Chapter 42: Regicide

"So you're Necromancer." Beatrix said as she brandished her blade after she saw me push Claude away through a wall with a wave of my hand.

"You would do well not to interfere, Goddess of War." I threatened with a generic line.

She of course ignored my words and went for a high speed lunge… which was blocked by my minion, an arrogant elven man named Arrinoth who wants to surpass Beatrix which led him to serve me as one of my Seven Wraiths. He wore a black coat with golden lines and patterns and wields a curved sword with runes carved on its blade. His long white hair is tied in a ponytail.

"You…!?" Beatrix exclaimed in surprise.

"Long time no see, Beatrix! This time I'll defeat you!" Arrinoth exclaimed while grinning.

"Who are you?" Ow… What a blow.

"What…!? After all those humiliating defeats you gave me…!?" Arrinoth muttered in anger.

"You will take care of her." I ordered him.

"You don't even need to ask, Necromancer." Arrinoth said as he brandished his curved blade.

"It's LORD to you!" I reprimanded him while releasing some of my aura, which startled even Beatrix.

"Y-Yes… my lord…!" He replied in fear.

I left him with Beatrix to check on the VIP booth.

"Ughh….!" I tried to stand up after being pushed back by the main body. He pushed me through two walls! Agh! My poor bones. I'm just a clone, man. Can't he be a bit gentler? If I die, I will simply disappear and leave no corpse and his scheme will be exposed if someone saw me disappearing!

A female figure wrapped in black cloak approaches. I know who she is.

"Mr. Claude." Nu said as she helped me stand up. She has been stalking the main body since days ago and today she's stalking me, not knowing I'm just a clone.

"Nu…? What are you…? Cough."

"Don't move. I'll get you to safety." She said as she carried me away from the scene.

"My family…" I said weakly.

"They'll be fine." She replied as we moved away while hearing an explosion coming from the direction where Beatrix was.

"What do you… mean?" I asked, making her stop.

"Shadow Garden will ensure that they are protected." She replied.

"Why…?" I asked curiously.

"Because you're a valuable ally. You noticed Princess Rose's Possession before any of us did." Huh? I did notice Rose's condition but how did they know?

"Rest assured that we won't allow any harm to befall your family." She replied while staring at me with serious eyes.

"Alright… I'll trust you." I said.

"There you are!" Shouted an assassin who immediately attacks us before being mutilated by Nu.

"UAAAGHH!"

"I will not allow you to harm him." She said with a sinister smile. Oh dear. Are my fears correct? Is she really a yandere? Oh dear.

"YOUR MAJESTY!" Glen and the other knights shouted as they brandished their blades, only to be stopped by Oriana bodyguards.

"FATHER!" Iris shouted as well, brandishing her own blade.

Several guests in attendance sheds their disguise, revealing their black leather armors as they brandished their blades to attack everyone, bringing absolute chaos in the VIP booth. Several people in attendance are unable to fight due to not carrying swords and thus all they can do is run, this includes the Normann family.

"King Raphael… Why…?" King Klaus asked weakly with King Oriana's blade piercing his heart.

"Because I want chaos and destruction! That's all! HA HA HA HA HA!" King Oriana laughed maniacally and pushed his fellow monarch to the floor as his daughter and everyone else looked on in complete disbelief.

"Father…?" She muttered as one of the assassins jumped towards her intending to knock her out before being sliced by Alexia.

"Alexia…?"

"Snap out of it, Rose!" Alexia shouted as she fought off another assassin.

"HAAAA!" Iris quickly defeated her opponents and dashed to attack King Oriana, who blocked her slash with a surprising degree of strength. The impact caused a shockwave that shatters the window.

"Wha!?" She exclaimed.

"Heh heh heh." The mad king only chuckled at her attempts as their blades are locked together.

"Why… Why are you doing this, King Oriana!?" She shouted angrily.

"As I said, I want chaos and destruction! It is the ultimate form of art that mankind could possibly create in this world! HA HA HA HA!" The mad king laughed again as he pushed Iris back, shocking everyone.

Alexia managed to reach her father and grabbed his hand as he laid dying and bleeding on the floor.

"Father! Please! Don't leave us!" She desperately pleaded her father with tears falling down her cheeks.

"Alex…ia…. You and your… sister… must protect… the kingdom…" Her father said as life left him.

"NOOOOOO!" Alexia screamed her lungs out.

An assassin dashed towards her from behind, ready to send her to join her father—

*TAP*

A sound of someone's light step heard as they beheld an armoured man entering the VIP booth through the window and with a brilliant display of skill dispatched multiple assassins at once with one swing, saving Alexia's life.

"That swordsmanship…!?" Rose muttered.

"You… You are…!?" Perv exclaimed, finally losing his smirk. Mundane Mann stood in front of him as black liquid substances began to envelop him.

"The time of lies has passed and we now enter the climax. My name is Shado-" He said before being interrupted.

"STYLISH BANDIT SLAYER!" Rose exclaimed.

"Eh?"

Eh? Where did she hear that name? It's been so long since I used that name. Kinda cringe now that I think about it, which is why I changed my alter ego's name to Shadow.

