married. She wasn''t ugly, but nor was she extremely beautiful, if anything she was pretty, if not that, then average.


    As they approached woman, she greeted them with a small smile. "Good evening, I trust there is a reason for you two to come here armed, and without an appointment?"


    "Yep, but this place isn''t exactly hidden, so you can''t blame us for stumbling upon it, right?" Camillia rebutted as they came to a stop in front of the desk.


    "I disagree, we''ve been here for months on end, and the House of Shadows has yet to be caught, but let''s not discuss matters like that." She said before waving her hand as if this was a trivial matter. "Let''s discuss why you two are here, and what you need from the House of Shadows."


    "We have business with your leader, and would like to speak with him immediately." Camillia stated after shooting Donovan a look. She had no intention of beating around the bush, and planned on going with the blunt approach.


    "Yes, yes I know that, but what type of business?" The woman said in response with a nod of her head, and in a tired tone. "My leader is a busy man, so unless it''s of importance, I''m afraid you won''t be able to see him."


    "I''m afraid I can''t tell you that." Camillia declared in a slightly sad tone.


    "My, that is a shame." The woman said with a shake of her head. "I was hoping we wouldn''t have to resort to violence, but it seems that you two are unreasonable, and are looking to cause problems. It''s unfortunate, but it can''t be helped, right?"


    With a snap of her fingers, several armored dwarves appeared out of thin air around them with weapons in their hands.


    "You don''t sound that sad for what''s about to happen." Donovan pointed out after looking around the room.


    "My that''s a deep voice, you''d for sure be a hit with the ladies, but to answer your statement it''s simple really, and that is you just get used to it." She said with a chuckle. "You all aren''t the first ones to become barging into one of the House of Shadow''s territory, and you most definitely won''t be the last."


    "I see." Was all he said in response. He was pretty sure they were underestimating him a lot, and he didn''t understand why they didn''t attack them immediately, but he guessed it was because they were giving Camillia and him a chance to defend themselves? He wasn''t sure, but this was the best thing he could think of.


    As Camillia placed her hands onto the two short sword''s hilts, one of the dwarves decided to make their move and charge at the two of them with mace at the ready. While he did this, another who was armed with a crossbow that was designed to pierce armor aimed his weapon at Donovan, and fired.


    His bolt had missed entirely and whizzed past the dwarven woman and into the stone wall, for Donovan had moved out of the way to stop the dwarf that was the first to cover the distance between them.


    With his sword in his right hand, and his large shield still on his back, Donovan grabbed ahold of the man''s mace with his left hand and made him come to a complete stop.


    The dwarf was taken back by this, and his companions were now finally able to realize how much of a height difference there was between the black-armored warrior and them.


    Believing he could still get his weapon back, the dwarf pulled with all of his might to free his weapon from the tall warrior''s grasp, but the attempt was futile, and as he did this, he said under his breath. "L-Let go, fuck!"


    "As if I''d do that just because you''d tell me to." Donovan thought with only a tiny bit of amusement before effortlessly yanking the mace out of the man''s grasp and throwing it at one of the two dwarves who had moved to assist the now disarmed dwarf.


    No longer concerning himself with the dwarf he disarmed, Donovan turned to the dwarf who was still running at him only to see a familiar shape move past him and at the charging man. It was Camillia, and while she was pretty quick, she was nowhere as fast as him.


    The man saw her coming and with rage in his voice, he yelled as the two were about to collide. "Out of the way, cunt!"


    With that declaration, he swung the two-handed sword at her and hit nothing but the air, for she evaded his attack.


    As he followed up the attack, Donovan averted his attention elsewhere and saw that the dwarf he had disarmed had moved to go retrieve the weapon he had thrown, and also saw out of the corner of his eye the archer finish loading his crossbow.


    Deciding not to come to him, Donovan had a black ball of fire form in his hand chucked it at the dwarven archer, who had fired his crossbow again as he did this.


    The bolt had been disintegrated, and the man was set ablaze, but the screams he released didn''t last long, for the flames quickly reduced him to nothing.


    The dwarven woman who had witnessed this couldn''t hide the shock and horror written on her face. She had figured they were going to be somewhat of a challenge, especially Donovan, but she had faith in her friends and believed they could take them.


    "I-I need to get out of here and tell Lohar." She thought to herself as Donovan easily slew the dwarf who had retrieved his mace. "He needs to know that we''re being-"


    "Where do you think you''re going?" Donovan questioned in a calm manner, which had caused her to come to a complete stop and turn around to see that he was only about three feet away from her.


    Despite this calmness in his voice, he was actually a little disturbed by what he had just done. He may have had played some fantasy games before, and also may have told himself that he''d do whatever it takes to save his friends and the Demon King, but that didn''t mean he could ignore the things he had just done.


    He had burned a man to death, he had cut down another, and he had caved in another''s face with a mace by simply throwing it at him all in less than a minute. All of this made him feel a little powerful, but it also terrified him a little, for he realized that he can easily take someone''s life if he''s not careful.


    "I can now understand where my dad was coming from when he talked about veterans killing themselves after they leave the military, what they see and do can never be undone, nor can it ever be forgotten." He thought to himself as the woman fumbled her words.


    He remembered one time in the car not that long ago when they went to the grocery store his father talking about how a lot of his military friends ended their lives, but he couldn''t quite understand why.


    Sure, he had understood it was because of seeing/doing some fucked up shit, but he couldn''t comprehend it fully. Now though, he felt like he could understand the reason completely, and that''s because of the things he had done here today.


    As she continued to stutter and stammer, Camillia finished off the swordsman by lodging her blades into his neck, which had practically killed him instantaneously.


    Feeling she was going to continue fumbling her words, Donovan said in a relaxing voice. "Calm yourself, I''m not going to hurt you."


    "Y-You''re lying." She croaked with tears coming out of her eyes as Camillia approached them while cleaning her blades. "You, you''re going to, going to kill me, I, I know you are."


    "I give you my word, I will not." Donovan affirmed, a tinge of guilt plaguing his heart. He knew he wasn''t exactly in the wrong here, for the guys he had just killed had taken countless of lives, but a part of him still couldn''t help from pitying the woman before him.


    Her sobbing didn''t come to a complete stop, but she did quiet down just a bit.


    "Thank you, now I suggest you walk away from all of this." Donovan declared in a firm tone. "If you don''t wanna die, then you should do that, otherwise I can''t be held responsible for what happens next."


    Camillia was taken back by this, and was unable to stop herself from saying, "Fane."


    Donovan instantly looked at her upon hearing these words, but nothing else came out of her, which was something that piqued his interest, for it sounded like she had something important she wanted to say.


    Nonetheless, the woman was surprised by the offer he had given her, and said, "Okay, but, but why? I, I tried to have you killed."


    "Because I don''t need any unnecessary blood on my hands." He answered almost immediately. "If I can avoid killing someone, then I''ll take it, so go."


    Not needing to be told again, the woman cautiously moved past them. Once she was past them, she started to run a bit before looking over her shoulder to see if he was actually allowing her to leave unscathed.


    To her surprise, Donovan didn''t even bother watching her run away.


    After she was gone, Camillia questioned him. "You know she''s apart of the organization that wants to overthrow my father, right?"


    "Yeah, I do." He affirmed.


    "Then why did you let her go? Especially after she sicked her guards on us?" Camillia asked, a trace of irritation in her voice.


    "She was unarmed, and I saw no need to kill her." Came his response in a serious tone. "Plus I highly doubt she will want to continue this line of business. After all, we did just kill her friends."


    Camillia was quiet at this, but that didn''t mean she was okay with his actions. However, she saw no reason to continue this conversation, for she doubted he was going to change his mind, and she had no intention of tracking the woman down.


    After feeling like his point had been made, Donovan pressed forward with Camillia right behind him.

 Monster...

    Chapter XVI: Monster...


    <hr>


    After barging into the girls'' room with Jacob right behind him and telling them they had something very important to talk about, Angel took a seat on one of the beds.


    He had exceeded in getting everyone''s attention, but now that he had them, he wasn''t exactly sure what he wanted to say. Or to be specific, he wasn''t sure how he was supposed to reveal the information he had.


    It was a shame, but these types of things weren''t something he could casually reveal to them. No, what he had to tell them was something they need to be prepared to hear. If he simply came out and told them some dwarves wanted their help overthrowing the current Emperor, then there would for sure be an uproar from them.


    "So, what exactly do you wanna talk about with us?" Shannon asked with curiosity in her voice. It was obvious what Angel wanted to say was something very important, but what she couldn''t help but wonder was what had happened in the past few hours.


    She could easily remember him vehemently denying about going to the library, so what had happened in the few hours between then and now?


    "Yeah, what was the oh so important thing that you needed to talk to us about that couldn''t wait until I was done changing?" Marianna agreed in a slightly irritated voice.


    Releasing a sigh, Angel spoke in a grave tone. "What I''m about to tell you is something that can''t leave this room, okay?"


    Taken back by the seriousness in his voice, a few of the girls couldn''t help from saying in uncertainty. "Okay?"


    With that said, he let out another sigh before saying, "Alright, so while you guys were gone, a dwarf snuck into my room, and offered a deal, but I wasn''t sure if I should accept it, so I told him I''ll think about it, and make my decision when the time comes."


    "Okay, so what did he offer?" Marianna questioned with furrowed brows.


    "Yeah, what was the deal he tried to make with you?" Noelle asked in a curious manner.


    Angel said nothing at first, and waited a few seconds before answering their questions.


    "He''s part of an organization that wants to replace the current Emperor, and they want us to deal with the demons inside of the palace, specifically the Black Knight''s group." He declared with a firm look in his eyes to show that he wasn''t bullshitting.


    It took a second or two for the words to sink in, but once they did, both Noelle, and Gabrielle yelled in shock, "What!?" while Xenovia and Marianna said, "Are you fucking for real?"


    "You think I''d joke about this type of thing?" Angel retorted in a solemn voice.


    "Of course not," Xenovia started in a little taken aback voice. "I just couldn''t believe what you had said, and had accidentally let that slip."


    Angel opened his mouth to speak, and had started to say something, but ultimately was interrupted by Shannon who had spoken as well. "It''s obvious we''re going stop these guys and side with the Emperor, right?"


    "What?" Marianna said in surprise as she sent Shannon a questionable look. "No, fuck that, why would we side with that guy? He is practically friends with our enemies. We should help the people trying to overthrow him."


    "I disagree with that." Jacob declared with a displeased expression. "The Emperor has confined the demons to their rooms just like he has done so with us, and even if he was their allies, do you truly believe we could take on the Black Knight and those Dark Knights? The numbers are against us, and the guy was able to go toe to toe with Angel."


    At this, Marianna remained silent. She wasn''t an idiot and knew it was going to be an extremely hard fight if they fought the Black Knight and his men by themselves, but they weren''t going to be by themselves. She believed that they were going to have some assistance from the dwarves that wanted change.


    "I agree with Jacob," Shannon stated in a slightly firm manner. "the Emperor may be a little closer to the demons than us, but at the end of the day, he considers his Empire to be neutral in this conflict and wants no part in it."


    "Even if he tells us that, do you really think he isn''t bullshitting us?" Xenovia sternly questioned. "I mean, he could just be saying that and be secretly supplying and supporting them for all we know, which is why I think it''s best for us to help the dwarves that want him removed from power."


    As Gabrielle and Noelle voiced their thoughts on the matter, Angel let out a somewhat irritated sigh.


    He, in all honesty, was still at a loss when it came to what to do. He wanted to do both, but he knew they couldn''t play both sides, he needed to make a choice, and that was either siding with the Emperor, or the dwarves who want change.


    It was unfortunate, truly it was, but that''s how life worked.


    "I," Angel started, which had gained everybody''s attention. "I think we should side with..."


    <hr>


    As Lord Phenex and his wife, Lady Phenex, a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes who had her hair done up with ornate hair decorations exited the meeting room they were approached by a man.


    He was a tall and handsome man dressed in black armor with a fur cape. He had long brown hair that went past his shoulder blades and had many bangs covering his right eye, his eyes were light brown.


    "A bold and honest statement, Lord Phenex, I approve of that." The man declared with a smirk. "It''s a shame though that His Highness doesn''t want to go to war."


    "What do you want, Lord Berith?" Lord Phenex asked in a voice that made it obvious that he didn''t want to deal with him.


    "Nothing, I just simply wanted to tell you that I liked your statement." Lord Berith answered with a chuckle. "Is there anything wrong with that?"


    Lord Phenex said nothing for a good while, and simply stared at the man to see if he would crack and reveal his true purpose, but the man before him didn''t do anything except continue to smile.


    Seeing as he wasn''t going to say anything else, Lord Phenex said in a slightly tired tone. "Well then, if you have nothing to say, then we''re going to take our leave, Lord Berith."


    After that was said, Lord Phenex began to move past him along with his wife, but right before he could walk past him, Lord Berith put a hand on his shoulder and spoke in a low tone.


    "You do however agree with me and think we should have gone to war, right Lord Phenex?"


    Lord Phenex chose to remain silent for several seconds before saying, "I don''t know, His Highness did have a valid point as to why we shouldn''t go to war."


    At this, Lord Berith released a chuckle as he let go of Lord Phenex. "You''re right, she did have a good reason, but to be honest, it sounded like she was afraid of something, which is a little unfitting for our king."


    Upon hearing that last part, Lord Phenex grabbed ahold of Lord Berith''s arm and forced him to look at him. "Disrespect His Highness again, and I will make sure you never speak again."


    Lord Berith in response to this declaration gave the blonde male an amused look. "Oh really? I''d love to see you try."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    As Lord Phenex''s grip tightened, Lady Phenex placed a hand on her husband''s arm and said in a gentle voice. "Dear, do not do this, he is not worthy of your attention."


    Hearing these words, Lord Phenex''s grip loosened, and eventually, he let go of Lord Berith, much to the latter''s disappointment.


    "A shame, I was looking forward to you trying to silence me, but I guess the Unyielding Phoenix has become nothing but an ember, a shadow of its former self." Lord Berith stated with a laugh before walking away.


    Lord Phenex watched as the man moved away from them and glared daggers at him while muttering under his breath. "That man, one day I''m going to kill that man."


    "Dear!" Lady Phenex said with urgency in her voice. "You shouldn''t say those types of things, at least not here!"


    The last part she said in a hushed tone, and the reason, why she warned him of this, was because they weren''t alone. There were dozens of nobles around them, and while they didn''t intervene, they never knew who could be listening or observing from a distance.


    Lord Phenex only grumbled at this. He knew his wife was right, but that didn''t mean he was going to apologize and say that she was right, for he was still vexed by the comment Lord Berith had made.


    Throughout the years House Phenex was known for their mastery of fire magic, and before he took the title Lord of House Phenex, he earned the nickname the Unyielding Phoenix for his flames were everlasting and no matter how many injuries he sustained in a tournament he never went down.


    Seeing that her husband had yet to calm down, Lady Phenex gently rubbed the arm she was holding onto and said in a gentle/affectionate tone. "He''s a little man, dear. Let him make those comments of his, after all, it''s all he can do."


    Begrudgingly, Lord Phenex listen to his wife, and said, "You''re right. He is a little man, and I shouldn''t say that type of stuff, but still, he infuriates me."


    "I know, and I understand where you''re coming from, for he did say something extremely disrespectful to you, and about our king, but everyone knows he wouldn''t stand a chance against you in a duel." Lady Phenex stated as she continued to rub his arm.


    She wasn''t exactly wrong when she mentioned this, for Lord Phenex had never lost a single fight when he was younger. Of course, it has been quite some time since he had fought in a tournament, but that was beside the point.


    Smiling at her words, he replied. "Yeah, I am known as the Unyielding Phoenix after all."


    With that being said, the two of them moved to go speak to others who shared their views/thoughts on the things going on at the moment.


