In royal land, the evening sun cast long shadows on the kingdom. The slanting rays of the setting sun gave a warm orange tinge to the sky. The sky was ablaze with the fire of the setting sun. Bright city lights dazzled under the evening sky, adding an extra layer of charm to the capital. The pale crescent moon slowly rose in the sky like a silvery claw. The stars blanketed the sky, stretching to infinity. The occasional barking of faraway dogs and howling wolves broke the silence of the night. It was just another day for everyone in the Royal land capital except for Lord Edmond Wright. He was excited to wipe out the Bradley Family from the face of the world. After the Guardian Guild shut down the Majestic alchemy chain and interrogated Lord Malan about his relationship with Ghost. Many of the nobles used this as an excuse to cut ties with the Bradley family. Hence, the Bradley family lost most of their security contracts which made the family slowly decline.

Lord Edmond Wright led this surgical attack on the Bradley family from the front. He poached almost all the Bradley family's contracts. If that wasn't enough, Edmond wanted to take over the Bradley family compound and kill them all. Inside the Edmond family compound, Edmond Wright sat behind a long oak table. He stared at the mirror in front of him. A face with long red hair, hazel eyes, and an oval face stared back at him.

He rubbed his hands together excitedly. He opened up a scroll before him with all the attack plans written on it.

"Roger," Edmond called his personal guard, a Soul Refining stage warrior. A golden-haired knight armed to the teeth entered the room and knelt down,

"My lord,"

"Are our men ready?" asked Edmond.

"They are waiting for your orders, my lord," said Roger. Lord Edmond grinned from ear to ear. He felt invincible. The Wright family had always been the bottom feeders in Royal Land. Thanks to the Dark Lord and the Guardian Guild, he was able to use the Bradley family's hurdle to increase the Wright family's power. He received instructions and financial aid to take out the Bradley family from a secret group of wealthy merchants. Under Noah's leadership, the Guardian Guild stopped all the backdoor dealings and off-the-books operations. He also removed corrupted merchants who used to be the biggest donors of the guild. These merchants formed a cult-like group to fight the Dark Lord in their own twisted way.

Lord Edmond was just their pawn. Although he knew he was a pawn, he didn't mind being a pawn as far as his family could benefit. Since Lord Edmond planned everything in complete secrecy, the Bradley family had no idea about the upcoming attack. At Least, that's what Lord Edmond thought.

"Let's begin then," Lord Edmond rose from his chair with a burst of laughter.

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"Bring the men here. I wanna say some motivational words to them," said Lord Edmond. He always dreamt of leading an army in a war. Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten a chance to do so. He thought of himself as a great general. He spent day and night preparing a speech for his men. So he wanted to deliver his prepared speech before they departed.

"As you wish, my lord," Roger bowed once again and left the room to bring the men here. Roger recruited adventurers as well as powerful mercenaries to aid them in the attack against the Bradley family, in addition to their own men. Lord Edmond took a few steps. He watched the city outside through his window. Looking at the sky darkening, he thought of the Dark Lord for some reason. Ever since the Dark Lord destroyed Itholan, the darkness symbolized the Dark Lord. Although the people and the nobles went with their lives as usual, they all feared the Dark Lord deep down. Only a few, like Lord Edmond, dared to work against the people who helped Ghost in the dark.

"Tomorrow," mumbled Lord Edmond. His ambition of being the leader of the most powerful family in the Royal Land was so close. He could taste his victory in the air. Because the Bradley family helped Ghost before his big reveal, no one would investigate their disappearance too much. Even if they did, it was the problem of the people who instructed and financially aided Edmond.

Lord Edmond entered into a short dream where he sat atop all the nobles in the Royal land. He was even getting a warm welcome into the castle from Queen Imar and king Kramer. His dream was abruptly interrupted by the flickering chandelier. Edmond creased his brows with annoyance. He turned around as the chandelier kept flickering.

"My lord," Roger knocked on the door from outside.

"Come in," Edmond adjusted his robes to give his speech. The chandelier stopped flickering for a moment as Roger entered the room with men wearing dark robes to cover their bodies completely. Suddenly, the chandelier went out and came back again. In that split second, Lord Edmon could swear he saw a girl in the corner.

He shook his head to clear his mind. He looked around the room,

"Is everything alright, my lord?" asked Roger.

"Before you go, tell someone to fix this damn light," Edmond growled.

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Lord Edmond took a deep breath. He was about to start his speech when the chandelier went off again. Everything became dark.

