*ZOOM*
With a warp in space, Wilhelm stepped out of the portal that shimmered in place into his room, but unlike usual, his appearance was a bit haggard.
His hair looked unkempt, while his clothes were clean due to the enchantments on them, he had lots of dust on his face.
As he stepped, Wilhelm quivered in his step.
'Ahhh…I need to get a bath, like right now.'
Wilhelm thought as he did not like how the dirt stuck on his skin, and quickly going through his wardrobe, he picked out clothes from it. Grabbing them, he created another portal, this time, leading to the bathroom.
Stepping into it, he found it empty, placed his clothes on the stone table, and took a bath.
…
"Mmmm…feels better." Wilhelm said as he wore a new set of clothes and looked at himself in the mirror with his well-groomed hair. Straightening the clothes that didn't even have a crease.
Then, gazing into the mirror, he fell into deep thought.
'What should I do? Might as well get a cup of coffee.'
With a shrug of his shoulder, Wilhelm opened the door to his house and decided to make his way to the kitchen. Taking a different way to the kitchen since the stairs seemed to shift, he reached the place and did not encounter anyone on the way.
'Well, they might as well be drunk and passed out.' Wilhelm thought dismissively as he started to prepare coffee. Deciding to be a little adventurous with his coffee today, he decided to add chocolate as well.
Bringing the warm cup of coffee near his nose, he took a deep breath.
"Mhhh…refreshing." Wilhelm muttered under his breath as he shook the cup a bit and started to drink the cup of coffee, sip by sip.
As he did so, Wilhelm's coffee time was interrupted by a wild Magna.
"Oi, Wilhelm?"
Hearing this voice, Wilhelm turned back without a change in his expression as he continued to drink coffee.
"Where were you, eh? Did not hear from 'ya for 3 days." Magna asked as he walked over and slung his arm over his shoulder, which caused Wilhelm to hunch a bit, but he kept his cup in perfect orientation like a chicken's head.
"I was training." Wilhelm replied, at which Magna tightened his grip.
"Where w're ya' trainin'?" Magna asked in his brash manner, which Wilhelm did not take any offense at, since he realized this was just the way he talked.
"Outskirts of the Clover Kingdom. It is isolated, so it is perfect for training." Wilhelm replied, at which Magna made an indescribable face when he suddenly remembered something and spoke.
"Oh, Mister Yami was lookin' for ya."
"Me? For what?" Wilhelm asked incredulously because Yami seldom called on anyone in the squad other than Finral.
Shrugging his shoulder, Magna replied, "Hell do I know? Just talk to him."
"Okay, I will," Wilhelm replied and…
*CRACK*
…his figure shattered.
"Dammit! He pulled that bullshit again!" Magna barked in irritation, seeing that he had been under Wilhelm's illusion all along. Cursing through his breath, he made his way out of the place, leaving behind Wilhelm, who was drinking rose milk instead by the windowsill.
'Well, just one more cup of…almond milk, and then I will meet Captain.'
Wilhelm decided, and true to his words, went to meet Yami at his natural habitat.
Toilet.
*FLUSH*
"Oi, what were you doing? Waiting in line for a dump?" Yami asked as he opened the gate to the toilet, moving forward to wash his hands, while Wilhelm leaned by the entrance to the washroom.
"Nah. Heard you were looking for me." Wilhelm said dismissively, at which Yami jerked his hand to dry his hand, and replied.
"Hmm…Julius called for you. Said to send you as quickly as possible."
'So, it was Wizard King after all.' Wilhelm thought, though his face gave away nothing. Then Yami walked over, and said, thumping Wilhelm's back, "Hurry up and make a portal. The faster you are done with this, the more time you will have to train."
As his hand connected, Wilhelm's figure shattered once again.
"…"
"You know, you can have a good career as a gambler if you ever want. Create fake cards, and win 'em all." Yami commented off-handedly despite there being no Wilhelm in sight.
Then his face briefly twisted into an indescribable expression when he added.
"Always choose what you wish to, not what others want you to."
Saying this, he walked out, and so did Wilhelm, just in a different direction, who decided to make his way to the Capital out of sheer curiosity.
To make use of the time, he decided to utilize travel time by continuing where he last left off his training.
Illusions.
'This is my most prominent power, that I am more inclined to despite my use of other magics nowadays, but it is also true that this is getting a bit predictive due to the nature of the fights I go through.
Their mana is just too strong to knock them with a look like I did with Noseless Silva, who hides this with his…braid!
Oh my God! I now know why he keeps that ugly braid.'
Well, he did think of many useless things as well.
'On the topic, maybe I should try doing the opposite of what I do.
Instead of casting a wide net of illusion to completely change the battlefield, I should just place illusions on myself.
This way, they actually have to hit me to dispel the illusion and will give me an albeit less impactful but more sure way to use illusion.'
In such fashion, he kept on drowning in his thoughts until he found himself directly face-to-face with Julius' door. On the way, nobody stopped him because the guards now knew about Wilhelm after the Star Festival, and his multiple visits to hand over various reports.
Standing in front of the door, he shook his head to snap himself out of his train of thought.
'Let's continue on that front later on.
Right now, Wizard King.'
Patting his clothes out of habit, Wilhelm stayed still in front of the door for a while before he knocked on it thrice.
Perfectly thrice.
"Enter." Came the exhausted voice of Julius from behind the door.
Getting permission, Wilhelm pushed the door apart, which opened without so much as a sound. In front of his view came Julius, who, despite being buried under heaps of reports, looked at Wilhelm with a solemn gaze that he showed seldom.
'He looks unnaturally serious. Something big must be in store for me.' Wilhelm thought as he walked and stopped a reasonable distance away from the table and gave a usual salute, and said rhetorically in greeting.
"Wizard King."
