《The Skeleton King : Retold》


 Prologue: Champion of Darkness

    Connor Green, he was a strange kid to everyone. He didn''t like hanging with everyone, so let''s cut the story short, he was a loner. In his mind he considers everyone trash and disgusting, he considers himself to be one with them even though he had a good family.as for his look, it''s just an average guy. no one really knows what''s going on in his mind, he posses a dark mood surrounding that''s why no one likes him.


    he sometimes considers committing suicide but he did not have enough courage to do it.


    Because of his nature, everyone in the class avoided him sometimes he gets bullied for no reason. but this did not matter to him, in his mind he always wish him and everyone else death to come.


    In a hot sunny day, Connor who was sitting at the back of school bus alone all the time was sleeping, as always no one sits beside him. the bus was going very slowly nothing happen,but then a someone heard a screeching sound coming from them, as they looked through the window they saw a huge truck coming for them, they panic, their faces was filled with fear, some even screamed but not Connor his face was filled with happiness.


    "Finally, Finally, I''m going to get killed hahaha."


    Connor laugh madly, his laugh was cold but it was filled with the happiness he continued laughing until he and his classmate died, that was the last thing that his classmate heard a laugh as cold as ice then their vision went blank and they were swallowed by darkness.


    Connor awoke in a dark place, there was nothing but darkness, as he regained his memories his face turned happy and he continued to laugh and laugh until he heard a voice.


    "child you really impressed me you even embraced death ho ho it seem we found an interesting fellow."


    Connor turned around to look, however, no one was standing there, it was just an endless darkness.


    "Hey, who are you, God?Devil? Have you come to take my soul haha come take it haha"


    Connor asked in the darkness while laughing coldly, but no one answered.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "no child I indeed took your soul when you die but I have some use for you, for now, you can call something like a dark god."


    "dark god? like the devil in the Bible?."


    "no child, not the devil or the god of your word."


    " you said your world... that means your not from this world, that means your from another world, that means you will reincarnate me to your world like those novel stuff!?"asked Connor, even though he likes to commit suicide, he still read some novel back when he was alive he mostly read about reincarnation, action, brutal like novel.


    these question made the voice head spin but he regained from it.


    *sigh*"yes child your gonna get reincarnated into my world"


    Connor nodded.


    "first thing first, my name is Erebus the god of darkness, you could say I''m one of the highest dark gods like a supreme dark god.Every dark race worships me even some humans worship me. as for the reason, I summoned you, I want you to become my champion.


    you see, the humans, with the help of the light god summoned "heroes" from another world, for example, your classmate that died together with you right now they were reincarnated in my world. you were supposed to go with them but I did something to get you here the thing that I did it''s too hard for you to understand, so let''s continue on, "Heroes" from another world we''re given special abilities by different God with special skill to help the humans in my world defeat the demons. I myself and some other dark gods have watched you and it seems we agreed to have you become our champion.


    well, there you go. Ah! also unlike all the other heroes that were blessed by only one God, you shall receive all the blessing from all the dark god. I should mention your not gonna be a human anymore, well do you have any question.


    Asked Erebus but Connor only shook his head and wore a cold smile like the cold blooded killer that had come from hell.


    Seeing this Erebus smiled."we really did have a good catch hehe."


    "Without further ado go to the world of Aurora wreck havoc through the lands in the name of the dark gods go our champion."


    Suddenly a flash of light envelope Connor.but everything was over in a second.


    As Connor regained his sight, he saw an unfamiliar place, he saw a torn carpet that covered most of his view, as he looked around more he saw crumble stones and rubble lying everywhere.


    Connor noticed that he was sitting, as he got up and walk past the torn carpet what he saw was a throne with a broken piece on its top right.


    Connor also notices that he was wearing a full golden plate armor with a rusty crown on top of his head, he also has a torn cape on his back with weird patterns, the thing that shocked him the most, however, ware his hands. they were all bones. as he examined himself more he came to conclusion.


    he was a 7 feet tall skeleton in a full golden plate armor, wearing a rusty crown and a torn cape with weird patterns on it.


    "well at least I''m not a human anymore, this gonna be an interesting life for me hehe."

 Chapter 1 - The Beginning

    Standing inside the dark throne room was a seven feet tall skeleton wearing a golden full plate armor and a crown on top of its skull. It was staring at his arms, checking its body from head to toe. This skeleton, of course, was Connor.


    He was very satisfied with the new body he got. Now he did not need any sleep or drinking water and eating food. To him this body that the god of darkness gave to him was already pure perfection, this is just what he always wished for.


    "Man, this really is the best thing that could ever happen to me, hehe.


    Now that I am no longer human I can do whatever I want except for wrecking havoc across the land hehe."


    "But first I need to get rid of this crown. It just doesn''t suit a bald skeleton to wear a crown and also what am I going to do with this golden armor. *sigh* "


    Connor started looking around the throne room. Nothing was different from his initial survey of the room.


    So he decided to take a closer look. He moved to every corner of the room until he found a small chest rusty old chest. Carefully he opened the chest but the inside was only some old paper, already eaten by the time. Not much was left, nothing readable at least and what was left was crumbling to dust by a mere touch of his hands.


    Connor started to search through the chest in hopes of a hidden compartment, but in the end, he did not find anything worth his time. He closed the chest and leave it be.


    *sigh* "Isn''t this supposed to be the castle of some kind of lord or king? Why aren''t there any weapons or something like that?"


    Connor complained even if no one could hear him. "Ahh... Well, let''s go outside. Maybe I will find something worthwhile there."


    Slowly he moved through the hallway and made his way up to the grand door, the door was rusty it had broken parts scattered across the ground, the door itself was already torn and falling apart, you only need a light push for it to fall down.


    Connor pushed the door and fell with a bang the entrance was open. For a moment the sun blinded the dark eye of Connor but his sight adjusted pretty fast. But what he saw before him shocked even him a little.


    What he saw was a sea but not a normal sea, it was a sea of countless bones. Connor looked around and surveyed his surroundings. He was currently inside the castle''s courtyard. Snow was falling, lightly covering the badly damaged wall surrounding the courtyard and the sea of bones. While the some of the walls were still standing, there were also were holes everywhere, even the gate at the entrance of the castle was destroyed. All this led Connor to the conclusion that there was a great battle here once. And that the lord of this castle lost.


    Connor walked down the stairs into the courtyard. With every step he took a crunching sound could be heard, as the bones cracked under his weight. He looked around the remains of the fallen in hopes of finding something useful and his persistence paid off when he spotted something shining under a pile of bones.


    He cleared the bones away and what he found was just the thing he was looking for: It was a rusty old helmet that covered his whole head, now only two red dots were visible from the outside.


    "Now that''s what I am talking about."


    As Connor was praising himself he heard a voice behind him.


    "It truly suits you, my lord."


    Connor instantly turned around with full alert. When he saw a black thing floating in the air, just like some kind of smoke or a black cloud but with two blue flames as eyes glued to him, he tensed up.


    "Please do not be alarmed, my lord. I mean no harm. I am a shade I was sent to you by the dark god Erebus as the last gift he can offer. I am no warrior but I am here to guide you and teach you about this world."


    "Oh, I see. Something like a tutorial, right?"


    "Tuto- ... what? I am afraid I do not know that term, my lord."


    "Never mind, never mind."


    Connor waved his hands at the shade "So tell me shade, where am I right now?"


    The shade started speaking:"We are currently on top of a mountain in the kingdom of Azeria, a small kingdom located far north of Sernia, the Kingdom the heroes were summoned to, so we do not need to worry about them yet."


    "Hmm, so we are far away from them. Well, that is good, because to be honest, I don''t know if I would be able to fight them, yet", Connor said.


    "Yes, indeed. You would not stand a chance with your current power. The heroes have most likely already started their training."This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "So what about me? Do I start some kind of training?"


    "Oh no, no, no, my lord. You do not need any training, you already know everything."


    Connor stared at the shade, slightly confused by what it just said.


    "Care to explain?", Connor asked little annoyed.


    "You have been granted the blessings of all the dark gods. You just need to use it, focus on it in your mind and you shall see. Here, give it a try."


    "Ok, I will try." Connor focused in his mind but everything was blank. Nothing. He did not see anything nor feel anything. It was blank still blank, after a while Connor opened his eyes and said with an angry voice to shade "I don''t see anything nor do I feel anything. So what now?"


    "Ahh! I forgot to tell you, you need to focus on a specific blessing since you got multiple ones. Sorry, my bad. For example, focus on these bones and imagine them coming together and forming a body with the purpose to serve you."


    "Fine, I will do that." Connor closed his eyes again and focused on the bones in front of him. He imagined them coming together and forming a skeleton. In addition to just simply do that he decided to add a little touch to it and imagined the skeleton holding a sword and a shield.


    When Connor opened his eyes, he saw the bones trembling and starting to connect to each other.


    "Awesome!" Connor was excited seeing this. When they were finally done connecting, it was a simple skeleton. Immediately after it was formed it walked over to a sword and picked it up, afterward a shield as well.


    "Well done, my lord. Now you know how to use your blessings. Do not worry, I shall teach you about the other blessings as well. The one you used now was the blessing of the god of death."


    "I see. This truly is a convenient power."


    "By the way, I wanted to ask what''s with all the bones here?" Connor looked curiously at shade.


    "Well, the battle that happend here was once known as the last stand of king Arturies the second. He was a tyrannical ruler but I doubt that this is not of any interest to you. Anyway, to cut the story short, the people did not like him very much and as you can see this is where he met his end with his soldier and as well as others who were his enemies that killed him, in this fortress on the mountain."


    "Also due to the climate of the Azeria kingdom not many were able to climb up here so this place was left mostly untouched for the last 20 years."


    "I see. So if I understand this correctly this is the body of the king Arturies. But man he really had a bad taste in color. Looks at this ugly thing."


    "Ohh that. There is no need to worry, my lord. You can change it anytime you want just, focus on it like you did with the other blessing."


    Connor focused on the armor, imagining it turning black, as well as his new helmet. Out of his body a black aura emerged into the air and began surrounding him. This mistlike aura entered his armor and helmet and when he opened his eyes it was pitch black like a void and looked like it was new. No more rust could be found on the helmet and all the damages of the armor were gone, it gave off a powerful as well as an intimidating aura.


    "Now that''s what I am talking about. This looks cool now, hehe."


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    Nathan POV:


    My name is Nathan Brownick, age seventeen. I am an average height with 175 cm. My hair is brown with a short cut and if I say so myself I have quite a handsome face with blue eyes. Me and my class of twenty people were killed by a truck that pushes our buss to a near cliff and bam a light suddenly envelope us, in the next moment we were told that we were summoned to a world called aurora to fight against the demons.


    They explained to us that we have been chosen by the gods of light to be their champions and fight of the dark gods and their followers like a demon''s and all the spawn of the dark gods


    It has been a week since we were summoned to this world, many of my classmates have accepted their new life as champions but there are still few that refuse. I myself will fight, I will fight for this world as I was blessed by the honorable warrior the god Nekel.


    But I keep thinking I am forgetting something. Wasn''t there supposed to be a trash in our class? Hmm where is he well whatever his just a trash.


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    Fiona Leifenstad POV:


    My name is Fiona Leifenstad, age twenty-three. I come from the noble house of Leifenstad. My house has served the royal family of Serenia for generations, as I do now.


    My height is 183cm, which a little too much for a woman but I do not care, I have a long blond hair, silver eyes and if I may say so myself, not such an ugly face, but for some reason I could never find a suitable husband.