"Fucking fuck," Lord Edmond growled. He thought the light would return, but it didn't. Roger and his men had a bad feeling about the sudden darkness. Roger quickly flicked his wrist, conjuring a fireball in his hand. As soon as the flames appeared above Roger's hand, Edmond's eyes went wide. His heart skipped a beat as he saw someone standing behind Roger.

"ROGER!" Edmond shouted to warn Roger. However, it was too late. The dark figure standing behind Roger plunged a dagger right into his throat. The others were startled by the splash of blood gushing out of Roger's neck. Edmond panicked as dark figures appeared one by one behind his men. They cut their throats before they could even react.

The men groaned, clutching their throats. When they hit the ground, the air reeked of blood. The fireball above Roger's hands slowly faded away, letting the darkness envelop the room once again. Edmond wanted to shout for his men, yet no words came out of his mouth. He was too stunned. When he managed to find his voice, he felt something cold against his throat.

"Shout, and I'll cut open your throat," Edmond heard a chilling voice of a girl. His whole body trembled. The girl behind him forced him to sit back on his chair. Edmond heard the curtains closing. The blade was still against his throat. He still couldn't believe the strongest man he had was slaughtered in front of him in a blink of an eye. Silence fell over the room. A few moments later, Edmond heard a chair creaking. He could tell someone had sat before him. The next moment, he heard a snapping as the chandelier returned to life, bringing light to the room.

When the light came back, Edmond saw a young man wearing exquisite black armor with a skull engraving on the chest sitting before him. The dark-robed figures stood around the room, covering their faces with dark hoods. These figures wore different black armor with the same skull engraving on their chests. The young man had shoulder-length black hair, a stubble beard, and a small cut on his left cheek. He signaled the girl behind Edmond to move the dagger away from his throat.

"Who are you?" Edmond stuttered. He knew who these people might be judging by their armor, yet Edmond's mind refused to believe it. He desperately wanted them to be someone else.

"Congratulations, Edmond. You successfully drew the Dark Lord's attention," said the young man. Edmond's heart almost jumped out of his chest when he heard the name of the Dark Lord.

"No no no no" Edmond's eyes watered. He mumbled repeatedly.

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"Please forgive me" Edmond banged his head against the table to apologize. The entire world knew the result of going against the Dark Lord. A year ago, he destroyed an entire kingdom and slaughtered hundreds of guardians, including Immortals. The world hadn't forgotten that day. Hence, the people called it 'The black day'

The moment Edmond decided to go against the Bradley family, he enforced several powerful runes, arrays, and defense mechanisms around his manor. He even spent hundreds of thousands of gold coins to recruit powerful guards to guard the compound. Yet, the Dark Lord's men reached his room without raising a single alarm or tripping an array.

"Did you know the Bradley family helped the Dark Lord and were his allies?" asked the young man. This young man was none other than Ricky. Despite Michael's real identity, Daniel and Ricky followed him to the southern continent without a second thought. They did not give a damn about what the world said about the Dark Lord. Instead, they remained loyal as ever to Michael.

Ricky and Daniel moved their families to Gisel without anyone knowing with Gaya's help. Ever since then, they've been helping the Dark Lord as they always did. Unfortunately, Ricky's choice to follow Michael costs him his love. The current Ricky was more ruthless, powerful, and loyal to the Dark Lord than the Ricky, who served as the gate guard in the River town. His loyalty earned Ricky a spot in the Dark Lord's close circle. Soon, Ricky would be officially initiated into the Order along with Daniel.

Hearing Ricky's question, Edmond remained silent. He shivered, trying to find words.

"So what made you go against the Dark Lord's allies? Did you wake up one day and say to yourself, damn I really hate this life, so I should end my pathetic life?" asked Ricky.

"Pleaseplease don't kill me.they forced methey forced me to do this"

"Who? The silver order?" asked Ricky. According to Aria and Sadie, a group of people who call themselves the Silver Order have been working against the Dark Lord in the Elon continent. It was Aria who tipped Ricky about Edmond's connection with the Order as soon as Edmond started to steal the Bradley family's clients. Poor Edmond did not know that the Bradley family's head Lord Malan had sworn his allegiance to the Dark Lord and joined the Order of Death. To the outside world, the Bradley family was slowly declining, but in reality, Lord Malan had been helping the Dark Lord in secret using his family's resources.

"Yes," Edmond did not know they were called the Silver Order yet he bobbed his head up and down to save his own life.

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"Now, how should we deal with you?" Ricky slowly unsheathed a black dagger.