Black String of Fate

"That shall be done. But may I ask, what is your vision?"

"My vision? Haha… It's nothing much, I'll just ensure no other knight tarnishes their honor by coming to beg me on their knees. Follow my command till your last breath, and you'll see…"

*Gasp*

"Haa… What a nostalgic dream."

Xavier opened his eyes as he relished the memories of a time that feels so long ago now. Maybe it was because of recalling his oath, but his mind and thoughts felt awfully similar to the time he had first taken his oath. That incident in his dreams had also occurred around that time frame only.

'But… Where am I?'

Xavier looked around, unable to make sense of where he was. He was in a clean and simple room, the surroundings were extremely bright, all the walls and ceiling were painted white, and he was lying in a white bed with metallic stuff kept beside him. The smell in the surroundings also felt very unpleasant and irritating, so much so that he had scrunched his nose.

All of this was enough for him to tell where he was.

"A hospital?"

"Correct."

Suddenly, a voice sounded inside his mind, and even though he was able to recognize the voice, he couldn't tell where it came from. Fortunately for him, the owner of the said voice revealed herself very soon as the door opened, and a silver-haired young girl walked in with a curt expression. She carried herself with royal dignity, as expected of someone of her status.

"Seraphina? What the hell is going on? I remember blacking out after killing that-"

"Please call me Your Highness or Princess Seraphina."

'Please understand, the surroundings can be troublesome.'

Xavier was interrupted rudely and before he could react, the message had broadcasted in his brain. He went silent for a few moments and soon sighed with resignation.

'Alright, fine. My mood is good, so I'll play along for now. Don't get used to it, glass cannon.'

Seraphina's eyebrow twitched hearing that damn nickname again. But, just as she said, the surroundings could be troublesome. She couldn't show a reaction.

"Excuse me, Your Highness. I was just a bit surprised by my situation. Can you please brief me?"

Seraphina nodded as she replied in a polite tone.

"You passed out after beheading the Advanced Master and calling me, and I rescued you from the whole base going after you. Soon, you were admitted to the hospital, and now you have woken up after 3 weeks."

"T-Three weeks?! I passed out for three weeks?!" Xavier shouted in surprise, to which Seraphina shushed and replied in a low voice,

"Please maintain the decorum of the hospital, and yes, it has been exactly three weeks since you passed out."

"…Three weeks, huh."

Xavier looked down at his hands, reminiscing about the power he held after such a long time. That overwhelming level of energy, it isn't meant to be in the hands of anyone lower than a Sage, let alone an Initiate. Looking at this situation like that, Xavier could count himself pretty lucky that he passed out only for three weeks.

"Well, for the power I used, I'm surprised that my body was able to handle that. I knew I would survive, but I'm perfectly fine now, without a trace of recoil."

Seraphina, of course, knew what he was muttering to himself about. Force is the highest form of power that a Warrior could wield and was considered a dangerous energy capable of killing anyone below a Grandmaster. She had to admit, she was pretty jealous of Xavier, he could abuse his body in such extreme ways, and yet always come out stronger.

"That's good to hear. In a few moments, you'll be meeting the Emperor of this country and one of the three Grandmasters in this country."

"The Emperor? That came out of nowhere, just what led to these events?"

"Hmm, where should I start? First, I brought along that severed head and presented it to the council of ministers and the Emperor, along with my information about the Demonic Sect. I gave the reasoning that I had been secretly studying this organization for years and had now gathered enough evidence. The leftover Master's energy in that freshly beheaded head was also strong proof.

Second, I requested to lead the forces against the demonic sect. Questions were raised as to what made me qualified, but my intel and a powerful ally were enough to shut them up."

"I'm guessing that powerful ally is me, isn't it?"

"Yes, you might not be aware, but beheading an Advanced Master in one stroke like that is something usually only Grandmasters are capable of. The Emperor has taken an extreme interest in you, that's why he wants to meet you.

Aside from that, the Zener family also fervently supported me, courtesy of their young master. All in all, everything is going smoothly. If you're able to impress the Emperor, you can be gifted the Sage's Stone to fight against the Heavenly Demon. Otherwise, their initial plan is to use it on the chief general, who is also a Grandmaster."

Xavier listened carefully to her story, silently in awe of her political capabilities. Even though he was socially inept, he was aware of just how difficult something like politics, the last boss of socializing, was. The things she described pulling off so easily were something Xavier could never imagine doing himself.

Although he admired her capabilities, no way in hell would he admit that in front of her. The glass cannon getting her head too big with his compliments sounded like a disgusting nightmare.

"So basically, you want me, an Initiate Novice, to convince an Emperor to use his Empire's greatest treasure and possibly their only hope on me? That sounds kinda impossible, doesn't it?"

Seraphina smiled amusedly, expecting that question. Of course, she wouldn't throw such a task with no way of fulfilling it. She looked around and spread her mana senses, checking for any eavesdroppers. When she couldn't find any, she replied.

"You are an Initiate Novice, but you also were a Crafted Archon. The Emperor, while being a ruler, is also a warrior…

I'm sure I don't have to say anything more, do I?"

Xavier immediately caught onto her plan and smiled wryly in return.

"Haha, if it's like that, it should be easy then."