Classless Awakening; My Dragon Is Legendary-Chapter 28: Strange King

Just before it all went dark, Royal Knight stretched his hand and quickly began muttering a spell, an ethereal pulse of energy phased out of his hands.

Royal Knight continued to chant, his visible skin turning paler with every syllable, but he didn’t dare stop.

His knees buckled the first time, until he finally fell to the ground. But even then, he didn’t falter.

The ethereal energy coming from his hands completely engulfed the forest.

Derrick drew his blade, he could see a beast rapidly approaching him, and in Royal Knight’s current state, he doubted Royal Knight could protect him.

The beast ran headfirst into the ethereal energy barrier, which killed it instantly.

"Rest your blade, Derrick, I’ve trapped them," Royal Knight said weakly, his voice barely in a whisper.

"Thank you." Those were the only words Derrick saw fit for what Royal Knight had done.

Dozens of ravenous beasts lunged toward Derrick, their jaws snapping with murderous intent, only to be violently repelled as they slammed against the invisible barrier protecting him.

[It seems like he put up a protective barrier meant to keep the beasts from attacking.]

"What did you do?!" Royal Knight asked, this time his voice raised.

"I....I don’t know." Derrick didn’t know where to begin, it wasn’t even his fault.

"You better find out quick, or this entire kingdom is doomed," Royal Knight shouted.

"What do you mean?" Derrick asked, struggling to stand.

"That barrier is draining almost all my magic," Royal Knight explained.

"And without me, this kingdom has a greater chance of losing the coming war." The Royal Knight didn’t mean to toot his own horn.

It was now that the gravity of the situation dawned on Derrick. He had successfully put the safety of himself and the kingdom at stake.

"I’ll ask again, what did you do?" Royal Knight hadn’t been gone for that long, barely even 7 hours, and in those 7 hours, Derrick brought hell down on Dravania.

"I sensed something calling out to me, it was powerful, almost primal, and impossible for me to ignore," Derrick began to explain.

"I encountered a few obstacles on my way here, but I was finally able to discover that whatever called out to me operated using dark magic." Derrick continued.

"I tried to leave, but I accidentally set off a trap, and the next thing I knew, beasts." Derrick responded honestly, still shaken from the whole ordeal.

Royal Knight sighed, exhaustion evident in his body language.

"The dark emperor truly outdid himself with this one." Royal Knight had to acknowledge his brilliance.

The dark Emperor had always been known to be one of the world’s smartest people, but this was a whole new level of genius.

"I should have known..." Derrick said underneath his breath, but Royal Knight just laughed.

"Trust me, kid, there’s no reality where you successfully outsmart the dark Emperor." Royal Knight had seen the dark Lord’s intelligence at play, it was worlds above that of regular men.

That was one of the major features which made the dark Emperor such a pain to deal with.

It was rumored that he held intelligence and knowledge that could rival gods.

"But, you caused this, Derrick," Royal Knight had to admit.

"I know," Derrick said softly.

Superior intelligence or not, trap or not, this was still Derrick’s fault, and he needed to do something. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"When the time is right, this place shall become your hunting ground. You shall use it to learn and train in hunting dark beasts." Royal Knight’s voice was firm, Derrick had to be held accountable.

Derrick squeezed his fists, memories of his mother being ripped to shreds by dark beasts came to mind, but he suppressed them.

Derrick stood to his feet, he didn’t say a word, just stared at the barrier preventing the beasts from entering.

"Do you think it can hold?" Derrick asked. The last thing he wanted was dark beasts spilling onto the streets.

"It should hold for a few months," Royal Knight explained.

"Also, I’ve added a cloaking spell to prevent others from being able to see it, just the three of us." Royal knight’s words made Derrick raise a brow.

"Three of us?" Derrick asked. Just then, he sensed a very familiar aura.

"Dad?" Derrick turned around to see the king standing behind him, a sword in his hand.

The king was taken aback, he stared at Royal Knight, then back at Derrick.

"You... You saw through my enchantment?" the king asked.

"Enchantment?" Derrick asked. He wasn’t even using his dragon eye skill, let alone an enchantment.

"Is this the power of the dragon spirit?" The king asked, unable to believe his eyes.

"He’s growing so fast, at this rate, he might just beat Ivan," the king said with his hand on his chin.

"I told you." Royal Knight’s voice was thick and proud.

"Derrick, do you have anything to add or remove from Royal Knight’s suggestions?" The king wasn’t willing to put his son at risk even if it meant his kingdom burning down.

"No, I believe when I’m strong enough, clearing this forest would be a piece of cake." Derrick said confidently.

"Ah, that reminds me." The king stretched his hand towards the barrier and began chanting the same words as Royal Knight had done.

"My king?" Royal Knight stretched his hands to stop the king, but the king refused to budge.

"I can’t let you pay for the mistakes of my son alone." The king wasn’t willing to watch his strongest knight lose most of his power.

"We can both share the burden," the king reinforced.

Royal Knight smiled underneath his mask, proud, "You were always the best of us, Henry." Royal Knight’s words made the king smile.

"Take the boy back to his room, I’m busy." The king ordered and with that, the Royal Knight and Derrick vanished.

As soon as they were away, the king stopped chanting and brought a crystal out from a small pouch tied around his waist.

The king’s chants changed, and the skies darkened, black clouds gathered above him, and purple lightning rained down.

The king placed the crystal at the entrance of the barrier, and bright runes began to glow.

The runes greatly resembled the ones Derrick had seen in the cave earlier, and the way they pulsed was unnatural.

The crystal split in the middle, and from its center, a big black eye formed. It buried itself in the ground.

From the eye, large black lines spread into the ground, drying up the forest life and killing any animal that dared to lurk close.

The king continued to chant, raising his hands to the clouds, causing violent purple lightning to gather above him.

The king brought down his hand and the lightning crashed into the eye, causing an inhuman shriek to emanate from it.

The eye finally opened, merging with the forest and blending into nothing.

"All hail the dark emperor," snickered the king with a snap of his fingers before dissolving into the shadows.