    <hr>


    After easily slaying the three remaining swordsmen, Donovan turned to see Camillia finish her opponent off by crushing the dwarf''s skull with the warhammer that had been strapped to her back.


    It hadn''t been long since they had entered the House of Shadow''s hideout, but the number of people Donovan had cut down were far too many. If he had to guess it was around two dozen and a half to three dozen.


    "Hmm, she''s really not that bad." Donovan thought to himself as he watched her lifer her bloody weapon up. "I mean, for a princess, she is pretty skilled in terms of fighting, but then again, she is that guy''s daughter."


    With the thought of Emperor Havel coming into his mind, Donovan couldn''t help from wondering how he got a daughter so beautiful. Sure, he had yet to see her face, but Donovan believed that she was going to be extremely beautiful. He didn''t know why, but he had a feeling that the most brutish of men had the most delicate of daughters.


    As he thought this, Camillia saw one of the dwarves she had faced trying to crawl away, which had caused her to frown and furrow her eyebrows.


    "Where do you think you''re going, sir?" She questioned as she closed the distance between them before bringing the hammer down on the man, and killing him almost instantaneously.


    Watching her do this, Donovan started to wonder if he should use the word delicate with her, for what he saw wasn''t something most people would consider delicate at all.


    Once she confirmed that the man was dead, Camillia pulled her hammer away from the deceased dwarf and had it rest on her shoulder before glancing over at Donovan and seeing that he was already done with his enemies.


    "How long has he been standing there watching me?" The Dwarven Princess wondered as her cheeks became a little red in embarrassment. She knew he was very strong, but she didn''t think he''d be able to take on eight fully grown men at once. Especially when he was surrounded and didn''t have his shield equipped, but apparently, she had thought wrong and underestimated him.


    "You ready to move on?" He questioned in a respectful manner.


    "Huh, oh yes, I am." She was taken back by his question due to her being too busy thinking about how long he had been watching her.


    "Great." He affirmed before leading the way to the next door and opening it.


    Upon opening the door, and entering the next room, Donovan and Camillia were met by several men at the opposite side of the room holding crossbows that were pointed at them, and a dwarf that was slightly taller than the others, but not as tall or wide as Havel.


    The tallest of the dwarfs had a serious look written on his face, and in both of his hands were two maces.


    "So, you''re the two little shits that''s wrecking my hideout." The dwarf declared in a gruff/annoyed tone.


    "Give the word, boss, and we''ll drop em." One of the crossbowmen stated while keeping his weapon pointed at Donovan and his finger on the trigger.


    "Hold fire, for now, I wanna hear why they''ve come here." The leader ordered as he held up his left arm.


    Donovan didn''t say anything, for he was hesitant to speak, but Camillia wasted no time in moving past him and saying, "We know you''ve been meeting the Emperor''s most trusted advisor here in secret, so tell us why and what he is up to."


    At this, the dwarf''s face became one of surprise real quick. "How did you hear about that?" He asked in a deadly tone as he narrowed his eyes and glared at her.


    "That doesn''t matter." Camillia brushed off. "What does-"


    "It does matter." He affirmed in a stern manner.


    A little startled by the interruption, Camillia said, "N-No, it doesn''t matter. Now tell us what we want to know!"


    The dwarf leader remained silent for several seconds before breaking it by saying, "I got a better idea. Instead of telling you, how about I just kill you both? Yeah, I''m just gonna do that, so open fire."


    Camillia''s eyes widened as the seven dwarfs pulled their triggers, but what came next was what surprised her the most.


    Donovan, who was acting on his instincts, had grabbed ahold of Camillia and pulled her in close while turning his back on the dwarfs. His intention was to become her human shield and take all seven crossbow bolts.


    As the majority of the bolts slammed against Donovan''s shield, Camillia felt her heart beating at an incredibly fast past. She had danced with death many times, but this was the closest encounter she had ever had.


    In fact; she believed that had Fane not been there, then she most likely would have been killed there, for there was nowhere she could have gone to evade their arrows.


    "He, he saved my life." She said to herself as she tilted her head back and stared up at his face. Of course, what she was actually seeing was Donovan''s helmet, but for some strange reason, when she looked up at him, she was seeing his face and not his helmet.


    As her cheek heated up, Donovan let go of her and turned around to face their opponents as the dwarf leader asked how their arrows were ineffective against him.


    Donovan didn''t bother answering the man''s question, and his subordinate weren''t even given much of a chance to talk, for Donovan rushed them as fast as he possibly could.


    He covered the ground between him and the eight dwarves quickly, and swatted the leader of them away with his free hand, which had made him go flying to his left before cutting down the seven archers with ease.


    Two of them had tried to use their crossbows as a means to defend themselves, but their attempts were futile, and in vain, for in the end, they met the same fate their comrades did.


    Once he was done eliminating them, Donovan turned back around and looked at Camillia, and saw that she was standing in the same spot he had put her in when he had pulled her in close.


    With his face changing to that of concern, Donovan said as he approached her. "Camillia, you okay?"


    Camillia didn''t respond.


    "Camillia?" He said, this time a little louder than before.


    "Huh?" Came her response as she snapped out of her dazed state and saw that Donovan was not very far from her. "Oh, um, yes, I''m, I''m fine."


    Donovan didn''t reply at this, for he wasn''t exactly sure what to say. A part of him had thought about just accepting her words and moving on, but it was obvious she was shocked by what had happened.


    As he opened his mouth to respond, the dwarf who he knocked away, spoke.


    "You, what the hell are you?"


    Upon hearing those words, Donovan turned away from Camillia and saw that the man was up against the wall glaring at him.


    "Something you don''t need to know." Donovan stated after a few seconds of thinking.


    At this, the man let out a chuckle that soon turned into a full-blown laugh, which lasted for quite some time.


    Donovan in response to all of this just simply stared at the man with a curious look in his eyes, for he couldn''t help but wonder what was causing him to laugh like a madman.


    Eventually, when his laughter started to come to an end, the dwarf spoke. "Clever response, but it doesn''t matter, I now know what you are. You''re a killer, a man-no, a monster who knows nothing but killing. I mean, you have to be, right? It''s the only way you''re able to do all of this without having a second thought."


    Donovan''s eyes narrowed at this, and his grip on his blade became tighter. "What are you trying to do? Take the moral high ground? If you are, then I suggest you stop because you have no room to talk since you''re the one-"


    "I''m not trying to take any moral high ground." The dwarf confessed with a burst of laughter. "I have done plenty of bad things, which is why I can tell you''re a monster because I can see myself in you. You can deny it all you want, and try to run from it, but in the end, your existence in this world is solely to take lives, just like how mine was."


    As he opened his mouth to reply, Camillia spoke. "Don''t talk about Fane as if you know him, you know nothing of him."


    "I know enough." The dwarf sharply answered while keeping his gaze on Donovan. "Now, go ahead. Ask me your questions, and then cut my throat and be done with it. In the end, this is the fate of all monsters, death, and loneliness."


    Unbeknownst to the dwarf, the words he had spoken here today would stick with Donovan for a very, very long time.

 Capturing The Princess...

    Chapter XVII: Capturing The Princess...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    The journey back to the palace was done mostly in silence.


    A few words had been exchanged between Donovan and Camillia, but even then, the words that they said to one another were nothing major or of super importance.


    The dwarf in charge of the hideout they had raided didn''t tell them much, but he did say something was coming, and that the world they know will soon change, for it was inevitable.


    Neither of the two knew what he meant, and after a small discussion with one another, Camillia changed the topic and asked what they should do with Lohar. She had suggested they take him to the authorities and have them question him since he was telling them nothing, but, in the end, Donovan took the man''s life away from him by cutting his head off.


    This had came as a surprise to Camillia, for she didn''t expect him to do this, so she asked him why, in which he told her that it was for the best, and that they''d get nothing more out of him.


    Of course, there was no way Donovan could have been sure of this, but Camillia didn''t bother arguing with him about this, for it would have been pointless. The dwarf who was known as Lohar was dead on the floor, and neither of them could bring him back from the dead, for that was impossible.


    After they had arrived at the Emperor''s palace, and entered the secret passageway, Camillia asked Donovan if he was doing alright, but the reply she got from him was short, and lacked conviction. He had also told her not worry about him, but this only troubled her more.


    Feeling like they needed to discuss what happened back at the House of Shadow''s hideout, Camillia waited until they arrived at his room before saying to him. "Fane, we need to talk about what happened back there."


    "What is there to discuss?" He questioned with a small frown as he entered his room, his voice lacking emotions.


    "Fane." She said in a low tone as she followed him into his room, a look of concern decorating her face. "Don''t treat me like this, we''re friends, remember?"


    Donovan said nothing at this, and remained silent.


    "Since when did we become friends?" He asked himself with only a tiny bit of curiosity. "Friends are people you''re supposed to share your secrets with, and someone you turn to talk to when you''re having problems, so what made us friends?"


    He didn''t voice these thoughts of his, but he couldn''t help from asking himself this either.


    Seeing that he was quiet, Camillia believed what had been said to him affected him deeply.


    "Fane, please talk to me." She requested after moving closer to him and carefully grabbing ahold of his left hand with her right hand.


    Looking at the hand that was being held by her, Donovan said, "I''m fine, really I am."


    "Fane," She said in a more serious voice as her grip on his hand became a little tighter. "look at me."


    Turning to face her, Donovan watched as she let go of his hand and extended her arms upwards to grab ahold of his helmet that was hiding his expression.


    The sight would have been what some would have considered to be romantic, but Camillia had to stand on her tippy toes, and struggled somewhat on removing his helmet due to him being a little too tall.


    Nonetheless, she had managed to take off his helmet, and upon removing it, she could see a few tears trailing down the side of his cheeks.


    Upon her seeing his face, Donovan instantly looked away, and said, "Like I said, I''m fine."


    "No, you''re not. You''re crying, which means you''re not fine." Camillia declared in a manner of sternness.


    "You''re mistaken; I just have something in my eyes." He lied as he attempted to wipe away his tears with his right hand.


    Camillia became a little irritated at this, but she didn''t let her irritation slip out. No, instead, she took a deep breath before saying, "Fane, I want you to know that you''re not a monster. What that man said to you isn''t true, and that you''re a good person."


    "Am I?" He asked, a tiny bit of anger in his voice. "Can you really tell me that I''m a good person after I took thirty-three lives today?"


    As he asked this, his voice flared up some more.


    "Yes, because you''re crying over what you had to do and not you being a monster." She affirmed without a bit of hesitation. "A bad person doesn''t cry over taking lives, but you do, you''re weeping for them."


    Donovan said nothing.


    He had wanted to tell her that she was wrong, but he couldn''t find the strength to say that.


    He had also wanted to tell her that what Lohar said was actually true, and his sole purpose in this world was to take lives, but he couldn''t find the strength to say that either.


    In the end, he couldn''t find the strength to say anything.


    Believing that her words reached his heart, Camillia said as she took his hands into her hands. "No matter what people say, I will never consider you to be a monster, Fane. I know that you''re a good person, and nothing will change my thoughts on that."


    At this, Donovan glanced down at their hands, and spoke in a low tone. "I do not deserve your kindness..."


    "You do." She affirmed while tightening her grips on his hands. "You honestly do, Fane."


    Still unsure if he did, Donovan said nothing, and simply stared at their hands. His hands were bigger than hers, and while they both wearing gauntlets, he imagined that they weren''t.


    The two stayed like this for a while, but eventually, it came to an end, and Donovan pulled his hands away from her while telling her. "You should probably go back to your room now. It''s been a long day, and you probably need to talk to your father and let him know what we found out and what''s going on."


    Although she was a bit hesitant, Camillia believed that Donovan was no longer troubled by what had been said to him earlier, and said, "You''re most likely right, so I''ll let him know first thing in the morning."


    With that said and done, Camillia exited the room.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    On her way back to her room, Camillia came across someone she didn''t expect to see, and that was the Emperor''s most trusted advisor, Pavus.


    He wasn''t alone, and was accompanied by a dozen and half dwarves who were wearing black armor.


    "Princess Camillia," He greeted with what appeared to be a friendly smile. "what a coincidence, I was just looking for you. I have many things I wish to discuss with you."


    Surprised to see the man, Camillia said in a cautious tone as she entered a defensive stance. "Lord Pavus."


    Seeing her shift into a wary stance made him chuckle. "Princess Camillia, what is with that stance of yours? You''re making it look as if I''m some type of bad guy, who wants to bring you harm."


    Camillia stayed silent, for a few seconds before speaking. "I know what you''re planning, Lord Pavus, so please stop now before it''s too late. I''m sure if you do my father will forgive you for all your transgressions, and let you continue serving him."


    "Your father has grown soft, Princess Camillia." Lord Pavus said with a shake of his head. "Which is truly unfortunate, for I used to admire him greatly. However, now though, I do not, and like others feel he should be replaced with someone strong, someone like me."


    Camillia clenched her fists at this, and declared in a serious voice. "Lord Pavus, stop. I have always considered you to be a member of my family since I was a little girl, but if you say something like that about my father again, I will kill you."


    The Emperor''s most trusted advisor remained silent for a few seconds as he stared her down. "Wow, I wasn''t expecting that to come from your mouth, but then again, you''re not the little girl I thought you were. I recall you being sweet, and uh, innocent. However, when I look at you now, I can''t help but feel like my life is in danger."The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    As he said this, Camillia slowly moved her hands to the weapons that were strapped to her waist.


    This didn''t go unnoticed by Lord Pavus, or his men, and he couldn''t help from smiling as he talked. "Unfortunately, I cannot be killed here. I have a mission and that is to purge our glorious Empire of the filth that dwells in our kingdoms, and to fight our true enemies! This is what our people, and the Stone wants from me, and I will not fail either of them!"


    "You''re insane and delusional, Lord Pavus, and because of that I will stop you." Camillia boldly declared as she unsheathed the blades from her waist, which earned a chuckle from the old man.


    "By all means, try to stop me, but let me warn you now that it is a futile attempt." He proudly stated with not a trace of fear or concern in his voice.


    Camillia wasn''t deterred by this in the slightest and charged the man, which had caused Lord Pavus'' guards to move to intercept.


    As they did, Lord Pavus said in an offhand manner. "Do not kill the princess, I''m fine with you roughing her up a little, but I want her alive and breathing."


    Had Camillia heard this comment, she might have said something, but because she was too preoccupied with the first person who got in her way, she paid it no attention.


    The first man who had gotten in her way was a swordsman, and let out a battle cry as he charged at her with his blade held up high in the air.


    It was obvious what type of attack he was going to do, and because of that, she was able to easily avoid his overhand strike without losing any momentum she had gained.


    However, before moving past him, she reversed the grip on the short sword that was in her right hand, and after doing so, she sliced into his left abdomen.


    Now, due to the sharpness of the blade, and the material used to make it, Camillia was able to cut through the metal armor he wore. Unfortunately, this didn''t kill him, but it was enough to take him out of the fight.


    As the man collapsed, and placed his hands onto his wound, the Dwarven Princess collided with another one of Lord Pavus'' guards, and was forced to stop advancing and leap back.


    The man wielded a maul, and swung it at her with relative ease. He was a bit wider than her first opponent, but that didn''t mean he was fat. No, he was a robust dwarf, which was most likely the reason why he was able to swing the two-handed mace at her with little to no effort.


    While evading another one of his attacks, that could cripple her, if not that kill her, another one of Lord Pavus'' guards rushed past the man and lunged at her with his blade.


    Camillia evaded the guard''s thrust by sidestepping to her left, and then getting closer to him before planting the blade in her left hand into the man in the throat.


    She then quickly removed it as the man fell to the ground, and was forced to move back again by the maul wielding dwarf as two more guards approached her from her left and right flank.


