Dimension System - Chapter 80

Disdain could be seen on the knight’s faces as they realized that they had been surrounded. They moved quickly to tighten up their formation and shore up any gaps in the defensive line. Remaining at the forefront, the captain motioned for his squire to retrieve the warrant.

“I highly recommend that you consider the gravity of your actions sir. Standing against the King is treason and any obstruction of justice will not be tolerated.”

Motioning to the warrant in his hand, the captain continued speaking.

“This an official warrant issued by his royal majesty, King Reginald the second, granting me the authority to retrieve any suspects as pertaining to certain missing persons.”

Having said his piece, the captain threw the warrant back to the squire, who scrambled to catch it. Turning back around to face the Rangers he witnessed that they were still stoic, instead of the usual awestruck look people gave when they realized he worked under the King’s authority.

Zanir looked over to Raul, interested to see how he would handle this. The last thing he expected was Raul to be grinning like a madman. Much to the dismay of the knights he started laughing, both openly and loudly.

Naturally, this enraged the captain.

“Are you hard of hearing old man? I said you are to open this gate on the authority of the KING!”

The outburst did quiet Raul down. He cleared his throat before making his reply.

“Quiet down for a moment and listen here boy. I’ve been fighting horrors and abominations for decades. Our organization has been battling back the darkness for over a millennia! Kingdoms and empires have risen and fallen. Please, tell me again how I should bow down to your so-called ‘authority’?”

Placed in a very awkward situation, the knight captain proceeded to try some political backpedaling.

“We’ve always appreciated the Rangers and have cooperated with your organization in the past. I’m simply trying to conduct an investigation and follow my orders.”

Chucking, Raul retrieved an aged parchment from an out of breath scholar who had just come up the ramparts.

“This is my authority right here! An imperial edict, signed by over a dozen emperors, across multiple continents.”

All of the knights were stunned, including the captain. Over the last few hundred years the Rangers had faded into obscurity, due to the relative peace secured by their hard fought battles and sacrifice. Since they kept to themselves, many had forgotten the authority they wielded.

Captain Marshall kicked himself internally. They had come out to investigate a few missing nobles and inadvertently stepped on the toes of a behemoth. Not too mention, he hadn’t even gotten a single word in with the suspect yet.

Raul noticed the captains discomfort and decided to give him an easy out.

“Just relax and tell your men to put your weapons away. Surely we can talk this out? Captain..?”

“Captain Marshall, Kingsguard. This is Mary, our divination specialist.”

Reluctantly, the knights stashed away their weapons and dismounted. Though they had pride as members of a royal guard, they also knew when they were outmatched. A big fish in a small pond knows not to test deeper waters.

It had to be admired how quickly the knights adjusted to a humble attitude and low profile. Understandably, the Rangers kept a close eye on them. Making their way inside, they met past the entrance in a neutral clearing, just before the village proper.

The atmosphere was understandably tense. Given the situation, it was easy to see that there was little to no love involved between parties. Captain Marshall began questioning Zanir about the disappearance.

“Divination magic lead us directly to you sir. Please, just tell me what you know and I promise I’ll be on my way”

Rubbing his chin, he took a moment to ruminate, before responding. Divination magic could ascertain if someone was lying but it was extremely difficult to divine specific details.

“They made an attempt on my families’ life. Fortunately, they underestimated my strength and were captured.”

Captain Marshall let out a deep sigh.

“May I ask if they’re still alive?”

“Yes, they’re in a secure location.”

Relief could be seen on captain’s face as he turned to Mary immediately to validate the answer. This time the chant was much shorter and without symbols. After a brief moment she confirmed his answer.

“He speaks the truth.”

“Haha, wonderful! Now we can finally wrap up this damned investigation. Sir we just need you to make your way to the royal capital after finishing up your business here. We’ll put those criminals to trial and the king will compensate you and clear your name.”

Considering the offer, he didn’t really have much to lose.

“I’ll need a few days to-

Horned instruments rang out once again signalling invaders. As everyone was already on high alert, it only took a few moments to reach the ramparts.

“Unidentified flying mounts approaching quickly from the southeast.”

Raul looked over to Captain Marshall quizzically.

“Some of yours?”

“No, we came alone.”

Both of them rallied their men to take up defensive positions.

“Four pegasi bearing the Church of Helios flags!”

Right after the soldier’s report four beautiful winged horses tore through the sky, stopping to hover above everyone gathered. Mounted upon the pegasi were men in clean pressed white robes. Shining golden auras danced and shimmered around them.

“Vile necromancer, show yourself and submit to justice! The dark arts cannot and will not be tolerated.”

Captain Marshall stepped in front of Zanir, pointing his sword up at the men.

“This man is a key witness in an ongoing royal investigation. He is under the protection of the crown. I order you to step down, in the name of the king!”

“Step aside heathen! We answer to a much higher power. I won’t warn you again”

The three men behind him raised their staves, as their auras began to fluctuate wildly. Zanir felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, as the staves started to pulsate brighter and brighter.

It was at that moment an earth shattering crash was heard, reminiscent of a large window being smashed violently. To everyone’s surprise, the very air itself seemed to break into pieces, revealing an inky blackness.

A crude hole was ripped through space itself, from which a single man emerged near the Kingsguard.

“ENOUGH!”

His thunderous voice reverberated throughout the nearby area, deafening the crowd.

“Spatial Seal!”

A sphere rapidly emerged from the wizard and encompassed the entire entrance and everyone involved. It seemed to drain the color from everything inside, leaving a strange black and white version of the world.

Zanir quickly discovered that it also froze everyone inside, though he seemed to immune to the effects.

“Ah, it seems I’m not to late.”