A Shadow's Might

The pigman mage slowly descended and approached the Silver Lions. His feet touched the ground without making a noise. without brushing aside the dirt or moving a single ounce of dirt. It was like the man was levitating right above the land.

"Princess Yuna Asmodeus, I request a Trial Of Justice." said the wizard.

"Who might you be to have the audacity to request a Trial Of Justice?" asked Yuna.

"I am Bartholomew Manupus, the retired 5th patriarch of the Manupus family. I am also an Aura Formation rank mage." The mage then started to glow brightly in a light blue shade.

This light then spread in a radius of 30 meters. Yuna and the rest of the Silver Lions felt a heavy pressure pressing down on them and trying to force them to kneel. This sensation was not only felt physically but there was some sort of mental power that was trying to make them give in to the pressure.

The Silver Lions struggled as hard as they could to resist but it was near impossible. Even Yuna was only a Level 7 - Mid Grade, Elemental Cancellation Warrior.

Warriors are those who have no talent to become a mage. Warriors are those that use their force to reinforce their physical strength and gain certain abilities as they rank up that make their bodies stronger in different ways.

While warriors strengthened their bodies, mages strengthened their minds. To be more specific, they improved their thinking speed, memory, intelligence, learning speed, and many more things related to the brain.

Becoming a mage was not for every cultivator. Only 1/10 cultivators had something called a Cellebus Corus. This "Cellebus Corus" is supposed to be a walnut-shaped organ that is attached to the front of the brain.

This organ is used to absorb the {FORCE} from the person's core and then spread the energy to the brain and make it better.

Obviously, only cultivators could have this organ as they were the only ones who could use {FORCE} in the first place. It was only a 10% chance to have the organ so coming across a mage was rare but it's not like you would never see one at all.

The mages in the Silver Lions were giving the best resistance as the pressure was more mental than physical. The warriors were not holding up well as most of them had already knelt. The rest would fall soon.

The only person who had not even bent her knee was Yuna. She was the strongest of the Silver Lions given that she was the commander after all.

Being part of the imperial family also allowed her to learn certain tricks or techniques that help one resist mental techniques.

Bartholomew squinted his eyes slightly after seeing that every single silver lion had knelt in front of him except the princess. Now that he had the group basically retrained, he would not worry about them making any erratic movements.

This way, his family would be safe. The pigman mage then lightens the pressure on his targets.

"Princess, I will lift this mental spell if you can guarantee that my family will be taken in for a trial of justice," says Bartholomew.

"I cannot guarantee anything. I am here to follow the decree of the emperor himself. I have found evidence of collusion with the demonic sect and that is why we must wipe our country clean with their blood. " responded Yuna.

There was visible frustration on the mage's face as he did not wish to hear those exact words. He, an Aura Formation rank mage was one of the rarest and most powerful people in existence.

he even stated his rank but these Silver Lions did not care about his power. They were too loyal to their nation and the word of their emperor.

"This is exactly why I hate politics," said Bartholomew as he lifted his magic staff and increased the pressure. Yuna almost bent her knee before something unexpected occurred,

A black wave of black energy that flowed like water coiled around the silver lions and released the pressure that was weighing them down.

The Silver Lions acted with haste and everyone once again picked up their weapons and readied their battle stance.

"The Manupus family really does think that they are above our empire. " said an eerie voice from Yuna's shadow.

Swooosh!

From inside her shadow, jumped out a figure that was clad in black robes, a black mask, and black boots. The shadow had broad shoulders and is 1.9 meters in height. The muscles of this man were bursting from his robes.

There was no insignia or crest on this man's clothes and the mask modified his voice. Along with his face being hidden, the man's identity and age were impossible to tell.

"Hmph. Just a regular shadow being believed he can stand up to me," says Bartholomew mockingly. He could detect that this person in front of him is only an Elemental Cancellation rank individual.

Bartholomew could kill 10 or so of that rank without breaking a sweat.

"It looks like age makes one's sense dulls. Or maybe yours was just dull, to begin with." said the shadowy man. He then created more tendrils of black energy and tossed them towards Bartholomew.

The tendrils broke the speed of sound with ease and created tinny sonic booms when they accelerated. Bartholomew was taken by surprise. He reacted quickly and formed a bubble made of light blue energy.

This bubble surrounded Bartholomew and protected him from the force of the tendrils. The black tendrils hit the shield and caused small ripples to appear on it.

The shadow then sent out 10 more tendrils that were even thicker than the ones he had sent it earlier. These tendrils then combined with the 20 or so smaller tendrils to create 10 massive snakes.

These snakes had red eyes and thick bodies that could be anywhere from 200 to 300 meters long.

The snakes stood proudly in the air while staring down menacingly at Bartholomew. They surrounded his every route of escape. These snakes would not let go of the prey in sight.

"You... you are an Aura Formation mage as well. How can that be? You are nothing but a muscle-bound shadow with no magic staff. How can you have displayed such power?" said Bartholomew.

He was slightly frightened by these snakes. He had never seen any magic like this.

Not only did the man in front of him hide his cultivation from the hones senses of someone like him but he also could use such powerful spells without a wand.

"How I did and what I did is none of your concern as you are not leaving this estate alive. Neither will your family. I have seen the hideous truth behind your family and the demonic cult. So have the people who are floating behind you." says the shadow.

The shadowy man then proceeds to tilt his head and look up into the air. Floating right under the clouds were a group of 50, tall and broad-shouldered men. The shortest is 1.8 meters and the tallest being 2.4 meters in height.

These men had full plates, golden metal armor. There were intricate designs of cerulean dragons and snakes depicted on the arms and legs of the armor.