    Dodging another blow that would have probably killed her, Camillia saw that the dwarf on her right was closer, but decided not to focus on him due to him carrying a shield.


    The thought of fleeing had crossed her mind as her eyes shifted to the man on her left, but unfortunately, she was afraid she wouldn''t be able to escape them, and that they would catch up to her, and capture her.


    "What was I thinking?" She asked herself as the man on her right attempted to attack her, which made her have to dodge yet again. "I''m not like Fane, who can take on this many people at once without any help."


    She believed herself to be very gifted in combat, but after seeing that she was still up against sixteen people, Camillia realized that she made a terrible mistake, and was now most likely going to pay the price because of it.


    Avoiding another attack that was sent her way by doing a combat roll, Camillia countered by stabbing the man in the thigh before yanking her blade out only to see another man shoulder charge into her while letting out a roar.


    The man could have ended her life with the mace in his hands by hitting her over the head with it, but instead of doing that, he knocked her down.


    Not long after landing on her back did Lord Pavus'' guards quickly covered the distance between them and surrounded her. The swordsmen of the group pointed their swords at her, but none of them roughed her up, for it was obvious they were the victors.


    "That was a little disappointing, I was expecting a little more since she charged at us, but in reality, she wasn''t that tough." One of the dwarves stated in a displeased tone.


    "I agree, which makes me wonder if she is truly that man''s daughter." Another added as he looked at his companions.


    As a few more voiced their thoughts on Camillia, and her fighting prowess, the maul wielding dwarf said in an annoyed tone as Lord Pavus approached them with a satisfied smile. "Will you all shut your mouths, and stop acting so high and mighty? I doubt any of you could actually last against her in a one on one, so why don''t you make yourselves useful and check on Jericho and Varric?"


    Seeing that their commander was upset with them, the dwarves who voiced their thoughts on the matter decided to check on the wounded.


    Meanwhile, Lord Pavus said, "If I''m going, to be honest, I was expecting something more grandiose, but then again, it was eighteen against one, and she is a woman, so I shouldn''t have expected her to be like her father."


    As he said this, tears welled up in Camillia''s eyes. However, they weren''t there because she feared she let her father down, no for some strange reason, she was thinking about Fane the Black Knight.


    "Fane..." She thought as she held back the urge to let out a sniffle. "I''m sorry, I ended up doing something foolish. I shouldn''t have done this, and should have just ran away, but because of my tactlessness you''re going to lose your life."


    The thought of Fane''s head on a chopping block rushed through her mind, and upon this happening, she couldn''t stop herself from letting out a tiny sniffle. It didn''t attract Lord Pavus'' attention or his guards, for he was too busy talking and giving out their next set of orders, but it nonetheless came out of her.


    As the tears began to pour out of her eyes, Camillia wondered if this was truly how things were going to end. If everything she had done so far for the Empire was going to be washed away, and if that was the last time she was going to see Fane.


    She didn''t want that to be the case. She didn''t want any of that to be the case, but she couldn''t prevent herself from thinking like this. Of course, she was concerned she wasn''t going to see her father either again, but that had fallen in the lines of everything she had done for the Empire, for he was the Emperor and she did a lot of things in secret to help him out.


    "Anyways, take Princess Camillia here to my estate, and double the watch there." Lord Pavus declared. "As for the rest of you, take care of this Black Knight, I don''t need him foiling my plans."


    "Understood, My Lord, no My Emperor." The maul wielding dwarf stated with a bow of his head.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As Donovan laid in bed, he wondered about what was going to happen, and what exactly happened to Lady Nyx''s servant.


    Sure, he and Camillia had discovered a plot to overthrow her father, but they had yet to figure out anything about the missing servant, so he was a little more interested in her disappearance than anything else.


    However, he was soon pulled out of these thoughts by the sound of the secret passageway opening, which was followed by several male voices.


    Curious as to what was going on, Donovan sat up and watched as a group of black-armored dwarves entered his room while nonchalantly chatting with one another.


    "Um, excuse me?" Donovan called out in an unsure manner as he got out of his, which gained the attention of the dwarves. "What are you guys doing in my room?"


    The one who was leading the group was surprised to see a human, and couldn''t exactly stop himself from saying, "Huh, a human? Why''s a human in the Black Knight''s room?"


    "Did we perhaps enter the wrong room?" One dwarf questioned as Donovan frowned.


    "No, this is his room as you can see, there''s his armor." Another dwarf declared as he pointed at the armor and weapon of the Black Knight.


    "Huh, you''re right." The questioning dwarf said upon glancing at the black armor. "Hey human, where''s the Black Knight? We have business with him. Also, what''s your relationship with him? You his lover or something?"


    Donovan said nothing at first, but he was pretty sure the man just assumed he was gay.


    "No, I''m not his lover or anything like that." Donovan stated in an annoyed tone.


    "I see." The dwarf said skeptically before murmuring to his companions. "I call bullshit on that, the human was laying in his bed."


    Not saying anything on the matter, Donovan continued to pretend not to be the Black Knight, and said as the dwarf''s companions chuckled at the previous statement. "Anyways, what business do you have with the Black Knight?"


    "Important business, and that''s all you need to know, so tell us where he went." The dwarf who was leading the group stated in a slightly peeved voice.


    Narrowing his eyes, Donovan took a good look at them again.


    There was ten of them, and all of them were armed, which wouldn''t have made him suspicious of them had they been wearing the palace guards'' armor, but because they wore black armor, he was a little on edge with them.


    Thinking it was best to reveal who he was, Donovan said in a prideful tone. "Alright, well I''m telling you, you won''t have to look far, for I am the Black Knight."


    At this, the dwarfs stared at him before giving each other questioning looks before averting their attention back at him again. It took a few seconds, but then it came.


    "Ahahaha, that was a good one!"


    "Hahaha, awman for a second there I thought he actually was the Black Knight, but then I remembered he was a human!"


    "Who would have thought humans could tell such good jokes? Ahahaha!"


    Seeing them laugh at him pissed him off a little. "Am I joke to you?" He asked in a serious voice, which only made them laugh even harder than before and continue to mock him.


    Getting more and more triggered by their laughter, black flames manifested in his hands, and he shouted loudly. "Enough, all of you!"


    This made them shut their mouths and cease their laughing.


    Satisfied that they stopped laughing, the black flames disappeared, and Donovan started to speak in a much more calmer tone. "Thank you, now what business do you have with me?"


    "Same kind of business we had with Princess Camillia. However, unlike her, we don''t need you alive." The dwarf leader stated as he unsheathed his blade.


    Donovan''s eyes narrowed once again, and clenched his fists a little as black flames conjured in his palms. "What did you just say?"


    At this, the dwarf grinned and said arrogantly as one of his companions pulled out a tiny metallic ball from their pouch. "Oh you know, nothing worth being repeated twice."


    Upon him saying this, the flames in Donovan''s hands grew, but what he didn''t see was the small metal sphere falling to the ground and becoming slightly bigger.


    "Tell me what you just-" Donovan started before abruptly pausing. Something was off, he didn''t know what it was, but it felt like the flames that had manifested in his hands had disappeared along with all the mana in his body.


    It was strange, and out of curiosity, Donovan lifted his hands only to see that the flames were gone.


    "Wha, What?" He said in surprise as he tried to conjure up some magic only to be unsuccessful.


    "What''s the matter?" The leader of the group asked with a big toothy grin. "Can''t cast any spells?"


    Looking at the dwarf, Donovan said in an angry tone. "What did you do to me?"


    "Oh, I could tell you, but I''d rather not waste the energy, so why don''t we just get onto killing you now, okay?" The dwarf stated before he and his companions rushed Donovan.

 Rescuing The Princess, And...

    Chapter XVIII: Rescuing The Princess, And...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As the dwarfs charged towards him, Donovan was still curious as to why he wasn''t able to cast any magic, he decided to put that aside for now, and focus on staying alive.


    Glancing to his right, Donovan leaped onto the large bed, and quickly crawled across it, and then climbed out of it to prevent himself from being cornered as a few of the dwarves voiced their surprise and commands to get him.


    He may have been stronger and faster than the dwarves, but he wasn''t a master in hand to hand combat, and had nothing to defend himself. He could of course try to disarm one of them, but that was a brave move in his mind, and he wasn''t feeling very bold.


    Deciding to go for his weapon, Donovan dashed towards his blade, which happened to be near his armor, but as he did so, one of the dwarfs, who was in the back of the group, got in his way.


    "Where do you think you''re going!?" The dwarf cried out triumphantly as he attempted to hit Donovan, but ended up missing due to him dodging the attack.


    After he avoided the strike, Donovan moved closer as he swung his right hand at the dwarf''s head, which connected with the man''s face because of it coming in faster than he could react. He also didn''t have to elevate or lower his hand, for the dwarf was pretty much around Donovan''s chest level.


    The punch had not only enough force to cave in his helmet, and knock the man out, but to also send him flying to his left and into one of his comrades who was completely caught off guard by this event.


    Once he was out of his way, Donovan moved towards his blade as one of the dwarves tried to intercept, but failed, for Donovan was too fast for him.


    It wasn''t long before Donovan covered the distance between him and his blade, and upon reaching his sword, he grabbed the hilt of it and said as he spun around to face them. "By the way, I didn''t plan on going anywhere,"


    He trailed off before moving and cutting down the two closest dwarves, who tried to react, but were too slow. "and that''s because you guys said something about Camillia, so I gotta find out what exactly you did to her."


    As the dwarf who was knocked down by their unconscious comrade slowly got up, the dwarf who was leading the party clicked his tongue, and said, "Tch, even if you''re fast, it''s still a seven on one fight, so do you honestly think that-"


    "Thirty-five." Donovan curtly interrupted.


    "What?" The leader said along with a couple of them others, who were confused by the random number.


    "Thirty-five, it''s the number of people''s lives I have taken today." He declared in a voice that lacked any emotion, and a glint in his eyes that sent a small shiver down most if not that, all of their spines. "I, unfortunately, didn''t know their names or anything about them, but it was something I had to do, which brings me to the main point."


    Pausing for a second, Donovan exhaled before resuming. "I have already stained my hands in blood, so I have no problem doing it again, I may not enjoy it, but if it means saving someone who for some reason cares deeply about me, then I will do it. If I have to kill most of you to find out what I need to know, I''ll do it."


    At this, the leader of the group became angry/annoyed and shouted as he rushed towards him by himself. "Y-You, you asshole! You''ll pay then for all the lives you have taken today!"


    It had appeared that he was the only one who believed Donovan was lying, since he was the only one charging him, but everyone else seemed to believe his words, for they made no efforts to move, and stood still with fear and concern flooding their minds.


    After easily evading the dwarf''s first swing, Donovan deflected the next one without even batting an eye before grabbing ahold of the man''s head with one hand and slamming it down onto the ground.


    The action he took was a brutal one, but he believed he didn''t use enough force to kill the man. No, Donovan believed that he had rendered the dwarf unconscious, but to the six others, it looked like he had just killed their friend in the most cruelest manner they have ever seen.


    Once he was finished; Donovan let go of the man''s head, and tilted his head back and looked up at them which had caused the majority of them to flinch.


    If any of them were still unsure if the person before them was the Black Knight, they were no longer uncertain, for what they were seeing before them wasn''t a human. It was a demon, no a monster, in the disguise of a human.


    As he stood up, and started to approach them, a few of them voiced their thoughts as they aimed their shakey weapons at him.


    "S-Stay back! I, I''m warning y-you!"


    "St-Stop! Come an-any clo-closer, and I, I''ll cut you down!"


    Despite offering these threats, and warnings Donovan continued to slowly close the little distance between them, which almost made them attack, but before any of them did make a move, the doors to Donovan''s room came flying open.


    The people who came barging into Donovan''s room, was none other than Sir Azath, and Sir Razzoth who weren''t wearing their armor and were armed with their swords, and a handful of the palace guards.


    Upon them entering, one of the palace guards shouted at the top of his lungs. "What the hell is going on in here!?"


    Meanwhile, Sir Azath yelled in concern along with Sir Razzoth.


    "Lord Fane, are you alright!?"


    "Lord Fane, is everything okay!?"


    Realizing he needed to prevent them from killing the intruders, Donovan answered swiftly. "I''m fine, just capture these men!"


    ...


    ...


    ...


    It was a little tedious, but in the end, they were able to capture two of the six dwarves, and not long after they did this, did Donovan, Sir Azath, and Sir Razzoth feel as if all their mana was gone.


    In total though, they had captured four since two of them were unconscious, but that was beside the point, the point was that they had two of them were conscious and in talking condition.


    As Donovan let out a sigh, and started to approach the two apprehended dwarves, one of the palace guards approached Donovan, and said in an apologetic tone. "Apologies, Lord Fane, for not arriving sooner, I hope you can forgive us."


    "It''s fine, really. I had expected something like this to happen, so you shouldn''t get too worked up about this." Donovan replied in a disinterested tone before looking at the two dwarves who were on their knees with their heads hanging low.


    While Donovan had said this, a few Dark Knights gathered outside the room to see what was going on along with two of Lady Nyx''s attendants. However, Donovan didn''t give them much attention.


    The palace guard who had approached the Black Knight smiled a little upon hearing this, and said in response "While it''s unfortunate you had expected something like this to happen, I am happy to let you know that we''ll be interrogating them thoroughly. However, in the meantime we should probably relocate you, for sleeping in this room is probably not the wisest of choices."


    Donovan in response looked at the man, and frowned before speaking in a slightly serious voice. "These men tried to kill me, and have important information that I need, so I will be asking them a few questions if you don''t mind."


    At this, the dwarf shook his head. "I''m sorry, I do understand your reason for wanting to question them, but these men are the prisoners of the Empire, so we''ll be handling their questioning."


    Donovan narrowed his eyes upon being told this. "Are you joking? I was the one who detained them, so if anything they''re my prisoners, not yours."


    "These people are members of the Empire, and have committed crimes in the Empire''s lands, not yours." The dwarf pointed out in a firm tone. "Therefore they''re our prisoners, and we''ll be the ones interrogating them first."


    As the atmosphere in the room became tense, Donovan''s grip on his blade tightened a bit.


    Sir Azath and Sir Razzoth, who weren''t that far away from the two of them, had witnessed Donovan''s grasp on his blade become tighter and were curious if he was going to do what they were thinking he was going to do.


    If he did plan on attacking them, then they''d most definitely assist, for he is their leader, but what they wanted to know was why Donovan really wanted to interrogate the captured dwarves.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    They could understand if he was wanting to find out who sent them, but they didn''t see him as someone who''d care for these type of things. However, that was because they barely knew anything about him, and have only seen a few emotions come out of him.


    With his blade at the ready, Donovan opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could leave his mouth, someone else spoke.


    "Does anyone mind telling me what''s going on, and why the atmosphere here feels very heavy?" Came a feminine voice, which caused Donovan to look towards the door, and see none other than Lady Nyx entering the room with a bit of a peeved expression written on her face.


    Sir Azath and Sir Razzoth were surprised to see her, but that didn''t stop them from greeting her with a small bow. Of course, she didn''t pay them any acknowledgment, and kept her gaze onto the person who was causing the room to feel heavy, which happened to be Donovan.


    "Lady Nyx." Donovan welcomed in a slightly curt tone that didn''t go unnoticed by the woman.


    "Oh my, who was the one that got you all riled up to where you''re greeting me like that?" Lady Nyx asked with only a bit of humor in her voice.


    "Them." He answered simply as he nodded at the two dwarf assassins that were conscious, who in return shuddered slightly.


    "Why? What did they do? Besides trying to kill you of course." Lady Nyx asked after glancing at them.


    The dwarf who had been speaking with Donovan didn''t say anything, but he couldn''t help from wondering if there was some other motive for him wanting to question them right now at this very moment.