    Right now I am the commander of the second paladin division. The paladins are the knights that protect the kingdom and it''s people from the darkness that lurks in every corner.


    But right now my second division is in a dire situation, as we have been stuck in the city called Holfstad in the north near the border with the ice kingdom of Azeria. The city is besieged by the undead day and night, they are countless, we have had problems with undead before but not at this scale. Something like this has never happened before. It seems someone is controlling these undead.


    "Commander! Commander!", a soldier yelling for me while was running as fast as he could.


    "What is it, Drake?" I asked in worry.


    "The east gate is breached. The undead have broken through. Requesting reinforcements!"


    "Damn it, get my horse. I am heading out!" I yelled as the soldiers near here scrambled.


    I mounted my horse and charged towards the east gate, taking with me my own personal guard as well the Eagle guard. These were my best guard that I currently have.


    Upon arrival at the east gate it is evident that it has been almost overrun by the undead "Eagle guard attack! There are still not that many in. Push them out!"


    I led the attack together with my personal guard. The undead were no match for the Eagle guard as they mowed them down pretty fast and pushed them outside. The remaining foot soldiers barricaded the gate with carts as fast as possible and set them on fire to keep the undead away.


    "Take care of the wounded and burn the dead. We must not let the dead remain inside the city!"


    "Yes commander!" The soldiers ran to execute the command.


    "What the hell is happening here? This all started with that damn summoning. I have a bad premonition about all of this."


    I spoke, looking at the corpses of my former comrades burning on the ground.

 Chapter 2 - Mountain Bandits

    On the top, within a mountain there stood a castle in ruins. In the courtyard, a skeleton in black armour was standing surrounded by a bunch of other skeletons.


    That, of course, was Connor. He was practising his blessing to create undead creatures. The skeleton was the easiest and most basic form to create but also it was the very weakest undead unless infused with a great amount of power to make it a higher rank.


    The ranking was, among other things, also explained by shade. The higher the rank of a creature the higher the required power for them to be created. Also for the undead, their intelligence is determined by the amount of power infused into them during their creation.


    The lowest rank according to the shade is a soldier. They are the basic non-intelligent undead, unable to make a decision on their own. If left alone they will just wander around, killing any living they find. The rank above the soldier was called commander by shade. The commander class skeleton has the ability to control and order the lesser undead, the soldiers. They serve as the arm of the next higher rank of undead: the general class. They have the command over the commander class and the soldiers. Their purpose is the tactical guidance of the troops during large scale combat. Due to the large amount of power required to create them they are highly intelligent, making them even better at their job. And the last class Connor could create were the elites. The elites could think for themselves, make decisions, and command all the other ones except the king himself, which was Connor, the last class. While they could, of course, command troops, their true purpose lied in their individual combat power and not their strategic capability, making them a noteworthy force even when alone.


    Connor also learned how to control the blessing of the plague god. This enabled him to coat his weapon in deadly poison, which in turn killed a human in a matter of seconds after even the slightest scratch. In addition to that, he was also able to coat his whole body in a mist that had a corrosive effect on everything that comes in contact with it as well.


    Connor had also been thought how to summon the weapon granted by the dark warrior god, Zetyx, the arch nemesis of the light warrior god Nekel.


    This blessing now allowed him to summon a greatsword within his hands. The sword''s hilt was made out of countless bones and little skulls. From the sword itself an ominous black aura leaked out and just looking at it would send a chill down the spine of any mortal who dared to rest his eyes upon this cursed blade.


    After hearing all the explanations from the shade, Connor continued to practice creating the undead for some time until he was bored with it. The final result of his practice were two hundred soldier skeletons, ten commander class, and one general class skeleton.


    *sigh* "I became bored with making so many skeletons, so what now? Not much of this sea of bones remains either." Connor talked as he looked at the skeletons roam around. Only the ten commander class and the general class skeleton were standing still, not moving an inch, as they were not mindless like the soldiers, that needed to be controlled and directed. They had enough intelligence to know how to respect their king, it was in the essence of their being to obey him.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Connor turned around, not minding the standing skeletons, and walked over to the floating shade.


    "Hey, Shade! Isn''t there anything to do here? I''m bored of creating skeletons and there are no longer materials to make more here anyway."


    The shade paused for a moment and then spoke:"Hmm... Well, if you are interested, there is a bandit encampment at the foot of this mountain. I scouted the area around the mountain, there are only forest and that encampment."


    "Huh... Bandits? Well, this should be fun enough. I wanted to try out this little army of mine anyway. Let''s go."


    Connor walked back to the skeletons with intelligence. They still had not moved, not even turned around without any command. "Follow me. We move to the foot of the mountain. Also, you", Connor pointed his finger at one of the skeletons and spoke "the general, need a name. You shall be called Krolzis. Any objections?"


    "Oh man! What a lame name. It just came to me I am really bad at names." Connor was thinking.


    The skeleton general, now named Krolzis, kneeled down and spoke "None, my king. I live again to serve you."


    As he spoke, the commander class skeletons kneeled down as well.


    Connor looked at this scene with a satisfied look "Good. Now Krolzis, all the soldiers here will be under your command. This includes the commanders. Go get some armour and a weapon, all of you!"


    "By your will, my King," Krolzis spoke as he swiftly stood up.


    As soon as he did the commanders and the soldiers moved around the castle and the courtyard in search for armour and weapons like the king had commanded them to do and in a matter of minutes every single one of them was wearing a rusty armour and weapons. They took everything, swords, axes even broken blades as long as it could be used in some way as a weapon they would use it.


    The commanders were wearing a better, more complete set of armour than the soldiers. Their armours were not that rusty and damaged and also their weapons were in better a condition.


    And lastly, Krolzis, the general, was wearing the best armour they could find. His armour looked similar to the one Connor was wearing but it did have rust here and there. Overall it was still way better than anything the others were wearing. For weapons, he settled on a shortsword and a metal tower shield.


    Connor looked at his little army and felt satisfied. They were his to command and loyal to the death. Well at least until their next death, and even then he could always just resurrect them again.


    "Move out! We march down the mountain!" Connor commanded in a loud voice.


    Hearing his king''s order Krolzis took control over the army."From the formation! Follow the king!" When he was finished giving the order, the skeletons had already formed the square formation behind Connor. Krolzis followed just a few steps behind him with the ten commanders, in turn, following him and lastly the soldiers. They all moved in unison as if they were one. They already behaved like a trained army. This made Connor even amazed more at the skill the general class had. Then Connor remembered that there is still one rank above that which in turn would be even better. He could not feel be anything but happy thinking that from here on it would only get even better.


    "Can''t wait to try it, hehe."


    At the foot of the mountain was a forest, covered by snow. Inside the forest, a clearing, which the bandits used for their encampment. They had set up a stockade around their camp to keep animals and potential enemies away.


    The bandits slept in the tents they had set up there. The leather tent, whose the creator obviously was not best, were set up without a system just all over the place. They had about thirty of them, but currently, some of them were put down to make space for the grand feast they were holding in their own style. They successfully robbed the caravan that was passing nearby. In the process, they killed everyone except the young girls. For them, they had other plans. The girls were taken to their base, the bandit would indulge in their bodies and after they were done they would simply kill them and toss them in the forest for some wild animal to eat them.

 Chapter 3 - Coup detat

    Azeria was commonly referred to as the kingdom of ice by its own and by foreign population. The kingdom itself is a small one and, would it not be for the nature of the strange weather surrounding it, other, more powerful kingdoms would have annexed it a long time ago. There hasn''t even been a been a successful invasion so far. The phenomenon of having their borders constantly clad in a powerful snow storm, devouring all the invading armies trying to cross the border or simply driving the moral of the soldiers so far down that most of the army deserts thus forcing them to retreat, it''s one of the mysteries of Aurora. A natural defence as strong as this one, however, does not come without demerit. Since no one can control it, it cuts off Azeria from the rest of the world.


    The capital of the Azeria kingdom was situated in the far south of their land. Frostford was the jewel of the kingdom, the icy walls stood high and towering over the city the palace could be seen even from afar. The city was built on top of a hill, giving the defenders a natural advantage over an attacking army. An attack by foreign powers was unlikely due to their natural defence but then again just because it has not happened before it was not impossible. Due to such cautious thoughts, past kings decided to construct a new, strong outer wall each time the city''s population grew too big for the city to contain. As of now, the city had three layers of walls. Within the innermost layer of the walls was the palace located. Here the royal family lived and ruled over the Azeria kingdom. The next layer housed the nobles and burghers with enough power and wealth to buy their way into this district. The difference between the nobles district and the commoner''s district, which was located behind only the outer layer of the walls, was evident just by opening one''s eyes. While in the noble district every street was made out of stone and every house was a mansion with a garden, in the commoners district on the other hand the only streets made out of stone were those leading from the gates to the nobles district and most houses were small, yes, but with enough space for the family to live in. It was not perfect, but the people could not complain. Frequent patrols kept the order and crime were not a problem. Due to the cold weather, the last plague was over 50 years in the past and almost no one even remembered such thing could even happen.


    But now this jewel of the ice kingdom Azeria was engulfed in flames, screams, and death.


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    Inside the palace, a girl with long, fiery red hair had slept, now woken up by the sound of fighting and screaming. She quickly stood up and headed over towards her window to take a look at what was happening. Upon seeing the scene in the palace courtyard, she ran with a shocked expression to her closet, grabbed a leather armour, pants, her boots and put them on. Before leaving the room she also took the sword resting on top of her drawer and ran out of her room.


    This girl was the only princess of the Azeria kingdom, Ilene. At this point of time, she was sixteen years old. She was around 170 cm tall and had a beautiful figure, slender legs and a small face. On her face, little freckles close to her nose could be seen. Her pale skin contrasted the colour of her red eyes, just like her hair. One could see that her breasts were not that developed yet, but she was still only sixteen. Without a doubt, she would be even more beautiful in the future.


    Ilene was trained in the art of sword from an early age, because, in this world, the weather was not the only danger.


    As she made her way towards the palace entrance, she saw a bunch of soldiers with their shields up, forming a line in front of the palace gate. There were around thirty of them and a large man with white hair stood behind them. He was well-built, and because of the many scars covering his body, anyone could see that this man has seen countless battles.


    He was known as Danten, an ex-general, but now he was the commander of the royal guard.


    "Danten!" Ilene ran towards the man.


    "Princess you are safe!" Danten turned around, visibly relieved by that no harm had come to her.


    "Yes, I am. But tell me, what is going on here?"


    "I do not know, but the attacking soldiers are wearing the same armour as we do."


    Irene''s face twitched at the word''s Danten spoke: "Could it be a rebellion?"


    "I do not know princess, but you should hurry to the throne room, his majesty the king is waiting there."


    "Yes. I shall go there at once. Don''t die Danten."


    "Do not worry about this old dog princess."


    Ilene gave a small smile before she started running towards the throne room.


    Shortly after, a loud bang could be heard, which could only mean that the gate to the palace had been breached. Battle cries were heard from that direction and Danten was yelling "Hold the line men! Do not let these scums reach the inside!" Ilene just continued running.


    When she reached the throne room and opened the large doors, what she saw on the inside was a middle aged man with black short hair, he wore a silver armour with a crest of the bear in the middle. In his right hand was a sword and as soon as Ilene entered he rushed towards her.


    "Ilene! Thank the gods! You are safe!" The king rushed and hugged his daughter.