Anyway, it's unexpected that Rose-senpai's father was such a bad man that he killed Alexia's father. Oh. Looks like he escaped along with that pervy guy. Now what should I do?

"Shadow… what are you doing here!?" Iris brandished an Artifact sword she took from the statue, pointing it at me while asking the question. Yeah. What am I doing here? What should I do here now that the enemies have escaped? Should I chase them?

Ah, I know! I should save the king and then disappear mysteriously! That should be dope! I took a step forward to approach the king but Iris stopped me.

"Not a step closer!" She shouted with tears falling down her cheeks and the sword trembling in her hands. With a slash, I sent the sword flying and went to approach her father.

"F-Father….!" Alexia is weeping for her father that she barely acknowledged my presence. I put my hand on his chest to attempt healing him. I can resuscitate his heart after it is healed.

"Huh? Shadow…?" Alexia finally noticed me.

I was about to pour my magic to the king… before being stopped by my nemesis who suddenly appeared and grabbed my hand while staring at my face.

"I can't allow you to save the king, nemesis." He said before launching an unexpected laser beam from his eyes at point blank range, which I was forced to dodge by stepping back.

"Necromancer!" Iris shouted.

The Necromancer didn't reply and simply lifted the king's body and summons a runed sword to decapitate the king in front of Iris, Rose and Alexia.

"With this, there is no hope of saving him. Heh heh heh." He said as he threw the king's head on the floor.

Damn. He foiled my plan. Even I can't heal someone who was beheaded!

"YOU BASTARD!" Iris dashed towards him empty handed and tried to punch him in the face. But Iris is too slow and got pushed away after he simply waved his hand. Damn, I can tell that his magic is now stronger than before. This is interesting.

"Shadow! Apologies for my tardiness!" Alpha said as she and Beta arrived along with a squad of Shadow Garden members who stood in front of Rose protectively. We all stood while facing the Necromancer.

"My lord." A short and masked figure with distorted voice appeared beside him followed by a bunch of robed guys wearing skull masks in response to Shadow Garden appearing. The short figure wore a black robe and a white mask with two circular holes as eye sockets with tear like lines going down the eyes vertically and a horizontal straight line where the mouth is. The robe hides the short one's figure but… I could tell from a single glance who she is.

What a cool standoff we're having here. Yes! This is the right way to end this tournament arc! My beloved rival. You always know how to make things interesting!

"Why… Why are you doing this!?" Rose shouted at him.

"War." He replied with that menacing and distorted voice of his.

"What!? What war!?" Alexia shouted.

"A war which is millennia in the making. A war that has and will continue to be waged. A war that has been waged countless times over countless lifetimes. A war that always signals the end of an age." He replied ominously. Alpha, Beta, Rose and Alexia seemed to react to what he said by frowning. I wonder why. Do they find that cool too?

"You mean… your conflict with Shadow…!?" Alexia said. Oh, right. So they know the setting we're going with too. This is getting interesting.

"You… monsters….!" Oh look. Iris came back, carrying that Artifact.

"If you two want to fight… why involve our kingdom!? Why threaten our peace!?" Iris shouted as she once again brandished the blade.

"How else can it end an age? Heh heh heh." He said.

"What do you mean by ending an age?" Alpha asked.

"You shall see it soon." He replied as he brandished his staff and flew to the sky, with me following him by flying as well.

I escaped the VIP booth along with my parents. This is crazy! One moment we're watching the tournament, the next moment we're in a warzone! King Midgar was killed by King Oriana and now chaos suddenly break out.

"Claude! Where is he!?" My mother shouted worriedly.

"He should be fine! He was with Lady Beatrix!" My father replied.

As I ran, I suddenly felt… unwell. In fact, I felt… pain… in my left chest and I fell to the floor. Is this…?

"Charlotte?" My mother called out.

"I'm fine! Let's go!" I replied as I stood up and we kept running.

On the way we met 3 black robed people. From their silhouette, I can tell they're all women.

"Who are you!?" My father shouted.

"Have no fear. We are Shadow Garden and we're here to escort you out." Said one of them who I noticed has white long hair flowing out of her hood and a dagger strapped in her hips.

"What!?"

"This entire place has become a warzone. You must escape."

"Why are you helping us!?" My father esclaimed.

"Because your son is a valuable ally to the Shadow Garden and we won't allow his family to be harmed. Let's go."

"Hahhh. Alright. But I demand full explanation about why my son is in contact with criminals like you!" My father exclaimed before urging us to follow them.

I followed them while enduring this pain.

Oh brother… The day that I feared… has come...

Author's Note:

If you noticed, Sherry's mask design is the same as Lutheran's mask in his manga design. Also, lookie here. Managed to finish this chapter before the day ends (Still 2nd December 2023 at the time of this writing). Might as well upload it before I got busy.

TheVirtualPug: Then what happens when she finds out MM is Shadow? Will she still believe the brother thing?

Answer: You will see.

Lifedies: Dang how much is claire gonna try to damage cids mob persona gonna suffer cause of this fight

Answer: Yup. She's gonna bother him a lot soon.