The golden knights also had blue eyes, white dragons carved deeply within the plating on their right chest. The knights that were floating caught felt that the shadow was eyeing them.

They could also feel the gaze of Bartholomew who was pouring more energy out from his staff and into his bubble shield. The shield was getting brighter and brighter. It also became darker and darker with the color no becoming a deep blue.

The transparency of the shield had also become lower. The golden knights saw this and then accelerated downwards without actually moving a single part of their bodies. It was as of they had full control of their flight through just their thoughts.

The landing of these men caused the ground to shake as dirt and dust went flying in all directions. They had landed only 5 or so meters away from Bartholomew.

The shadow, the silver lions, the golden knights, and towering snakes had Bartholomew surrounded. This mage had only come here to request a fair trial from the nation.

He had known that his family was being put into a trap and being used as the scapegoats with which this empire would start a massive cleansing. He still believed that there would be a chance for his family if he went himself.

Bartholomew thought that Gigantus would give him face due to his incredible strength as an unparalleled mage cultivator. Unfortunately for him, this entire situation was created to lure him out in the first place.

"The Golden Lions. I never thought that I would be graced by the presence of his majesty, the emperor himself," said Bartholomew while staring at a certain figure in awe.

This figure was of a tall man with handsome, chiseled-out features. The man had narrow eyes filled with wisdom and pride. His stature and the way he talked only exuded a sense of domination and elegance.

The man had bright red eyes and flowing silver hair that reached down to his waist.

This is the current emperor of the Gigantus Empire. The golden knights on his side were the famous Golden Lions, the emperor's personal guards.

"Esteemed Mage Bartholomew Manupus. One of the leading members of the Slatunia Beastman Empire's senate has come to my land. I would have prepared a banquet if the situation was better. "

The emperor's voice had pure elegance in every word. Even if he was mocking the person in front of him, that person should feel blessed that the emperor was even talking to him.

"I am only here to ask for my family to be judged in a trial. This finding of circumstantial evidence is not fair to the justice your country claims to have. Can you give me that your majesty?" asked Bartholomew. He was running out of options.

He was surrounded by strong people who he could not beat alone even worse, his family is currently sitting ducks. His only option is that the emperor would give them a chance. Even if Bartholomew could not let his family get out alive, he still had to get out alive.

"You, a mage that holds great wealth, power and connections came personally just ask for a trial for a small branch of your vast family. I cannot believe that you would do this without some exterior motives.

You have hundreds of other branches but you come to save one that is suspected of colluding with the unrighteous, Demonic Cult. How can I possibly overlook something like this when the proof was found buried in your own backyard?"

The emperor would not give any purposeful opening or chances that Bartholomew could use.

"Alright then. I will not interfere with the justice that your highness seeks. I shall leave at once." Bartholomew knew that this emperor is very stubborn and would not listen to his pleas.

Killing off a small branch was fine. His family might lose some of its honor but it could still cover it all up with money and connections. Honor is not more than his life.

Bartholomew knew that as long as he somewhat complied, the emperor would not dare kill him if he does not want to start a war with Slatunia.

"Hmmm. I don't think I can let you go. I need you to make it up to my daughter and her soldiers for using a mental spell on them." demanded the emperor. Of course, the daughter he was referring to would be 11 Princess Yuna.

"That is all fine with me. What is it need to do your majesty?" asked Bartholomew. He knew that they wouldn't let him off too easy as he was quite rude with the princess and the Silver Lions. Paying a small compensation was no issue with his power and wealth.

"What I require isn't much. It's just your life." said the emperor nonchalantly.

"What!!!!!??" screamed Bartholomew. "This emperor has gone crazy. It seems he wants to start a war." Those were Bartholomew's final words as all 10 black snakes took the emperor's words as a signal to attack.

They dived headfirst into the blue shield and their combined force shattered it to pieces. Before Bartholomew could conjure a teleportation spell, the snakes had already devoured his body and ripped him into shreds. There was nothing left of Bartholomew except his magic staff with the gold orb on top.

The snakes then turned around and started munching on the weak pigs that were the rest of the Manupus family. Most of the 700 people had already fainted due to all the shocking events that had happened back to back.

If they were awake, they would have seen the snakes only picking out direct members of the Manupus family. That only numbered to about 40 within this estate.

The servants that were sparred and awake looked towards the emperor who was approaching them.

"Fear not my dear human citizens. You were only working for heinous pigs and did not do anything wrong. I am a kind and benevolent emperor so I always spare the lives of the innocent." said the emperor. There was still somehow some elegance in those narcissistic words of his.

The servants took these words of their emperor to heart and kneeled and bowed their heads to the ground before him as thanks for his show of mercy.

Yuna then took her hand and did a facepalm while shaking her head.

"Dad, you were doing so good just now with your words. Why did you have to go all narcissistic again?" questioned Yuna.

"My little girl, this is just how am and always will be. I do not like keeping that elegant facade up for too long." said the emperor.

"You really could not wait until we went back?" Yuna could never understand how her father could be so shrewd while also being so narcissistic. Her mother had said that these two things are seldom found in one person.

Yuna's mother had told her that "One can not be narcissistic and full of wisdom at the same time as those with wisdom knew that too much pride would only bring harm."

This was the one phrase from her mother that Yuna did not believe.

"I am don't like being patient I don't absolutely have to. Now come home with me today. I was sent something wonderful from my friend back in Igrit and I want to share with the entire family." said the emperor as he took his daughter by the hand and ran.

A white light emitted from the emperor's ring and a massive, red, and gold carriage appeared from out of nowhere. Two griffons that had wingspans of over 50 meters landed from above the clouds and attached themselves to the carriage by suing a brown, magic thread.