The Runic Alchemist

Neither warrior had used their spells during the battle. One refrained out of pride, while the other harbored far more sinister intentions.

From the start of the match, Damian had been subtly moving the runic circle of the invisible box closer to the pompous noble's throne-like chair. After injuring the champion knight, he finally activated it. Coincidentally, both the knight and the lord began screaming at the same time.

Damian had expected the second-rank lord to have heightened enough senses to realize he was trapped in a confined space the moment it was activated. But the fat lord only noticed when he started struggling for breath.

Everyone watched in horror—some screamed, while others were too shocked to utter a word—as their lord and champion knight both died one after the other. It took Lord Theoclys Viranil some time to die. He tried everything—punching, slashing with his sword, and even using his strange Esper ability that created odd purple blobs he hurled at the box. But it was unbreakable from the inside.

Surprisingly, none of the guards thought to attack the box from the outside, they just could not understand what was happening among all the screams and noises. They simply watched as their lord died before their eyes. Damian thought at least someone would try something and he would have to use more mana to strengthen the box, he had saved whole lot just for this, but no one did.

Once the lord was dead, Damian canceled the spell, and the box disappeared.

Not everyone had even noticed the presence of the box. A few, like the lord's closest allies—the butler and the maids—had tried to reach him and punch the box, but it wasn't weak from the outside either. It would have required a significant attacks to break, but those capable of such an attack were too focused on watching Damian and the champion knight's fight to notice the lord.

"Him! It has to be him! He did something! He killed our lord!" screamed one of the maids. Everyone turned to Damian, their faces filled with fear.

However, no one dared to approach him—not even the guards. He had just defeated the second-strongest in the city, and the strongest had died under suspicious circumstances at the same time.

"What are you waiting for? Get him!" the butler screamed, cradling his lord's lifeless body. Finally, the guards moved together, surrounding Damian. But they weren't the only ones. The three captains positioned themselves on each side of Damian, covering him and staring down the lord's guards.

One kid who could defeat a second-ranker was too much for these first-rankers to handle—let alone three more second-rankers. The guards quickly understood the situation and backed away.

At last, Captain Valoris looked back at Damian, his expression cautious, as if too close to a wild animal. Damian understood his feelings. He had killed two people in cold blood, whatever the reason. Not that anyone could prove his involvement in the lord's death, and the knight's death was legitimate, within the rules of the challenge. That was no crime.

"Come with us," the mage captain said, and all three captains escorted him and his friends back to one of their personal tents.

Their commander was dead. His family and knights who had sworn fealty to his house would soon come knocking at the camp. Damian had saved his friends legally, but the situation was far from under control. Damian could contend against any second-ranker, but a whole lot of them at once? He couldn't fight them all. But he wouldn't have to if the captains and the army supported him.

Otherwise, he would have to run away again. At least this way, he wasn't wrong in the eyes of Eldoris law yet.

"Maximus, what the hell...?" Sam began, but Damian didn't answer. He knew he was wrong, regardless of the reasons. There were no excuses he wanted to make here.

"You... Did you...? How is it possible...?" Yovan couldn't believe that the lord he hated with all his being was finally dead.

"He did what needed to be done," Einar said, drawing everyone's attention. Even the three captains looked at him questioningly.

"Everything aside, what now? The lord's people could come at any moment," Geldric said, redirecting their focus to the pressing situation.

"You have won the trial of combat. You five are free. Nothing will happen to you as long as the army is here," Valoris declared. He was a noble with many friends powerful family and had witnessed everything as it unfolded.

"For real? We're free?" Jorven asked excitedly.

"Wait... We five?" Sam asked.

The three captains exchanged glances before their eyes settled on Damian, who was looking outside the tent at the falling snow.

"You can't... He has done nothing wrong here. It was me..." Sam tried to save his friend.

"We don't know if he did it or not. There's no proof, but everyone witnessed it. And he is the most suspicious for the commander's death. No one here can render justice, but he is not free," Royce said sternly, and the other two captains nodded in agreement.

Damian nodded. As long as the army stood against the lord's followers, he didn't mind being a prisoner a while longer. If he wanted to escape, nothing could stop him, but his friends would pay the price. He didn't trust the judgment of these nobles, but he could always find loopholes given another chance. Running away or fighting the knights would leave no room for any more chances.

"You won't leave me... right?" Sam asked, knowing full well that Damian wasn't a captive by force.

"Only if you want me to," Damian replied with a smile.

"I don't. Never. You did it for us, right? I know you didn't want anything to do with this lot..."

"Maybe..."

One by one, all five nodded at him with respect and gratitude and left the tent with the pugilist captain Mira, who escorted them back to the sleeping tent. The troublesome kids seemed to have returned to the city with the lord's entourage to be with their families. Damian, on the other hand, was escorted to the same cold room where the six of them had been held captive.

"I don't know how you did it. I'm sure no one here can prove it, but I know you did it. On my oath as a knight of Eldoris, I cannot let this matter slide," Captain Valoris said grimly.

"The murder of a lord, no matter how despicable, is still murder, kid. I had such high hopes for you," Royce said, disappointment clear on his face.

"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men," Damian muttered, staring out of the broken window as cold wind and snow blew in. "A place where children can't even defend themselves, let alone be protected, is a broken place. Tell me all about your oaths and rules, but don't think for a second that the system you support has no part of you in it."

It was easy to hide behind rules and honor when morality suited one's situation. It was the one who rose against it who was the true believer. Damian didn't think for a second that what he had done was right, but neither was the lord and his system of weak oppressors. They were righteous and held justice in their hearts, but what did they gain through it for others and themselves?

Sam had brought them into this situation with his sense of justice, which Damian admired, even if he considered it foolish. The noble captain wished to fight for a kid who was wronged, but how could he when he followed evil's every whim? No, there was no justice—not in his hands or anyone else's in this city.

All of them just did what they thought was right.

Damian waited in the empty cold room for two whole days. His friends visited him once a day, telling him what was going on in the camp.

The nobles had indeed retaliated, but they were not as numerous as Damian had thought. There was no love among the nobility, especially not for this lord. Only a few who were too reliant on the lord's mercy came to demand justice for him, but the army outnumbered them under Captain Valoris's leadership.

However, the numbers weren't so overwhelming that the nobles were scared into retreat, so they talked. All the nobles supporting the lord and those supporting House Kiyama as the head of the royal army's newest unit discussed the crimes and punishment of one Maximus. The discussions lasted the entire day. Finally, a decision was made.

Despite hating Damian's methods and being disappointed, Valoris and Royce fought on his behalf and ultimately decided they were not fit to deliver justice. The party reporting to the border command would bring him with them to present him before the only third-ranker in the region and a member of the royal family. He would be transported to the border the following morning.

"I will come with you," Sam said, on the verge of tears.

"Nonsense. Train and become proficient in the art of the sword. I'm sure they won't kill me," Damian consoled the boy. He didn't know his own fate, so taking Sam with him wasn't a good idea. Valoris was honorable enough to keep him safe.

The more important question was what the repercussions of his actions would be. All the noble families would try to seize the seat of the late House Viranil. It was probably better to stay away from here, but then again, the border with Ashenvale wasn't much better either.

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