    "Yes, father. I am safe and well thanks to Danten" Ilene gave a small smile.


    "Yes but I do not know for how long he will be able to hold the enemy back." The king''s face became serious and so did Ilene''s.


    "That is why, Ilene, listen well, the throne can be moved. Under it is a tunnel that leads outside the city. I want you to go to Veriates where your brother Reyn and uncle are and warn them about what happened here tonight."


    "No father! I won''t run away! I will stay and fight as well!" Ilene spoke with anger in her voice.


    "Damn it, girl! Listen to me for once!" The king yelled.


    Ilene just stood there and watched her father. She had never seen him like this. After a few seconds, the king seemed to have calmed down and began to speak again in a sad voice.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Ilene please listen to me. You are my daughter and I love you very much, but I will not lose you like I did your mother. So please listen to me."


    Ilene could not bring herself to go against her father''s wish and with teary eyes agreed. The king pressed the well-hidden switch on the wall. The throne moved to the left and revealed a deep dark tunnel underneath.


    "Wait father! What about Neil?"


    "Do not worry. I have sent servants to get him. He should arrive shortly. He will follow behind you" The King gave a sad smile.


    Ilene had two brothers, Reyn and Niel. They were twins, age twenty-three. Reyn had always loved swords and battles and admired the knights. So it was only natural for him to join the knight order that his uncle commanded when he came of age. Niel, on the other hand, was spoiled and did not like fighting. His interests were more political in nature and for some reason, Ilene could not understand why nobles loved him.


    "It is time. You must go now.", the king spoke.


    Ilene took a torch from the wall and entered the tunnel. Her father once again pressed the switch and before the throne moved to cover the tunnel she turned around and said: "I love you father."


    The king smiled "I love you too."


    The throne had closed the tunnel, but there was a little crack. Hardly noticeable from the outside but from within, in that darkness, it was clear. The crack was just enough to peek at the throne room.


    Ilene decided to stay for a little or at least until Niel arrived.


    The doors of the throne room opened and inside the throne room, a young man with dark black hair and eyes entered. He was wearing the outfit of noble, flashy and with many colours on it.


    The king smiled upon seeing his son unhurt "Good. Niel, you are here. Now follow me."


    Niel didn''t say anything and just continued following his father.


    The King stopped in front of the switch. "Niel there is a tunnel under the throne. Ilene already went ahead. You need to tell Reyn and your uncle about what has happened here tonight."


    "Father" Niel spoke. "What is it Ni-" As soon as the king turned around Niel stabbed him with a knife through the chest. Before he could understand what just happened he fell on the floor "Wh...why Niel?", the king asked in an angry and sorrowful voice at the same time.


    "Why? Haha! I have always been after the throne! And now I have finally obtained the power to have it! Haha!" Niel was laughing like a maniac.


    The king gathered his strength and yelled:"N.....Niel you......have ........have you gone mad!?"


    Ilene could not believe what was happening in front of her. Her brother has stabbed their father. It was just too much for her to handle, but she was brought back to reality by her father''s yell.


    She knew what she had to do. She needed to tell her brother Reyn and her uncle about Neil''s treachery and the king''s death.


    Ilene started running down the dark tunnels, tears pouring down her cheeks endlessly, Making her vision blurry.


    Back in the throne room, the king was breathing heavily. The color already left his face, his eyes almost closed. He no longer had the power to speak, now only whispering was in the realm of possibilities.


    "Haha! Father don''t yell so much! You might die, you know! Hahaha!"


    "Well then, father. Any last words? I will be generous and release you from this world of pain."


    The king remained silent but with his last breath, he whispered:"Ni.....Niel.....you.....fo.....fool."


    "Ok. You said your last words. Time for you to go." Niel took the knife towards the king''s throat and slid it across, ending the kings life. His lifeless eyes now starred back into Niels.


    "Sleep well father. You do not need to worry. Reyn and Niel shall be joining you soon. Hahahaha."


    Soldiers started entering the throne room "Men! The switch to a secret tunnel is here. Find it! Enter the tunnel and kill the princess! She has run away to try and escape her fate."


    The soldiers found the switch shortly after and entered the tunnel to chase after Ilene.


    A black haired woman entered the throne room. It was as if she was beauty incarnate. She wore a black dress that revealed much of her well matured upper body.


    She went straight towards Niel and when she was right in front of him, she reached for his head with her hand, pulling him towards her until their lips connected.


    "Good job Niel. You did a very good job." She smiled at him.


    "Yes, thank you. I would do anything for you mistress." Niel''s black eyes turned red as he spoke. "Go, Niel. You are a king now. Give a speech to your subjects."


    "Yes, mistress." Niel moved out of the throne room at the black hair woman''s command.


    After Niel and the soldiers left and she was alone in the room, the woman took out a round blue crystal. She muttered a few words and the crystal began glowing. Shortly after a voice was heard.


    "Report to me, succubus." the voice commanded.


    "Yes master. The Azeria kingdom is almost ours."


    "What do you mean by ''almost''?" The voice seemed irritated which made the succubus sweat a little.


    "N...no major problems. There were just some nobles that managed to escape."


    "I see. Deal with it quickly. Serenia has already started training their champions."


    The voice stopped talking "Yes master. All hail the demon king!", the Succubus said as the light in the crystal faded.


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------


    It has been less than a day since Connor started traveling in the direction of the town the bandit leader told him about. Since he was an undead now he been traveling without stop. Stamina, Sleep, Food, Water, it all had no longer a meaning to him.


    Connor was moving on the snowy road when the shade popped up before him. "My lord, there seem to be some humans surrounding a girl in the woods up ahead."


    "I see. So humans never truly change, no matter what world you find them in."


    Connor said in a cold voice, as the two red dots inside his helmet flickered fiercely "Let''s see what is going on. I shall decide what to do when I see the situation."


    "Yes. By your will, my lord" And with this Connor changed his direction to where the shade had pointed to.

 Chapter 4 - The Meeting

    IIlene''s POV


    After witnessing my father''s death by the hands of my second brother, I have been running away from Frostford for two whole days now through the snowy forests and narrow mountain paths on my way to Veriates. With my pursuers only a few hours behind me, I haven''t had a chance to really rest for these two days. With no supplies and no time to forage food felt like a luxury good. Thank the gods for the snow, without anything to drink I would have passed out a long time ago, not like I''m really far away from it now anyway.


    But still, I continue to run. I am so close now, in the distance, I can already see the high towers of Veriates, the town and the stronghold of the knight''s order. That''s where my brother and my uncle are, I have to keep going.


    I due to my exhaustion, I decided to take a shortcut through the forest, and hopefully, lose my pursuers. The problem with that was that the enemy had set up an ambush in the forest and by the time I noticed, the arrow from one of the enemies had already pierced my leg. I stumbled and fell down. With my last rest of strength, I managed to crawl behind a tree into cover. I looked at my leg, blood was gushing out of it. If I wanted to make it to Veriates I needed to stop the bleeding and escape somehow.


    With me busy applying a makeshift bandage made out of a torn off piece of cloth, the soldiers had enough time to surrounded my position. In the shadows of the bushes and trees I could make out about ten, maybe eleven, I''m not sure. Then they came closer.


    "Damn it! I was so close to reaching Veriates!" I screamed in my mind. Tears began to gather in my eyes.


    As they were almost in range to grab me one of the soldiers spoke:"Hey, boss! We should have some fun with the princess before we kill her. What do you say? Hehehe."


    "Sure, why not. She will die anyway, so let''s have a bit of fun. We shall take turns.", the leader of the soldiers spoke.


    Only now I knew how the women felt before they were raped, it was simply terrifying.


    I drew my sword and held it in my trembling hands. I knew it would not help me. I was simply to exhausted but I sure will fight for my life. I won''t die without a fight. I have to survive and tell brother and uncle what happened!


    One of the soldiers drew his sword and moved closer. With a slash against the guard of my sword, he blew it away. Now I was truly left defenceless.


    "Trash! Scum!" I yelled at them.


    "Heh. A feisty one, I see. This is gonna be fun." One of the men drew closer to me, his hands already reaching out for my body. I closed my eyes as I resigned to my fate.


    After a few moments of waiting still, nothing had happened. That hand never reached me. I opened my eyes when a dark and cold voice could be heard from behind the men that were surrounding me.


    "How unsightly! Simply disgusting!"


    What I saw was a huge knight in an armour as black as a starless night. The eyes behind the helmet only two red dots burning with hatred.


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Connor had observed everything that happened inside the forest for quite some time. From the point on when the soldiers surrounded a wounded girl. At first, he thought about leaving them alone as it seemed they would kill the girl fast.


    But instead, now they were about to rape the girl and then kill her. There were a lot of reason why Connor hated humans. But his hatred was the strongest for this particular kind of human as it was the initial reason why he came to hate them all as a whole.


    In his old world, Connor had a younger sister. She had been a bright child, only fourteen years old when it had happened.


    His sister had complained that she felt like someone was watching her all the time, but neither Connor nor his family gave too much thought.


    But one night when she was returning from her cram school and she took a shortcut through the back alleys, a man grabbed her. He then proceeded to force her to the ground and covered her mouth with his hand. She could not fight the man and he raped her. When the police found her a day later, her clothes were torn and her eyes were lifeless. When the attacker was done he had strangled her. And when Connor thought it could not have gotten worse the police quickly proved him wrong. They could not even find the culprit.


    From the day Connor could think for himself he never really liked humans, he thought the way the way they behaved was disgusting, but he did love his sister. For some odd reason, she was different in his eyes.


    From the day of her death, he has stopped caring about everything.


    Now Connor was just standing and staring at the soldiers. Their expressions filled with fear due to the intense pressure emanating from him. With slow steps he started moving towards the one closest to him, his heavy boots sinking deep into to snow. The soldiers just stood there, frozen by his mere presence.


    "Who the hell are you?!" The leader of the soldiers suddenly yelled, breaking the silence and bringing his men back to their senses.


    "Me? You do not need to know, for you all shall be dead soon enough.", Connor spoke with a cold voice that sent shivers down the spine of the soldiers.


    The leader of the soldiers gulped. "What are you doing? Quit just standing there! You there! Go and kill that bastard!" He pointed at one of the soldiers.


    "Y..yes!" The soldier yelled as he charged at Connor with his sword ready to strike. Connor, on the other hand, didn''t even move at all, he just stood there.


    When the sword reached Connor''s armour, a loud cracking sound was heard and the sword''s blade broke in two.


    The soldier was dumbfounded at what happened "Ehh......?" He let out a sound, but before he could process what just happened, Connor had already grabbed his head with one hand and lifted him up in the air. Not one of the spectators dared to move, their expressions are frozen with shock.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Using his inhuman strength Connor started to slowly crush the head of the man. He wanted it to be as painful as possible. The soldier scream of agony could be heard throughout the whole forest "H...help! Help! Help me! Please! Wahhh......."


    Suddenly he stopped and shortly after a loud cracking sound was heard. His head had been crushed completely. After wiping off the blood, dripping from his black gauntlets, on the leather armour of the man he just killed, Connor tossed the body to the side. "Disgusting." The single word spoke by the cold voice pierced the very being of the humans before him.


    "M....m...monster.....demon!?" The soldiers finally regained themselves and started trembling as their gazed wandered back and forth between Connor and their former comrade''s body.