"Wilhelm…I am not going to beat around the bush." He said as he stood up from his seat and walked towards Wilhelm until he was standing right in front of him, his towering figure at eye level with Wilhelm's.
Meeting Wilhelm's gaze, that seemingly mirrored his seriousness, Julius continued.
"Wilhelm, we are fighting an organization that has been causing harm to the Clover Kingdom for a while. They seemingly come from nowhere and then disappear after attacking. It is only due to their timely intervention that they have been…meeting failure."
He said the recounting the events of the past, at which Wilhelm patiently nodded.
But then, Julius' gaze hardened.
"We are to launch an attack on them, but I am not sure about it. One of our Magic Knight Captains is already a traitor, and there is good evidence along with one too many coincidences to suggest that Vangeance is one as well.
At this point, I am not worried about the enemy, but what it plans." Julius admitted with a bit of helplessness creeping into his tone.
"But what I am worried about is this enemy whose claws have sunk so deep in our kingdom, and its ranks have been planning. If they are willing to go as far as they are for some peculiar stones, I am not sure if we will be able to compete with them if their planning comes to fruition.
And that is why, I, Julius Novachrono, the Wizard King of Clover Kingdom, beg you..."
Julius said as he was about to bow, which caused Wilhelm's eyes to widen, who instinctively stopped this action, which brought him a tired smile from a man who looked as if he had failed in life.
'Whatever it is, this is far too serious.' Wilhelm thought without a single strand of humor present in him at the moment.
"Don't beg. It does not favor you to do so.
Tell me what you wish of me." Wilhelm said in a solemn tone, at which Julius nodded and continued as he straightened once more.
"Wilhelm Sylvesterus Diluc Rothchilde, I request you to take on a mission."
"Mission?"
"Yes, a mission, but a dangerous one." Julius commented with a nod of his head as confirmation, then he added.
"I want you to infiltrate Diamond Kingdom and…kill."
This threw a wrench in Wilhelm's thought, who was anticipating something grim.
"Kill?" He repeated incredulously.
"Yes, kill. I wish for you to kill the people of the Diamond Kingdom. For our upcoming fight, we need strength, something that we cannot gather in such a short time, but you can."
"By killing people and taking their magic."
Wilhelm completed Julius' sentence, which earned him a nod.
Taking a deep breath, Wilhelm thought about what Yami had said before.
'So he knew, huh?
It seems he can be wise from time to time when it calls for it.'
Wilhelm chuckled at the thought morbidly, then he met Julius' eyes and said, "My answer is…"
….
"Hey! Where are ya' taking me?! Tell or 'll rip out your tongue!" Revchi Salik, the user of Chain Magic and former member of Purple Orca, said as he was hauled using a chain by one of the guards.
As he was shouting, he heard another voice that he recognized really well coming from the other end of the path.
"UNHAND ME YOU PEASANT! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!?" The owner of the voice appeared shortly after. A round man, wearing a mask.
Gueldre Poizot, the former captain of Purple Orca and the owner of Permeation Magic.
"Oi, they got you too, Captain?" Revchi quipped, which caused Gueldre to turn his eyes to him, and ask, "Who are you, you damn rat?"
Hearing those, all mockery disappeared from Revchi's face, and anger took its place.
"I was a member of your damn squad, ya' pi-"
*BAM*
"Stop talking."
Revchi's outburst was cut short by a sucker punch from the guard moving him, which caused him to feel hazy, but this did not matter to Gueldre, who asked, looking at his guide.
"Where are you taking me?!"
But for once, the guard replied, with mockery in his tone.
"To your death."
"What do you mea-"
*POW*
Then, Gueldre was met with the same treatment, albeit from a fist coated with stone aimed at his stomach that made him feel like he was vomiting the contents of his stomach that he never had.
Moving with limp bodies, both of them were escorted to a small room that had a very dim source of light, but their gaze did not register that.
No, they were ashen at the sight of 3 beheaded corpses.
One belonging to Lotus who had outlived his purpose, and the rest two to Broccosa and Ragus of the 8 Shining Generals who had been held captive since the last attack by the Diamond Kingdom.
This caused a grim realization to set in Gueldre and Revchi's minds.
'They are going to kill us.'
Feeling panic, Gueldre brought forth energy due to panic, pleaded to the guard, completely opposite to the tone he used moments before.
"Please don't kill me. I will give you gold, sil-"
"Leave."
But a single word, so heavy, cut through the dreadful atmosphere, which caused Gueldre to shiver in his step, while Revchi was unable to say a thing, as he was not used to being on the end of pain and suffering he dished out.
As the voice came, suddenly the pair's body was engulfed with a gem-like coating, binding their hands, legs, and also gagging their mouth. The only part that was not covered in this coating was their neck.
At the command of the voice, both guards left the pair behind hurriedly.
Now, both of them were alone in the small room, where the air on their uncovered neck felt like death's scythe.
"MHHP"
"NNEEPP"
Both of them made unintelligible sounds from their gags when…
*TAP TAP*
…sounds of footsteps reverberated in the room, reminding them that they were not alone. They were trapped with their death.
Their death, who turned out to be a man, with hair as if dyed in blood, eyes like a serpent, and a sword that was dripping blood in its trail.
The figure looked at their pleading and desperate eyes with a cold detachment and…
*THWP*
…swung his sword down.
*THUD*
Both of their heads collided on the floor and rolled over, and the once dingy room was brightened by the light from the grimoire of the said figure.
***
I am back.
I was playing Hogwarts Legacy, Oblivion, Skyrim, Morrowind, Marvel Rivals, Palworld, Monster Hunter World and I am about to play Elden Ring.
What were you doing in my absence?
Please leave Power Stones.
I really want to enter the main rankings.
We have already surpassed 100K words