    Seeing that he had all eyes on him, Donovan took a deep breath. If he told the truth, then he most definitely would be able to question them about what they did to Camillia, but a small part of him feared that this would also cause him some trifling problems that he honestly didn''t need.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t have the luxury to dwell on his thoughts about how he wanted to proceed, for the longer he sat there thinking, the more danger she could be in.


    "Earlier they mentioned something about Camillia, the Emperor''s daughter, and I didn''t understand what they said, so I wanna know what they meant." Donovan declared in a firm tone that had no traces of joking in it at all.


    The palace guard stared at Donovan for a long time after hearing this, he looked for any signs of joking, and after finding none, he said in his own serious voice. "Are you trying to say the Princess was behind this attack on you?"


    "What? no, that''s not what I''m saying at all!" Donovan said in surprise before becoming a little irritated. "I''m saying that they had done something to the Princess and that I''m trying to find out what it was."


    At this, the dwarf let out a huff of air. He wasn''t sure if Donovan was bullshitting him, and was tempted to say that what he''s saying is a bunch of lies, and nonsense, but then started to wonder why he would say this stuff unless it was true?


    "Alright, I''ll let you talk to them, but I''ll be watching, so if you try any funny business, I''ll arrest you too, that clear?" The dwarf stated after several seconds of thinking.


    "Crystal." Donovan affirmed.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Camillia had a troubled expression hidden under her veil as she laid in the large bed. She didn''t know how long it had been since she arrived at Lord Pavus'' home, but it felt like hours, which was practically destroying her hope of someone coming to her rescue.


    "What am I thinking?" She asked herself as she turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "No one is going to come to my aid. Not Fane, not my father, nor his guards, so why am I having wishful thoughts?"


    Camillia wasn''t one for negative thoughts, but she couldn''t stop herself from being like this. She believed what happened was because of her own carelessness, and because of that, she felt she shouldn''t be having these types of thoughts.


    "If I had been smarter than I wouldn''t have gotten myself in this position, but because I acted like an idiot, I''ve basically ruined everything." She told herself as the urge to cry slowly came back.


    "I shouldn''t have done that, but I thought I could be like them. I thought I could be this great warrior who could take on multiple enemies at once!" She stated as tears started to swell up in her eyes.


    "I just wanted to show that I could handle myself in those types of situations..." She said as the tears started to pour out of her eyes and fall down her cheeks.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Meanwhile, Donovan came to a stop not that far in front of the gate that led to Lord Pavus'' estate, which was an extremely large house made out of stone. He was cladded in his armor and was accompanied by three Dark Knights who were standing behind him.


    The reason why he only had three people behind him and not a small army was because they wouldn''t attract as much attention compared to three dozen palace guards, and because they didn''t have time to waste.


    It would have taken time to gather a large number of palace guards, and by the time they were done gathering them, the word of their plans could have spread by then, and Donovan couldn''t afford to risk that. He needed to get to Lord Pavus'' home, and he needed to get there fast.


    Taking a deep breath, Donovan spoke in an emotionless tone. "Like I said earlier, you see anyone armed with a weapon kill them immediately, and if they throw down their weapon, kill them regardless. As for the servants, I leave that choice up to you, just locate Princess Camillia."


    "Understood, Lord Fane." The three Dark Knights stated before following behind their leader, who resumed walking towards the gate that had eight armored dwarfs with two stone golems standing before it.


    As they came closer one of the dwarfs stepped forward, and said in a prideful tone. "Halt! My Lord has made it clear that no one is allowed to see him, so turn around and leave! If you fail to comply with this command, then we will use lethal force."


    Donovan in response to this declaration, pulled out his blade that was on his back, which caused the three Dark Knights, who were with him to unsheathe their swords, and take their shields off of their backs.


    Seeing them do this made the dwarves pull out their own weapons and enter fighting stances as the stone golems'' eyes turned from blue to red.


    Unfortunately, that was all they were able to do, for after they had done this, did Donovan swing his blade horizontally, and cut down the eight dwarfs and two stone golems with wind magic.


    As their bodies collapsed, Donovan swung his sword two more times, this time in an ''x'' formation that was directed at the metal gate, which fell apart with ease due to it not being able to withstand his wind magic.


    With the gate now out of the way, Donovan and the three Dark Knights continued to make their way to the estate and soon entered it by burning the large doors down. Anyone who stood in their way, or tried to get in their way, was killed mercilessly. It was basically a massacre; the guards who tried to stop the four of them didn''t stand a chance, especially with Donovan in the lead, and those who did try to flee either barely managed to get away, or didn''t get away at all.


    It wasn''t long after they entered the estate did Donovan apprehend one of the guards, and demand him to show them where they were keeping Camillia. Of course, the guardsman attempted to play dumb, and act like he had no idea what Donovan was talking about, but after quickly educating him about his blade and what it does to people, did the dwarf reveal the location she was being held in.


    After he had gained this information and made sure the man wasn''t bullshitting him, Donovan gave the man a quick death and carved a bloody path to Princess'' Camillia''s chambers.


    Once he arrived at her chambers, Donovan and his Dark Knights were welcomed to the sight of thirteen dwarves, who stood between them and the door that Princess Camillia was behind.


    The one who was standing in the middle and leading the group was the maul wielding dwarf that Camillia fought earlier. He had a scowl written on his face.


    "The Emperor is truly a pitiable man." The maul wielding dwarf declared in a slightly disgusted tone. "Instead of sending his guards or even coming himself he sends demons to rescue his daughter? By the Stone it is truly a sad sight, and makes it all the more clearer that he is unfit to rule."


    Donovan didn''t even bother replying and simply unleashed a blast of lightning which bounced off of all of them, and killed them almost instantaneously. He had no words that needed to be said, and highly doubted the man had anything useful to say, so he opted to kill him now and be done with it.


    As their bodies crumpled to the floor, one of the Dark Knights said aloud. "I''m starting to wonder if there was a need for us three to tag along, for you basically, just cleared out this place by yourself with just a little bit of help."


    "He was able to take on the Hero Party by himself, so do you really think he would have trouble taking on some dwarves?" Another said in response as Donovan moved towards the room while putting his blade back on his back.


    "Stay here, please." Donovan requested in a low as he glanced back at them in which the Dark Knights nodded their heads in compliance. He wouldn''t have really minded if they did accompany him into Camillia''s room, but if he was being truthful with himself than he wanted to be alone with her for a moment. He had a few things he wished to discuss with her, and didn''t want others to exactly hear it.


    Upon reaching the door, Donovan grabbed ahold of the doorknob, but didn''t open the door immediately. He had a lot of things on his mind, and wasn''t sure what he was exactly feeling at the moment, so he needed a couple seconds to gather his thoughts.


    He had so far kept an emotionless guise up, but underneath that he was feeling a lot of things, and now that everything was pretty much coming to an end, he was starting to feel that stuff a lot more.


    After gathering his thoughts and emotions, Donovan let out a sigh before turning the doorknob and opening the door. He then entered the room and was met with the sight of a medium-size windowless bedroom.


    Upon seeing that the bed had a canopy, and there was a silhouette of a woman, a small sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu entered his mind. He had never rescued a princess before, but when he was younger he remembered reading and putting himself in the main character''s spot when it came to fantasy novels, so he couldn''t stop himself from feeling like he had done this before.


    As he approached the bed, Donovan wondered if he should take his helmet off, but instead chose not to, and just said in a concerned voice. "Camillia?"


    At this, the silhouette flinched, and it wasn''t long before Donovan felt a pair of eyes on him.


    "Fane?" The woman on the bed said aloud in uncertainty as she got out of the bed. "Is that you, Fane?"


    "Yes. It is me." He affirmed as she moved the bed''s curtains out of the way so she could see if he was actually there.


    Upon seeing him, Camillia let out a gasp of surprise. "Y-You, what are you, how did you get here? How did you, how did you know I was here?"


    "I asked, and then I killed anyone who stood in my way." He answered bluntly. Donovan was happy to see her, but that didn''t erase any of the emotions that were plaguing his heart.


    "O-Oh..." Was the response she gave him upon hearing this information. "Are you, are you okay?"


    She had asked him this in a cautious manner, for she was unsure what he was feeling or how he would react.


    "I''m fine, but why do you care so much about me?" He said in response with a small frown that was hidden underneath his helm. "Like, what did I do to earn this compassion from you? What did I do earn your trust? Just why?"


    "That''s, that''s not easy to answer." She said before letting a sigh escape her lips.


    "Explain then." He declared almost immediately. "Try to make me understand because I don''t understand why at all."


    "I don''t know why, I just feel safe around you, okay!?" Camillia practically yelled in frustration. "I feel like I can trust you, I feel you can accept me for who I am, I feel like I, no I think I have feelings for you."


    Donovan''s eyes went wide upon hearing the last part and couldn''t stop himself from saying in shock. "What?"


    Camillia didn''t repeat herself and instead said with a bit of firmness in her voice. "Y-You heard me."


    "Since, since when?" He asked hesitantly with surprise in his voice.


    "I''d say for a while now." She answered after a second of pondering.


    Donovan said nothing at first, for he wasn''t sure what to say, but knew that things had become a lot more complicated now.


    Meanwhile, Camillia wondered if she should reveal her face to him and make it clear that she sees him as the one for her.

 Saving The Empire.

    Chapter XIX: Saving The Empire.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As silence filled the room, Donovan thought about how to respond.


    He had been quiet for some time now, and was aware of the fact that Camillia was getting a little fidgety due to him being silent for a decent while now, but he, in all honesty, was barely paying attention to this, for he far too busy thinking about what he was supposed to say. It also didn''t help that at the moment, he was feeling a bunch of negative emotions.


    "I, I just don''t know what to say!" He said to himself in an irritated manner as he put his hands on his helmet and fought back the urge to scream. "Most people would be happy that they got confessed to by someone, especially if that person was a princess, but I''m not happy at all! I''m not feeling a single shred of happiness; I''m just feeling regret, sadness, and anger."


    The reason why he felt regret was because of some of the actions he had taken recently. He and the Dark Knights that were with him didn''t have to kill all the guards that had got in their way, and could have let the ones who threw down their weapons go, but they didn''t; the four of them killed them without compassion, and it was because of that, Donovan was facing some internal turmoil.


    Sure, most of them had received a quick death, but that didn''t change what had happened, nor did it excuse him of the actions he had taken. He had still taken the lives of the people who had yielded.


    As for the reason why he felt anger, it was because of this whole situation. A part of him didn''t want to come here and do these things, but he had to because there was no other way. If the Emperor found out that his daughter had been abducted, then he''d get blamed, and either lose his life, or resist and make the dwarfs join the human alliance.


    What pissed him off more though was that the more he thought about it, the more he became certain that he was still going to get blamed for all of this. He didn''t know why, but he felt the Emperor was going to say that he failed to protect his daughter, and allowed this to happen or something along those lines.


    Just the thought of this happening made him let out a groan of frustration.


    Camillia, who was starting to get very nervous now, had heard this groan, and couldn''t stop herself from asking in a concerned tone. "Are, are you not happy that I have romantic feelings for you? If so, then I''m-"


    "Wha-No, no I''m not upset about that." Donovan stated in a slightly annoyed voice as he fended off the urge to rub his brow. "I just wasn''t prepared for a sudden confession like that, alright? It was unexpected, and if I''m being honest something I can''t really respond to, at least for the time being."


    "Oh..." Was all Camillia said in response.


    "Yeah, I know that''s something you shouldn''t hear, especially after you told them that you have feelings like that for them, but please try to understand that there is a lot on my mind at the moment that is bothering me." Donovan continued in a slightly sadder tone as he took his hands off of his head.


    "It, It''s fine." Camillia stuttered in a voice that had both understanding and embarrassment in it. She had tried to play it off as if she was okay, and that she understood his reasoning, but deep down, she was upset. She didn''t know why, but she felt like the emotions she has for him were just deemed as unimportant.


    After this was said, a few seconds of what felt like awkward silence for Donovan passed.


    "We should, we should probably get moving." Donovan stated with a bit of hesitance. He didn''t have much more to say to her, and at the moment, he was finding it a little hard to talk to her.


    "Agreed." Camillia affirmed, a tiny trace of hesitance in her voice. "As much as I wanna talk more about us, I do think it''s best we return to the palace."


    With that said, Donovan exited left the room with Camillia not far behind him.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    As they were making their way to the exit of Lord Pavus'' estate, Donovan, Camillia, and the three Dark Knight could hear the sound of bells ringing.


    "Lord Fane, do you hear that?" One of the Dark Knights questioned, traces of curiosity and concern in his voice.


    "The bells? Yes." He asked before answering his own question.


    "Yeah, so what do you believe to be the cause of them ringing?" The Dark Knight inquisitively asked.


    At this, Donovan was silent. He wasn''t exactly sure, but he could smell something burning. He had picked up this scent a while, and originally thought nothing of it, and assumed it to be the smell coming from the dwarves ashes/corpses but as they came closer and closer to the front door, the scent he was smelling had become stronger and started to stand out more.


    "If I had to guess, I''d say it''s because the Emperor''s daughter is-" Another Dark Knight stated as they exited the estate before pausing abruptly due to the black smoke he was seeing off in the distance. He had also came to a complete stop along with everyone else who saw the black smoke.


    "So, this is what I was smelling." Donovan thought to himself as Camillia took a few steps forward and fell on her knees, which was something he didn''t notice at first.


    Camillia didn''t say anything, but tears started to form in her eyes, for black smoke wasn''t the only thing they were able to see from their position. They could see dozens upon dozens of fires off in the distance, and while the bells ringing did block out the majority of the noises they were hearing, they could still hear faint sounds of screaming.


    The Dark Knights had seen plenty of action, so they weren''t as taken back by the sight they were seeing, but they couldn''t stop themselves from wondering what had happened in the past twenty, or so minutes. It also wasn''t long before they realized that Lady Nyx''s safety could be in jeopardy.


    As they started to voice their thoughts about her and their comrades, Donovan approached the Dwarven Princess and said in a low tone that was loud enough to reach her ears. "You alright?"


    Camillia sniffled, and said, "Do I look alright?"


    Her voice was filled with sadness and pain.


    "No." He answered after a second or two. He may not be able to see her face, but it didn''t take a genius to know that she was deeply troubled by what was happening in front of them.


    "This is Lord Pavus'' fault." Camillia declared after a while. "I don''t know why he''s doing this, but I do know it''s his fault."This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Donovan remained silent.


    "We''re, we''re going to stop him, right?" Camillia asked hesitantly. "We''re going to stop this revolution of his, right Fane?"


    "Of course." He affirmed almost immediately. "Did you think we were just going to stand here and watch all of this go down?"


    Camillia smiled in a bitter manner upon hearing this. She, in all honesty, didn''t need/appreciate that type of question, but was nonetheless happy that he was going to help stop all of this. "Thank you, Fane."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Lady Nyx had a slightly annoyed look written on her face as she listened to the Dwarven Emperor rant.


    "I considered him to be my brother, my fucking brother, and this is how he repays me!? He plots behind my back, and then abducts my daughter? Oh, he is gonna pay, I will make him pay. By the stone, I swear it!" Havel declared in a furious tone as he paced back and forth.


    "Havel, my old friend, I say this with love, but you really need to stop your seething, and calm down. Otherwise, you''re going to have a heart attack." Lady Nyx declared in a bit of a joking manner, knowing full well that this would most likely do the opposite, and just piss him off even more.


    "Nyx, shut up. I am still in my prime, and your jokes are something I don''t need at the moment." Havel stated as he shot her a look that would have easily intimidated others.


    "And you fuming like this is something we all don''t need to see." Lady Nyx said in response with a serious look in her eyes as she crossed her arms underneath her bust. "I understand your reasoning, trust me, I do. However, now is not the time to be doing this. Right now you should be focusing on dealing with the troublemakers outside of the palace."