    Once again Connor started walking slowly towards them. This time, however, he did not want to dirty his hand anymore. He had yet to try out his blade, in the attack on the bandits he did not have the chance to do so since he wanted to assess the combat power of his subordinates. Slowly he drew his sword, extended his hand and focused his mind on the blade. Instantly a dark mist-like aura formed around his hand and began to surround the edge of his blade. The blade absorbed the mist and started glowing in an underworldly light, and with the light of the blade reaching the eyes of his opponents, their fear intensified even more.


    "Well then, who is next?" Connor stared at the soldiers as the lights inside his helmet flickered fiercely.


    "G....get him! What the hell are you standing around for!? There are only one man and eight of you!" The leader yelled loudly but desperation evidently filled his voice. If he could run he would but he instinctively knew that running was no option this time even if he was not consciously aware of it.


    "Th.....that''s right! No matter how strong he is, we have numbers on our side! Let''s get him!"


    The soldiers yelled as they charged at Connor. Once again the cold voice pierced them. "Fools."


    Connor extended his sword arm towards the charging soldiers and said "Plague cloud." With the vocal command, the blessing granted to him by the god plague and diseases was summoned. It allowed him to coat his weapon with poison, as well as surround his whole body with the corrosive mist. While he travelled Connor had enough time to think, so he pondered over different approached concerning his new abilities. What he came up with was a way to use this particular blessing, not only for close range combat but also for mid-range.


    As he muttered the words to activate his blessing, an ominous black cloud formed from the hand gripping his sword and moved fast toward the approaching soldiers.


    "Ehh....what hell is that!?" The soldiers noticed the approaching cloud. Some tried to turn back as soon as they realised it was heading their way, but it was too late. The had reached them and they were engulfed. No one could see what was happening inside, but neither Connor nor the girl or the leader wanted to see what actually happened to the men. For Connor, it was enough to hear the terrifying screams as he patiently waited for them to die a slow and painful death.


    After about a minute, the screams stopped and the black cloud disappeared. When the leader saw what little remained of his soldiers, he almost threw up. The wounded girl had averted her eyes from the scene long before, covering her ears with her hands while covering at the foot of the tree she previously used as cover.


    The bodies had rotted, their skin was now none-existed. There was no blood at all, only horrifying remains of his former subordinates. He had seen many things during his career before, like an ice troll eating a live human but this was beyond everything. He could not comprehend what he had done to deserve having to see this scene before him and in his heart, he knew he was next.


    By now Ilene had opened her eyes again and watched the scene in front of her. she could not help but tremble like never before. Even when she was about to be raped, she was not this scared. But watching this black knight was like she was watching death itself.


    Connor decided to finally bring this encounter to an end. he moved closer to the last remaining soldier. As the soldier noticed that the black knight had started to move again, he dropped his blade on the ground and threw himself in front of Connor, hoping to beg for his life was enough to be granted mercy.


    Connor granted him mercy, just not the kind of mercy the man had wanted. With a swift swoop of his greatsword he cut the man in half, killing him instantly but without the unimaginable pain, the other had felt.


    Now with every single one of them dead, Connor felt satisfied. He turned around and looked at the still trembling girl.


    Ilene was covering in front of this knight, no this monster. She thought she was also going to be killed.


    Like with the soldiers before Connor slowly made her way to her, instilling, even more, fear into to her. He crouched down next to her and spoke "Girl, there is supposed to be a town nearby. How far and in which direction is it?" His voice different from before, not necessarily kind but it was at least not this cold voice that pierced the very being of everyone it heard anymore.


    "Ehh?" Ilene looked at Connor.


    "I am asking if there is a town nearby." Connor''s voice sounded irritated.


    Ilene started panicking. She surely did not want to anger the black knight before her, so she gathered her courage and spoke "Y..yes there is. It takes one hour by foot from here. This way." She pointed in the direction the town was. Her voice was wavering, and she was afraid if she didn''t give the knight a satisfying answer she would end up like the men before her.


    "Well, thank you for the information." Connor simply stood up and started walking in the direction Ilene had pointed at.


    "Ww.....wait!" Ilene tried to stand but since her leg was still bleeding heavily she quickly went to her knees again, "Can you......Can you please take me there?" She asked.


    "No." A simple answer came from Connor as he did not even turn around. Ilene was dumbfounded at how fast she was rejected.


    "Wa....wait! Please! Take me there, I beg you! Please!" Ilene started to beg with tears flowing down her cheeks. Something like was to be expected, she had finally gotten her hopes up after being saved but now with such a firm and fast rejection, she was overwhelmed by emotions.


    Still, Connor stopped for a second as he started thinking. Before he decided to intervene he heard the soldiers call her princess, which would most likely mean that she is the princess of the Azeria kingdom.


    "Hm... Perhaps I can take you there..."


    Hearing these words gave Ilene a little hope, only for this hope to be crushed shortly after.


    "...but that will come with a cost, princess."


    "Wha.....how can you even say that to a wounded girl asking for help? Are you even human?!" For a second she forgot in her anger what just had happened before her eyes and what this thing was capable of.


    Connor stared coldly at Ilene. His gaze reminded her and she started to tremble again. Once again he approached her. " You are correct in your assumption that I am not one you disgusting humans.", Connor said coldly. "Now tell me, do you accept my offer or should I leave you here to die?"


    "I....accept"


    "Good, now to take care of that wound." She never had the time to attempt to use first aid. Connor took the shaft of the arrow and yanked it out, blood started gushing out even more.


    "Argh!!" Ilene screamed from the pain as Connor ripped off a part of his cape and wrapped it around her leg carefully.


    After he was done he picked Ilene up with one hand, put her over his shoulder like a bag and started walking towards the city.


    "Wh.....Wait! Wait, I can walk myself!" Ilene was screaming.


    "Not happening! You are too slow." Connor''s response was swift and decisive.


    After an hour of continuous walking, they finally arrived at the gates of Veriates. Along the way, Connor switched to a piggyback ride, as Ilene was screaming loudly all the way until Connor gave in to this demand of her. After she finally settled down, she introduced herself as the only princess of the Azeria kingdom Ilene Riverfrost and when she asked for his name, in turn, he simply answered with Connor.


    "Finally I have arrived at Veriates" Ilene said with teary eyes.


    "I do not know why you are crying but let''s go we are almost there."


    "Um." Ilene nodded as she wiped away her tears.


    >It seems I have picked up quite a nuisance< Connor thought.

 Chapter 5 - The Veriates

    Inside the throne room of the capital city of the Azeria kingdom, Frostford, a young man was sitting on the throne. Clad in typical nobles clothes and with a red silk cape, Niel held in his right hand the crown of the former king, his dead father.


    As he looked at the crown he couldn''t help but smile.he then laughs madly.


    "Hahaha, Now I am truly a king hahaha."


    At that moment, the door to the throne room opened and a soldier entered. The man bowed down in front of Niel and soon he began to speak.


    "My king, the preparations have been completed. All soldier are ready. All we await now is your command."


    "Good. Since there are still no reports about Ilene''s death, it is safe to assume that she has managed to reach my brother and uncle. How unfortunate."


    Niel stood up and exited the throne room. On his way to the balcony, he walked down the hallway. Upon arrival there the sight was truly amazing to behold.In front of him, down below in the courtyard before the palace, was an army assembled. Twenty thousand soldiers, strong and willing to die for their king.


    Niel was liked by the nobles because they could easily influence him, with just a little flattery he would do anything they wanted him to do. So why would they lend him their own soldiers? The answer was the same reason why Niel would betray his father and family, the potent brainwashing ability of the succubus that had always been right beside him for the last few months. For her, it was child''s play to bring the nobles to offer their soldiers to further Niel''s ambition to become king.


    Most nobles had in fact even willingly, without the use of any magic agreed to participate in the killing of the former king. For them he was a nuisance, he favoured the peasants and common people over them, cutting down their rights, given to them by their birthright. And if that was not enough, he also kept them away from any big decisions regarding the future of the kingdom. To make it even worse, his other two children, including the crown prince Reyn, inherited that trait as well. Only Niel had a different mindset, one that favoured them, so they were more than happy to make him a king.


    As he was standing on the balcony, still dazed at the sight in front of him, Niel was approached from behind by a certain woman in a black dress. She came closer to him with silent step and hugged him from behind. With her lips slowly reaching for his ear, she whispered:


    "It''s time, my darling Niel. It''s time for you to truly become a king. You must not let anyone take the crown from you not anyone only you." Once again his eyes began glowing in a faint red.


    "Yes, I shall be the one and only king. No one but me, all those who try to oppose me of becoming king shall die."


    Niel inhaled and shouted to the soldiers:"Strong warriors and brave soldiers of the Azeria kingdom, there are still some rebels that oppose the rule of your new king crush them at once leave no one alive, destroy everything. They are based in the town of Veriates. Today we will march to crush those rebels. Let no traitor alive! For the glory of the Azeria kingdom!"


    "Uohhhh!" Niel''s speech was like a thunder in the ears of many warriors that assembled today they replied to by a shout filled with morale and eagerness for battle.


    The woman behind Niel finally let go of him and returned to the palace''s interior. She was on her way to the royal bedchambers, Niel would surely follow her in a few moments. On her way she muttered:"Now it won''t be long before Azeria falls."


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Veriates was a town of medium size situated near the mountains, just like many other towns and cities of the kingdom. The town had grown from a simple village over the past few years. At first, it had been just a trading town but without big importance. However, its position in the kingdom was of strategic importance so it was decided that the town would be given to the knight order lead by the king''s brother to serve as a base of operations.


    The king''s younger brother, Sir Alanus, was formerly known as Alanus Riverfrost. After joining and in the end becoming the leader of the order, he lost his status as a noble, just like everyone else that joined. After joining the order it would not matter if you had been a peasant or a king''s relative, you were just a knight sworn to serve the king and die for him.


    All of his wealth was donated to the order and used for the development and fortification of Veriates. This led to the building of a quite impressive stronghold. Veriates was now surrounded by a massive stone wall, almost six meters tall with large towers evenly spread across it. The entrance to the town was a single gate made out of a special type of wood and fortified with metal.


    Connor and Ilene had finally reached Veriates'' gate. Outside two watchmen were standing guard. Due to the falling snow seeing conditions were not that good but it was still easy to spot the dark armoured knight in the radiant white snow. Without hesitation, they drew their weapons and soon the voice of one of the guards pierced through the cold air.


    "Who goes there? This a stronghold of the Azeria knights! Outsiders are not allowed in!"


    Connor kept walking until he was right in front of to the guards, not caring about the warning they had given. Now that they could clearly see him and his ''package'' he spoke:


    "So what you are telling me is that you consider the princess of Azeria an outsider?"You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    "Di...di you just say, princess?!" One of the guards, a young boy maybe 16 or 17 years old, spoke surprised.


    "You idiot! It could be a lie. Go check." The other one said. He was in his late twenties and obviously more experienced than his comrade, sometimes it was a fake decoy from their enemy so they have to check if it''s the real princess or not.


    The younger soldier moved closer and looked at the girl who Connor was carrying. With just a look she had been identified. Due to her being a princess and the fact that she often visited her uncle many soldiers knew her or at least knew her appearance.


    "Forgive my rudeness, your highness!" The soldier yelled unnecessary loud and bowed his head. The other one promptly did the same.


    "Forgive our rudeness, your highness!"


    Ilene just looked at them with a smile and said:"It''s fine. You were just doing your job."


