Chapter 272: Blood in the Dark

Nathan didn’t hesitate.

He drew Moonlight and fired a [Mana Arrow] at the nearest guard. The arrow struck the man’s helmet, denting it and sending him sprawling. Before the others could react, Nathan activated [Multi-Shadow Clones]. Three identical copies of himself appeared, scattering across the room.

The guards hesitated, confused.

"Kill them!" Amelia shrieked. "Kill them all!"

The guards charged. Nathan’s clones drew their bows. The real Nathan circled behind the guards, firing arrows at their knees, their shoulders, their helmets. He wasn’t trying to kill them—he was trying to disable them.

Aeliana raised her hands. Green light swirled around her fingers. "Thorne! Faen! Now!"

The door at the top of the stairs burst open. Thorne charged in, his sword flashing. Faen followed, staff raised, muttering incantations.

The tide turned.

---

In the chaos, the king remained on his knees. He was staring at Amelia, his expression a mix of horror and grief.

"Amelia," he whispered. "What have you become?"

Amelia looked at him. For a moment, her mask slipped—a flicker of something human, something vulnerable. Then it was gone.

"What I had to become," she said. "You are weak, Father. You always have been. You let the kingdom rot. You let the Demon King grow strong. You let the nobles bleed our people dry while you sat on your throne and did nothing."

"I tried to keep the peace—"

"Peace?" She laughed, cold and bitter. "There is no peace. There is only power. And you have none anymore. You are a king without a spine, a ruler without a will. Even my brother—your precious heir—is a bloody pacifist who would rather read books than rule."

The king flinched. "Your brother is a good man."

"Good men don’t win wars. Good men don’t build empires." Amelia stepped closer, her eyes blazing. "I am the true heir to the throne. The worthy one. And yet my fate is to be some political marriage pawn? Sold off to a Valdris prince or a Solara noble like a piece of cattle? Never!"

"I never—"

"Shut up!" Her voice cracked like a whip. "I will rule this kingdom. I will move it toward prosperity. With the hero’s power, I can defeat the Demon King. I can unite the kingdoms. I can make Albion great again—greater than it ever was under your pathetic reign."

The king stared at her. His face was pale, but his eyes were hard.

"By turning a child into a murderer?"

Amelia’s eyes flashed. "He was already a murderer. I just gave him a better purpose."

"A purpose?" The king’s voice rose. "You took an innocent boy from another world and turned him into a killer. You fed him prisoners like a dog being trained to fight. You corrupted him, twisted him, broke him—and you call that purpose?"

"Innocent?" Amelia’s laugh was sharp, mocking. "You call him innocent? Father, you summoned him. You ripped him from his world, his family, his life—all to fight your war. You were going to send that ’innocent boy’ to fight monsters and demons, to bleed and die for a kingdom he’d never even heard of. You dressed it up as heroism, as destiny, as glory. But we both know what it really was."

She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper.

"You were going to use him. Just like I am. The only difference is that I’m honest about it."

The king’s face went pale. His mouth opened, then closed. He had no response.

"At least I’m making him strong," Amelia continued. "At least I’m giving him power. You would have sent him to his death with nothing but a sword and a title. Such stupidity. I’m giving him the tools to survive. To win."

"By making him a killer."

"By making him a weapon." Amelia’s smile was cold. "And weapons don’t need to be good. They just need to be useful."

The king pushed himself to his feet. His legs were shaking, but he stood tall.

"You’re wrong," he said. "You’re not saving the kingdom. There is no prosperity down the path you’re taking. You would become a mad tyrant—feared, hated, and eventually destroyed. Just like the Demon King."

Amelia’s face twisted with fury. "You’ll regret this, Father."

"Perhaps," the king said. "But at least I’ll regret it as a king, not as a coward."

He turned to the guards—his guards, the ones who served the crown, not Amelia. "Stand down. All of you. Stand down!"

The guards hesitated. Some of them lowered their weapons.

---

Amelia realized she was losing. Her guards were outnumbered. The king had turned against her. The prince, Nathan, Aeliana, and the elves were fighting their way through her forces.

She didn’t panic. She didn’t scream. She simply turned and walked toward the back of the room—toward a hidden door that Nathan hadn’t noticed.

"Stop her!" the prince shouted.

Nathan fired an arrow. It grazed Amelia’s shoulder, drawing blood. She stumbled but didn’t stop. She pushed open the door and disappeared into the darkness.

The prince moved to follow, but Nathan grabbed his arm. "Wait. She might have more guards. We need to secure the king first."

The prince hesitated, then nodded. "You’re right."

---

The fight was over. Amelia’s guards were subdued—some unconscious, some surrendering. The king was safe, though shaken. The hidden room was secured.

The prince approached Nathan. "We need to find Amelia before she can regroup."

"She’s gone," Nathan said. "She knows the palace better than we do. She’ll have escape routes we don’t know about."

"Then what do we do?"

Nathan looked at the king, who was sitting on the stairs, his head in his hands. "Amelia won’t give up. She’ll try something else."

Aeliana stepped forward. "The rift. If she tries to perform the second summoning on her own—"

"She can’t," the king said, his voice hoarse. "The ritual requires the archmage. Without her, it’s impossible."

"Then we need to protect the archmage," Nathan said. "And we need to find Amelia before she can hurt anyone else."

---

In his chambers, Kenji was pacing.

He was still reeling from the instructor’s death. He killed her. He killed her and leveled up. He killed her and smiled.

What am I becoming?

A knock at the door. He didn’t answer.

The door opened. It wasn’t Amelia. It was a servant, a young woman with wide eyes and trembling hands.

"Sir... the palace is in chaos. There was a fight in the hidden rooms. The king... he’s alive, but the princess..."

Kenji’s blood ran cold. "What about the princess?"

"She’s gone. She fled. The prince and his allies are searching for her."

Kenji stared at the servant. His mind raced.

Amelia was gone. Amelia, who was always there. Amelia, who promised to protect him. Amelia, who told him to kill.

She lied to me. She said she’s always be with me!.

He looked at his status panel. The skills were still there. [Blood Frenzy]. [Berserk]. [Sword Mastery Lv.7].

He remembered the faces of the servants he killed. Their screams. Their blood.

He remembered Amelia’s smile as she watched.

His hands clenched into fists.

"I need to find her," he whispered.

---

Nathan and the prince stood in the king’s private chambers. The king was seated, his face pale, his hands trembling. Aeliana was with Faen, analyzing the shards, trying to determine how much time they had left.

"We need to find Amelia," the prince said. "She knows the kingdom better than anyone. She could be anywhere."

"She won’t leave," Nathan said. "She’s too proud. She’ll try to regroup. Try to find another way to get what she wants."

"And what does she want?"

"Power. Control. The hero."

The prince’s expression darkened. "If she gets to Kenji before we do—"

"She’ll manipulate him again. Turn him against us. Use him as a weapon."

"We can’t let that happen."

Nathan nodded. "Then we need to find Kenji first. Before she does."

A knock at the door. A guard entered, his face pale.

"My prince... the hero. He’s gone. He left the palace."

The prince’s eyes widened. "What?"

"He said he was going to find the princess. He said... he said he had questions."

Nathan and the prince exchanged a look.

"Where did he go?" Nathan asked.

"We don’t know. He just... vanished."

Nathan grabbed Moonlight as he sighed. "We need to find him. Now."