The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 347 - Provocation

                                                    Zaos frowned when he heard that. His heart wavered since if that was true… he couldn't waste his time in a place like that. Ameria saved Zaos's life a few times, and he owed her at least that much. Still, the assassin worked for her father, so there is a chance that she is lying.

"… If you are lying about something like that, I will change my goals, and I will hunt you down and spend many of my days making you regret telling me this," Zaos said.

"What would be the point of lying?" The assassin asked. "Most of our best knights are away from the capital, half of them prepared an ambush here, and the other half are in the South. Your father is leading them. Right now, there isn't a force in the capital that can stop you."

"What about Drannor?" Zaos asked.

"He is at the capital, but you know that he can't stop you if you go all out," The assassin replied. "As for the royal guards, they aren't that good after so much time without fighting. Regardless, she is going to give birth next week. You have to hurry. I will follow you."

                                                    Zaos didn't like that. Everything seemed too suspicious… Still, if that was a trap, so what? He already survived many things that were thrown at him. He might survive even a small army by himself if he puts his mind to it. Regardless, to make sure that he wouldn't be ambushed, Zaos broke the legs of all the unconscious soldiers. Even if all the mages in the town heal them, they won't be able to move well for at least two days. Once he did that, Zaos left the town. Weirdly enough, despite the noise caused by the fight, no one pursued Zaos.

"I dropped some bombs on the places the guards were resting before helping you," The assassin said while she was following Zaos.

"You didn't help me. You helped them," Zaos said.

                                                    Putting that aside, Zaos was impressed that the assassin could easily match his speed even when he was using magic to enhance his body. Zaos could feel some mana coming from her, but it wasn't that much. After a while, they reached the grove where Zaos left Moody, and he quickly jumped over him. As if it was only something natural to do, she standstill at the back of the horse. When Moody began to run, Zaos noticed that his speed didn't decrease even a single bit.

"…What the healers said about her condition?" Zaos asked.

"They didn't find anything weird," The assassin replied. "Aside from the fact that she has been weak and getting tired really fast lately, her body is mostly fine."

"No other symptoms aside from those?" Zaos asked.

"Yes, the healers said that she would be fine, but…" The assassin hesitated. "Ameria didn't tell that to anyone, but she thinks that she might not resist."

                                          That was weird. Why Ameria would only tell that to a bodyguard and not to her family? Not to mention, she was a pretty healthy girl, so not a single part of that story was making any sense.

                                          Zaos tried to find on the magic book any spell that might help him solve that problem. Still, since the only symptom was weakness and exhaustion, the only spell that could help was the one that restored stamina. Based on what he heard, there are no registers of disease, and that probably was the first time the healers of the capital had to deal with something like that… that is why they assumed it was only effects of pregnancy.

                                          After moving for a few days, the weather changed. The rainy season finally arrived in full power, and the region began to endure a storm like no other. When it started to rain, Zaos and the assassin were only three days away from the capital, and during that whole time, it didn't stop raining for a single moment.

"I hate rain… shit, this brings backs bad memories," Zaos muttered under his breath.

                                          The coincidences were too much, so Zaos couldn't help but have a bad feeling about the whole situation. As if things weren't troublesome enough when they were half a day away from the capital. Zaos found a troublesome group being led by someone much more troublesome… his father.

"In the name of the king's justice, Zaos Sielders, I command you to drop your weapons and surrender to pay for your crimes," Laiex said.

"In the name of the asshole who sits on a throne built on a pile of lies and corpses, I dare to force me to do that," Zaos said.

                                          After hearing that, Laiex jumped from his horse and then drew two swords from his waist. That was weird, Zaos never saw him using two swords, and then again… he never saw his father fighting for real.

"The bombs won't be effective in this rain," The assassin said. "I might be able to keep the other soldiers busy for a while, but you should hurry up. Stamina isn't one of my strengths."

                                          Zaos nodded. It wasn't like he was counting on her to be with him, but it helped to know that she would deal with the lackeys… Still, Zaos decided to focus just to be sure that he wouldn't be backstabbed while he focused on his father.

                                          Both of them jumped from the horses, and the assassin began to move to the side while Zaos unsheathed his big sword. He still didn't want to kill his father, but knowing him, Zaos knew that he wouldn't stop unless he was very close to death.

"In the end, you are a real disappointment, Zaos," Laiex said. "You are naïve, just like your mother. Both of you always stood in the way of the things I really wanted."

"I am glad to hear that. I can't express in words how happy I am to know that I am a disappointment to someone like you," Zaos said.. "Well then, it is time to say goodbye to this world and then meets your friend on the next one."