    "Thank you very much, your highness!" The younger soldier yelled again, obviously, he was not used to be in the presence of nobles. Upon raising his head up again he noticed the makeshift bandage around Ilene''s leg and the bloodstain on it.


    "Your highness, you have been injured. We have to take care of the wound." As was just about to reach out to her, she remembered what almost had happened to her in the forest at the hands of these soldiers.


    "Nooo!"


    Her shriek startled the man and she buried her head in Connor''s back. Her most recent experience involving men had traumatised her. She could not bear the thought of someone touching her, but strangely it was different with Connor. Maybe because he had stated that he was not human or just because he had saved her from that situation. "Please just take me to my brother. Please."


    She whispered to Connor who remained still for the entire time, only silently watching. *sigh* "The Princess wants to see her brother. Show me the way."


    "Ahh, yes. Right, this way. Follow me" The younger soldier had replied. "By the way, who are?" The other one asked before Connor passed by him.


    Connor didn''t reply, he wanted to interact with humans just as much as it was necessary.


    They entered Veriates. The town was well built, the houses looked sturdy and the streets were cleaner than he expected. There were other people, besides those belonging to the military, living inside Veriates but most of them had at least one family member in the order and were thus granted the right to own a house inside Veriates.


    Connor with Ilene on his back quietly followed the soldier to the castle. When they approached the gate, the leading soldier yelled to the guards above:"Open the gates! Her Highness, Princess Ilene has arrived!"


    The gates slowly opened and the soldiers bowed towards Ilene and then turned around to get back to their post at the main gate.


    Connor made his way inside to the snow covered courtyard. A small path to the castle''s entrance had been cleared.


    In the courtyard, knights in silver armour and with winged helmets were lined up on the left and the right along the path to the castle. News of the arrival of the princess spread fast.


    He did notice the Knights were staring at him, but they were no threat to him so he didn''t mind it and just walked past them. Just when he arrived at the door, it was opened by a youth with long red hair and quite a good looking face. Just behind him was another man with short black hair and a beard. Both of them were wearing armour in identical to the one the knights were wearing. Connor immediately knew that the red haired man was Ilene''s brother. It happens not every day that you meet someone with natural red hair.


    "Brother! Uncle!" Ilene quickly got off of Connor''s back and slowly moved towards them.


    "Ilene? What are you doing here and what is with that injury?" Her brother asked with a worried voice while he moved closer to inspect her wound.


    When Ilene reached her brother she hugged him tightly, tears filled her eyes and she said:"Brother, father was killed!"


    "Wh.....what did you say!?" Reyn was shocked, as was Alanus.


    "Who!?" Reyn asked in anger.


    "Hoho, so the king is dead. How interesting." This was an amusing information to Connor who had only listened up until now.


    "It...it was" Ilene stopped for a moment. She didn''t have the courage to tell them because even now, she could hardly believe that her second brother had murdered their father.


    But Reyn didn''t have the patience to wait. In his anger, he didn''t realise that he grabbed Ilene''s shoulders tightly."Tell me, Ilene, what happened?!"


    Ilene started crying. Reyn let go of her, he realised he had been too harsh, something was clearly bothering her and preventing her from telling them. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, it was his uncle. He looked him in the eyes and Alanus only gave him a nod.


    Alanus moved closer to Ilene and patted her on the head. "You did well coming this far, but I need you to tell me what happened, okay?"


    Ilene looked at him and nodded "Two days ago, a rebellion occurred in Frostford. The enemy reached the palace and killed father. The one who did it was-" She stopped for a second and took a deep breath and continued shortly after.


    "The one who killed father was our brother, Niel." When she finished Alanus and Reyn both wore a shocked expression on their face.


    Reyn was the first to recover from the shock."It can''t be. Why would Niel kill father? It doesn''t make sense?" Reyn yelled, his emotions got the best of him.


    "Ilene, is it possible that you have seen wrong?" Alanus questioned, hoping that his guess might be true.


    "No, I am certain. I saw what happened. It was Niel."


    -Silence


    As they were all just standing there, a messenger on a horse arrived in the castle''s courtyard, dismounted and hurriedly ran towards Alanus.


    "Commander! Commander! Report!"


    Alanus turned around "What is it?"


    "I have a report, a......an army is headed towards us!" Alanus'' expression went even darker. "What army? Demons I guess? How many are there and what kind?"


    "No demons, sir. The army is made up of humans and they carry the banner of the second prince. We estimate there are around twenty thousand of them!", the man reported. The surrounding knights began to whisper. "Be quiet!", Alanus yelled.


    "So everything you just told us is true, Ilene. Niel really did kill father and now he is coming for us. Damn it. I will make sure to personally kill him !" Reyn was furious.


    "Calm down Reyn. Now is not the time to loose your head. First, take Ilene to rest, she has gone into too many things in the past couple of days."


    Reyn Nods in agreement.


    "Yes, of course, uncle. Come Ilene." Reyn reached out to take Ilene by the hand, but as soon as he touched her, she flinched and jumped backwards into Connor. That was when Reyn finally noticed Connor.


    "What''s wrong Ilene? And who is that knight in black armour?"


    Ilene looked at Connor and before she could say anything, he had already stepped in front of Reyn. "I am the one who saved your sister from death."


    "Is that so? I thank you for what you did. Give the man some money and get him out of my sight! Now come Ilene." Reyn extended his arm towards her.


    Ilene was covered in cold sweat because of her brother''s attitude towards that thing, Connor. She knew what he was capable of it. She looked like she wanted to say something but once again Connor was faster. She was picked up by him with one hand and placed over his shoulder like the first time.


    "Money........hahaha. I do not need your money. I want something entirely different and if you can''t give me what I want, I will simply kill everyone here and take it by force." Connor spoke in a cold and chilling voice. It made all the people that are presence shivered as he finishes talking.

 Chapter 6 - The Death Deal

    In the courtyard of the town Veriates, a black knight who was holding a red hairedgirl was surrounded by the knights in silver armours with their swords drawn out.


    The black knight was, of course, Connor and the girl he is holding is Ilene Riverfrost the only princess of Azeria kingdom.


    "how dare you treat royalty as a hostage let Ilene go right now!" Reyn screamed as he drew his sword out and pointed it at Connor.


    "b......brother.....no don''t fight this.....thing!" Ilene warned Reyn who seemed confused.


    "what do you mean this thing Ilene, he is just one knight now let go of my sister or I shall personally behead you!"


    Connor looked at the knights surrounding him and let out a "sigh" "really now you will behead me? haha don''t make me laugh didn''t I say I will kill you all if you can''t fulfilmy desire, do you think I am lying" Connor asked with a cold voice, some of the knights that surrounded him gulped down and started to sweat.


    "very well then have it your way, I shall behead you now!" Reyn started running with an amazing speed anyone who had seen that knew that he was an elite among the elite knights.


    "nooo, brother don''t!!" Ilene screamed and squirmed on Connor''s shoulder, the thing that happened next had everyone drop their jaw down.


    As soon as Reyn was close to Connor his head was grabbed by Connor''s other arm he lifted him up in the air.


    Ilene rememberedthe same thing happening in the forest with the soldier''s whose heads were turned into pasta by Connor who grabbed them and lifted them, she did not want her brother to suffer the same fate.


    "please let him go I beg of you let him go please!" She yelled from Connor''s shoulder and begged.


    The surrounding soldiers started moving towards Connor with an intent to strike, but they have all frozen up immediately, Connor was surrounded by black thick aura visible to all of them, it sent a chill down the spine of the knights who started backing away.


    "Damn, it let me go you bastard!" Reyn was trying to free himself from Connor''s death grip but it was futile, Connor slowly started crushing his head adding more and more force in his head.


    "argh!" Reyn cried out "no please stop!" Ilene screamed but Connor simply didn''t care.


    But then a voice was heard"please stop this, please forgive my nephew for what he has done and for offending you." It was Alanus who has quietlyobserved the situation but it was going out of hand he needed to intervene, he doesn''t want his nephew to die.


    Connor looked at Alanus who gave a deep bow as an apology"hmm very well" Connor accepted the apology and let go Reyn who fell on his butt on the cold ground.


    Reyn stood up a little dizzy but he still managed to balance himself, he then looked at his uncle who bowed down to Connor, he has never seen his uncle bow down to anyone except the king his father.


    "Uncle why, why are you bowing down to this man.....no this monster!?" He yelled.


    Alanus looked at him and started walking closer to him when he reached him he raised his hand and gave him a good slap.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "un....uncle why?" Reyn looked at him with shock in his eyes.


    "what do you mean why you idiot! You do these stupid things in this dire situation have I taught you nothing fool!" Alanus yelled, he then slap him again.


    Reyn face was red as blood but he managed to endure it he then realize his mistakes he hung his head down in shame, and after a few moments he lifted it up and looked at Connor "sir black knight I am sorry for my rudenessplease forgive me and could you please let my sister go she needs to rest." Reyn bowed down like his uncle did.


    "No" Connor replied.


    "than........wait what do you mean!?" Reyn screamed once again.


    "I said no" Connor bluntly replied once again, "you......f" Reyn was about to say something again but his uncle Alanus stopped him and walked in front of Connor.


    "I have fought many battles seen many enemies, many monsters''s as well but never have I seen a beingsuch as yourself tell me what are you and also you mentioned a thing that you wanted."


    Connor looked at the man and gave an illusionary smirk "well, first of all, you do not need to know what I am yet if you agree to my terms you will know just think of me as a king and the thing I desire is what every king desires"


    "you don''t me......" Alanus was about to say something but was interrupted by Connor.


    "yes you guess right I want a kingdom," Connor said.


    "but for a kingdom to be built I need land first and I have one region in your Azeria kingdom that just fits me perfectly"


    "you dare!" Reyn once again stepped in "Reyn be quite !" Alanus shut him up with an angry voice.


    Alanus turned to Connor again "you say you want to have aland but that can not be given easily you know, what do you have to offer to us in exchange?" Alanus asked in a calm manner, but deep down he was fearing the worst, it was not the approaching army that feared him it was the thing standing in front of him, he knew from Ilene''s expression that this thing was powerful and that it would be a great ally if he managed to get him on their side, but it could also be their doom of this thing really kill them and if he doesn''t manage to fullfil his request, but he was willing to take this gamble.


    Connor stared at Alanus for a few moments then started laughing "haha this really is amusing haha" Connor was having a great time he could always make an army and take over Azeria by slaughtering everyone but it was not a fun way, he wanted to build a kingdom from scratch a kingdom without humans it was his dream.


    "very well thenI offer you to walk away with your life''s and...." Alanus, Reyn, Ilene and the knight''s that were present at the moment all gulped down at the same time.


    "and why don''tI get rid of the approaching army for you, is that good enough?" Connor spoke in a playful manner.


    "you.....you can do that?" Alanus could not keep his shockto himself and spoke.


    "indeed,I can but I need to know if there is a graveyard near here or some big battle that happened near is there any?" Connor asked,


    "we do not have graveyard''s in Azeria because of the undead we burn the deceased, but there was an ancient battle, in the north liesthe stone valley where....." before Alanus could continue he was interrupted by Connor.


    "I don''t need a history lesson how long will it take to get from here ?" Connor asked.


    "a little longer than a day from here but why are you asking this ?" Alanus spoke a little irritated.


    "It''s not your concern and how long will it take for the enemy army to arrive?"


    "hmm, soldier report!" Alanus yelled at the soldier that informed about the approaching army. immediately a soldier walk towards Alanus and said.


    "They will be here in one day commander!"


