novelraw Chapter 115: The Blade Behind the Truth
Chapter 115: The Blade Behind the Truth
Chapter 115: The Blade Behind the Truth
Raven opened his eyes again. The wooden beams above him were unchanged, and the candle flickered exactly as before.
His fingers twitched.
His breath was tight.
“I saw something… unexpected,” Raven murmured, recounting everything he had witnessed through Solis—the instructor, the Radiant Walkers, Daisy, Mary, Dennis, Chris.
Zera hummed thoughtfully.
[Oh? An Academic Instructor, huh? The good thing is you will have an opportunity to meet your old classmates. Why not ask them for help? If you convince them, they might even seek help from the instructor.]
“That instructor seems strong,” Raven muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “But he has a terrible mouth.”
As he spoke, a faint shimmer flowed through the air. Solis slipped silently through the window gap and landed on his shoulder, feathers glimmering like carved crystal.
[What’s your plan, lad?] Zera asked.
‘I’ll decide after talking with Chris.’ Raven reached for a pen and paper. ‘For now, I need him to understand the situation without panicking… or dying.’
[Why not write a letter and drop it directly into the instructor’s room?] Zera suggested.
‘Too risky,’ Raven shook his head. ‘If that man is a Mystic Walker, he’ll detect Solis instantly. I can’t gamble on that.’
He finished the letter, folded it tight, then tied it carefully around Solis’s leg.
“Give this to the black-haired young man,” Raven whispered.
Solis hooted softly, spread her crystalline wings, and vanished into the night—silent as drifting frost.
Raven exhaled slowly.
Time to change.
He touched his face.
His body began to shift—bones sliding, muscles realigning. His black hair lengthened into straight strands. His jaw softened, eyes deepened into black marble. A faint vertical eyelid mark appeared on his forehead.
His true form.
Raven donned a long, dark frock coat over his armor and slipped a bowler hat over his head. Then he stepped into the shadow—the world rippled—and he vanished.
…
It was around Midnight
Chris stepped out of the mansion while rolling his neck.
The guards at the gate straightened.
“What are you doing at this hour, Sir Chris?” one asked politely. Illegitimate or not, a Zenith Knight Academy student commanded respect.
“Couldn’t sleep because of the journey,” Chris replied. “Going for a walk.”
He glanced around casually, then pointed toward a tall tree near the Knight Quarters—the trunk alone was a meter thick.
“I’ll relax over there. Keep up the patrol.”
He walked away, boots crunching softly on gravel, then stopped beneath the massive tree. Darkness pooled beneath its branches.
“Tch. I didn’t even bring a lamp,” he muttered.
He unfolded a small letter in his hand—but the darkness was too heavy, and he could barely see even the paper.
“Your muscles seem to have grown, but not your brain.”
A familiar voice whispered from the other side of the trunk.
Chris stiffened—then spun around, eyes wide.
“Raven…?”
He didn’t see the face, only the outline of a hooded figure leaning against the bark. But he didn’t need confirmation—he knew that voice.
A choked sound left his throat before he rushed forward and grabbed him in a tight embrace.
“Stupid bastard! Why didn’t you show your face all this time?” Chris hissed, voice cracking with emotion and anger.
Raven patted his back lightly. “Calm down. You should know better than anyone that I’m no longer a random student. If I came openly, you all would’ve been arrested for helping me. I still have a bounty.”
Chris’s jaw tightened—but he nodded.
He swallowed once.
“So… why come now? You wouldn’t risk showing yourself without a reason.”
Lantern light swayed in the distance—the guards were approaching.
Raven noticed. His expression hardened.
“There will be an assassination attempt tonight,” Raven said calmly. “At 1:30 A.M precisely. The leader is probably a peak Expert Walker or even a Mystic Walker.”
Chris froze.
“Are you certain? Mystic Walkers are the core strength of the army and would never come to an enemy house.”
“Didn’t the crown prince also get assassinated because of this carelessness? Night belongs to assassins,” Raven cut him off. “I have a feeling that even two Mystic Knights together wouldn’t guarantee killing her. She’ll escape.”
“She?” Chris frowned. “You talk as if you’ve already faced her.”
Raven’s silence was answer enough.
Chris swallowed again. “Then… who is she targeting?”
“It won’t be one target,” Raven replied, voice low. “It will be a large-scale assassination. Nobles, knights—anyone.”
Chris’s face drained of color.
“We should alert Count Magnus! I–I should tell my instructor! He’s at Mystic Rank—he can fight her!”
Raven’s head tilted.
“There is a traitor among the nobles,” he said flatly. “If you reveal anything, the assassins will kill you first.”
Chris went still.
Raven stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“At 1:20 A.M., you will receive another letter from me. Go to your instructor’s room. Give it to him before 1:25 A.M.”
Chris looked confused. “What do I say?”
“Nothing,” Raven replied. “Just tell him you found the letter on your pillow. Hand it over and leave. Then hide.”
Chris bit his lip.
“I can’t fight?” he whispered.
Raven’s eyes softened faintly.
“You’re not ready to face an assassin who can kill an Expert Walker in three seconds. Live, Chris. That’s the best way you can help.”
Chris clenched his fists tightly.
“I—Fine. I understand.”
Raven thought of something and asked.
“Are there any other Mystic Walkers other than your teacher in the mansion?”
Chris showed a thoughtful look and nodded. “I’ve heard that the patriarch of Count Magnus’s household is a Mystic Walker. Unfortunately, he was injured during the last fight and is currently recuperating. That’s why the Royal Family sent our instructor here in case of an emergency.”
Lantern light drifted closer. Two guards approached the tree.
“You should leave,” Chris whispered urgently. “If they see—”
He stopped mid-sentence.
Because Raven was gone.
Vanished like a shadow swallowed by the night.