    At this, the Emperor said nothing, and sent a look to all those who had gathered in the throne room. He didn''t notice it, but there were a lot of high ranking members of the Empire that were looking at the two of them with concerned expressions. Of course, he didn''t notice this, but most of them were actually being directed to Lady Nyx, for they had believed what she was doing was suicidal.


    After seeing their expressions, Havel muttered something under his breath before saying, "I have already done what I can, Lady Nyx. The royal army is being mobilized, and I have already given my commands to the Great General, so all I can do now is sit here and vent about my frustrations."


    "Well, that''s not exactly true. You could-" Lady Nyx said only to be interrupted by a sudden explosion that had reduced the throne room''s doors into nothing, but bits and pieces.


    "What the-" Havel started as he, and the others who weren''t killed or injured by the shrapnel, recovered from the unexpected explosion and looked at the entrance only to watch the royal guards who had somehow survived the blast be killed by the people who had caused the explosion.


    The people who had entered the room were dwarves in black armor, but what had gained almost everybody''s attention was the seven humans who were accompanying them.


    It was the Hero Party.


    After they were done killing the royal guards, one of the dwarves in black armor looked up and said with a smile. "Greetings, Your Imperial Majesty, it is an honor to meet you! I do not know if you know this, but at the moment, your palace is currently being sieged."


    Havel paid the man no attention, and simply glared at the members of the Hero Party while saying, "Did you guys decide to join their cause after I chose not to get involved in your war? Is this how petty you all are?"


    "From what I see, it appears so." Lady Nyx stated in a neutral tone as the Dark Knights slowly formed a perimeter around, while members of the Royal Guard got in front of the high ranking officers of the Empire and behind the Emperor.


    "Hey no, I was talking-"


    "Shut your cunt of a mouth before I bash your fucking skull in, pipsqueak." Havel casually declared as he sent the dwarf who was trying to speak to him a death stare that made him stop talking. "When I wanna talk to you, I''ll talk to you, but right now, I''m addressing those, quote-unquote, Heroes, so do me a favor and keep that hole of yours shut."


    With his point made, and none of the other dwarves finding the strength to talk back to him, Havel directed his attention back to Angel, and said in a firm tone. "Well, did you?"


    "Where''s the Black Knight? I had heard he is no longer in the palace, so I came to ask where is he." Angel asked after a couple seconds of silence, which only seemed to upset Havel more, for he had been completely ignored.


    "You, do you-"


    "Why do you wanna know? Wanna have a rematch against him or something?" Lady Nyx questioned, which caused Havel to shoot her a terrifying look, for she basically talked over him. However, she paid little attention to this.


    As for why, it was because she was secretly wanting him to enter a fit of rage, and go berserk, for when he does that, he practically becomes an unstoppable force, which was something they were going to need if the Hero Party did turn out to be on the side of the upstarts.


    "At the moment? No, not really. I just wanted to know why he left you behind if I''m being honest." Angel casually replied as Havel''s rage continued to build up, which was something that didn''t go unnoticed by anyone.


    Members of the Hero Party who were seeing this happen had a few drops of sweat roll down the sides of their faces as they looked at the Emperor with concerned expressions, except Marianna, who for some had an amused expression written on her face as she watched the dwarf''s face become redder and redder.


    A few of the Royal Guards tried to calm their Emperor down, but the man barely paid any attention to them or their words, and glared at those who were ignoring him, specifically the Hero Party.


    Sir Azath, who had his hand on his sheathed sword, flexed his fingers one at a time starting from his pinky to his index. He was sweating a little, but that wasn''t because he was afraid or nervous about what was to come. No, the reason why he had a small sweat going was because of anticipation and excitement. He didn''t consider himself to be a battle maniac, but he wouldn''t deny that it had been far too long since he had a good battle, and he had a wonderful feeling that this soon to be fight was going to be amazing.


    "Is that so?" Lady Nyx said in response as she tilted her head slightly. "Well, I''m afraid I can''t tell you that, and by that, I mean I just don''t want to tell you why."


    "God, you''re such an annoying person." Marianna said in a peeved tone as her amused expression was replaced by an annoyed one. "Like you just have that personality that manages to irritate the hell out of me and I hate that."


    As a few of the Dark Knights took a step forward, Lady Nyx raised her left hand, and had them stop moving while letting out an amused chuckle. "You''re not wrong, I have been told many times I can be very annoying, but that doesn''t bother me in the slightest."


    While Angel opened his mouth to say something, Havel yanked the two-handed hammer out of the Royal Guard next to him and slammed it in the ground as he yelled in a very angry manner. "That''s it, I''m tired of being fucking ignored by you two! I have asked you a question, Hero, and you have ignored me time and time again, which makes me believe that you''re an enemy of my Empire. So unless you wanna get your head caved in, I suggest you answer me right now!"


    Angel, who had been slightly startled by the noise Havel had made, shifted his attention towards him and watched as he ripped his weapon out of the small crater he had made.


    "I should probably answer him before he goes berserk." Angel thought to himself as he felt all eyes were on him.


    "Our loyalties, lie with you, Your Imperial Majesty." Angel declared, shocking practically everyone in the room, and causing Lady Nyx''s eyes to widen.


    The dwarves, who were standing next to the Hero Party, had turned their attention towards them, and began demanding them for elaboration while they pulled out their weapons.


    Meanwhile, Angel barely reacted, and simply kept his gaze on the Emperor, who still happened to be glaring at him.


    "You, you''re telling me that you''re not working with those trying to overthrow me?" Havel questioned with a dubious look.


    "Yes." Angel answered in a calm manner, which managed to enrage the dwarves around him and his friends even more.


    "Oh, really?" Lady Nyx asked with her own suspicious look written on her face. "And exactly why are you choosing to take his side over theirs? From what I have gathered, they want to rid the Empire of demon folk, so why not assist them with these efforts? After all, that is your duty as a Hero, right?"


    At this, Angel remained silent. He had wanted to say that what she was saying wasn''t true, but if he did think about it, his sole purpose in this world was to kill the Demon King.


    As he gritted his teeth in frustration, Jacob spoke. "Those demons you''re referring to haven''t done anything wrong, unlike your king, who has."


    "Oh, and what has My King, done that is considered wrong?" Lady Nyx questioned in a bit of a heated tone with a small scowl as she took a step forward. "Because if I remember correctly it was the humans who declared war on us, and started attacking our kingdom, not the other way around."


    While Jacob opened his mouth to rebut her claim, Havel spoke in a loud and clear voice. "Enough! I have heard enough from both of you, and I honestly don''t want to hear it anymore! Now, if you what you say is true Hero, then prove it by killing those traitors around you right now. If you don''t, then I will deem you an enemy and remove you and your friends'' heads from their shoulders."


    If this was supposed to faze Angel, then the Emperor failed, for all, he said in response before unsheathing his blade. "Consider it done."

 Saving The Empire. (Part II)

    Chapter XX: Saving The Empire. (Part II)


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Upon reaching the entrance to the secret tunnels that led into the palace, Donovan released a sigh.


    He had lost count of how many lives he had taken, but knew it was somewhere in the two hundreds, which was something he found to be very disturbing. As for why, it was because Donovan realized that it hadn''t even been a whole day since he had first taken another person''s life.


    It was something he considered to be unhuman like, and that''s why he was so bothered by it, for in less than twenty-four hours, he took the lives of over two hundred men and women. This had caused him to believe that he was nothing but a monster, for he couldn''t see any normal and sane person doing what he has done today.


    He just couldn''t. No matter how hard he tried, he just failed to see someone like his mother, his older brother, or anyone else back on Earth doing the things he had done, and it was because of this there was a small part of him that felt like it might just be best for him to accept that he is a monster, whose sole purpose in this world is to take lives, but there was also something inside of him that was telling him not to accept this label.


    He didn''t know why this was happening, but his heart ached when he thought of himself as nothing, but a monster. He felt like it was wrong, and just bad in general. His stomach churned as well when he thought about this.


    "I really don''t know what to consider myself." Donovan said to himself with a small scowl. "All the lives I have taken is definitely something no human would do, but I don''t want to be a monster. I don''t want to be seen as nothing, but a killer, that''s not who I am at all."


    As he told himself these things, one of the Dark Knights known as Sir Kalveth who was standing behind him with the others called out to him. "I think we have done a wonderful job, don''t you think so, Lord Fane?"


    There were traces of satisfaction in his voice.


    Donovan at first was silent, but after a few seconds, he answered with a, "Yeah."


    Camillia had managed to pick up the emptiness in his voice despite the chaos that was going on around them, and couldn''t stop herself from approaching him and grabbing ahold of his free hand, which was his right hand, with her left hand.


    Donovan, who was startled by this action, couldn''t help from glancing at her. She, of course, was still wearing a veil, and he was still wearing his helmet, but that didn''t stop them from having their eyes meet.


    The Dark Knights were taken aback by this ordeal as well, but none of them asked what was going on. Instead, they stood there in silence with curious glints in their eyes.


    "Everything alright?" Donovan asked her after a few seconds of staring at her.


    "I should be the one asking you that." Was the response she gave him.


    Donovan remained silent at this, and while he did appreciate her concern, a part of him felt it was not needed.


    "You really shouldn''t." He stated after a while. "I''m not the one who''s had a lot of traumatic things happen to them."


    What he was referring to was everything that had happened to her in the past twelve hours. She had been abducted, then after being rescued saw her city in anarchy, and then to top it off heard that the palace, the place she had grown up in, had been attacked by the people who are trying to overthrow her father.


    It was a lot to take in his mind, which is one of the reasons why he believed she shouldn''t concern herself with what''s going on with him.


    "It''s not because I don''t want your concern, I just don''t think what''s going on in between my head is what you should be worrying about at the moment," Donovan told himself as his eyes continued to linger on her. "you should be thinking more about your father and everyone else inside of the palace."


    "I''m fine." She affirmed. "I may have been in a bad state earlier, but I''m fine now, so I''m going to worry about you. Whether you like it or not."


    "You shouldn''t though." Donovan firmly stated with a tiny trace of anger that could be heard in his voice. "I mean, I appreciate it, but it''s something you seriously shouldn''t be doing. You should be thinking about your father, and your people, and not-"


    "Why are you so against me wanting to make sure you''re alright?" Camillia asked with hints of frustration seeping into her voice as she let go of his hand and turned her whole body towards him. "It''s like you want to be left alone and solve everything by yourself, which is something I just don''t understand! Why? Why are you acting like this?"


    One of the Dark Knights, whose name was Vagron Eltas was tempted to say something about how they were acting, and how they should probably keep moving, but decided it was best not to comment, and just stood there in silence.


    "Why do you care about how I feel or what I think!?" Donovan basically yelled with frustration in his voice as he clenched his fists tightly. "We live in two entirely different lives! You''re the daughter of a ruler, and I''m a nobody! So stop worrying about me, and start worrying about the things that are actually important to you."If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Camillia flinched at this, and was hesitant to speak. However, she eventually found the strength to mutter something that was loud enough for him to hear as she clutched the collar of her gown. "... You''re important to me."


    "I, I shouldn''t be." Donovan faltered as all of his anger and frustration was replaced with embarrassment and hesitation.


    "Well, you are." She said in the same low tone as she continued to hold onto the collar of her gown. "You didn''t have to meet me in the Garden of Emperors. If you wanted to, you could have ignored the letter I sent you, but you didn''t, and you are also the one who saved my life not once, but twice. You are someone I value and wanna be with no matter what, so please don''t cut me off and say that we can''t be together. I don''t want to hear that, and it breaks my heart when I see you like this."


    As she said these things, her voice got a little louder and her grip on her gown tightened.


    The Dark Knights in response to hearing this from her couldn''t help but feel as if they were listening to something they shouldn''t be listening to. They also started to wonder if this was really the best time and place for all of this.


    Donovan wasn''t sure what to say, and chose to say silent for quite some time. He believed this wasn''t the time or place for this as well, but couldn''t find the strength to say this. In fact, there was a part of him that thinks he needs to respond to her feelings, but even then, he still wasn''t sure what type of feelings he had for her.


    He liked her, but he didn''t think he had romantic feelings for her, he just didn''t. Maybe in the future, he might develop those feelings, but at this very moment, Donovan was pretty sure he saw her as a friend and only that.


    With a sad smile manifesting on his face, which couldn''t be seen due to him still wearing his helmet, Donovan shook his head, and said, "I''m sorry, but I don''t have the same feelings as you-"


    "No, stop." Camillia said to herself as tears started to form in her eyes. "Don''t tell me that, I don''t want to hear this from you."


    "-have for me. I know this isn''t what you want to hear, but it''s-"


    "Stop, please." Camillia requested in a teary voice as she reached out and put her hand on his chest while tilting her head, so that she was looking down at the ground. "I, I don''t want to be hearing this, from you."


    "-... I''m sorry." He continued after several seconds of what felt like heavy silence despite all the things going on in the distance. "It''s the truth, and the truth can be very painful."


    At this, her sobs, which were somewhat quiet, could be heard by those around her, but that didn''t make him change or take back what he said. No, instead, he just felt a little colder than before.


    Feeling like apologizing would just hurt her even more, Donovan wondered what he could do or say to make her feel better only to end up drawing blanks. No matter what he thought of, Donovan was pretty sure, he''d just make the situation worse than it already is.


    Holding in the sigh of frustration he wanted to let out, Donovan stood there in silence and allowed the princess to cry on him.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Upon reaching the hallway that had the doorway that led into the throne room, Donovan and company ran into the members of the Hero Party, who were in short, very startled to see him.


    "Where, where have you been, Black Knight?" Angel asked after quickly recovering from his surprise and placing a hand on the hilt of his blade. "And who''s that woman with you?"


    The Dark Knights accompanying Donovan saw Angel do this, and out of instinct immediately placed their hands on their swords as well.


    Donovan watched as the other members of the Hero Party tensed up, and prepare to attack should he try anything, but Donovan didn''t do anything. He didn''t reach for his blade, nor did he say anything, he just stood there and stared at all of them.


    Feeling as if he was being looked down on by the Black Knight, Angel couldn''t help from getting angry and basically yelling. "Just because you won that duel between us doesn''t mean you''re better than me. I was just caught by surprise, that''s all."


    "Okay." Donovan said in a tired voice. "If that''s all you have to say, can you please move aside? I''ve gone through a lot of shit today, and don''t need yours on top of it."


    He wasn''t trying to be rude, and after saying that he was pretty sure he came off as an asshole, but in all honesty, he could care less at the moment. He had done a lot of things in his opinion, and if he thought about it, Donovan realized that he had yet to get any sleep today.


    Angel''s grip on the handle of his sword became tighter as he clenched his teeth. He had wanted to say a few more things to him, but for some strange reason, he couldn''t find the strength to say them. He didn''t know why, but his heart was starting to beat a little faster.


    Xenovia, who had called him an asshole in the past, wanted to say something to him as well, but also lost the strength to do so, and felt like it was best to keep quiet and not anger him, for he seemed to be in a very bad mood.


    The only ones who didn''t seem to be fazed by the foul mood of his or tone, were Jacob and Marianna.


    "It''s not like you were the only one who went through a lot of shit today. We also had to go through some shit." Was what Marianna said.


    "Yeah, and besides we''re not here trying to start a fight, at least not yet. We just wanna know where the legendary Black Knight was since we didn''t see you in the throne room with your master." Was what Jacob said as he crossed his arms while still holding onto his spear with his left hand.


    "Where I was isn''t any concern of yours, but if you truly must know, then I was rescuing Princess Camillia since the people who had taken her had attacked me in the middle of the night." Donovan stated in a lack lustering voice that really showed how tired he was. Unfortunately, Angel took his tone as him being bored with them, and just wanting to move on with his day.