    "hmm one day, good you need to hold Veriates until I arrive also how will I recognize the place?"


    "It is easily recognizable huge stones are erected all over the place, but how will you going there help us?"Alanus asked again.


    "like I said since you made a deal with me you shall know soon, just hold on untilI am back don''t let Veriates fall and don''t die it would be a pain after all this talking"


    "ohh and here take this" Connor tossed Ilene at Alanus "kyaa!" She screamed as Connor tossed her and landed on Alanus but she quickly got up despite her injured leg.


    "brute!" She yelled.


    "ok its time for me to go" Connor turned around and started walking but then he stopped and turned his head towards Alanus "and remember you had made a deal with me do not even dare to not keep your word or else you will meet your doomed, well anyway after this war is over you won''t even have courage to hahaha" Connor walked away with a laugh.


    Alanus shivered and he was left standing and muttered some word''s "I may have made a deal with death itself god''s save us all." He said as he watched Connor.

 Chapter 7 - The Siege of Veriates

    Connor made his way through the streets ofVeriates, towards the gate, while he was walking a lot of soldiers ran passed him, which made Connor think that the man who apologized to him worked fast.


    He reached the gate and soon he exited the town, as soon as he did the two guards outside rushed back after one of the soldiers said something to them, the gate closed immediately after.


    "ok then I better head north right away" Connor spoke to himself when he heard a familiar voice next to him.


    "yes my lord I believe that is wise" Connor turned around and saw a familiar figure floating in the air, it was Shade.


    "shade where were you this whole time?" Connor asked the shade.


    "I was here this whole time my lord I just concealed my presence, that girl the princess has a strong magical power and sensitivity towards the non-human so I just hid" Shade spoke.


    "so she could be of use to me?" Connor asked, "no I do not think so my lord, maybe to humans but to us she could only become a nuisance in the future".


    "I see" Was Connor''s only answer, "okay time to go enough chit-chatting".


    "yes my lord let us depart" Shade confirmed.


    Connor left for the Stone Valley.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    InsideVeriatessoldiers were running around in groups some were forming a barricade near the entrance, and some were practicing for the upcoming battle that is just around the corner.


    Inside the castle ofVeriatesaround the table, a couple of people were standing including Reyn and his uncleAlanus, they were looking at the map ofVeriates, they are discussing some strategies to counter attack the incoming enemies, and some were discussing the formation of their soldier''s.


    Alanuswas standing at the center of the table "ok men listen up, we need to think this well, we need to think of how to survive for as long as possible until that monster appear and help us, the enemy army has around twenty thousand soldiers that a marching toward''s us right at this moment as we speak, what are our numbers"Alanusspoke and asked in a serious manner.


    The man to his right stepped out he was well built he had long black hair and black mustache as well, and a claw mark on his right eye, he wore a silver knight armor like the rest, he held his helmet in one hand, he was the second in command of theAzeriaknight''s order SirAlverand an old friend ofAlanus.


    "commander we have about six thousand soldiers and two thousand elite knights"Alverspoke.


    "damn we are short on men"Alanusspoke, he tighten his Fist.


    "but we have the advantage as we have builtVeriatesto hold back the attackers as much as possible we will need to work with what we have,AlverI leave it to you to decide the soldiers positioning we need to defend the key points and the vulnerable ones as well, I''m counting onyou myold friend"Alanusspoke with a little smile on his face.


    "yes, commander"Alverspoke as he gave a deep bow and turned around to leave the room the rest of the people followed as well onlyAlanusand Reyn were left inside.


    Alanuswas still looking at the map while Reyn came closer " uncle do you really trust that monster will come back and most of all that he will help us?"


    Alanusanswered without turning around "I don''t know, but one thing I do know is that when that thing spoke, there were no lies in his word''s."


    "I truly hope you arerightuncle" Reyn spoke with a serious expression.


    "so do I"Alanusanswered.


    He turned around towards Reyn and walked closer to him and patted his shoulders with his hand"don''t worry Reyn we will get through this alive but right now I have a task for you"


    Alanuschanged his tone to a more seriousone "yes uncle what is it I am ready to fight by your side any time" Reyn replied.


    "haha I know you are Reyn but this time, your task shall be to gather the civilians inside this castle and guard them here because tomorrowthere will be hell out there"


    "yes, uncle I understand I shall do as you wish" Reyn bowed down and walked out of the room to start his given task immediately.


    Through the entire day, soldiers were running around Veriates, checking their armory, getting their weapons sharpened, even night watch was set up becauseof possible spy''s that would try to sabotage thedefencesofVeriates,Alverwho was in charge was a very cautious man.


    It was night, inside one of the castle room''s was Ilene she was sitting on her bed covered by a warm blanket, she stared at the wall in front of her, she was thinking about all the things that have happened to her up till now, a rebellioninFrostford,her father''s death at the hand''s of her second brother, running away almost being raped, saved by the thing called Connor and now a battle for their live''s is around the corner.


    While she was thinking she didn''t even notice someone standing beside''s her "Ilene......Ilene!" it was Reyn, he called out to her many times but she didn''t respond so he shook her shoulder with his hand.


    Ilene flinched and moved away a little, this made Reyn little annoyed "Ilene why are you avoiding me?" he asked.


    "I..... am not avoiding you brother it''s just......" She spoke.


    "then why?" Reyn asked confused, Ilene had a difficultexpression on her face but decided to tell him everything from the beginning even the forest incidentand how she met Connor.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    After Ilene finished her story, Reyn who was previously sitting on a chair beside the bed, stood up "I understand I am sorry for the things that happened to you Ilene, don''t worry yourself anymore Niel will pay for father''s death and his treachery, you just get some rest."


    "umm" Ilene only nodded, while Reyn slowly exited her room, and left her to rest, Ilene was lying on her bed and while slowly falling asleep she thought about the strange thing called Connor, the things he said and done and if he would show up before her again or abandon them all.


    It was early morning snow stopped falling down, the soldiers were still patrolling the walls for any sign of the enemy.


    The patrollingsoldiers noticed a rider heading toward''s them when he reached them he yelled "open the gates urgent report!" the gates opened fast and the rider hurried inside and towards the castle.


    "Commander commander !" The soldier yelled.


    "what is it ?"Alanuswho just got up from his bed asked.


    "the scout has returned, he has some news for you." The soldier answeredAlanus.


    "good let''s go" They walked towards the courtyard of the castle where the scout was nervously walking back and fort,Alanuswalked closer to him "soldier report !" he asked.


    "commander !" The scout turned towardsAlanusgave a bow then he raised his head and started speaking "commander the enemy army will be here in less than an hour I hurried back to report as fast as possible but there was a sudden snow falling down, that made visibility hard and I was delayed few hours I am truly sorry commander!" He reportedeverything.


    "Do not worry yourself go and get some rest you did well"Alanusansweredcomely but inside he was gloomy he did not expect them to come so fast.


    "you there, soldier tellAlverto get our soldiers to positionand tell him that he has to do that in less than an hour!"Alanusyelled and pointed at the nearby soldier.


    "yes commander!" The soldier replied as he started running toward''s the garrison whereAlverwas.


    The soldier''s were woken up and getting ready for battle, the civilians were evacuated to the castle where they will be safe unless the walls and the gate''s fall into enemy hand''s everything was set and ready.


    Alanuswalked up on the walls and climbed one of the towers, he looked over in the direction the enemy was coming and he could already see the dust from their horses, the red clad armour they are wearing and the banner of the second prince Niel coming closer.


    The soldiers were lined up, but they were uneasy many of them didn''t even have an idea who or what they were fighting, the soldier''s whispered to each other,Alanussaw that the moral was low so stepped out in the open on the tower inhaled the cold air cleared his throat and yelled "Soldier''s knights ofAzeriakingdom, our beloved king has been murdered and not just by anyone it was his second son prince Niel, he raised a rebellionkilled countless innocent people inFrostfordour capital city and who knows what other atrocitieshe has committed and now he is marching with an army of twenty thousand strong soldier''s, he is at our doorstep already he plans to annihilate all of us"


    Some soldier had shocked faces at what they heard some alreadyknew that something big has happened and some simply listened but there was one thing that they had in common it was hatred a pure hatredtowards the second prince who has killed his own father, the king was loved by his people he treated them with respect as a true king should, but now he was murdered by none other than his son, to them it was unforgivable truly unforgivable.


    Alanuscontinued his encouragement "And now I ask all of you brave soldiers are we just going to let them walk over us and take away everything from us answer me ?"


    The soldiers yelled in unison "No!"


    "good nowpreparefor battle, the enemy will soon be upon us, get to your position''s men!"Alanusyelled his final order as the soldiers scrambled and took positions on the walls, archers were in front in a line while the infantry took the position just behind them, the elite two thousand knight''s were on a standby so they will easily be able to support the weak point''s of the defence, spear was already barricading the entrance so that when the enemies manage to knock over the door there would be a second defence.


    It was not long after that the rumbling of the soldier''s marching could he heard, weapons clanking and the voices of the soldiers as they marched closer and closer, the soldier''s on the wall started sweating as they watched an army of twenty thousand emerged all in front of them wearing red armor''s, and they were lead by the short black haired young man on a horse who was accompaniedby the beautiful woman in black dress who was sitting behind him.


    When the defenders saw Niel leading the army they forgot all about the overwhelmingodds that were against them in their hatred and rage they only wanted to kill him for his betrayal.


    Niel galloped a little further towards the walls and yelled "uncle, brother I give you a chance to surrender and all the soldiers as well if you do not do as I ask I will destroy you all along with your little stronghold hahahaha"


    While Niel was laughingan arrow flew past his head scratchinghis face a little when he looked up with a shocked expression he saw Alanus standing on top of the tower with a bow.


    "tsk I missed must be getting old, listen up you brat try taking this stronghold if you can but, in the end, you will die"


    Niel wiped the flowing blood with his hand and made an ugly face than he heard a voice in his ear "you see my darling Niel they want to take your crown away, you are the rightful king only you so you must kill them, kill"


    Niel''s eyes glowed red as he turned around and galloped at full speed back toward''s his army and yelled to his general''s and commander''s also given by the nobles "attack kill them all leave none alive !"


    The army moved the infantry carried the leaders with them as they ran towards the walls while the archers provided backup for them.


    "ready your arrow''s and wait for my command !" Alveryelled then the defenders readied their arrow''s, "wait!"


    The enemy soldier got closer and closer and just as they were in range "realise the arrow''s Fire!" Alver yelled.


    Dozens of arrows could be seen from the sky falling towards the enemy some arrows hit many enemies but it was not enough to stop them from reaching the walls, they placed the ladder''s on the wall and started climbing, the defenderstried pushing them away from the wall''s but some didn''t make as they were showered by the rain of arrow''s from the enemy soldier''s.


    "commander we need reinforcement on the east wall the enemy managed to climb up the walls!" A messenger yelled.


    "lieutenanttake a hundred knights and assist the east wall we must not let it fall !" Alanus yelled as he instructed one of his lieutenants.


    "as you command !" He yelled and ran as fast as possible.


    The knight''s arrived at the east gate and with some effort managed to push back the enemy and regain the lost ground, but still this was only the first wave of enemies there are many more.


    "okay, for now, we are good, we should be able to hold the walls for a while, I hope the god''s have not abandoned us yet" Alanus muttered as he remembered the deal he made with Connor.


    "heh remembering that thing at such a time haha hold the walls man hold them with your live''s" Alanus yelled and in the heat of battle roar''s of the defenders were heard all across the wall.


