"Leader!!"

"What?" Hanarak glanced at one of his subordinates, his voice tense.

"You should leave this place, Leader. It’s not safe here."

"No..." Hanarak shook his head, his grip tightening on his blades. "I can’t abandon everything I’ve built without fighting back. This base, our resources, our reputation, I won’t let Armand take it all without a fight!"

"But Leader!" one of his subordinates protested, his voice trembling. "The enemy is overwhelming us. We can’t win this!"

Hanarak gritted his jaw, his eyes burning with fury.

Damn!

Why the hell is Armand intervening in this? This was none of their business! We weren’t targeting them! We were just fulfilling a contract! We were hired to take out a Mathrias noble, not to provoke a war with Armand!

Shit!

Now everything is a mess!

Hanarak glanced at the body of his subordinate lying at the bottom of the staircase, riddled with countless wounds from unknown magic projectiles.

Shit, shit, shit.

He turned to two of his subordinates.

"You and you, go through the first door and head to our summoner units. Tell them to summon a monster rift. We need to buy time and keep them busy."

"Yes, Leader!" The two subordinates gave a full salute before rushing toward the door, opening it, and disappearing inside.

Hanarak turned to two more subordinates.

"You and you. Use the second door and head to the dark magic room. Activate the special artifact."

The subordinates’ eyes widened in surprise. "B... but Leader... that thing... if we summon it, it will be too dangerous. It’s beyond our control."

"Stop thinking about it now! Just follow my orders if you want to survive this!"

"Y... yes, Leader!" They saluted and rushed toward the second door, their footsteps echoing as they disappeared into the corridor.

His assistant walked toward Hanarak, his voice urgent.

"Leader, you should leave this place now and let us handle it."

"I... I can’t! We must fight Armand and kill as many of their personnel as we can. I’m sure Alf sent the assassins from the Shadow House. If we kill enough of their stronger assassins, the House of Hanarak will reach the top. We will be known and feared as their equal, or even stronger!"

"But Leader!" the assistant insisted, his voice desperate. "Those summoned demons from the special artifact are not something we can control at all. If you die here, the House of Hanarak will cease to exist. Everything we’ve built will be lost!"

Hanarak gritted his jaw again.

Shit.

What he said is true.

If I die, everything I’ve built crumbles. But if I just run like this, I don’t know how long it will take to rebuild something like this. And I’m sure the Shadow House will hunt me down.

They won’t let me go.

I don’t know how they got intel on this place.

Shit, shit, shit.

This place is secluded and unknown to anyone. Not even the current King Klimar knows the location of our base.

So how did Armand find us here?

Do we have... a traitor among us? A double agent?

No... I don’t have time to find out who the traitor is.

He glanced at his assistant, suspicion flickering in his eyes. He was about to swing his dark aura blade toward him when a mana missile streaked through the open floor door and exploded in the center of the room.

The blast wave threw everyone inside, including Hanarak, against the walls. The room filled with smoke and debris, the screams of his dying subordinates echoing briefly before falling silent.

Hanarak blinked, his vision hazy from the explosion. He glanced around and saw his assistant lying lifeless nearby, his body torn apart by the blast. Blood pooled beneath him, and his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.

He glanced around again, his vision still blurry, and noticed a figure stepping toward him through the smoke and debris.

Am I going to die here... just like this?

He searched frantically for his blade, his fingers finally gripping the hilt of one of his dark aura blades. But before he could stand, he heard a weak voice.

"L... Leader... please leave this place."

Two of his surviving subordinates rushed to his side, lifting him up. One of them grabbed Hanarak’s other blade from the floor, while the other hurriedly opened a hidden emergency escape door.

"Leader! Let’s leave this place. Now!"

Hanarak, assisted by his two subordinates, limped toward the door. They moved quickly into the dark underground passage, one of them lighting the path with a glowing crystal.

Once they reached a deeper level, they stopped to let Hanarak rest. One of the subordinates immediately began channeling a dark healing spell, the energy seeping into Hanarak’s wounds.

"Shit..." Hanarak muttered, leaning against the cold stone wall.

"Leader... don’t move until we finish healing you."

Hanarak gritted his teeth, enduring the pain as the dark magic knitted his flesh back together. The wound on his stomach slowly closed, the torn skin mending under the dark glow.

"Once we get out of this place, we’ll head south, then northeast."

"Yes, Leader."

After a while, the huge wound on his stomach was fully closed, leaving only a faint scar.

"Leader, can you walk?"

Hanarak nodded and was about to stand when the ground shook violently. The walls trembled, and a deep, guttural roar echoed from above.

He smirked darkly. "Looks like our unit managed to summon that demon, huh?"

"Yes, Leader. We should leave this place now. It’s too dangerous to stay here, especially with that thing loose."

"Hmm... we leave this place now."

One of his subordinates raised his palm and summoned three hell hounds, their eyes glowing with dark fire. He commanded them to move ahead, scouting the path and ensuring it was clear before they followed.

Meanwhile...

Outside.

Armand soldiers began firing at a huge, unknown dark aura monster that emerged from the side of the base. It was massive, bulky, and shrouded in a swirling dark aura, wielding a weapon made of pure darkness.

Attack helicopters flew higher, creating distance while launching mana missiles toward the monster. The missiles struck its body, but the dark aura absorbed most of the impact, leaving only shallow wounds.

Snipers from a great distance peered through their scopes, firing mana sniper rifles at the monster’s weak points, but its aura seemed to deflect even their precise shots.

One of them tapped the mana talkie on his ear, his voice urgent but controlled.

"Your Highness! We have an unknown, massive dark aura monster on the field! It emerged from the base and is resisting our attacks! Dark aura, heavily armed. Requesting further orders!"

The golden knight tilted his head.

"Monster?"

"Yes, Your Highness," the sniper confirmed. "What are your orders?"

The golden knight let out a long exhale before unsheathing a huge golden sword, channeling his mana. The core on his chest began to spin, glowing with intense energy, while mana crackled across his full armor, glowing with a brilliant light from within.

"Is it big?"

"Yes, Your Highness." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Javier chuckled, excitement lacing his voice.

"Nice! Looks like I have a target to try out this knight’s full power. Let’s see how well it handles a real challenge."

( End Of Chapter )