    Glancing at the woman wearing a veil and simple gown, Angel said as he nodded his head at her. "I''m guessing that is the Princess then?"


    Camillia, who had her head hanging low, looked up and saw that the Hero and his friends eyes were on her, but that didn''t cause her to say anything. She simply looked at them before averting her eyes back to the ground.


    Donovan had watched her do this, and said as he turned his attention back towards them. "She had a rough day, and I think she just wants to speak to one person, and that one person is her father, so if you don''t mind, I''d like to move past you all."


    Although, Angel felt like the Black Knight had done something to the princess, he stepped to the side, and said as he let go of his sword. "Fine, but know that the next time we met we''re going to fight, and I will be the triumphant one, not you."


    Donovan stared at him for a couple of seconds before shaking his head, and saying in a slightly defeated tone. "Whatever you say."


    After he had done this, he and the three Dark Knights who were accompanying him brought the Dwarven Princess Camillia to her father the Emperor, and not long after doing so did Donovan get taken to a room that hadn''t been ransacked to sleep.

 The Princess Fate...

    Chapter XXI: The Princess'' Fate...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    It had been several days since Donovan had rescued the Dwarf Princess, and since then, he had kept mostly to himself.


    There were many reasons as to why he was doing this, but the main reasons were because he was still trying to figure out if he was still a good person, and if he was still wanting to go back to his normal life. He was also trying to figure out how he was going to live with himself from here on out, but that kind of thing tied in with going back home to Earth and living a normal life.


    As he tried to solve these things, Donovan''s thoughts shifted towards Angel and the rest of them and it wasn''t long before he began to wonder if they had gone through something similar to what he''s going through right now in the past, and if they were also wanting to return to Earth, or if they were wanting to stay in this world.


    Not long after thinking about them did Donovan begin to think about Camillia, for he hadn''t seen her since bringing her before her father, nor had he heard really anything about her either.


    It was something he shouldn''t be thinking about, for he had made it abundantly clear that she shouldn''t concern herself with him like at all, but he couldn''t stop himself from worrying about her. He just couldn''t.


    Becoming a little annoyed with himself, Donovan put his hands on his face and let out a frustrated noise before whispering into his palms. "Why do I do these things to me, and why can''t I just say that I''m a good person?"


    He had actually told himself countless of times that he was a good person, but he never believed the words. Almost immediately after telling himself this, did he recall what the dwarf boss said to him and all of the things he considered to be bad/evil.


    As he grew more and more frustrated with himself, someone knocked on his door.


    Donovan had heard the knock, but because he wasn''t in the mood to speak with anyone, he ignored it.


    Unfortunately, the person who was knocking was none other than Emperor Havel, who had urgent matters to discuss with the Black Knight, so he entered the room without his consent.


    Hearing the door open, Donovan looked up and through his fingers only to see the Emperor enter the bedroom with a stern expression on his face.


    "Can I help you, Your Imperial Majesty?" Donovan questioned without moving at all and a lack of enthusiasm which could have all been seen as a lack of respect.


    However, the Emperor ignored these things, and said, "Exactly what does my daughter see in you?"


    Donovan said nothing at first, and had thought about the question for a few seconds before shrugging and replying.


    "I honestly don''t know." He answered, his voice lacking emotions. "I think it''d be better if she forgot about me, but I''m guessing she hasn''t done that since you''re asking me about this."


    "Yep, in fact, the reason why I''ve come here is because not even an hour ago she told me she made her decision." Havel started with traces of irritation in his voice as he crossed his arms. "Wanna know what that decision is?"


    Knowing he really had no choice in the matter, Donovan said, "Sure."


    "Hmph, well she told me that if she can''t be with you as Princess Camillia Tethras, daughter of Havel Tethras, and heir to the Dwarven Empire, then she will give up her claim to the throne and just be Camillia." Havel declared in a slightly worked up manner.


    Donovan''s eyes widened at this, and he couldn''t stop himself from saying, "Are you serious?" which managed to irritate the Emperor, for he had snapped at the Black Knight upon him doing this.


    "Of course I''m serious! Do you honestly think I would have come here to talk with you if I wasn''t!?" Havel yelled with irritation and rage in his voice. "I have a lot of fucking things to deal with at the moment, and can''t afford to waste time with idle talks, okay?"


    "Jesus, calm down." Donovan said to himself as the Emperor went on to tell him how he lost three of his kingdoms and how the ones governing them have declared for independence.


    "Okay, I get it. You don''t have to yell at me." Donovan stated in a slightly irritated voice as Havel got more and more fired up about all of this. "I understand you''re very busy, but what do you want me to do? I already told her that we can''t be together, so there''s not much else I can do."


    After narrowing his eyes, Havel closed them and took a deep breath, before saying in a much more calmer voice. "Speak to my daughter, and convince her to not do this. She is basically all I have left and needs to marry someone that is..."


    Havel trailed off, for he believed Donovan got what he was trying to put down, and to his luck, Donovan did, for he finished his explanation by saying,The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Someone that isn''t from the Demon Kingdom and is of higher prestige than me?"


    "Yes." Havel affirmed with a nod. "If she married you, then I''d basically be declaring to those you''re at war with that I''m siding with you, and that is something I don''t want or need, especially after recent events."


    "I don''t think everyone would see it like that, but I won''t deny that most would." Donovan said to himself in a tired manner as Havel once again began to drone on.


    "I understand, and will try to convince her to stop her from doing this reckless act, but what if she is stubborn and refuses to listen to me?" He asked after letting the Emperor talk for a good while. "What then?"


    "She won''t." He affirmed with a serious look in his eyes, which made him wonder what he had in mind should this happen. However, Donovan didn''t voice his thoughts.


    No, instead he said, "Understood, just give me a few minutes to collect my thoughts, and I''ll go talk to her, Your Imperial Majesty."


    "Good." Havel said with a nod before turning around and making his way to the door only to stop and look over his shoulder at Donovan while saying, "And thank you, for you know, being understanding about this."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    After about seven minutes of gathering his thoughts, Donovan paid the princess a visit. Of course, before he left his room, Donovan equipped his armor.


    He was a little nervous, and was pretty sure he could convince her not to throw everything away for him, but a small part of him doubted himself. It was unfortunate, but it also couldn''t be helped, for he had understood that love could make people do stupid things.


    With a sigh escaping his lips, Donovan knocked on the door, and said in a slightly firm tone. "Camillia, may I have a word with you?"


    Donovan''s question was met with silence, but he did hear footsteps on the other side of the door.


    After a couple of minutes passed, Donovan raised his hand to knock on the door again only to see it open slightly and see Camillia poke her veiled head out.


    "Guess she was busy making her self decent." Donovan thought upon seeing her.


    "F-Fane, what are you doing here? I mean, it''s nice to see you again, I''m sorry for saying that, I was just startled to see you come here, at least through this way." Camillia declared after seeing Donovan, completely taken aback by his surprise visit.


    "Hey Camillia, mind if I come in?" Donovan greeted before removing his helmet so that he could look her in the eye when speaking to her. "I have somethings I need to discuss with you in private."


    "Of course, come in, come in." She welcomed as she opened the door more for him.


    Not needing to be told twice, Donovan entered the room, and after doing so, Camillia closed the door behind him.


    Upon the door closing, Donovan spoke. "Your father came to me today, Camillia."


    Camillia was surprised to hear this, and was unable to hide the shock in her voice when she responded. "He did?"


    "Yeah, and it''s the reason why I''m here." He declared as he turned around to face her. "So, is it true?"


    "Is what true?" She asked innocently, which only made him frown.


    "What you plan on doing." He started in a serious tone. "I heard you plan on giving up your claim to the throne to be with me, and I wanna know if this is true."


    "Do you think my father would tell you this if it wasn''t true?" Camillia said in response, which caused his scowl to deepen. He already knew without a doubt that it was true, but there was a part of him that wanted her to confirm this.


    "No, no I don''t." Donovan stated after letting out a small sigh. "However, I thought I had made it clear that my feelings aren''t the same as yours, so why do this? I don''t like you in that type of manner, I only like you as a friend."


    "... You didn''t make it clear." Camillia declared after silently standing there with clenched fists for several seconds. "All you told me was that we live two entirely different lives, and for that, we could never be together, so I''m changing that. I''m going to change my life, so that we can be together."


    "If that is how it came off then, I''m sorry." He apologized with traces of sincerity in his voice before scratching the left side of his neck as his eyes looked elsewhere. "I didn''t think-"


    "I want to do this, Fane." She interrupted in a stern manner, which caused his eyes to shift back towards her. "Even if you don''t see me like how I want you to, I still want to be in your life. Not to mention, I want to see the outside world, so please don''t try to stop me on this."


    Donovan said nothing at first, but knew he needed to say something here. After all, the Emperor had entrusted him in making sure she wouldn''t go through with this, so he had to do something, but he didn''t know what.


    Holding back the sigh of frustration he was tempted to let out, Donovan said in a slightly irritated manner. "What if I found somebody else then, hmm? Would you still want to be apart of my life?"


    At this, Camillia was a little hesitant, but nonetheless, she said, "Yes."


    "Really?" He questioned with a somewhat dubious look. "You would still want to be apart of my life despite knowing that I might never have the same feelings you have for me?"


    "Yes," She affirmed almost immediately with a determined look in her eyes. "because I know that you''re not that type of person. You''re a caring-"


    "You don''t know anything about me." Donovan curtly stated in an attempt to stop her from going through with this reckless act. "You really don''t, so stop talking as if you do."


    Although she was a little reluctant to continue talking, Camillia continued to speak her mind. "I know enough, Fane, and even if you tell me to stop this, I''m not going to stop. Regardless of what you say, I''m going to give up my claim to the throne, and I''m going to see the world. Now, I could either come with you, and see it with you, or I could go off on my own. The choice is yours."


    "You, you''re really going to do this? You''re really going to force me to accept your company now!?" Donovan asked with anger in his voice as he glared at her. "After everything I''ve done for you, you''re-"


    "No, I"m just telling you I''m going to give up my claim to the throne, and will be leaving the Empire with you, or without you." She said in a more casual manner, which managed to piss him off more.


    Donovan was pretty sure she was bluffing, and wouldn''t give up her claim on the throne should he refuse to let her accompany him, but what if she wasn''t? What if she did plan on giving up her claim to throne, and left the Dwarven Empire by herself? What then?


    He wasn''t sure what would happen, but a small part of him couldn''t help from being worried about her, for he didn''t know everything about this world, and wasn''t sure what would become of her.


    This time he didn''t hold back his sigh of frustration, and said in an exhausted voice. "Fine, do whatever you want. It is your life, but don''t expect my feelings for you to change. If anything, they have become worse."


    "I understand, and in that case, I will just have to do better." Camillia said with a nod and small smile.

 The Return...

    Chapter XXII: The Return...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Upon returning to the Demon King''s Castle, Donovan attempted to go straight to his room, but was unfortunately prevented by Lady Nyx who had told him that they need to give an official report of what happened in Kal Vorum to Lord Lucifer/His Highness.


    Of course, Donovan didn''t want to do that, and tried to get himself out of this situation, but Lady Nyx would have none of that, and practically forced him to accompany her.


    Once they arrived at the Throne Room, Lady Nyx gave a thorough explanation of the events that transpired in Kal Vorum to Lucifer. Meanwhile, Donovan stood next to her and would occasionally say a few things when His Highness asked him if these things did happen.


    After Lady Nyx finished giving the report, Lord Lucifer let loose a somewhat vexed sigh before ordering everyone except the Black Knight to leave the Throne Room.


    No one questioned her orders, and once they were all gone, Lord Lucifer said to Donovan. "What''s wrong? You seem to be very, troubled. Is it because of Princess Camillia?"


    "No." He answered almost immediately before relenting a bit and saying, "Well, yes, but she isn''t what''s bothering me the most, at least that''s what I think."


    "Explain." Lord Lucifer requested with a look of interest.


    "I, I just feel, it''s not easy to explain." Donovan started before giving up and speaking in an exhausted manner, which caused Lord Lucifer to furrow her brows.


    "If it''s not easy, then take your time, we are always willing to lend you an ear." Lord Lucifer said in response, which in return made Donovan frown a bit.


    "Thank you, but I, I''d rather not speak about it, at least right now." Donovan declared after a few seconds of thinking. "I kind of just want to be alone for the time being."


    While Lord Lucifer thought it would be best if they talked about what was bothering him now, she wasn''t going to force him to talk. If he needed some time alone, then she''ll give him some time alone.


    "We understand, Lord Fane." She declared with a nod small nod of her head. "Whenever you''re ready to talk, let us know, and we''ll gladly hear what you have to say."


    With the smallest of smiles, Donovan did something a little unexpected. He bowed, while saying in a voice that a tiny trace of gratitude in it. "Thank you, um, Your Majesty."


    After that was said and done, he took his leave, and left Lord Lucifer alone in the throne room.


    Once he was gone, Lucifer let out a small sigh, and said, "So, what do you think, Lord Arzakol?"


    "Well," Lord Arzakol started as he stopped using concealment and appeared out of thin air right next to her. "if I am being honest here, I think sending him down to help oversee the construction of the wall is a terrible idea. It will just make him even more distant than before."


    "We agree." Lucifer affirmed with a stern expression. "He was very open-minded when we summoned him, but now, well now he is more reserved you''d say."


    "Yes, that is one way to put it." Lord Arzakol acknowledged with a solemn look.


    Feeling as if all that has happened to Donovan was her fault, Lucifer said aloud. "Arzakol, answer me honestly, am I a bad person?"


    Lord Arzakol, who was used to treating his sister as the Demon King, looked at her for quite some time before answering her question.


    "Are you a bad person?" He said aloud in a thoughtful manner. "No, I do not think you are."


    "Then why do I feel like what has happened to Donovan is my fault?" She asked him with a troubled expression.


    "I don''t know, but if we''re speaking honestly here, then I think you''re being a little too hard on yourself." He declared in a firm tone.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "No, I don''t think I am." She disagreed with a sad smile. "I mean, let''s think about it. I had you summon someone from a peaceful world for me, and then I convinced them to fight in a war that has nothing to do with them all with a promise I might not actually be able to fulfill. I have robbed him of everything basically."


    Lord Arzakol didn''t say anything, but a part of him was wondering how she planned on returning him back to his old world, for it was a lot easier to summon somebody than it was to send somebody.


    Nonetheless, he knew he had to say something to his sister.


    "Well if you had robbed him of his life, then you must give him a new life." He stated in a serious tone as he crossed his arms.


    Lucifer frowned at this.


    She had practically already given him a new life, the problem that she was facing was that she didn''t know how to make it be enjoyable for him. As for why, it was because in the past she had never summoned somebody to be her Black Knight, the Black Knights in the past were demon folk, who gladly took the position to defend her, so she wasn''t sure what to do here.


    Lord Arzakol saw her frowning, and said, "Anyways, I honestly don''t know what else to say to you. I think the only thing you did bad was giving him a promise you might not be able to fulfill, but that''s it. Everything that has happened was something we couldn''t have expected to happen, so you really shouldn''t blame yourself for how he acts now."


    Although what Lord Arzakol was saying was true, Lucifer still couldn''t help from feeling like it was her fault.


    "Maybe, but still, I just feel like it is my fault in some way." She declared as she rested her head on her knuckles and began to think about possible ways to help him.


    Lord Arzakol said nothing in response to this.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    After Donovan returned to his room and unequipped his armor, he opened the drawer of the nightstand that was next to his bed, and pulled out a flat/rectangular object.


    It was his phone, one of the few things he had on him when he was transported to this world.


    He let out a sigh before closing the drawer and taking a seat on the bed as he turned it on.