    "good that got our morale up a bit, we just need to hold long enough for him to arrive, until then we must not fall"


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    Connor was walking up the hill and was wondering when he will arrive at the Stone Valley, he has been walking without stoping and he has yet to reach his destination.


    While he was lost in this own world he failed to notice a rock just in front of him and hit it head first, when he looked up he saw a huge erected rock and just this one there were countless of them all across the valley.


    Connor felt the dead growing restless under the snow they were calling out to him, they were calling out to their king, to summon them back to life.


    Connor felt happy as he muttered "Shall we begin"

 Chapter 8 - The Army Of The Dead, And The March

    Connor was standing in the Stone Valley. Before his eyes countless erected stones could be seen.


    "Then shall we begin?", Connor said. As he looked at the ground beneath him, he could feel the presence of the many dead buried under the snow.


    "Ok then, I wonder if I will be done in time and return there before the battle is over. There sure are a lot of dead beneath me hehehe.", Connor muttered. This however did not go unnoticed by the Shade floating around the stones.


    "My lord, what are you thinking about so hard?" Shade asked.


    Connor turned around to face the floating Shade "Well there are so many dead here, I was wondering if I will have time to make an army."


    "Ohh, hehe, my lord you were thinking about creating an army by raising them one at a time, correct?", Shade answered.


    Connor in turn looked at the shade confused "What do you mean? That''s the only way right?"


    "Heh, my lord, it seems it''s time for you to learn how to truly create an army. It would take an awfully long time to create this many skeletons one by one."


    "So what do you suggest Shade? Speak", Connor commanded.


    "Well, first focus and try gathering a massive amount of power into your hand my lord" Shade spoke.


    "Ok", Connor answered as he closed his eyes and focused. At first, his whole body was surrounded by a black aura. Within a few minutes Connor felt his power gathering in his hands. When he opened his eyes, he saw that his hands were enveloped by the black aura which usually surrounded him, the only difference: They were barely visible.


    Connor lifted his head, looked at Shade and asked him: "Okay, what''s next?"


    "Now, my lord, focus on the remains of the dead beneath you. Think of them coming together and slam your hands into the ground."


    "Ok got it", Connor answered as he pictured in his mind a sea of countless bones coming together and forming an army. With this image in mind he felt he was ready, he opened his eyes and quickly slammed his hand''s into the ground.


    "OUHH!"


    The ground started to tremble, the erected stones started cracking, snow started turning black and after a few moments it all stopped as if nothing of it ever happend.


    "Umm Shade? Nothing happened." Connor looked confused at the Shade.


    "Don''t worry my *King*. Just wait and see.""


    "Uhh, o.......k. Wait, why are you calling me a king, why change it now?" Connor noticed that the Shade did not call him my lord but my king. But before he had time to think about what changed, his question was answered:


    "Hehe, this is why, my king" Shade turned around towards the black snow and in that moment countless black skeleton arms pierced the surface of the snow.


    "Ohh my, these are........" The Shade looked at the countless black skeletons, who were emerging more and more from the ground.


    "What? What''s wrong?" Connor asked the Shade confused.


    "Hehe, nothing bad my king, it seems that you have used a little too much power than what is needed. And by doing so you have infused these skeletons with so much power that they turned into legendary black skeletons, You have proven to have quite a bit of talent creating these, because originally only the god of death could make them. They are much, and I mean much, stronger than regular ones. I am surprised you could make them."


    After examining them closer the shade spoke again:"Also, it seems like your aura went inside their weapons and armors as well. Just look at them. They look almost like you! hahaha" Shade started laughing.


    Connor turned away his head from shade to look at the skeletons he created. Had he still flesh on his face he sure would have looked surprised for a moment, because all the skeletons were kneeling down. There were two skeletons in front of other ones. Connor best guess was that the aura he released was so strong that it even created two general class skeletons.


    Connor looked at the army of skeletons in front of him. They were all wearing black armor, covering the entirety of their body. In addition to that they also had simple helmets, just enough to cover their head, in their hands they were holding black shields. For weapons the majority used swords but spears and axes where also present only the General have a black sword, In front of Connor, in this freezing valley, stood an army of the dead, who''s only purpose was to serve their king, him.


    "Good, good, I wonder how many there are", Connor nodded as he talked.


    "That would be around ten thousand my king", Shade spoke as he appeared near Connor.


    "Hoh it''s too many but not bad, not bad indeed."


    Connor spoke, he then turned around and looked at the kneeling army and walked over to the two general class skeletons "Stand up! You two shall be named now."


    The two skeletons rose.


    "You on the left shall be known as Aknar" Connor pointed at the skeleton on the left and as soon as he was named, he kneeled down again and spoke "I thank you for this honour, my king."


    Next, Connor turned to the one on the right "And you shall be called...." Connor stopped to think for a moment "Ahh, how about Aldaek? Yes, that''s good! You shall be known as Aldaek!" Connor yelled.


    Aldaek did the same thing as Aknar before him and kneeled down and said "I thank you for this honour, my king."


    "Okay, we have wasted enough time. Aknar! Aldaek! We march for Veriates!" Connor turned around and started to head back towards the direction he came from towards Veriates.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Aldaek and Aknar turned towards the black skeleton army and yelled in unison "Move out for our king! For the skeleton king, the king of undead, we march!" Without anymore words they turned around to follow Connor.


    The skeleton army, that was kneeling down, stood up in unison and followed their king in line formation, you can hear the armour, axe, and spear touching each other the rhythm made feel Connor satisfied maybe because he was no longer a human.


    Shade was watching all of this from above and with a happy voice he muttered "Now you are truly fit to be called a king, my king."


    Shade flew off towards Connor.


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    It has been almost a full day since the siege began. The soldiers could not rest at all, either they were defending the walls or were treated because of the wounds recieved during combat. But against all odds Veriates still stood unconquered by the attacking army. Every time the attackers assaulted the walls they would be pushed back by the soldiers of Veriates.


    But not only the attackers death count was overwhelming, the defenders as well barely had enough soldiers left to cover the walls.


    It was almost morning of the second day. Alanus was in the barracks with the wounded soldiers and also the dead. He was covered in wounds, but he could still fight. Next to him was the bloody corpse of a man. That man was known as Alver, the second in command of the Azeria knights order and best friend of Alanus. He gave his life to stop the enemy from taking the west wall. The reinforcement that was dispatched there was delayed by the enemy, but still he managed to hold the wall in exchange for his life.


    Alanus looked at his friend with a sad face, but shed no tear, because this was not the time to moor the dead. He crouched down and put his hand on Alver''s shoulder.


    "You did well old friend. Your death shall not be in vain, we will hold and wait for him to come in all our might we will not fall I promise you that my old friend I hope you rest well wherever you.", Alanus spoke as he got up and with haste made his way to the battlefield.


    "Commander! Commander!", the soldier came yelling.


    "What is it !", Alanus fearing the worst, responded to the soldier.


    "The enemy..... The enemy has taken the gate!", the soldier yelled again.


    "Damn! How? What happened to our men there!?"


    "There were just to many commander, they were all slaughtered!"


    "We must go now before they open the gate. All remaining soldiers and knights! We move! Follow me!", Alanus yelled as he began to run towards the gate with a handful of soldiers and elite knights.


    When Alanus and his soldiers arrived at the gate, it was already too late. The gate has started to open and the enemy was blocking the way towards it.


    "Damn! Damn it!", Alanus burst of emotions startled his soldiers and also lowered their morale. They have never seen their calm and collected commander burst out in emotions like that.


    At that time a voice could be heard from behind. The voice belonging to Reyn was what pulled back Alanus.


    "Uncle we are breaking through them! Come!"


    Alanus turned around and saw Reyn with a bunch of soldiers running alongside him "Reyn what are you doing here? What about the civilians?", Alanus yelled.


    "Do not worry uncle. The enemy has not advanced that far and I have left a few soldiers there. Now let''s break through and recapture the gate!" Reyn yelled while he ran towards the enemy.


    "Hahaha, it seems I am becoming old. Giving up because of a bunch of morons blocking my way. Let''s go men! Charge !", Alanus shouted as he started to run towards the gate.


    They clashed with the enemy, Alanus lifted his sword and slashed at the enemy before him cutting him down, then he turned to Reyn and ran towards him. He killed the enemy that Reyn was fighting by stabbing him with his sword from behind. "Thank you, uncle!", Reyn yelled, visibly relieved they both were alright.


    "It''s ok Reyn, you need to go up to the gate fast. Stop them from opening it! Go!" He yelled "Yes uncle. Soldier with me!"


    Reyn took some soldiers as he ran up the stairs of the gate, he reached the top where the lever that was used for opening and closing the gate, he rank towards it but he and his soldiers were blocked by a bunch of enemy soldier''s that were protecting the lever.


    "We won''t let you get near the lever boy! Men! Kill every single one of them!" One of the enemy yelled as they charged at Reyn and his soldiers.


    "Damn it! Charge!", Reyn yelled as well and ordered his soldiers to attack as well.


    Neither Reyn nor any of his soldiers could reach the gate, but just at that time Alanus arrived and pierced one of the men, the rest of the soldiers that were fighting in front of the gate also came, but there were very little that made it.


    "I knew something was up when the gate didn''t close when you went up. So they had soldiers up here as well. Quickly men pull the lever!", Alanus yelled.


    They somehow managed to pull it and the gate closed, but there were still many enemy soldiers, that managed to get inside for the short time the gate was open.


    "This is madness! We won''t be able to hold on much longer. We have less men every second", Alanus spoke.


    "Uncle..........Look!", Reyn stood there and just pointed towards one of the hills outside the city.


    "What is........it......?!" Alanus slowly opened his eyes wide in shock.


    "By the gods what in the name of heaven is that?!", Alanus yelled as he looked at the black army approaching Veriates. There was a black incredible aura emanating from that army and that thing that stood in front of them all. Even the snow was turning black, whereever they stepped.


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Back at the camp of the second prince Niel, who was currently in his tent with the succubus.


    "Prince Niel! Prince Niel !", one of the soldiers yelled calling for Niel, he walked out of the tent half naked and with an annoyed voice he answered.


    "What is it scum? And haven''t I told you to call me king now!"


    "Yes.......my king" The soldier answered.


    "Good. Now speak! Why have you decided to bother me !"


    "Urgent report, an army has appeared north of us!" He yelled.


    "What? reinforcements !?" Niel asked with a shocked expression.


    "No......I don''t think so. They carry strange black weapons and armor. Also they.........." The soldier stopped for a moment.


    "They are all undead, my king. Its an army of the undead!"


    "Undead? Why? Where did they come from !?" Niel started to panic but was soon calmed down.


    "Don''t panic my darling Niel, it''s just a bunch of bones. Focus on putting them to rest again. Veriates can wait a little. They have almost crumbled, we can destroy these lowly things first" the Succubus whispered with her melodic voice close to Niel''s ear as she hugged him from behind.


    Niel''s eyes turned red. "Yes...you are right, my love" Niel turned towards the soldier and yelled "Order all the generals to focus on the new enemy! Destroy them!"


    "As you command my king !" The soldier answered and ran.


    "Hmph, these lowly undead wont spoil my plans. Niel, darling, how about we go watch the battle?" She turned towards Niel.


    "Yes, my love, let us depart" Niel spoke as he started dressing.


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Up on the hill, Connor watched as the soldiers that were attacking Veriates a few moments ago shifted their formation towards him.


