Our story thus far
We begin with a flash forward to three months after the story's setting. A grueling drawn out battle between two protagonists, Spider and Argos, and a small army of assassins takes place. Spider and Argos manage to survive, but they are not unscathed. Spider has been poisoned, and is on the verge of death. Understanding this, Argos takes a broken spear point and stabs it into Spider's vitals.
The story's real setting is in the Desert City Morroc, to where Spider has guided a mysterious female traveler named Daphne Trenton. They depart, and Spider is summoned by the guild leader for another mission. He is to make sure Argos (a newly turned assassin and one of our protagonists) kills an individual known as the starling, then kill Argos himself. Spider suspects the Pope hired the hit on the starling, but we will later come to see that is highly unreasonable. The starling is actually the princess of Prontera; removing the princess would place the Pope closer to seizing power in Prontera.
Unbeknownst to many, Spider is actually a member of a secret ring of individuals known as the Circle. The Circle is an alliance of transcendent, high-profile characters from various cities that ironically, 'transcends' the complex political network and feuds between their respective conflicting cities. The main goal of the Circle is to prevent war from breaking out on the continent of Rune Midgard. Killing the starling would mean exactly that, but Spider has no intentions of fulfilling his mission. He tries to convince Argos to do the same.
However, Argos considers the hit a stepping stone to his goal of revenge against his former teacher Ghost, an Assassin Cross. It is not until he chances upon an encounter with Daphne Trenton and discovers that she is the individual known as the starling, he reconsiders. Argos is secretly a half-brother to Daphne Trenton and the son of the ailing king of Prontera, but was thrown out of the castle with his now deceased concubine mother. Daphne has been working at an orphanage in Morroc, helping children. She has formed a tight bond with a child named Rachel.
Meanwhile in Prontera, Captain Grant Graves, a Paladin and a member of the Circle, and a young knight Kristoph Reinbach, are sent on a mission by the Pope to retrieve Daphne Trenton from Morroc. Grant Graves also understands that the Pope intends to have Daphne Trenton executed, and plans to escort Daphne to safety. He is surprised to learn that Kristoph Reinbach (another one of our protagonists) is a childhood friend of Daphne. The two of them and a handful of other knights and crusaders disembark for Morroc. Among them is fellow knight Olin Ozworth, and a crusader, Juniper Weiss.
During their travels, they are attacked by a former Lord Knight Alexei Volkov and a gang of rogues in a raid and lose a member of their group, but manage to fend them off. They are once again ambushed by Volkov's gang near Morroc; it is during this attack that Reinbach somehow awakens an ability to enter the berserk state, a fearsome and reckless boost of abilities only available to Lord Knights. The Prontera riders manage to chase off Volkov's gang when reinforcements arrive.
Reinbach encounters Argos later that night. Each believes the other has orders to kill Daphne, and briefly fight. A rivalry is formed. The fight ends when Spider's signal is set off, warning Argos of a potential attack on Daphne. The two of them race back to the princess just in time to save her from a mercenary Stalker named Colette, who manages to critically injure Daphne and disarm Argos. Reinbach enters the berserk state and fends off the Stalker. Colette disappears when Spider and Grant arrive.
Another wrench further complicates their plans when the Assassin Cross Raal attacks Spider and Argos. The group believes Spider to be dead from a huge explosion in their battle. We find out later that Raal survives the blast relatively unscratched. Spider is saved by Colette, whose motives are unknown.
It is decided that staying in Morroc would be too dangerous for Daphne, as there are too many assassin crosses in the desert city. Grant orders the other Prontera riders to return to capital without him. Olin Ozworth and Juniper Weiss leave with the other riders, feeling disheartened, betrayed, and confused.
Grant requests help from another member of the Circle, a High Priestess named Cadence Michelle Symphonia and hires a Clown named Nicholas and a dancer named Eurie to guide the group to Comodo. Cadence is unable to travel with them, but warns the group that the Pope recently appointed several individuals as interim generals, known as the Royal Justices, tasked with the job of finding those accused of treachery. They believe that the Pope will order the Royal Justices to hunt down Graves, Reinbach and Daphne.
The guides that Grant has hired seem to be doing a terrible job leading the group. To make things worse, it appears that another assassin cross is on their trail. The group run into Volkov's gang of rogues, but Volkov has gone missing and the rogues are discouraged. Kardac, a stalker, and Zimba, a rogue, warn the group to be careful. Surprisingly, the two groups separate on good terms.
The Prontera riders arrive at the capital and unwittingly deliver a secret message of Grant's. She understands and immediately leaves for Yuno, with the Royal Justice of Monks hot on her trail. Unfortunately, two students are sucked up in the whirlwind of events and she takes them away from Yuno academy to Comodo, where Grant has told her to travel to for safety. The two students are Tolby Neptunia, a young male sage, and Caroline Cook, a young female alchemist.
We find out that Volkov has been chosen by the Pope to lead the Prontera knights as a Royal Justice. Virtually all of the knights begin to question the Pope's decision, especially Ozworth, but they stay true to the chain of command and must follow Volkov. Elsewhere, Uriel Margaret, a paladin, is chosen as the Royal Justice of Crusaders, and we find out that Weiss is under his command as well.
It isn't long after Grant's group separates from Volkov's gang, that they are attacked by the first ranked assassin cross, Remiel. He quickly incapacitates Grant and Argos, forcing the rest of the group to run into some abandoned ruins. Nicholas stays at the entrance, in order to buy Daphne, Reinbach and Eurie some time. We find out that Eurie's shoddy job as a guide is due to her blindness, which she has kept a secret. Remiel catches up in no time. He incapacitates Eurie and injures Reinbach. As he is on the verge of killing Daphne, he is assaulted by a mysterious headache caused by Nicholas' music. Argos shows up and drinks a poison that forces a temporary increase in physical abilities, chasing the first ranked assassin cross away. Nicholas and Argos fall unconscious soon afterwards.
Daphne and Reinbach are forced to carry their incapacitated companions a short distance. During the time in which Reinbach leaves and returns for water, someone has whisked away Daphne and Eurie has regain consciousness. A mysterious traveler arrives and offers help. He claims to have a knowledge of poisons and antidotes, and cures Argos and Nicholas. Having gained Eurie and Reinbach's trust, he asks where Daphne has disappeared, only to lose it again. The traveler reveals himself as the second ranked assassin cross, Ghost. Ghost offers valuable information in exchange for Daphne's location, such as the fact that Remiel is actually a failed clone of the biolabs project, and the fact that Orpheus, Nicholas' real identity, was involved. Reinbach refuses to tell Ghost, as he does not know where Daphne has been taken.
Reinbach attacks Ghost with the best of his ability, but with a fractured wrist, he is only toyed with. He is further injured. Argos regains consciousness, and we learn that he also, is unable to stand up against Ghost. He is injured as well. Only Eurie remains. The blind dancer is able to stall Ghost's attacks until Nicholas regains consciousness and Spider returns with Daphne. Ghost is forced to run.
This is only a brief recap of the entire storyline. As the author, I feel that there are many subtle aspects of the story that cannot be retold in such a summary, and I encourage you to go back and reread previous chapters. Unfortunately, I am also aware that you have lives, and may have other better things to do than reread fanfiction. XD
Sit tight folks. The next chapter will be coming up VERY shortly.