Free Web NovelChapter 23: Chapter 23: The Vanguard’s Shadow
The afternoon sun cast long, bleeding orange shadows over the towering white stone walls of Aethelgard. Kaelen and Seraphina walked steadily along the dirt road leading back to the massive southern gates. With Kaelen’s Abyssal Aura passively radiating a faint, terrifying pressure, every low-level forest monster had instinctively fled from their path.
’Return to the rooftops, Lyriel,’ Kaelen commanded smoothly through their mental link as the city gates loomed ahead. ’Keep your eyes on the Church patrols. If you see any Inquisitors in silver armor, notify me immediately.’
’Yes, my King,’ Lyriel replied instantly.
High above the bustling, noisy streets, Lyriel leaped silently across the darkening clay rooftops. She seamlessly merged with the growing shadows, moving like a phantom. Because Kaelen possessed an official Bronze-rank guild badge, the corrupt guards at the gate simply waved them through without asking for a bribe.
Kaelen led Seraphina straight back to the mercenary district, pushing open the heavy wooden doors of the Crimson Aegis Guild. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
The tavern was just as crowded as before, but the moment Kaelen stepped inside, a noticeable hush fell over the mercenaries near the entrance. The memory of the Silver-rank veterans getting their bones effortlessly crushed by this mysterious, black-cloaked swordsman was still fresh in everyone’s minds. Hardened warriors immediately stopped drinking and averted their eyes, terrified of accidentally offending him.
Kaelen ignored the stares and walked directly to the back registration desk.
The curvy, red-haired receptionist stood up so fast she nearly knocked over her wooden chair. Her posture went perfectly straight. "S-Sir Vane! You have returned so quickly."
Kaelen reached under his tattered cloak, pretending to pull items from his pockets, but actually accessing his spatial system inventory. He dropped a heavy, blood-stained burlap sack onto the wooden desk.
"The Whispering Forest are clear," Kaelen said smoothly.
The receptionist nervously opened the sack. Her eyes widened in absolute shock as she pulled out five pristine, metallic Iron-hide Wolf pelts. The thick, jagged fur clattered heavily against the wood.
"By the Light..." she stammered, looking from the pelts to Kaelen’s cheap badge. "These are perfectly intact. There are no messy sword cuts or burn marks ruining the fur. How did you manage to kill them with such surgical precision?"
"My Vanguard hits very hard," Kaelen replied coldly, gesturing to the silent, hooded Seraphina standing behind him. "The quest is complete. I will take my reward."
"R-Right away, sir!" She quickly stamped his parchment and handed him a heavy leather pouch jingling with coins.
[Acquired: 20 Silver Coins.]
Before Kaelen could turn around to leave, the heavy double doors of the guild hall violently slammed open.
The entire tavern went completely dead silent. Even the drunkest mercenaries stopped breathing.
Five massive men marched into the guild. They were not ordinary mercenaries. They wore pristine white heavy plate armor adorned with the glowing golden crosses of the Holy Church. Their pure white cloaks dragged arrogantly across the dirty tavern floor. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
’Master,’ Seraphina’s voice echoed nervously through their mental link. ’Those are Elite Vanguard Knights. Platinum-rank. The Church’s personal executioners.’
’Stay calm, Sera. Keep your hood down,’ Kaelen commanded mentally, his face showing absolutely zero emotion.
The Vanguard Captain, a tall, imposing man with cold blue eyes and a thick blonde beard, walked over to the guild’s central bounty board. He radiated a terrifying, suffocating holy magic. He pulled a thick iron nail and a rolled-up poster from his belt. With one heavy strike of his armored gauntlet, he nailed the poster to the wood.
"By order of the Grand Inquisitor!" the Captain announced, his voice booming with magical authority. "The Church is offering a bounty of five hundred gold coins for the capture of this Heretic."
Kaelen casually glanced at the poster. It was a perfectly drawn sketch of Lyriel.
"She is a Level 60 Elven Royal Assassin," the Captain continued, his cold eyes scanning the terrified crowd of mercenaries. "She was last seen being purchased at the Midnight Market by an unknown Heretic wearing a black cloak. If any of you harbor her, or have information regarding the man in the black cloak, the Church will cleanse you in holy fire."
