The golden knight’s armor hummed with power as a jetpack materialized from hidden compartments on its back, twin thrusters unfolding with a sleek mechanical whir. The golden cape vanished, replaced by angular wings that gleamed under the moonlit sky. Mana energy flared from the thrusters, casting a faint golden glow around the knight as it hovered, both hands gripping the glowing longswords tightly.

Javier smirked, his voice calm through the mana talkie.

"Everyone, stay back. Keep your distance from the monster. Attack helicopters, maintain a wide perimeter and stay out of its reach. Do not engage."

He chuckled softly, his voice filled with anticipation.

"This one... is mine."

"As you command, Your Highness."

The golden knight’s thrusters ignited with a brilliant golden flame, launching him forward at incredible speed. He soared through the air, stopping mid-flight at a distance, hovering effortlessly in the sky as he looked down at the massive dark creature below.

"Woo hoo~ What a huge target~"

He glanced down and focused his scanning on the monster below.

"Man... big as a titan, huh? But disgusting like a pile of rotting sludge mixed with rotting flesh, and nightmares."

He studied the weapon the monster held, a solid-liquid mass of dark aura that shifted and writhed like a living thing. It resembled a crude sword, but with a single, pulsating eye embedded near the base of the blade, watching everything with malevolent awareness.

"Sigh..." Javier exhaled, his voice dripping with annoyance. "Why is it that every time I face something related to dark magic, darkness, or dark power, it always looks weird and disgusting? Can’t they at least try to look cool for once? Like something majestic, not a walking pile of nightmares?"

Javier started babbling and complaining while pointing one sword toward the huge monster, resting the other sword on his shoulder.

"What the hell is wrong with the people here?"

"Damn. Always seeking power that looks disgusting. First, the celestial filth, then the dark assassins, the other guy before, and the other group before." He glanced at the monster, shaking his head. "And now this. I’m pretty sure this monster was summoned, just like the monster rift from Mathrias Estate before."

Javier let out another exhale before contacting all the attack helicopters.

"If any of you spot a monster rift, attack and crush it immediately. Don’t let it summon anything else. Focus fire on the rift if you see one."

"As you command, Your Highness."

Javier glanced down at the monster, which had begun to rage, swinging its massive dark weapon and crushing nearby buildings. Towers crumbled under its strikes, and the dark aura around it melted and burned everything it touched, leaving trails of smoldering ruin.

"Eww. So disgusting."

Javier shook his head before both his golden swords vanished from his hands.

"There’s no way I’m going to fight it close range. I don’t think I want to touch something like that, even if this golden knight has the strongest barrier runes and defensive spells installed."

He raised his palm, aiming toward the monster below. His palm began glowing with golden and white light, forming a swirling sphere of energy in front of it, crackling with pure radiant energy.

"Since it’s dark power... let’s fight it with light power. Just like the celestial filth before."

The core in the center of the golden knight’s chest spun faster, glowing brighter, crackling with immense power as it channeled energy into the attack.

"Man... I’m disappointed." Javier mumbled, shaking his head. "I really thought I’d have a chance to test the golden knight’s endurance, armor, and combat abilities. But looking at how disgusting that thing is... I changed my mind."

He let out a soft sigh. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Anyway, I guess it’s time to finish this one here. I don’t want Hanarak to escape while I’m playing around, or I’ll have a huge problem with Father."

The white light sphere crackling with power finished charging, glowing intensely as it hovered before the golden knight’s palm.

Javier released the light sphere toward the monster. It shot forward with blinding speed, a streak of pure white and gold energy that tore through the air and struck the monster’s chest. The sphere exploded into a massive flash of white light, engulfing the creature in a searing wave of energy.

The monster let out a long, agonized scream as its dark form began to burn and vaporize, its body disintegrating into nothingness. When the light faded, only a scorched, smoldering landscape remained where the monster once stood.

"Well... I believe this job is done. But man... now we can’t capture whoever summoned that disgusting creature to investigate. I would have liked to know what kind of artifact or ritual they used to bring something like that here."

He exhale, shaking his head.

Sigh... another trouble I have to explain to Father after this.

Javier glanced around the area, scanning the ruins, before a realization struck him.

"Ah crap... I should find where Hanarak is escaping to. I’m sure they built an underground emergency escape route. Alf and the Shadow Leader mentioned it’s standard for any major assassin base to have multiple escape tunnels."

He chuckled softly.

"Yeah... if it were me, I’d create an escape route too. The Armand Estate has the same thing, but ours is different. We have the main barracks just behind the estate, and of course, all my knights standing guard like statues, alert to any intruder, along with the battle drones and automated defense systems."

He scratched the golden knight’s helmet thoughtfully.

"Now... where is Hanarak?"

Javier activated all detection systems on the golden knight, scanning the ground for heat signatures, mana traces, and movement patterns beneath the surface.

Meanwhile.

Hanarak and his subordinates were about to reach the end of the escape tunnel when the massive explosion from Javier’s light sphere shook the entire underground passage. The force of the blast threw them violently against the walls, the shockwave tearing through the tunnel.

Hanarak was thrown hard against the stone, his left arm torn off at the shoulder from the sheer force. His ribs cracked, his leg was broken, and blood trickled from his mouth as he collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.

He clutched the stump where his arm used to be, the wound cauterized by the intense heat of the blast, leaving a searing, hot pain that radiated through his entire body.

"Fuck!"

He gripped his shoulder in agony, hissing through clenched teeth.

"What the hell just happened?"

He glanced sideways at his severed arm lying among the rubble, then leaned against the broken wall.

Don’t tell me... Did Garius personally come here to hunt me down?

His eyes widened in terror.

Shit, shit, shit...

This is the same power Garius used long ago. Back when I was still an assassin serving the Klimbert Household. He just snapped his fingers, and a small light, no bigger than a marble, exploded with enough force to level an entire town.

He coughed, spitting blood.

Crap... If it’s Garius who came personally... I don’t think I have any chance to escape or fight back.

He slammed his fist against the ground in frustration.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

The same thing that happened before is happening again!

Shit...

I should have just lived like an ordinary person, like I promised Garius all those years ago. He spared my life back then, and I swore I’d leave the life of an assassin behind.

But because of my greed and pride, because I couldn’t stand the thought of losing to Alf, I broke that promise. I rebuilt the House of Hanarak, I sought power, I took on contracts I shouldn’t have, and now... now I’m paying the price.

( End Of Chapter )