Classless Awakening; My Dragon Is Legendary-Chapter 39: Grand Deception

Royal Knight stepped into the room, and froze in his tracks as soon as he saw her, the queen.

She was already seated behind a round stone table, her seductive eyes fixed on him.

Royal Knight had seen many things in his years, but this woman was different.

Her strikingly symmetrical face would draw any man’s attention, but her jet black hair and flat gold eyes would keep it.

Her skin was completely free of blemish and radiant, almost glowing.

The most outstanding fact about her, remained the six hands sticking out of her body.

"Welcome," she said, her voice strange, like it was coming from multiple places at once.

"I didn’t think a man in your condition would make it this far."

Royal Knight didn’t respond. He drew his blade instead.

He wasn’t here for pleasantries or a conversation, he was here on a mission, and she was his target.

"And what do you think that little needle would do against me?" The queen laughed.

With a flick of her wrist, Royal Knight’s sword was sent flying across the room.

"Don’t even bother trying to pick it up." The queen laughed, she could see Royal Knight already doing the mental calculations.

Royal Knight stared at his empty hand, he couldn’t deny it, he was scared.

He raised his fists, unwilling to give up.

"A sword does not make a knight, a knight makes a sword." Royal Knight repeated after his mentor.

"I like this one." A smile stretched across the queen’s lips, she had never met a man like Royal Knight.

The queen snapped her fingers, and from the shadows around the room, dozens of disembodied hands crawled out and wrapped around his body, gripping his arms, his legs, and his throat.

Their touch was ice cold and pulled the strength right out of him.

They dragged him forward and forced him into the chair across the table from her.

"Resistance is futile." The queen’s words hit Royal Knight the wrong way.

He knew she was right, there was no logical way he could get out of here, at least not on his own.

She leaned forward, her golden eyes locked onto Royal Knight’s.

"I am Queen Lyra. I represent the dark emperor. And I have an offer for you."

Royal Knight said nothing, he just watched her.

In his mind, he was looking for anything, even the slightest of opportunity, that would allow him escape.

"I will give you three reasons why serving the dark emperor is the only logical choice for a man like you." Queen Lyra raised one of her six hands and began counting.

"First, purpose. Right now you spend your life cleaning up small problems for a nervous king. The dark emperor offers you something bigger than that. You would not be a pawn, you would be a general."

She paused for a second, she wanted Royal Knight to understand the weight of her words.

"Second, power. Your strength right now depends on Varyn reserves that run dry, enchantments that can be switched off, and a body that gets tired. The dark emperor’s gifts don’t work like that. They grow. They don’t run out."

She smiled. "Imagine never having to worry about your magic being turned off again."

"Third, order. The world is run by emotion, jealousy, weakness, betrayal. You have seen it yourself with that boy you train. The dark emperor offers something different. Perfect order, no sentiment, no failure."

"You can trade your exhaustion and limitation for infinite power."

"What do you say?"

Royal Knight didn’t say anything at first, he just looked deep into her eyes, and a small smirk stretched across his face, barely visible through his cracked mask.

"Your offer is nice." Royal Knight couldn’t lie.

"But before I accept, I’d like to know why you used this village of all places?"

Queen Lyra laughed, pleased by his question, it showed he wasn’t a fool who would jump at the slightest whiff of power.

"Because small places make the best testing grounds, I used necromancy and the dark plague to infect everyone inside this village, the plan was to turn them into dark beasts." Queen Lyra said, proud of her experiments and achievements.

"The village chief even let us in willingly, a pouch of gold was all it took, fear and poverty make people easy to manage."

Royal Knight’s fist tightened slowly beneath the grip of the dead hands, but he kept his face still.

"And where do you plan to use this method next?" He asked.

Queen Lyra smiled wide. "Our agents have already begun infecting the Veridian Citadel."

’Veridian Citadel.’ The name settled in his mind like a stone dropping into still water.

The Veridian Citadel was one of the largest trade markets in this region.

Without it, kingdoms would destabilize. Dravania’s entire foreign trade ran through that citadel. Its fall would be catastrophic.

Royal Knight closed his eyes, he finally had what he needed.

He opened his mouth, unsure of what he was about to say, but it was his best bet.

"Aethum divina, sanctus Sivle, et secta diabolica demonica."

Queen Lyra’s gold eyes went wide, and fear covered her face.

"Stop that." Her voice cracked, losing its composure for the first time. "Stop that right now, do not bring that man into my house!"

Royal Knight kept chanting, calm and steady, his voice growing stronger with each word.

Now that he saw it worked, he finally had his chance, and there was no way in hell he wouldn’t take it.

The hands holding Royal Knight fell to the ground, finally setting him free.

The queen screamed, blood running from her eyes, her six arms clawing at her own skin. But she couldn’t move against him, something was holding her in place.

Then the roof split open.

A single column of white light came down from the sky, clean and absolute, tearing through the grand house like it was made of paper.

Queen Lyra’s scream was cut short. The obsidian table, the rotting hands, the shadow enchantment, all of it burned away in an instant.

The light dimmed, revealing Royal Knight kneeling with his sword in his right hand.

The barrier around the village and the dark mana within had completely vanished, the place was finally free.

Royal Knight couldn’t believe the gamble had worked.

Years ago, he had stumbled upon something he couldn’t exactly call a spell, it was more like a chant.

Loosely translated, Royal Knight had sold his access to magic for the next few weeks, in exchange for safety.

He stayed there for a moment, catching his breath.

Then his eyes settled on the ground where Queen Lyra had sat, and his mind went somewhere else entirely. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Not to her. Not to the battle. But to the village chief. The man who had opened the door for all of this, for a pouch of gold.

Royal Knight’s jaw tightened. His eyes, usually cold and unreadable, burned with something raw and absolute.

It was anger. Pure and simple. Not at the monster, but at the man.