    Once it was on, Donovan noticed that it had sixty-eight percent left before it died, and turned the brightness down almost all the way. After he did this, he then unlocked his phone, and went to photos.


    He then went through his photos before coming to a stop and pressing his thumb on a certain picture. The picture was of him and his mother on the day he graduated from high school.


    In the picture both of their heads were next to each other, and they had the biggest smiles on their faces which had caused him for a brief moment to smile and have eyes filled with joy, but it wasn''t long before his eyes became filled with sadness, and he felt the urge to cry.


    In fact, his eyes had actually started to tear up, and it was because of this that Donovan had to sniff with his nose before averting his eyes elsewhere.


    "I''m okay." Was what he told himself multiple times as he placed a hand on top of his mouth and looked down at the ground. "I''m, I''m okay."


    Despite telling himself this over and over, Donovan was unable to convince himself and ended up breaking down right then and there.


    At first, he was sobbing like a madman, and couldn''t hold back any of his emotions, but as time passed, his crying became more manageable, and it wasn''t long before he stopped shedding tears overall.


    In that timeframe, his phone''s screen had become black again, but Donovan didn''t pay much attention to this, for his mind was in a different place at the moment.


    However, he was eventually brought back to reality by the sound of someone knocking on his door followed by a voice.


    "Lord Fane, are you decent?"


    The person who was at his door was Sir Azath.


    "Ah." Was the noise Donovan made upon clearing out his throat before answering the Dark Knight.


    "Yes, you can enter." Was what he said.


    After getting his approval, Sir Azath entered Donovan''s room.


    Once he had entered his room, Sir Azath greeted him with a respectful bow, and said, "Lord Fane, I would just like to inform you that Lady Camillia is being well taken care of and that me and the men enjoyed our time under your command."


    "Oh, well it was an honor, and thank you for the report on Camillia." Came Donovan''s response with traces of surprise and uncertainty in his voice. He hadn''t expected to be informed about all of this, so it was a little startling to him.


    "You''re welcome, Lord Fane." He declared with a little nod of his head before continuing on. "I''d also like to inform you that the men actually plan on putting in a request to stay under your command, and be your hand."


    "Be my hand?" Donovan repeated with confusion in his voice.


    "Yes, the name they have agreed upon was, the Black Knight''s Hand." Sir Azath explained in a serious voice.


    "I see." Was all Donovan said in response before looking away for a couple of seconds only to look back at him and ask. "So you all discussed while I was giving my report to, Lord Lucifer?"


    "Not exactly, if I''m being truthful this has been a discussion that has been going on for a few days now, we just kept it to ourselves." Sir Azath stated in a slightly apologetic manner, which had caused Donovan to frown a little.


    "Hmm, well if you all really want to continue serving under me, then I''m not against it." Was what Donovan said after a while. "However, don''t expect much from me, I don''t see myself as a great leader."


    "Well, that''s why you have me to assist you, sir." Sir Azath happily said in response which made Donovan smile a bit.


    "You''re right, thank you, but now if you don''t mind, I''d like to be alone for a while." Donovan requested as the small grin he had vanished.


    "Of Course, Lord Fane, and sorry for disturbing you." Sir Azath said with a bow before being told that it was fine, and then leaving.


    Once he was gone, Donovan let loose a sigh, and allowed himself to fall on his back, and stared up at the ceiling.


    "The Black Knight''s Hand, huh?"

 The Return... (Part II)

    Chapter XXIII: The Return... (Part II)


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As Donovan closed the book he had finished writing in, he let out a sigh.


    It had been a couple of days since he returned to the Demon King''s Castle, and since then, he has mostly kept to himself. Of course, he would interact with those who would seek him out, but besides that, he didn''t go out of his way to talk to people.


    He had yet to speak to Lord Lucifer about the problems he was facing, which was something that bothered him slightly, for he did believe, to an extent, that she should know what is on his mind, but he did plan on speaking to her about it within the next two days. Unfortunately, he still had to figure out what he did and didn''t want to tell her.


    As for Camillia, he had spoken to her several times in the past few days, and although there were a few times he would be a little curt with her, he was kind most of the time when dealing with her.


    This had come as a relief to Camillia, for on their journey back to the Demon King''s Castle, he had pretty much avoided all contact to her, which was something she could understand to a certain degree for what she had done in Kal Vorum was what some would call a scummy move.


    "I think that''s enough writing for today." Is what Donovan told himself before getting up out of his seat.


    Originally, the thought of having a journal never crossed his mind, but after speaking with Lord Arzakol, who had tried to find out what has been bothering him, he decided to take the man''s advice, and started to write down how he was feeling in a small leather book.


    What he wrote down at first wasn''t much truth be told, but after a couple days of writing, Donovan began to write down about events that transpired and a few other things. Of course, his description of said events were pretty lousy, and definitely needed to be improved on, but he started to feel better.


    He didn''t know why, but when he wrote, he felt at peace.


    "Enjoying yourself?" Came Lady Nyx''s voice from behind, which caused him to turn around and see her approaching him with a small smirk.


    "I was, yes." Donovan answered truthfully as his grip on his journal became a little firmer.


    "Huh, that''s good to hear." Lady Nyx said before coming to a stop in front of him. "It''s also weird to hear, at least from you because you''re usually all like, ''What is it, Lady Nyx?'' or, ''I''m not in the mood, Lady Nyx.'' or something relatively close to that."


    Seeing no point in denying her claim, Donovan said, "Yeah, you''re right, so what do you want?"


    "Well, I heard from a couple of gossiping maids that you were in the garden, so I came to check you out, and see what you''re up to. Unfortunately, it appears I was a little too late, but I had a matter to attend to first." Lady Nyx explained.


    At this, Donovan''s brow furrowed slightly, and he asked himself. "Is that really her reason?"


    He wasn''t sure if she was being honest here, so he had to ask her. "Are you being serious right now?"


    To which, she responded with a, "Pfft, of course not. I am a very busy person, and only pay people visits when I have important business with them."


    "I see." Was his response in a somewhat doubtful voice, which didn''t go unnoticed by her.


    "Why did you say it like that? Are you trying to say I''m not a busy person, huh?" She questioned as she crossed her arms under her bust. "I''ll have you know-"


    "Just tell me what you want from me." Donovan demanded in a somewhat tired and annoyed manner. He wasn''t trying to be rude, but he also didn''t want to play this game with her where they dance around the subject for several minutes.


    After clicking her tongue, Lady Nyx replied in a pouty manner. "You''re no fun."


    Donovan said nothing, and even if he did want to say something in response he couldn''t, for she quickly followed her statement up with her reasoning. "Anyways, the reason why I''m here is because I need you to do a favor for me. Now, before you say anything, I just wanna say it''s nothing big or major, you''re not going to die from it, okay? It''s just all I need you to do is attend this little social gathering that I was invited to."


    "Alright, but why?" He asked with traces of curiosity in his voice as he crossed his arms. "I mean, why do I have to attend something I wasn''t invited to?"


    "Well, for one I was asked to see if I could get you to come along, and before you ask why does the host want you to attend it''s because you''re the one and only Black Knight, so it should be obvious why." She answered in a slightly serious voice.


    Donovan said nothing at first, but eventually, he broke his silence.


    "I''ll think about it, but if I''m being honest, I probably won''t attend." Was what he said, which caused Lady Nyx''s brows to furrow, and her lips to curve downwards a little.


    "Why''s that?" She questioned in response.


    "I don''t know, it just doesn''t really interest me." He answered truthfully while shrugging.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Not exactly thrilled with his reply, Lady Nyx said, "Well, can you just do this for me? You''d really be helping me out here."


    "Like I said, I will think about it, but I have no promises of attending, and besides, where is this even being held? I haven''t heard anything about these social gatherings until now." Donovan declared in a somewhat firm tone.


    "It''s going to take place three days from now at the Phenex Manor, so we''ll be using teleportation to get there." She answered.


    "I see." Was his response before bidding his farewell and leaving.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As Angel returned to his room with an entourage of young women, Jacob looked at him with a bit of disgust.


    They were currently in the Roseanian Kingdom celebrating the good work they did in Kal Vorum, which in all honesty wasn''t much if one actually thought about it, but to His Highness, Maxwell Trevelyan it was a lot of work.


    The celebration party had pretty much everything. It had women in skimpy clothes dancing in erotic manners, wonderful food, great alcohol, important people, and so much more.


    It was, in Earth words, a lit party.


    Unfortunately, so far the majority of the Hero Party didn''t seem to be enjoying the party. The only one who had been enjoying it was now horribly drunk and was being escorted back to his room by multiple young ladies who planned on doing many things with him in bed.


    The girls of the Hero Party did celebrate somewhat, but they weren''t as outgoing as Angel. They did drink a little, and socialize with a lot of big named people, but they didn''t go the extra miles like how he did.


    No, they did nothing of that sort.


    His Highness, who was being accompanied by his wife, which was a great beauty, had seen the look of disgust on Jacob''s face, and couldn''t help from talking to him.


    "What''s with that look?" His Highness question, which had earned Jacob''s attention. "You look as if you saw something horrendous!"


    His Highness'' words were a bit slurred, but Jacob was able to comprehend each and every one of them with little to no effort.


    "Your Highness," Jacob greeted with a nod of his head in a respectful manner before looking at his wife and giving her a respectful nod while saying, "Your Grace."


    "Sir Jacob." Was Her Grace''s response as she did a small and elegant curtsy.


    "Hey!" His Highness said in a slightly serious tone. "Why you avoid my question? Dontcha know it''s very disrespectful to ignore a king?"


    "My King, Sir Jacob didn''t avoid your question." Her Grace affirmed as she rubbed the wrist she was holding onto. "He was just using proper etiquette and greeting you."


    At this, His Highness scrunched his face before speaking again.


    "Bah, whatever, anyways why did you have a sour face at a party like this? It''s not right."


    Jacob remained silent at first, for he wasn''t sure if he should be truthful or not, but after a few seconds of thinking, he shrugged his shoulders, and spoke about what he had been thinking. "Well, it was because I saw something I found to be a little, repulsive, so I just couldn''t help myself from making a disgusted face."


    "Is that it?" His Highness asked in a slurred way.


    "Yeah, pretty much." He affirmed.


    "Huh, was it one of those old hags trying to get with somebody young?" His Highness asked before chuckling.


    "Maxwell!" Her Grace declared in a loud but also hushed manner as she slapped the wrist she had been holding onto to get his attention. "You shouldn''t make comments like that!"


    "Wha, what do you mean? I''m just having an honest talk with my friend Jack here." His Highness stated as he looked at his wife. "And why you hit me? Don''t you know that I''m the king here? I''m the one in charge."


    Ignoring the fact that he had called him Jack instead of Jacob, Jacob shifted his attention towards Her Grace and spoke to her. "Is he terrible with alcohol? Because he has done a complete one-eighty in character."


    "Yes," She answered with a bit of shame in her voice. "His Highness has never been great with alcohol, so I usually monitor him at these types of events, and make sure he doesn''t drink too much, but there were some people I hadn''t spoken with in a long time, and I''m pretty sure you get the gist of what happened, yes?"


    "Yeah, I understand." Jacob affirmed with a nod of his head before watching His Highness poke his wife''s cheek and speak to her.


    "Don''t treat me like a child." He told her in a somewhat whiney manner. "I can handle my alcohol fine, and don''t need a babysitter."


    As Her Grace responded to His Highness, Noelle approached Jacob from his left, which was the opposite of where His Highness and Her Grace were standing, and tapped on his shoulder.


    After he turned his head to look at her, Noelle said with tinged cheeks. "May I have a word in private with you, Jacob?"


    At first, Jacob didn''t say anything, but that wasn''t because he didn''t know what to say. No, the reason why he was silent was because he was surprised by how beautiful she looked at the moment.


    She didn''t wear her usual clothing, which was something he considered to be somewhat erotic, instead, she wore a simple but elegant blue and white dress. It wasn''t anything fancy, but neither was it anything unbecoming of her stature either.


    "Uh, yeah, sure." He answered after quickly recovering from his dumbstruck phase before turning his head back to the King and Queen of the Roseanian Kingdom. "Apologies, Your Highness and Your Grace, but Noelle would like to have a word with me in private, so I''ll talk to you two later."


    "It''s fine, I already planned on taking His Highness back to his room in a little, and I''m certain whatever else my husband has to say isn''t as important as what Lady Noelle has to say to you." Her Grace said with a wave of her hand and a smile.


    As His Highness said something to his wife, Jacob got up from his seat and gestured for Noelle to lead the way, which she had no problem doing.


    Once she had led him to a more secluded area, Noelle took a deep breath as Jacob spoke.


    "So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Is what he had asked her.


    "I," She hesitantly started while keeping her back facing him. "I was wondering if you had anything planned this weekend."


    "No, not really. I mean, there was this Duke''s son who asked if I''d like to go hunting with him and his friends, but I didn''t plan on going." He answered as he scratched the side of his head with traces of startlement in his voice. He had been caught off guard by her question, and was just in general surprised that she would ask him something like this.


    "Really, well if you''re not busy, then would you like to go to the theater with me? You know, just the two of us." Noelle stated after turning around to face him, traces of happiness could be heard in her voice.


    "Sure, but uh, what brought this on?" He agreed before asking her why she was asking him out on a date. "Because if I''m kind of being honest here, then I gotta say that this is completely unexpected."


    "Well, to be honest, it''s more of just a thank you for everything." She told him with bits of shyness in her voice. "Unlike Angel, you usually are always at our side making sure no harm comes to us, and back in Kal Vorum you put up with a lot of stuff that you shouldn''t have, so I just want to show you some of my gratitude and that I appreciate everything you have done so far."


    "Oh, well, you know, I''m just what every guy should do in this situation really." Jacob declared as his ears became a little. There was some traces of embarrassment in his voice as well.


    "And I appreciate that, I really do." Noelle affirmed with a smile, which caused his ears to become even redder than before.


    After a couple seconds of silence passed, Jacob spoke in an uncertain manner. "We should uh, get back to the party before they start to miss us."


    "Yeah, we probably should." She agreed thus ending their conversation.

 The Social Gathering...

    Chapter XXIV: Social Gathering...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As Donovan finished getting ready, the maids who had been helping him get dressed voiced their opinions of how he looked.


    "These clothes suit you, My Lord. You should wear formal clothes more often."


    "She''s right, My Lord. If you were to wear clothing like this more often then even Lord Lucifer herself wouldn''t be able to resist you, My Lord."


    Donovan said nothing at this, but his cheek did become slightly red because of their praise.


    The clothing he wore was very similar to that of which Lord Arzakol usually wore, but instead of having silver shoulder pads, and four silver buttons, and a silver trimming, Donovan had gold shoulder pads, four gold buttons, and a gold trimming. He also wore a gold sash instead of a red sash, which was pretty much the last thing that made his outfit different from Lord Arzakol''s usual attire.


    Unfortunately, the maids who had been helping him were not oblivious to the reddening of his cheeks, and began to go on about this.


    "Oh my, is Our Lord blushing?"


    "He is, he is! Who would have thought Our Lord would get so flustered by comments like that!"


    At this, Donovan''s face became even more red as he started to speak.


    "I''m not blushing, and shouldn''t you two be doing something more important than making comments like that?"


    "Such as?"


    "Like what?"


    Were the responses he was given, which caused him to fall silent, for all they were supposed to do was help him get ready for tonight''s event at the Phenex Castle.


    "Nevermind." Is what he said after a couple of seconds as he looked away real quick. "Just, just do I really look good, or are you two just simply saying that because of who I am?"


    "Of course you look good, My Lord. We are your humble servants and would never lie to you." Was what one of them said to him.


    "She is right, and at a social gathering such as this, you have to wear the best clothing, and have a sense of panache." Came the other maid''s response with an affirmative look.


