City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

The Battle Of The Black Rose

Hearing that the entire Calamity union wanted to join the Archerons, the Celestial Sage sighed, “You have completed our highest priority bounty; you certainly qualify to make some requests of the Archerons. However, this sort of thing would require final confirmation from Richard. Hmm… Wait, stand up and let me take a look.”

The three saints following Calamity seemed angry at the request, but the woman herself had no objections as she walked towards Ruben and turned around once before taking her seat once more. The Celestial Sage’s eyes glowed for a moment before he shook his head, “You seem to be quite wounded, and most of them are new. Is it from this mission?”

“We dealt with some troubles on our way back,” Calamity answered offhandedly. However, it was clear that anything that could injure her was a serious problem.

Ruben nodded, “I appreciate your sincerity. His Excellency gave me some authority over decisions; I can induct you into the Archeron Family at least. Participate in one of the reward point battlefields and gain about 2,000 points; you can then become his followers. Is that an acceptable condition?”

The legendary assassin immediately stood up in delight, “Definitely! Thank you, Your Excellency!”

This condition wasn’t even much of a test, just a way to phrase a request for those who wanted to become Richard’s followers to contribute to the Archeron Family first. 2,000 points was difficult for normal saints, but an assassin like Calamity could accomplish this easily.

Ghoul and Blood Axe seemed relieved as well. It seemed like Calamity’s information was accurate, and the Archerons truly were recruiting followers even if the requirements were strict. The bounty had also definitely played a part in how low the requirements for them were.

As both sides were about to part, Calamity noticed a sizeable army walking through the portal to Blackrose Castle. Feeling auras that left even her frightened, she paused and asked, “Your Excellency, could we know where they are headed?”

“Of course. Richard just declared a special battlefield against the Sacred Tree Empire. The rewards are quite high, but participation is not compulsory. Those participating tend to be free agents who don’t owe allegiance to any one empire.”

“Can I join?” her eyes glowed.

“I won’t stop you, but you are still injured. It would be ill-advised.”

“These wounds are nothing. As long as our limbs can still move, we’ll continue to fight.” Calamity headed towards the door, her three followers standing up and bumping their fists together as they muttered softly, “For Calamity!”

This was a ritual before every battle, both to look towards the future and remember their comrades who had fallen so long ago. There were nine founding members of this union, but the four in this hall were the only ones still alive.

Calamity paused, “No, it’s For Points. Once we have enough, it will be For Richard.”

The six assassins left in silence, not noticing the soft sigh and shake of the head from Ruben. The Celestial Sage recognised even Ghoul and Blood Axe, and understood the trouble assassins could bring. All of these hopefuls had killed too many important people in the past, and knew too many secrets. The rich often used them to take care of dirty business and then tried to have them killed, while the families of the victims always held grudges.

Even a legendary assassin for hire was considered nothing more than a dog by the wealthiest nobles. No greater houses would accept such individuals simply for the added weight, so they could only come together and form organisations like Calamity and Nightblade to survive in groups.

The ruthless underbelly of Norland had its own laws. Assassins were not allowed to leave their organisations unless they lost all combat ability, being hunted ruthlessly if they did escape. However, the Archerons had announced that they didn’t care about background in this recruitment; while the battle against the reapers had reached a critical point, most assassins went into every mission prepared to die.

Calamity would be a huge source of trouble in the future, but Ruben knew that Richard didn’t care. For people at their level, things like disputes between minor nobles could be solved with a simple wave of the hand. The Archerons were willing to battle against all three empires at a point; this was nothing. Of course, with those like Waterflower, Zangru, and Phaser training their top brass, most high-end Archerons were quite capable at dealing with assassins already. Even Gangdor and Olar, whose strength had already plateaued, could deal with sneak attacks effectively.

……

When Richard walked through the portal to Blackrose Castle, he heard the deafening cacophony of constant battle all around him. The closest warrior of the Sacred Tree Empire was less than 200 metres away, already approaching the inner castle. Looking around, he found Blackrose surrounded by soldiers of the Sacred Tree Empire, stretching all the way down the hill and into the distant plains. The Archeron defences seemed like a thin piece of paper compared to the wave of red and white, but no matter how fiercely the enemies attacked they refused to yield.

His first move upon arrival was to take control of the battlefield himself, calling Alice over to relieve her. The war goddess was covered in blood and dirt, her voice hoarse from all the screaming. The filth made her almost unrecognisable, but he still pulled her into a warm hug, “You’ve done so well. You can leave everything to me now.”

Alice felt heat around her eyes, but she muttered that it was just blood and patted Richard’s back heavily herself before allowing herself to relax. Still holding her as he healed her wounds, Richard looked around at the army down below with a mysterious smile on his face, “All of our enemies should be out here by now, right?”

“I think so. I saw the flags of seven dukes.”

“Great!” Richard answered calmly.

It was at this moment that the winter soldiers started appearing from the portal, their enormous size and vicious aura leaving even a seasoned warrior like herself shivering. She felt goosebumps all over her as they got into formation, but that only grew worse as a number of independent powerhouses walked out through another of their portals.

The mercenary powerhouses were led to predetermined areas by the shadowspear knights, but the drones froze at the appearance of Calamity and her group. An elite immediately brought the matter to Richard’s attention, but he didn’t remember the presence of these people either. When the legendary assassin walked over to a knight and explained her purpose, however, he immediately had a drone lead all of the assassins straight to him. The enormous winter soldiers would serve as the perfect bait that allowed them to unleash their full potential.

Richard quickly finished organising his army, turning to look at the dozens of powerhouses from the Sacred Tree Empire who were floating in the sky. He then laughed as well, floating up to face them.

Alice had previously decided to hide all of her saints and grand mages, ambushing any opponents that flew overhead with rune knights before having someone finish them off. She had used the tactic to perfection for some time, but the enemy eventually caught on and stopped charging her entirely, instead choosing to watch and pick off any stragglers they found. This strategy of hers had also convinced the Sacred Tree Empire that the Archerons were at their wits’ end, which was why the armies were attacking more fiercely than ever.

When RIchard flew into the skies, it was the first time an Archeron powerhouse had revealed themselves in more than a day. The bored saints of the Sacred Tree Empire all grew excited at the change of events, but before they could see who it was a blinding flash of red and white filled the sky. As much as they tried to look through the glare, only a few of them even saw crimson wings within.

Those from the Sacred Tree Empire were extremely sensitive to those wings, but before anyone could bring it up the orb of light disappeared from sight. It started flickering in and out of view as it rapidly approached the flying saints, a flaming sword slashing out near four that decapitated all of them in one go.