Clenching the folds of flesh holding back my stomach content from spilling out. Air cold as fire spilled from my lungs as I gasped for air as eruptions followed by explosions ricocheted in every direction.
Just a little more! Just a little more!
"New God. You good?" Sir Glenn asked in radiant laughter, slapping the back of my neck with his sturdy arm. "That's a nasty hit you took. Will you make it back?"
"We already made it into the palace grounds. Master will not be pleased if I made it this far and didn't kill the target." I spat, gathering the laws of creation to mend my wounds.
I always hated healing. There was nothing ever pleasant about it. Nothing. It always felt like some bastard was running their sword through me. Wishing for nothing more than to torment me. My gods, why did it feel like millions of ants were eating at me? I'm a damn god of creation! There should be no reason for pain when healing!
What a loathsome feeling.
"Lord Snow. We are ready." Annette, the commander, and Marquess uttered. She pointed her finger towards the second tower connected to the castle ahead and smiled. " The princess is there."
Princess Loretta Volguara delmaetera…
Regaining some mobility, I coughed up a bit of black blood and nodded. " Master wants her head. And he wants it today. No mistakes."
Glancing at Glenn, Velanna, Annette, and Kuro, whose faces turned grim at the mention of Master, a grave premonition waned over our heads.
Master… Master had changed these last four hundred years since Lord Mephistopheles proclaimed him as his disciple for all of the Myriad Heavens to see. Master gained a massive spike in his popularity… and enemies. He was infamous.
Unfortunately, all that infamy was like the plague for those that sided with him. Hundreds of thousands of Fifth and Sixth level beings are entering the Fourth Heaven. Claiming land and power without care for the natural order.
Master Zariel also seemed to be swamped in work, so much so that Shiva had to descend to retrieve him from these mundane tasks, as he called them.
Iluthath was going to shit. At this point, it's just a bonified hell.
"Let's go." Glenn urged, kicking off the cobblestone with a beastlike glint in his eye. Shadows congealed, shrowding his being in ever-black darkness as he Shadowed Step from my eyesight.
Following after him, a grizzled pressure weighed as the strain of Shadow Step pressed like mountains against my shoulders, straining my life force.
The taste of brimstone was already spilling out of my mouth. It does that when I'm forced to use life force like a common devil.
Whipping past the various walls and decor alongside any enemy post we saw without even a shadow to our name. A silent run entered our minds as I searched the palace grounds.
Glenn was never one for stealth with his fat-assery but was oddly agile on his feet. He was a quick beast. One that had no problem killing. This bastard even had the balls to point his blade at me.
Shame I had to take a testicle for that.
"What are you smiling for?" Annette suddenly asked through the darkness. "Have you finally entered puberty? You know your Master has asked me countless times to warm your bed."
"Not interested." I coldly replied.
"You mean you're not interested in a Shade." She conveyed in a sorrowful voice.
I glanced back to the beautiful shade with emerald eyes and red hair tailored to the ways of the shade, and I frowned.
I never understood why women said these things. She is clearly beautiful. So why play these foolish mind games? Shades, because of Master, have been recognized as one of the most beautiful and strongest races in the Shadow Empire. There is no doubt about that. They are second only to Shadowfell.
"You know that's not the reason. I'll not be the Masters pawn in this low-class game."
Annette's lips perked into a frown." A game, you say?" She whispered, causing my brow to grow knitted. " I guess it is a game to people like you."
"Just focus on the fucking mission." I spat, annoyed by her tone.
"Target found!" Glenn suddenly whispered as his body suddenly began to grow. Fur folded from his pores in what appeared like a mane of sorts as he tore through a particular door on the eastern tower.
"Enemy Attack!"
Shadow Stepping deep to where Tenebrae Blessing led me, two spears of the darkness folded from out of my palms just as I materialized before a small squad of seven mid gods, armed in formation to protect a small child no more than ten and her elder sister, nearing sixteen, an icy glint flickered through my heart.
"Protect—"
Driving a spear through the heads of the twin sisters, painting the ground with their brains, my eyes swayed like a cold clock to the nearest enemy as shadows twisted and bent to my will. Spear light howled from the darkness, and before any one of the seven guards could react, a whirlwind of death exploded, turning them to paste.
"NO!!!"
Skewing through the hearts of my enemies to the wall with a shadow spear, I rocketed off my feet in dance from shadow to shadow, reaping lives in such a way I'm sure Master would find a smile.
"You're getting better with a spear!" Glenn howled as he appeared on all fours howling like a feral lion.
"Focus," Kuro, whose attunement to the darkness was said to rival my own voice, as she appeared like an apparition from my shadow. Eyes a pale red, she glanced around with cold, calculating eyes and nodded.
"Let's go. Targets have been terminated."
"She's right. We can't stay any longer." Added Annette, " I'm calling it. Let's get the hell out of here."
Seeing nor having the desire to argue, I merely nodded to these two titans. Giving this place one last sweep, I counted two still alive.
Two… from Velanna. She's the only one who uses a rapier; what shotty work.
"Master Snow?" Kuro urged, nudging my arm with hers.
"Yeah. I know." I muttered, clasping my hands together. Darkness sprung from my bones as two ever-black eyes filled with warmth settled over me.
"Lady Tenebrae," I whispered her name, wishing to fall to a knee but knowing it was not my place to do so.
To bow to anyone… that wasn't master was to commit a grave sin. It matters not if they are married or not. The Pride of the King is not something even I can comprehend.
"A fine job, little Snow. Perhaps, this may pave a new path into the shadows. Return to the fold, little Snow. Tenebrous is looking for you."
"... Is he happy?"
Noticing that mischievous glint that seemed to come and go in Tenebrae. I instantly grimaced, knowing no answer she came up with would be truthful.
Tenebrae wasn't a lair… But she definitely was! I've fallen too many times for her tricks! Not again!
"Can I perhaps—"
"Bring that little ass to the Shadow Realm. I'm growing tired of waiting, Boy!"
Shaken by the King's words, I groaned as Tenebrae's sweet laughter resounded, swallowing me alongside my comrades in her mystic glow of night.