Up in the dark attic rafters, Lyriel stopped breathing. Her silver eyes widened in pure terror. The Vanguard Knights radiated the exact same painful holy magic that had originally infected her with the High-Tier Blood Curse. Her pale hands trembled violently, the old trauma threatening to completely paralyze her.
’Lyriel,’ Kaelen’s deep, dominant voice suddenly wrapped around her mind like a warm, protective blanket. ’Do not fear them. You are my shadow now. Your curse is broken, and the Church cannot touch you. I promise you, when the time is right, I will let you slit that Captain’s throat yourself.’
The trembling in Lyriel’s hands instantly stopped. The dark void mana in her chest pulsed warmly, completely overriding her lingering fear with absolute, submissive loyalty. ’Yes, my King,’ she whispered back.
Kaelen casually adjusted his tattered black cloak. Using the Weaver’s Shadow-Ring to maintain his dull brown eyes and perfectly average face, he walked right past the Platinum-rank Elite Vanguard Knights without even looking at them. The Captain didn’t even glance twice at the "weak" Bronze-rank mercenary.
Once they were safely outside the guild, Kaelen led Seraphina toward the commercial district.
"We need to spend this silver," Kaelen muttered, blending perfectly into the crowded streets. "Our dungeon needs basic infrastructure before we eventually go to war with the Church."
They spent the next hour visiting various merchant stalls. Kaelen purchased heavy sacks of wheat seeds, basic iron farming tools, thick bolts of dark fabric, and several crates of preserved human food. He secretly stored everything into his spatial system inventory while nobody was looking.
As they walked down the wealthiest, most pristine street of the commercial district—an area known as the Noble Quarter—a loud commotion caught Kaelen’s attention.
A large crowd of richly dressed nobles and wealthy merchants were standing outside a massive, highly decorated potion shop named The Golden Crucible. They were laughing cruelly and pointing at a young woman who had just been violently thrown out into the dirty street.
"Look at the fallen genius!" a fat, arrogant noble mocked, sneering down at her. "Her potions are turning to toxic sludge! The Valerius family is completely finished!"
Kaelen stopped walking. He looked at the woman sitting in the dirt. She wore a torn, highly expensive silk dress that clung to her curves. She had striking crimson-red hair and beautiful emerald-green eyes, though they were currently filled with frustrated tears and deep, burning anger.
Intrigued by the situation, Kaelen subtly activated his Abyssal Aura to inspect her.
[Target Scanned: Elara Valerius.]
[Class: Level 40 Genius Alchemist.]
[Status: Afflicted by ’Mana-Rot Hex’. All crafted potions immediately turn to poison. Pride: Shattered. Wealth: Bankrupt.]
Kaelen’s dull brown eyes narrowed. An Alchemist who could brew permanent stat-boosting elixirs would be the ultimate asset for his underground empire. He also possessed a massive surplus of high-tier monster cores that needed processing. And right now, this woman was desperate, cursed, and completely abandoned by her people. She was the perfect target to recruit and break.
’Master?’ Seraphina asked silently through the link, noticing his gaze.
’Not yet,’ Kaelen replied, turning away from the jeering crowd. We have an Elite Vanguard squad actively hunting us, and a dungeon to expand. We will return for the Alchemist later.
Kaelen, Seraphina, and their unseen shadow left the city exactly as they had arrived. They slipped back into the dense Whispering Woods, returned to the hidden cave, and stepped onto the glowing purple Abyssal Waypoint.
The void magic flashed violently, and they were instantly transported back to the absolute safety of the tenth floor of the Abyssal Chasm.
"System," Kaelen commanded, walking toward the glowing Primordial Core in the center of his Sanctuary. He pulled the fifteen remaining Iron-hide pelts and the twenty glowing Level 35 monster cores from his inventory, dumping them at the base of the massive crystal. "Absorb all of this into Dungeon Points."
The Primordial Core flashed with a blinding violet light. The pelts and cores instantly dissolved into thick purple mist, sucked greedily into the crystal.
[Items Absorbed. +35,000 DP.]
[Current DP: 125,000]
Kaelen smirked as he looked at his growing wealth. With over a hundred thousand Dungeon Points and a spatial inventory full of surface supplies, his underground empire was finally ready to take shape. The Church thought they were hunting a simple Heretic. They had no idea they were about to go to war with a God.
