The Duke's Secrets

Chapter 3 - A Deal of Life

The Duke spun around, staring at the hooded woman who had fired the arrow at him while she prepared to fire another. The Duke was baffled by her-he had been standing still, his back was to her, he had even forgotten she was there...yet she missed.

"How could you possibly miss?" the Duke questioned.

She remained silent, just aimed her bow at the Duke, and fired another arrow. The Duke was motionless, still far too mesmerized by how incredibly inept she was that he only registered the arrow's presence when it was inches from his face-or rather, zooming past it.

"You...missed? Again!" the Duke laughed, not an eruption of roaring laughter, but a genuine, human-like laughter that momentarily stripped away his haughty demeanor.

"The sword! Retrieve the sword!" Zen urgently shouted at the woman.

"No..." the hooded woman murmured. "I-I can't. You know what happened last time, Zen. I-I-"

"We're going to die here! Grab the sword and fight!"

"Listen to the old man, young one. Assuming you're even capable of reaching it," the Duke sneered at her with arrogance.

The Duke was positioned between the woman and the sword. Alexander had inadvertently dropped it during his skirmish with the Duke, and none of them had the strength to hurl it at her. The Duke, however, was fascinated to see how she would wield the sword and swore to himself that he would not move, allowing her a chance to seize it-

Gone. She's gone!

The Duke's eyes had remained fixed on her, yet she had vanished right before him. He turned, half-expecting her to already be right beside the blade, but it lay precisely where Alexander had dropped it. A faint noise behind him forced another swift turn, yet he saw nothing, heard nothing, and even felt nothing.

He lowered his blade as he entertained the thought that perhaps he had conjured the fourth figure from his own imagination. He began to retrace the days leading up to this moment, searching for a cause or culprit, and one potential suspect did emerge.

"No...she knows better than that," the Duke whispered as assurance before dismissing the idea from his mind.

He simply attributed it to a lack of sleep.

The Duke guessed that his nighttime activities might have stretched longer than usual in his pursuit of satisfying Lilith. But the more he pondered it, the less sense it made. He had spent multiple days and nights with her before without experiencing hallucinations afterward.

The Duke just shook the strange occurrence as he turned back to his throne. He walked toward it as his gaze strayed from his seat to where the blade had been, only to discover its absence.

A sly grin formed beneath his mask as he swiftly lifted his sword to block the woman's sudden attack.

He found himself mesmerized-not only by the dazzling array of sparks that accompanied her powerful swing but also by how she had just materialized right before him.

"A hood of invisibility..." the Duke marveled in wonder. "And here I thought they were all destroyed in the first Magical War. Well, now you certainly have my attention!"

The woman retreated, vanishing back into thin air. The Duke's delight surged not only at the pleasant surprise of the woman's hidden strength but also at the sight of the legendary hood of invisibility. It was a relic from a bygone era, believed lost to time, but there was no doubt in the Duke's mind-she was wielding one.

"Tell me, where did you come across such an item?" the Duke inquired.

Silence. Then, the clash of metal echoed out as the Duke swiftly pivoted to block her strike again. However, this blow was different. Not only did it carry a greater force, but he detected a hint of ether he hadn't used in the air just as he noticed a crack running down the blade.