    After hearing these statements, and taking a look at the mirror, Donovan realized that he was being an idiot, and doubting himself for no reason.


    "You guys are right." He said after staring at his reflection for a couple of seconds. "I do look good in this."


    "Yes, you do, My Lord." One of them affirmed. "But you should probably get going, Lady Nyx is most likely already done getting dressed, and waiting on you."


    Donovan couldn''t help from making a derisive snort at this, which had earned himself questioning look from both maids. It wasn''t on purpose, but if there was one thing he knew about women, it was that they take forever when getting ready. Of course, there were some exceptions, but most of the women he knew took forever in getting ready for the day, especially his mother.


    At first, the maids didn''t say anything and had expected him to tell them what he was thinking for he undoubtedly saw the looks they had given him, but to their surprise, he didn''t explain anything. He just kept his thoughts to himself.


    "My Lord, if it''s alright for me to ask, do you believe we''re lying about Lady Nyx waiting for you?" One of them asked in a very polite manner.


    "No, not at all." He swiftly asserted. "I just find it difficult to believe that she''s done getting ready. Most women I know aren''t very fast when it comes to getting ready."


    "But, wouldn''t that still mean you don''t believe us?" The other maid asked with a small frown.


    "I guess, but I''m not calling you two liars. I''m just telling you that it''s difficult for me to believe that she is already done getting dressed because of past experiences with women." Was the response he gave her. "Anyways, I''m going to head out now. Thank you for the assistance, and please do enjoy the rest of your day you two."The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    As he headed out, the two of them told him that it was no big deal, and that they were simply doing their jobs before telling him to enjoy the party.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    After arriving at the Phenex Manor via teleportation, Donovan and Lady Nyx were escorted inside and into the ballroom by a handful of the guards. The guards wore full suits of gold and black armor, and throughout the entire journey, Lady Nyx had her arm interlocked with Donovan''s.


    This had bothered him, for he feared this would gain other people''s attention, and he was correct, for upon entering the ballroom the two of them became the main attraction.


    He, of course, had already been the main attraction, for rumors of him attending had spread like wildfire, but the sight of Lady Nyx and him walking together like that caused a huge commotion.


    Thus leading to the reason why he was massaging his forehead right now, for he was currently having to explain for the tenth time how he and Lady Nyx aren''t a thing, and how there is nothing going on between the two of them.


    "So there really is nothing going on in between the two of you?" a pureblooded noblewoman asked with a small frown. She looked to be in her late twenties, had a curvy build, long blue hair, wore a blue dress that went well with her hair.


    "Yes, me and Lady Nyx are at most friends." He told the woman as he finished massaging his temple. "The only reason why we were locking arms is because I am her escort for the evening, but we don''t have any romantic feelings for one another."


    "Aw, that''s unfortunate. I honestly think you two would make a great couple." The woman stated as she let out a disappointed sigh.


    "Indeed, but if you are not interested in her, does that mean you are interested in His Highness Lucifer?" A pureblooded nobleman asked with curiosity in his voice. He appeared to be in his early forties, had ash-colored hair, and wore a very fancy suit.


    "No." He answered almost immediately. "My relationship with her is a normal one. She is my superior, and I am her subordinate. Nothing more, and nothing less."


    At this, the nobles became less interested with Donovan and it wasn''t long before they left him alone.


    It wasn''t long after this when he was approached by a male servant who bowed before him. "Excuse me my Lord, but Lord Phenex has requested your presence on the terrace."


    Donovan was hesitant at first, simply because he had forgotten what terrace meant, but after thinking about it for a while, he was able to remember what terrace means.


    "The balcony? What business does he have with me there?" He asked the servant with the littlest of frowns.


    "He did not say, My Lord." The servant answered while maintaining his bow.


    "I see." Is what Donovan said in response. In reality, he wasn''t against going to the balcony, but asking for someone to come to a place like that usually meant a serious conversation was about to take place, and he wasn''t exactly sure if he wanted to deal with that at the moment.


    Sure, it''d be better than having to explain to a bunch of people that he hasn''t in a relationship with Lady Nyx, but a part of him did like this gathering, for it reminded him of some good times he had back in high school.


    With his decision made, Donovan let out a sigh and said, "Mind showing me where the terrace is located or at the very least pointing me in the right direction?"


    "Of course, My Lord." The servant affirmed before straightening himself. "Please, follow me, My Lord."


    It had taken them several minutes, but eventually, Donovan arrived at the balcony. He would have gotten there sooner, but there were a couple lords and ladies who had yet to speak to him that wanted to converse with him, so he was stopped a couple of times.


    Upon arriving, he was greeted by a somewhat familiar face, who he was not expecting to see at this party.


    "Lord Fane, it is a pleasure to see you again, and thank you for attending this party of ours." Sir Razzoth stated as he quickly approached him and then gave him a small and respectful bow.


    As he did this, the man who looked like an older Razzoth approached the two of them.


    "Sir Razzoth, it is nice to see you as well," Donovan said in response with a tiny nod of his head, which caused Sir Razzoth to stiffen himself. "and think nothing of it."


    Seeing that this was a good time to introduce himself, Lord Phenex spoke while giving him a small respectful bow. "Greetings, Lord Fane. I have heard much about you from my son, and I''m thankful that you decided to attend this."


    After glancing at the two, Donovan gave Lord Phenex a small bow of his own and replied. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Phenex. I sadly haven''t heard much about you, but that is because I am new to nobility."


    "You''ll get used to it in time." Was the response Lord Phenex said with a smile. "Anyways, I assume you would like to know I wish to speak to you?"


    "Yes, I would." Donovan affirmed.


    "Very well," Lord Phenex stated before looking at his son. "Razzoth, do you mind giving us some time in private?"


    "Yes, father." Sir Razzoth answered as he nodded at his father before turning his attention back towards Donovan. "Like I said before, I hope you enjoy the party, and I''m looking forward to serving under you."


    After that was said, Razzoth bowed before Donovan again, who in return gave him a tiny nod again, before leaving.


    Once he was gone, Lord Phenex let out a small sigh and said his thoughts out loud. "I know you''re probably going to be surprised by this, but please look after my son. He''s strong, but not as strong as he thinks."


    "Well, you''re not wrong, I was surprised by that," Donovan admitted after a couple of seconds. "but I will try my best to look after him."


    "Thank you." Lord Phenex stated as his lips curved upwards into a smile.


    However, the expression didn''t last forever and was soon replaced by that of a neutral one. "Now then, let''s talk."

 Things Like This Are Sometimes A Need.

    Chapter XXV: Things Like This Are Sometimes A Need.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    As Donovan left the terrace, a young woman wearing an asymmetrical red dress walked past him. She had blonde hair that had been braided and bunned on the back, fair colored skin, and red eyes that looked like rubies. She wasn''t exactly well endowed, but neither was she flat-chested; if anything, she had just the right amount of curves for a lady her size.


    While they passed by one another their eyes met, and it wasn''t long after their eyes meeting did she come to a complete stop and glance over her shoulder at him.


    Donovan didn''t do this, and had continued on his way, but he did think of her for a fleeting moment.


    "She had pretty eyes." Is what he thought of her.


    As he thought this, she was pulled out of her thoughts by her father, Lord Phenex.


    "What''s this? My daughter comes to me with such a serious expression, but the moment she sees the Black Knight it''s replaced by a curious one? Did he perhaps catch your eye and make your heart skip a beat, Razelle?" Is what her father asked upon seeing her stop and look at the Black Knight as he walked away.


    "No." She answered almost immediately in a stern tone as she looked forwarded and put on the serious look she had when strutting into the terrace, tinges of red decorating her cheek. "I was just surprised to see the Black Knight here."


    "Oh, how disappointing." Lord Phenex stated with a sadden expression as he shook his head miserably. "It would have been interesting if he did, but I guess he just isn''t your type."


    "Father, that''s not it, I-"


    "Really? So he is your type?" He questioned with renewed interest and excitement in his voice.


    "Father..." She started in a slightly irritated tone as her face became a little redder. The Black Knight had most definitely caught her interest, but she wasn''t interested in him in that sort of way. She was just interested in his origins and how he came to be His Highness'', Black Knight.


    "Alright, alright. I''ll stop teasing you, for now."


    The words ''for now'' did not go unnoticed by his daughter who couldn''t help from having this dreadful feeling of regret.


    She had came to have a serious conversation with her father, but if he was going to tease her, than she''d rather not speak to him at all.


    Nonetheless, Razelle pushed the regret she was having to her side, and said. "Father, the reason I come before you is because I want to know if it''s true."


    "What''s true?" Lord Phenex rebutted with a confused look on his face.


    "About you stepping down, and me becoming the Head of the Phenex Household!" She declared passionately.


    "Oooooh." Was what he said in response upon hearing this before saying. "Yeah, that''s true. You''re going to become the new leader at the end of the year."


    "Why?" She demanded with uncertainty in her voice and a confused look.


    "Why? Well, it''s because we''re getting to that time where I step down, and the next generation takes control." He stated with a small shrug of his shoulders.


    "I understand that, but why am I inheriting the title and not Rizezoth? He is older than me-"


    "And is being wedded to Lady Gremory''s firstborn daughter which means he cannot become Lord Phenex of House Phenex, he will become Lord Gremory of House Gremory." He interrupted in a stern tone.


    "And before you bring up Razzoth, let me remind you that he is a Dark Knight, and currently serving under the Black Knight Lord Fane, so he is unable to become the Lord of our household." Lord Phenex quickly added in the same stern tone as before.


    "I know, but still, for me to become the next head..." She began in a baffled voice as she looked down at the ground. "I-, it''s just something I didn''t expect to happen, at least so suddenly. I mean, I figured I would most likely become the next in line, but I didn''t think it would happen so soon."


    "Yeah, with it being official that your older brother will marry Lady Gremory''s daughter, it is confirmed that you''ll be my heir." Lord Phenex stated with a smile.


    "I, I will not disappoint you, father." She affirmed as she did a graceful curtsey.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    After returning to the ballroom, Donovan ran into a few nobles who engaged in small talk with him before approaching Lady Nyx who was surrounded by three extreme beauties.


    One of them was a well-endowed woman with crimson red hair and slitted eyes who wore a white and light blue dress that suited her perfectly.


    Another had black angel wings, luscious black hair, and magenta-colored eyes. She wore a pure black dress that went down to the ground, and gave off this serious mother-like feeling.


    The third and final beauty had long black hair with brown skin, light brown eyes, pointy ears, and a beauty mark that was underneath her left eye. She was slightly taller than all of them, and wore a super dark purple dress that had golden accents on it.


    Upon him approaching the four females, Lady Nyx greeted him in a somewhat affectionate manner.


    "Fane, my dear, how are you? Are you enjoying the party?"


    "I''m doing fine, and I guess so." He answered indifferently. He then asked a question of his own. "Who are these three ladies?"


    With a smile, she answered and gestured to each one. "This is Lady Gremory of House Gremory, Lady Sitri of House Sitri, and Lady Dantalion of House Dantalion."


    "How do you do, my lord?"


    "It''s a pleasure to make your acquaintance."


    "I have heard much about you, my lord."


    The three greeted with polite bows of their heads.


    "I''m doing good, and it''s nice to meet you three. Unfortunately, I''m not the greatest when it comes to," He stated before pausing to think of another way of saying manners. "etiquette. I''m still a little new to nobility and haven''t had much time to learn the proper ways to address nobles."


    "We''ve heard," Lady Gremory stated with a sly smile. "Lady Nyx has told us much about you, and how you spent most of your days at the Demon King''s castle honing your skills with a blade instead of learning proper manners."


    Donovan said nothing at this, but he did give a quick glance at Lady Nyx who gave him a wink in response.


    "Is that so?" He then questioned as he looked at the redhead, a trace of interest in his voice.


    "Oh yes." Lady Dantalion affirmed with a grin of her own and amusement in her voice. "The tales she has told us has been most interesting, don''t you agree Lady Sitri?"


    "Mhm, they are indeed very interesting tales." Lady Sitri agreed with an enthusiastic nod.


    Now more intrigued about what Lady Nyx has told these ladies, Donovan diverted his attention to Lady Nyx, but before he could ask her what was on his mind Lady Gremory asked him a question.


    "Is it true that you have captured the former Princess Camillia''s heart? Lady Nyx here had told us earlier that she has become infatuated with you."


    "It is true, but I wouldn''t say infatuated with me." He answered reluctantly as he diverted his gaze to Lady Gremory. "I would also like to point out that I''m not the only reason why she gave up her claim to the throne. She, at least from what she says, really wants to see the outside world, so that''s one of her reasons why."


    "Uh-huh, so do you plan on recuperating her feelings?" Lady Dantalion curiously questioned.


    "No, I have no intention of doing that." He told her after a quick second of thinking.


    "Really?" Lady Gremory questioned.


    "Yes." He affirmed.


    At this, the three ladies gave each other looks, but before any of them had a chance to say there thoughts on the matter, Lady Nyx spoke.


    "It''s because Fane here has his eyes on someone more, mature."


    "Oh really?"


    "Is that so?"


    "Oh my."


    Were their responses to this information. Meanwhile, Donovan narrowed his eyelids a bit and gave Lady Nyx a sharp look.


    Unfortunately for him, Lady Nyx ignored his cold stare and instead focused on the question Lady Gremory was asking her.


    "Who is this more mature person you are referring to? Is it His Highness?" Is what she asked with curiosity in her voice.


    "No." Donovan quickly answered before Lady Nyx could. "I do not have those types of feelings for her."


    "Oh, and why''s that?" Lady Gremory questioned, traces of curiosity in her voice.


    "I just don''t." He told her in a neutral voice as he shrugged his shoulders.


    At this, Lady Gremory hummed softly.


    "Then are you interested in Lady Nyx?" Lady Sitri asked after a couple of seconds.


    Donovan said nothing at first, for he had noticed Lady Nyx staring intently at him with a touch of anticipation in her eyes. He had no plans on lying, but he felt like if he had answered that question immediately then he''d hurt her feelings, so he took a few seconds to answer that question.


    "While I do find Lady Nyx to be a fascinating person, I do not see her in that way. To be honest, I see her more as an older sister who likes to mess with me in a good way." He told them with a straight face and slightly red cheeks.


    Upon hearing this declaration, Lady Nyx''s cheeks became slightly red as the other noblewomen attempted to find out who had caught Donovan''s eye.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    "Well then, that was an interesting night, don''t you think?" Lady Nyx said out loud upon returning to the Demon King''s castle via teleportation.


    "It was interesting, yes," Donovan affirmed with a small nod. "however that was only because of you saying things that they didn''t need to hear."


    "Oh, and what were those things they didn''t need to hear?" Lady Nyx cheekily asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.


    "My love life." He answered with a reddened face. "You telling them things like that was unneeded and is just going to cause me problems."


    "Now that is something I disagree with, Donovan." She stated in a serious tone, which had caused him to give her a dubious glance and see that there were no traces written on her face.


    "Why''s that?" Donovan questioned in response.


    "Isn''t it obvious? It''s because you''re the Black Knight. You''re our kingdom''s Hero." She declared, she had a serious look in her eye as she said this.


    Donovan replied with a small frown. "So? What does that have to do with telling them about my love life and other things similar to that?"


    Lady Nyx sighed upon hearing his question, and said, "Because it''s good for others to focus on other things, instead of thinking about the war that is happening right now."


    At this, Donovan said one of his go-to lines. "I see."


    Meanwhile, Lady Nyx continued to talk. "Yeah, I''d rather have them thinking about who it is your in love with rather than thinking about the possibility of losing their loved ones in this conflict."


    "... That was very thoughtful of you then." He told her after a few seconds of silence. "However, I''d still appreciate it if I was told in advance about these things, so I can at least prepare."


    Lady Nyx giggled in response to this information before saying, "I will do my best!"