Way of the Knights

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"Good grief." Mark chuckled as he saw how Paul held up the barricade all by himself. "How many beast does he intend to take on by himself?"

He shook his head but wasn't really worried for the guy. If anything, he had absolute confidence on his brother that he wouldn't bite more that what he can chew. Since Paul decided to pull off this move, he knows what's he dealing with. If things goes south, he only need to say the word and Mark wouldn't hesitate to rush to his aid.

He would've loved to give him a hand but there's something that's really bothering him currently…

"Something's wrong with these people…"

That's what Mark was thinking as he continued blitzing through the battlefield like a lightning bolt. 

The more he fought with the members of Black Curtain Guild, the more he realized that they aren't acting like how they used to. He had fought with them several times in the past, so he definitely had a basis when he said that there's something strange about them.

To him, it was as if he wasn't fighting humans but beasts instead, only these people are acting wilder than savage beasts. 

He had killed a few of their numbers, but he had yet to hear a single word from any of his victims. All he could hear from them is just unintelligible grunts and moans, and due to this he couldn't help but find the situation incredibly strange. 

He could've killed them faster if he wanted to, yet he decided to deliberately slow down his speed, he even tried talking to them yet their replies are just some random grunts and moans that never made sense to him. 

To further prove his point, these people fought like animals. There are no traces of sophistication nor technique in the way they fought. They waved their weapons like they were some sort of a club, and he had yet to see them use any Law powered attacks even thought their bodies obviously contained fluctuations of them. 

As he ran with a blinding speed in the battlefield, he activated his Long-distance Transmission Rune to report his observations since he could feel that this is a relevant information. 

Luis and the rest heard his reports and just as expected, they too found this behavior very strange as well. 

The timing of this news is just bad, it would've been fine if they weren't at war but that wasn't the case. And in their situation, any kind of strange developments can cause the tides of battle to change so they must know what's wrong. 

"Dear." Queen Elizabeth called out to her husband, "I'm afraid that there more to this than what it looks like to the surface. There's no telling on what Vit'hum could do. Can you tell them to bring one here so that I can inspect them closer?"

Alexander didn't waste time and relayed the message to Luis. The latter then asked Old Lee and Mark to do the task, if possible discretely too to avoid rousing suspicions from the enemy. 

Old Lee and Mark got the message, their eyes met and without wasting any time, they turned into lightning and appeared behind two unsuspecting Black Curtain Guild members. 

Mark sent pulses of electricity to his victim's body in order to immobilize and make them unconscious. After doing that, he grabbed his victim by the collar and retreated towards the East Wall with Old Lee.

They both appeared in front of the King and Queen with their abducted victims. And even though they were unconscious, the two didn't want to take any chances so they still pinned them down on the ground. 

"Good work you two." Queen Elizabeth told them as she walked towards the unconscious people. 

"Be careful, Liz." Old Lee said, referring to Queen Elizabeth. 

She nodded and chanted some Elven words. She held out her hand and two seeds were sent out from her fingers.

The seeds dissolved onto the heads of the targets and shortly after, they sprouted. The sprout looked hideous. Black roots seemingly covered with slimy grime, the bud bloomed into a rotting flower that emanated a scent of death and decay. The whole sprout was then covered with blood and a foul stench that became unbearable, causing the Queen to dissipate them through a snap of her fingers.

Queen Elizabeth frowned and said: "This is bad. Just as I thought, these people are corrupted."

The King heard the bad news and felt a headache coming, he then asked: "What kind of corruption are we talking about and how bad is it?"

"Their sanity is completely eroded." Queen Elizabeth said, the listeners to frown even more. "They aren't aware of what's happening. It seems that the culprit reduced them into a bloodlust-driven warriors. This sanity deprivation is bad enough that so long as they are able to move, they won't stop killing. The only way to stop them is by slicing their heads-off."

"Luis, relay this information to everyone." The King informed after hearing the analysis of his wife. 

However, before Luis could say anything, the Queen revealed more information.

"It doesn't stop there though." She said, "The culprit of this is most likely Vit'hum himself, I can sense his influence and Death Laws in these two. And if I'm correct then he most likely did this to every single one of them. Aside from killing them, we have to make sure to erase all traces of residual Death Laws from their bodies. There's no telling what Vit'hum could do with those."

The group became silent after hearing this. This was terrible news. 

As if the amount of beast he brought to the kingdom wasn't enough, Vit'hum just had to pull off something like this. 

Just like Queen Elizabeth's words, they have to do something about these bodies since there's no telling what Vit'hum could do with them. After all, Vit'hum is already at the Second Field of study on his Death Laws. The amount of things he could do with them might cause them to lose this war or worse, be the deaths of them. 

"Dispose these two for now, do it amidst the horde." King Alexander ordered, "You two, focus on clearing out the Black Curtain Guild forces. If you can, try to pile their bodies away from here just in case something happens."

"It will be done, Your Majesty." Mark replied, he and Old Lee then disappeared from sight and returned to the battlefield as lightning bolts while dragging their victims with them. 

"Luis, concentrate on the battlefield. We will try to search for ways to deal with this situation." Alexander told him. Luis nodded and left returned his attention to the flow of battle once again. 

"Dear, do you have any idea on to deal with this situation?" Alexander asked Elizabeth since he himself was clueless. 

Sadly, the Queen shook her head and said: "I can't think of any. Sadly, I don't know anyone who cultivates Death Laws to consult with."

This caused the King to sigh and felt worried about their current situation. He had seen what Death Laws could do before since he fought with Altair before. This was before he knew that Vit'hum was actually controlling his brother. 

In the middle of their conundrum, Balmung the suddenly spoke.

"I asked for some help with this, someone actually replied saying that they could help." 

His words livened up the group, Alexander then asked: "Who is it?"

"Richard." Balmung revealed, causing them to be shocked. 

"You mean, that Richard?" Queen Elizabeth asked, wanting some clarifications. 

"Yes, Richard the alchemist." Balmung nodded, he then activated his communication array. "Here, you can talk to him." 

The King took the array tablet and spoke to it, "Richard?"

"Yes, it is me Your Majesty." Richard's voice sounded through the communication device. "Prince Balmung informed us about your situation. Luckily, all this concoction pushed me to the edge, allowing my skills to enter a new level. I believe I have the solution for the problem about the Death Laws."

Hearing his words caused the King to feel overjoyed. In his ecstatic mood, he failed to realize something that he would normally be able to tell. 

Richard's voice sounded extremely strange, even his speaking habits sounded off for some reason. On one hand, this could be amounted to his exhaustion. After all, he had been concocting pills and potions day and night, barely getting rest in between. 

The King then said: "Wonderful! What are your ideas?"

"I'll need to concoct some potions, it won't take long. An hour or two will suffice. In the mean time, the amount I can produce is limited due to the shortage of materials. If it's possible, then please have the bodies pilled up so that cure can cleanse all the targets at once."

"I've already ordered them to do that. Focus on your concoctions then, I'll send Victor at the Sacred Leaf Tavern to pick up the cure after two hours."

"As you wish, Your Majesty. I'll return to my chambers then."

Richard then switched the communication array off and looked up to see someone nodding at him while handing him some ingredients.

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