"Cough, cough," the young Night Shade coughed, Alicarde's sword at his throat and Argint looming over him. Despair was evident on his face as he looked at the two of them, fully aware of his defeat.
"Kill , just kill . I can never let down my tribe by living in failure," Vance gritted his teeth.
Alicarde frowned. Did they really have to kill him? He wanted to protect Carrisa and Ana, but he didn't want to kill anyone. While his mind raced with those thoughts, the old elder stood up and spoke slowly.
"Please, wait. You are victorious; we surrender." He sighed, his sad gaze making him look even older and more decrepit.
He turned to Carrisa. "Princess, you are victorious. The life of my tribe is now in your hands."
From the ground, Vance scread, "Elder, please!" as tears stread down his face.
He stood up and fell to his knees, facing the elder.
"This was my failure. Let die for the tribe." His tears stained the arena.
Alicarde stood to the side, thinking they were all being a bit too dramatic.
'Seriously, what the hell is even going on right now?' Alicarde thought, sowhat confused.
The crowd was solemn, and an aura of sadness filled the area. From the crowd, Alicarde could hear a little girl asking one of the adults in the village a question.
"Are we all going to die now? I don't want to die... I don't want... anyone to die like my mommy and my daddy. We didn't do anything wrong... Why did we have to run from ho?
...Why did everyone have to die?" she asked a young Night Shade woman.
Alicarde noticed the girl's eyes filled with fear as tears appeared on her delicate face.
The young lady she had asked smiled at her with tears in the corner of her eyes.
"It will be fine, I promise. We'll be alright." Crouching down, she hugged the little girl as tears stread down her own eyes.
He didn't really know how to react anymore.
Alicarde looked at Carrisa. She was unmoved by this display. Argint looked away from them, they had lost.
The village elder pulled out a dagger from his tunic and spoke,
"Has the heavens abandoned my Night Shade clan?"
Turning to Carrisa, he held the dagger to his heart, and as he did, all the other Night Shades, even the crying children, unsheathed their weapons and brought them to their chests, only waiting for the orders of the victor.
Alicarde's eyes widened, not expecting such a grueso change in behavior. There was an almost insane amount of discipline in their movent.
It was like a fanatic cult, even the children had been indoctrinated into their ways.
Alicarde froze. He turned to Carrisa in horror, ready to stop this potentially senseless massacre.
The elder looked around and smiled. Everyone was ready to return to the hands of the Creator. Vance stood tall, and rcy, who had regained consciousness, all had their blades to their hearts.
The elder did not expect rcy. The Evernight family had no rcy, even for themselves. Why would they show it to his tribe? They would die with their honor. They were loyal to the end. It was their misfortune to be betrayed.
They would take their resentnt to the Creator, the God of Despair, and He would te out justice if He saw fit.
"My tribe is ready, Princess. As promised, our lives are yours. We leave it all in the hands of the Unseen Sovereign God of Despair, may we return to His cycle of life and death." His eyes were sad as he looked at the children, who hadn't even grown, yet bravely stuck to their ways with their little daggers to their hearts as he said their final prayer.
"Carrisa... Don't." Alicarde's low voice echoed as he looked at her. He shook his head.
Carrisa stood up, aloof as always. Their sadness did not seem to move her.
"The Evernight Imperial Family's dignity shall not be besmirched. However, if I were to slay you, My Alicarde would find disappointnt in . Therefore, I shall grant you amnesty on a singular condition, you must demonstrate your worth to . What have you to offer that could equal the value of your lives?"
Her voice was even. The elder, old and wise, could read between the lines. She was granting them a chance.
She did not need to say more. She was not directly demanding it, but she didn't need to. If they sought her favor by offering their loyalty, it would be different from her demanding it. This was what she ant by proving their worth—by swearing loyalty to Alicarde, and by extension, to her.
She would benefit in two ways firstly, by having Alicarde beco their lord, she indirectly would gain them in her peerage. As Alicarde is her undying, they are practically one and the sa. In the process, they offer him tribute, but that was not her primary goal.
The elder, familiar with the relationship between an eternal and an undying, suppressed the urge to cry out and dance with joy.
He pondered her second objective.
Her second objective was simple, since she had spared them, in hindsight, she gained nothing. So, should they not offer her sothing as a token of their gratitude, sothing equivalent to their tribe's life? In other words, the Nexus fragnts that they possessed.
The elder didn't think it was a bad deal. It was better than dying, and most importantly, her first option left him with a chance to make his own sly move as well.