Only the cold breeze remained, brushing the branches overhead.
And Chris stood under the moonlit tree, clutching the letter, heartbeat pounding like war drums.
…
It was around 12:30 a.m. when Raven reappeared in his room, shadows peeling off him like fading ink.
Zera’s voice followed immediately.
[What are you planning to do now?]
‘I’ll wait here,’ Raven replied quietly as he sat on the bed, eyes fixed on the clock.
Minutes crawled as he changed his appearance back to Thomas Holmes.
At 1:15 a.m., he tied another letter to Solis’s leg. The crystalline owl slipped through the window again, gliding over the courtyard tree and toward the mansion.
Solis entered the Radiant Walkers’ room, dropped the letter silently on Chris’s table, and left without disturbing a soul.
By 1:20 a.m., she returned to Raven—her form melting into an amulet that fell softly onto his lap. Raven picked it up, put the necklace on, and straightened.
It was almost time.
The room felt colder.
The walls seemed to hold their breath.
1:30 a.m.
“Elapsed Illusion.”
A faint ripple distorted the air.
Suddenly, the Raven sitting on the bed began to fade—becoming a still image of what the room had looked like ten minutes ago. The illusion sat quietly, motionless, waiting.
The real Raven stepped away, concealed behind the layered illusion.
A crystalline owl flew through the window, transformed into an amulet, and dropped onto Illusion-Raven’s lap.
He “put it on.”
Still. Quiet. Unmoving.
Just like before.
Thirty seconds later, smoke slithered through the door gap like a living creature.
A shadow-thin assassin materialized behind the illusion, dagger slicing forward with deadly precision—straight across the throat.
Shing—
The body burst into millions of glass-like shards, scattering in a cascade of shimmering fragments.
The assassin froze.
A fatal mistake.
A spear pierced through the back of his neck, bursting out through the front.
The room shimmered, the illusion dissolving—
—revealing Raven standing behind him, pulling the spear cleanly out.
The assassin collapsed with wide, disbelieving eyes.
At that exact moment—
Gunfire, explosions, and screams erupted across the building.
“Assassins!”
“Dodge!”
“Help—!”
Raven nudged the corpse aside and moved to the door. The wooden frame creaked as he swung it open, stepping into a dim corridor soaked in flickering lamplight.
Heavy footsteps approached.
Jacob emerged from the next room, breathing hard. Behind him lay another assassin, blood pooling steadily under the limp corpse.
“I didn’t expect an Expert assassin would be sent after me, My Lord,” Jacob muttered, wiping his blade. “Seems they knew I was an Expert Walker.”
He glanced at the ring in his hand—Silent Embers.
Not even an Expert could see through the illusion of his rank.
And yet… the assassins had targeted him precisely.
‘They know Jacob’s real strength,’ Raven realized.
Which meant the leak was deeper than expected.
“Haa. No time to discuss,” Raven said briskly.
He pulled out the Starflare-3R Rifle and handed it to Jacob. Then Raven drank three potions in rapid succession:
Strength. Agility. Insight.
His veins glowed faintly.
“Sir Jacob… aim at my temple.”
Jacob stiffened. “My Lord?”
“When I say ‘Shift,’ pull the trigger. Don’t hesitate.”
“My—My Lord? Why—?”
“If you don’t, both of us will die.”
Jacob swallowed hard but nodded sharply. He aimed the rifle at Raven’s head.
Footsteps echoed from deeper in the corridor.
She was here.
A young woman stepped into view—crimson eyes glowing like bloody moons. Her cloak rippled like liquid shadow.
“Well, well,” she said with a mocking smile. “What kind of situation is this? Infighting?”
She slowed when she saw Jacob aiming a rifle at Raven.
Raven met her gaze.
“Shift.”
Jacob obeyed instantly.
Click—BOOM!
In that same heartbeat—
Raven vanished.
The assassin woman blinked—
—only to find herself standing where Raven had been a second ago.
And the bullet was already at her temple.
Her instincts screamed.
Time slowed.
Thoughts accelerated.
She tilted her head desperately, shifting her trajectory—
—but the mithril bullet still tore through her forehead from the side, shredding flesh and bone.
“ARRRGGGHH!”
A shockwave blasted outward, flinging Raven and Jacob back.
The Mystic Walker clutched her bleeding head, her eyes wild and unfocused. Her frontal lobe, which governs judgment, decision-making, and coordination, was damaged.
Her thoughts were a storm of confusion.
“F—F*ck!” Jacob yelled. “Did we kill a Mystic Walker?!”
“She’s not dead,” Raven growled. “If we wait, she’ll heal.”
He disappeared into the shadows and reappeared behind her.
She sensed nothing.
He plunged his spear into her heart—
Yellow aura crackled across the blade.
At the same time, Jacob switched rifles in a flash, lifted the uncommon Aether firearm, and fired a second bullet straight into the exposed part of her skull.
Both attacks hit simultaneously.
Her eyes widened, her body trembled, and her knees buckled.
She collapsed.
Raven exhaled long and slow.
“Haa… I never thought this plan would wor—”
A shadow flickered behind him.
Zera screamed in his mind—
[BEHIND YOU—!]
Raven’s words died.
His world tilted.
Everything spun wildly.
His head was no longer attached to his body.
For one horrific moment, he saw—
His own headless corpse stumbled forward, spurting blood like a fountain.
Behind it stood a middle-aged man with dozens of battle scars, a long sword dripping red in his hand.
Cold eyes.
Heavy killing intent.
Raven recognized him instantly.
The Instructor!
A thousand questions flashed through Raven’s fading consciousness—
Why is he here?
Is he the traitor?
Was he waiting all along—?
But darkness surged in before any answer came.
…
Advance chapters are available on Patreon for readers who want to read ahead.