Allegiance

Chapter 29

Arthur immediately went wide-eyed, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, with goosebumps forming on his body. Feeling an intense bloodlust directed toward him and knowing there was little time to react, Arthur quickly spun on his heel faster than the eye could see and barely caught an object just in time before it struck him in the face.

Concern washed over Sylvie as she jumped to her feet, looking at Arthur apprehensively, 'Papa!' Sylvie's eyes flicked to the object Arthur held just mere inches from his face, seeing it was a wooden dagger, usually used for practice. 'How...? Who...?'

Arthur's grip on the dagger increased, and his eyes narrowed, feeling irritated to be ambushed like this in the floating castle of all places. The dagger snapped under the pressure of Arthur's intense grip, splinters flying into the air, and his gaze flicked up, scanning his surroundings for the culprit. He slowly lowered his hand holding the dagger and released his grip, with the remnants of the dagger falling to the ground.

'Papa, are you okay?' Sylvie asked with evident concern in her voice, pointing to him with her tiny paw.

'I'm fine, Sylv.' Arthur said lowly, his mental tone filled with annoyance as his eyes scanned his surroundings. 'It'll take a lot more than a wooden dagger to hurt me.'

'But,' Sylvie's gaze flicked to the remnants of the dagger that lay scattered on the floor. 'If someone really did want to hurt you. Why a wooden dagger?'

'It's simple,' Arthur began, his eyes slowly scanning the empty training room, seeing no movement or stimulus. Concentrating on the mana around him, using his sensory magic, his eyes flicked to the shadowy ceiling above, seeing the rafters hidden in the darkness, sensing a visitor. Arthur gave a lopsided smile, seeing he found his attacker, 'They're testing me.'

Arthur got into an attack stance and cocked his hand back while forming an ice dagger. Wind magic began to circulate in Arthur's hand holding the dagger, and like throwing a frisbee, he swung his arm horizontally. He released the dagger, and the wind circling his hand exploded with a thunderous wind explosion that echoed throughout the room and propelled the dagger. Arthur's hair blew back, and Sylvie yelped as the immense force from Arthur's wind attack blew over them. Sylvie dug her claws into the floor to prevent herself from flying back. Arthur, however, was able to keep himself steadfast with his augmented strength.

Like a speeding bullet fired from a sniper rifle, the dagger flew toward the person Arthur sensed. Arthur's eyes narrowed as he could barely see the individual hidden in the shadows duck as the dagger flew past him, with the wind carrying the dagger shaking the rafters from the sheer force of the wind current. The individual's grip tightened on the rafter he was squatting on, almost being knocked off by the force of the wind carrying the dagger.

The dagger struck the ceiling above the hidden individual, and the wind coating the dagger exploded like a sonic boom, sending out a hurricane-strength gust throughout the rafters. The individual yelled in pain from the sound of the sudden explosion, being in such close proximity to it, and immediately covered their ears, which were ringing loudly. The metal rafters vibrated from the strength of the wind explosion, the roof itself shook, sounding like rolling thunder, and as he was no longer gripping the rafter, the individual was knocked off his platform and plummeted toward the floor like a meteor, crashing into it with a loud thud.

The individual grunted from the force of the impact, creating a small crater with cracks splintering off around him. With pain radiating throughout their body, they slowly got to their feet, stumbling forward before they could regain their balance.

Now, with them standing straight, Arthur was able to get a decent look at his attacker. The attacker looked like a humanoid shadow, with yellow eyes and a dark aura radiating off them. It didn't take long for Arthur to conclude the individual before him was using a beast will.