And the Nexus wasn't sothing they could keep anyway. By offering loyalty to Alicarde, the undying, they would gain Carrisa's protection and, by extension, the Evernight Empire, thus ending their exile.
If she managed to restore the Nexus, even better—they could benefit from it too.
Assuming they survived the harsh wars to co. They were a warrior race to begin with, all they had to do was prove their worth.
The elder put his dagger down, and the others followed suit, following Carrisa's subtle gesture.
He turned to Alicarde, walking towards him as the crowd parted like Moses parting the Red Sea. He stopped before the young man and said in a loud voice,
"My Lord, you are our benefactor and have pleaded amnesty for our tribe despite our sacrilege towards your lady. I, Elder Fang, as acting patriarch of the Night Shade tribe, representing all Night Shades present in our tribe, hereby swear eternal loyalty to you." He then fell to his knees, and imdiately after, the whole tribe bent the knee.
Argint's eyes widened, but Alicarde was even more confused. An old man was kneeling in front of him. If his mother found out about this, she'd kill him.
When the realization hit him, he tried to lift the old man up, but he refused and slyly added,
"We Night Shades are honorable; we refuse to rise until our benefactor accepts to be our lord."
Alicarde tried to lift him up but failed.
He was worried that if he put too much strength into his attempts, the old bag of bones would break. Turning to Carrisa and Ana, they only nodded. So without much thought or understanding of the gravity of the situation.
"Okay, sure, whatever, get up, okay?" And with that, Alicarde had unwittingly beco the lord of the Night Shades.
Carrisa walked up to the elder, who had now stood up and was looking at him with a reverent gaze.
Alicarde noticed that all of them were like that. He felt a bit like a celebrity, surrounded by adoring fans.
Carrisa finally spoke,
"As you can see, Alicarde's soul is still young, and it cannot yet accommodate a pact with your entire tribe. Thus, this shall remain unofficial for the ti being. When he learns the first part of his true na, we can proceed with the pact."
The elder smiled, his old face now full of life, and his dull eyes sparkled.
"Hahaha, worry not, Princess. We understand. We shall await the day when our lord truly grows into his full potential. Since our lord has accepted us, it would behoove us to present an offering truly fitting of his noble standing. After all, as the legends say, the undying such as my lord are crafted in the image of the Creator."
As he spoke, the other Night Shades began whispering among themselves.
"Wow, our lord is an undying."
"No wonder rcy couldn't kill him. As expected of our lord, a re blade wouldn't take his life."
"Our lord is truly blessed by the Creator!"
"So powerful, so strong... it is an honor to serve him."
Alicarde watched as they whispered among themselves, no longer depressed about his victory earlier.
Carrisa smiled, pleased with the developnt. "Very well, then. Present your offering."
"Of course, Princess. We have not forgotten you. You granted us amnesty through your benevolence. Allow us to offer you the Nexus fragnts in our care as penance for our insolence."
She smiled coldly. "Very well, I accept. I suggest you also restore my now-destroyed mountain retreat."
The elder forced a smile. "But Princess, you were the one who burned it to the ground."
Alicarde was shocked, and the silent Argint behind him was surprised as well. Carrisa smiled at the elder but said nothing. Her smile was gentle, but the aning was nacing.
"Why am I not surprised," Alicarde muttered.
"Yes Princess, leave it to us. We would happily restore the damages that we so shalessly and heartlessly caused on your mountain retreat, Princess." Elder Fang's words had a double aning but Carrisa didn't seem to care.
Carrisa's gaze remained cold and aloof as she regarded Elder Fang.
"Very well, Elder Fang. Present your offering to us," she commanded, her tone aloof and unwavering.
The elder's lips curled into a sly smile.
"As you wish, Princess. Permit to bestow upon our lord an offering truly befitting his noble stature."
With that, he walked toward the side of the arena, his movents deliberate. He placed his hand on the ancient markings etched into the ground and channeled his magic into them. The symbols began to glow with an otherworldly light, growing brighter until the space before them shimred and distorted.
Alicarde's eyes widened as the light took shape, forming sothing he had never anticipated. The air around them seed to hum with a mysterious energy, and the onlookers held their breath in collective anticipation.
Carrisa's composed expression faltered for just a mont as she took in the sight before her. She narrowed her eyes, recognizing the implications of what the elder had just revealed.
Under her breath, she muttered, "Curse that sly old fox."
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