    "Haha! Look at all those worms! Disgusting!", Connor spoke as he watched the enemy prepare for battle.


    "Aldaek take four thousand soldier''s and attack their right wing. Aknar also take four thousand and go for their left wing. I will head with the rest towards the middle." Connor was doing a pincer attack one from the left and one from the right and the middle to corner the enemy in the middle.


    "As you command my king.", both of them said in unison,"but is it really need for you to go personally, my king?", Aknar spoke.


    "No, but why miss all the fun" Connor answered.


    "I understand" Aknar replied.


    Connor raised his hand and pointed towards the enemy soldiers and said coldly "my army show those disgusting,filthy humans our might Let The Slaughter Begin leave no one alive.",all the skeleton who heard turned into wolves that would devoured everything,their eyes were in bloodshot.

 Chapter 9 - The Defeat of the prince

    "Let the slaughter begin.", Connor said coldly as he pointed towards the enemy.


    "Yes, my king." Aknar and Aldaek spoke in unison while they bowed down on one knee in front of Connor. A few moments after they got up, they then obeyed Connor given task.


    "We march to battle for our king. Death to the living!" Once again they shouted simultaniously, as if they were one entity. The response of the black army was a terrifying war cry that sent shivers down the spine of the enemy soldiers.


    Aknar and Aldaek started to run towards the enemy, unlike one would expect from those in command, close behind them followed their allotted part of the black army.


    "Well then, shall we have some fun" Connor said as he slowly made his way towards the enemy, behind him following the remaining two thousand black skeleton soldiers.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Infantry! Shield''s up! Archers! Draw your swords and get into position! We are fighting the undead! Arrows won''t have much effect!" The enemy general''s commanding voice echoed over the battlefield, anticipating the tide of reanimated bones and rusty iron.


    The soldiers quickly scrambled into formation as the general had ordered. The employed tactic was a simple one because up until now all undead they encountered had been mindless creatures, that only charged in a straight line towards the closest enemy.


    "Ready men! We shall clash soon!" He yelled as he watched the black army rapidly approach.


    "Here they come!"


    "I take the right flank", said Aldaek.


    "I take the left flank", said Aknar.


    They spoke at the same time and just when they were a few steps from engaging the enemy, they suddenly changed their direction and separated.


    "What?!" The enemy general was confused, something like this had never happend before. In his surprise he muttered:"Undead that do not directly engage the nearest living target? Impossible." Despite his inital confusion he had gotten the rank of general not because of his lineage but earned it through many battles. Quickly new orders were given.


    "Cover the left and right wing!"


    Soldiers from the middle rushed towards the left and right wing, streching the formation in the middle thin and leaving it vulnerable. It was too late when they noticed Connor and remaining two thousand soldiers were still on their original course, approaching the middle.


    Finally one of the messengers from the front reached the command post.


    "General! There are more of them incoming in the center!"


    "What the hell is going on here?! They were supposed to be mindless! Damn it! Send the reserve units to cover the center. Tell the men to hold their ground men at all costs!"


    "Argaaaaaa!" Screams could be heard from all direction. And with every single one of them one more soldier perished.


    "What''s happening!?" The general yelled again in confusion.


    One of the soldiers came yelling from the direction of the right wing:"General, we need reinforcements at the right flank! The undead are breaking through!"


    Shortly after another one from the left flank arrived with a similar request.


    "General, we need reinforcements. The enemy at the left wing carries strange black weapons. They cut through our shields like theiy are made out of paper!"


    The enemy general''s eyes opened wide, but not because of what he had heared from the messengers. No, it was because of the intese fear he felt when he saw what was approching his position. A knight clad in armor as black as the darkest night was on his way and the general knew there was nothing stopping it.


    "This......This can''t be happening...", the general dropped down on his knees and looked at the horror in front of him.


    Connor slowly approached the general. Up until now he had not summoned his bone blade, he just hadn''t needed it. The common footsoldiers were no threat to him and so he had his minions take care of them.


    "Hold the line men! Don''t let them break the formation or we are all dead! Shield up, soldier! Stop the big one! He must be the leader! If we kill him it''s over!" One of the soldiers, an officer apparently, gave orders as they stood before Connor with raised shields.


    "Annoying! Kill them." Connor''s cold voice ordered his soldiers to attack. The red dots in their eye sockets flickered fiercely. Until now their two prime instincs had been in conflict with each other. One the one hand they wanted to kill everything living they saw, on the other hand they could not act without an order of their king. But now they were released from this conflict. If they were able to feel happiness, now would be one of their happiest moments in their undead existence.


    With the command given the skeleton soldiers charged at the enemy shield wall without the slightest hint of selfpreservation.


    The shield wall that was suposed to hold the undead back crumbled under the intense pressure like it was nothing. Shields and armor were cut in pieces by the skeletons wielding the unholy weapons Connor had granted them.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Aaaaaa!!'' The soldier''s screams let the air vibrate. Morale plummeted. Soon they abandoned the formation and fled from the battlefield. Now the only position not already overrun by the undead was the command post where the general and his attendant were.


    Some brave man who previously gave orders was now screaming at the deserters:"Get back here! Hold the formation! This is treason! You will all be executed!"


    "Get b-" He noticed a shadow behind him. Knowing what was to come, he started to tremble as he turned around. Tears started gathering in the corners of his eyes. His mouth opend but he didn''t even have a chance to utter one word.


    Connor raised his sword high and with a single slash cut him horizontally in half.


    "Disgusting." Connor continued to move forward towards the enemy general when he spotted a man with an appearance similar to Reyn on a horse. The man looked terrified as if he could''t believe the horror that was happening right before his eyes. Behind him on the horse was the succubus, embracing Niel from behind.


    "These things, what the hell are they? Are they really undead!?" muttered the succubus as she watched the scene.


    "My darling Niel, the big one that''s approaching us must be the leader. If you kill him the other ones will surely be useless." she whispered in Niels ear.


    Niels eyes turned red "Yes. You are right, my love." With his fear forgotten he turned towards the kneeling general and yelled:


    "What are you doing? Just kill that thing! He must be the leader! What are you waiting for? Now!"


    "Yes.....my king." Seeing his king without fear in his eyes sparked a tiny bit of hope in his heart. The general got up and drew out his bastard sword. Connor was still slowly moving like he was taking a relaxing walk. He had no reason to hurry, now that he was undead he had all the time in the world and watching those worms in front of him struggle was a good way to pass time.


    "How do I kill that thing!?"


    "How would I know? Just charge at it and grind his bones to dust or whatever."


    "Damn it all!" He shouted and charged with his sword ready to strike towards Connor. On his way he cut off the head of the skeleton that tried to block his way. Even if they had weapons that pierced armor, he was a veteran warrior.


    After a few seconds that felt like minutes, he finally reached Connor. The general jumped in the air and raised his sword high over his head. The attack came down towards Connor and a loud bang was heard and the general flew backwards. With his eyes wide open he realized what just happend. Connor had managed to block his sword with his own, but the difference in power was so enormous that he couldn''t even stand his ground after the clash.


    The general readied himself for the next clash.


    "Hoh, you are not bad with a sword, human. But you are too careless" Connor''s cold voice resounded again as he stared at the general.


    "What are you talking about, you mon-" He didn''t manage to finish his sentence. A sharp pain pierced the area of his stomach.


    He looked down and saw a black sword piercing him "Argghh!" The pain was unbearable.


    With the little strength he had left, he managed to turn his head around. What he saw defied everything he knew about the undead. In front of him was the headless skeleton he had decapitated earlier. Black mist was forming around the part of the spine where he had cut off the skull. The mist, like it had a will of its own extended to the skull lying on the ground and lifted it up. The skull then flew on its own towards the skeleton and reattached itself.


    With his last breath the general uttered:"This is impossible...Monsters........."


    "Hey, even I am surprised. I didn''t know they were so robust. Now that the general is dead, I think it is time to visit the little prince who started all of this." The magic influencing Niel had worn off and he was back to trembling like a little child.


    "Niel, darling, I think it is better if we retreat for now." Succubas spoke to Niel but he didn''t respond at all.


    She started to panic as Connor approached them "Move Niel, or we will die!"


    "Ye.....yes!" Niel snapped out of it and turned his horse around but it was too late. He had watched Connor for too long and didn''t realize the undead had already surrounded them. From all over the battlefield they had poured to him, killing all the soldiers guarding Niel in the process. Now he was left alone with the succubus in the middle of the dead.


    The black skeletons moved towards Niel and his mistress to kill them. "Hii!" Niel shrieked but then a cold and dark voice was heard.


    "Do not kill them yet. Bring them to me." It was Connor.


    All the skeletons froze in place as if the order physically bound them in place. Out of the encirlement Aknar and Aldaek emerged to take the prisoners before their king.


    They dragged Niel and the succubus before Connor''s feet. Aknar and Aldaek stood behind the two. When they realized the prisoners would not bend their knee they became furious. "BOW DOWN TO THE SKELETON KING, THE KING OF ALL UNDEAD!" Their yell shook the ground and the air and their voices could even be heared inside Veriates.


    The succubus and Niel kneeled down on both legs immediately.


    Connor walked closer to them. "So you are the famous prince that started a rebellion, huh?" Connor spoke as he took a closer look at Niel.


    Niel did not dare look in the eyes of the thing in front of him. Out of fear he even leaked a little. With a voice that almost couldn''t be heard Neil answered:"Y....yes."


    "Good. Your uncle and your brother have few things to say to you. And who might this woman be? Your wife? Or maybe your mistress?" Connor turned his head to look at the succubus. A cold air suddenly sweep through the succubus face.


    The succubus started to tremble she started to sweat. She did not want to die here. In her panic she thought that if this thing before her is a male then her charms should work on him as well.


    She gathered her courage and stood up "You worm dare stand up!" Aknar and Aldaek spoke, the desire to kill evident in their voice. However Connor stopped the two by who raising his hand.


    Tears gathered in the eyes of the succubus and with a weak voice she spoke "This horrible man kidnaped me and killed my whole family. He did terrible things to me." She cried her eyes out.


    "Wha.....?" Niel was left dumbfounded.


    "Thank you, my lord. Thank you for saving me from this man." She threw herself at Connor and hugged him of hopes it would help her charm ability. When her eyes turned red and she looked at Connors eyes she flinched, the only thing she saw in his eyes was death. Her death.


    She tried to push herself away from Connor but it was no use. Connor had already grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up in the air with one hand.


    "Your lies do not work on me, worm." He pierced her through the chest with his sword. She started screaming in agony and instead of simply dying something surprising happend. Black wings, a black tail and horns sprouted out of her and she started to burn. Soon nothing was left but ash.


    "That, my king, was a demon. A succubus to be precise." Shade popped up and spoke.


    "Uhh a demon. I thought it was just another one of these disgusting humans. Ohh well, I guess demons are not so much different from humans. Except maybe their true appearance but they still use the same lies."


    "Yes, indeed, my king"


    "And now to the little prince who started this mess. Shall we go and visit your family? Drag him to Veriates." Connor ordered his soldiers and he turned around leading the army with Aldaek and Aknar followed closely behind him.


    On top of the walls of Veriates, Reyn and Alanus with the remaining defenders watched the whole thing.


    "Uncle, please tell me I am dreaming." Reyn spoke with wide opened eyes.


    Alanus wore a serious look on his face and spoke "I am afraid that this is not a dream and I believe this is just the beginning.