The Belikov Family

"Come sit down, what I'm about to tell you is a royal secret that has been passed down the centuries. I was going to tell you about it in the near future, but since she had shown herself to you, I will have to explain." The King sat down on his study chair, sipping a cup of brewed tea.

Anastasia sat at her favorite spot which she always took ever since she was a kid. Leaning back and pouring herself a drink, Anastasia focused on the king's next words with rapid attention.

"What do you know about the master of the grey tower?" King Manik asked.

Wondering how the topic diverted to the tower master, Anastasia answered, hoping that it has something to do with her questions.

"Erm... I've heard stories that she was around even before the previous king. Rumors were that she's a high elf... Wait, are you saying that SHE'S the lady of the grey tower?" Anastasia replied, piecing the puzzle together.

"Yes you are right, but she is more than that. Much, much more." The King stared into space for a moment. "Lady Malory is an ancient being that had settled down in our kingdom centuries ago. Ever since she had graced us with her presence, peace descended on our lands."

"Why did she come here? What's her objective?" Anastasia wondered.

"Who knows? She said she settled here because we humans provides her with an endless source of entertainment. The elves were too uptight for her and she hates the empire. The only reason why the Empire hasn't already come and invade us, is because she has enough power to frighten and deter them."

"Are you saying she's as powerful as the Emperor?" Anastasia asked in amazement.

"She probably is, maybe even more," King Manik said confidently. "But that doesn't mean we are on equal grounds with the Empire. The Emperor isn't the only being in the Empire that holds a threat to us, if we were to go to war with them, there will be casualties in the millions, and neither side wants that. So we are currently maintaining this so called 'peace'."

Anastasia sat back, stunned by these newfound knowledge. Her view of the world had just broadened up and she wondered how many more of these ancient beings are walking amongst society.

"You are probably wondering what race she is," he said looking at Anastasia, who nodded her head. "To be honest, I don't know either. She didn't particularly bring up this topic and I respect her too much to ask. But I did bring up this question to my father and he guessed that she is most probably a dragonian in disguise."

"There is that possibility, so how are you going to uphold your promise to bring Eric back?" Anastasia asked, bringing the topic of the oath that he sworn.

"First I need to know his whereabouts, I might have to compromise one of my spies to help him."

"You have spies in the Empire?"

"Of course, there are even some in the elf kingdom," the King replied as if this was a given. "In this political war, every piece of information we land our hands on, no matter big or small, is an advantage for us. There's a lot more going on within the world than just war."

Reassured that Eric is going to receive help soon, Anastasia turned her attention to another pressing matter.

---

DREAMLESS CITY

BLACK MARKET

Gathering the location of several information brokers, I set out to find them. Unbeknownst to me, the Black Hand already had his sights on me and every information broker in the city was to refrain from selling me any information.

Moving on from the third broker, I was getting frustrated and was getting an idea of what was happening. As I arrived at the fourth broker, no words were exchanged as I reached out and grabbed his neck into a choke hold.

"Tell me who's your boss." I lifted him up into the air.

"Urrkkk... A worm like you do not deserve to meet my lord. Ke ke ke." The snobbish vampire laughed in my face.

Tightening my grip, he immediately stopped laughing and started gasping for air.

"Watch what you say next, or you will not utter another word ever again. Now tell me, who is your lord." Reinforcing my threat, I elongated my nails and all five pierced the side of his throat.

"I will... ne...ver betray hi...m." Blood oozed from this eyes, nose and lips but whether it was dumb loyalty or fear of his lord, he did not yield the information.

"So be it."

Severing his head with one slice, I tossed it onto the streets. As the lifeless head thumped onto the busy pavement, people gave a wide berth to it. They stared at it wordless for a minute before warily looking around, like they were afraid something was going to happen at any minute.

~What are you doing Master, you are inviting lots of attention to yourself.~ Alphyn said, surveying the streets.

~I'm making a statement. Sooner or later those bastards will come to me. It looks like all the information brokers are under the orders of their lord. It won't be long before he'll send his goons.~

~Ah! As expected of Master! Your intelligence is unfathomable!~

As I left a trail of dead bodies, word has travelled and now all the information brokers has closed their doors. But that didn't stop me from tearing down their shops and killing them inside. The sixth broker however was sitting comfortably in his shop with a smug look on his face. I widened my senses and found 25 magister-leveled noble vampires hiding in the shadows behind the shop.

"Welcome! How may I be of service." The vampire said with a fake grin, his high confidence probably spewed from the fact that the vampires were protecting him.

"Wipe that grin off your face, do you think those vampires can reach you before your head rolls onto the ground? You are merely a bait, they are here to bring me to your lord. If they are here to protect you, they would have already been at the fifth broker I killed. Your death is... inconsequential." I whispered close to his ears.

Seeing the cocky grin wiped from his face and the terror set in. Without any hesitation, I set him ablaze like the fifth one. As his screams ended a minute later, the vampires came out from their hiding fully stacked with black armor, looking like ninjas.

"Eric Pendragon! By orders of our lord, lay down your items and come quietly or we will be forced to drag you there." One of the vampires shouted with a bored expression.

Even though he said that, their weapons were already out and ready. They never really had any intentions to do this the easy way.

-Did our Lord really sent all of us for this puny human?

-I heard he won the tournament, but he doesn't look all that.

-Let's get this over with.

A barrage of spells suddenly swamped me from all direction, causing dust and dirt to fly in all directions. I could tell that this was an obvious smokescreen to blind me while they charge in. Letting out an omni-directional flame covering the entire area around me, I took note of the spaces where the flames were blocked. Getting the information of where all their locations were, I readied Severance and took a stance.

"Morningstar Style: Lunar Step."

Like the silent night and the elegance of the crescent moon, Severance flashed briefly in the midst of the smoke and what came after was the flop of 48 body parts dropping to the ground. Each one of them sliced perfectly from head to bottom. I looked at the last vampire as my blade danced thinly against the surface of his throat.

"I don't really like to be told what to do, now bring me to your lord."

"Mon-monster... You are just human, how are you able to move that quickly- MMHM mhhm MHMMM!"

"I do not remember permitting you to talk."

The palm of my hand glowed red hot as I seared his mouth shut.

"Oh, I guess you don't need these too."

Down goes his arms.

"Move before more of your limbs fall off."

With tears in his eyes, he wobbled his way to his base.

As he made his way deeper and deeper into the underground city, the ambience and sound of the black market slowly faded away. Before long, a monstrous stronghold came into view, and on it was a single symbol I have not seen in ages.

The Belikov Family. The last time I saw this symbol was on one of the 3 vampire generals in the Endless War.

"Oh ho, this is interesting. I guess the name Black Hand makes much more sense now."