Chapter 233: Overlord’s mantle.

Chapter 233: Overlord’s mantle.Daniel couldn’t believe his ears, eavesdropping behind the wall. This was the first time in the years he had spent imprisoned when an artificer was actually brought to see Duvant.

From the first day he didn’t put much hope in his young neighbor, especially since the youth had no clue of crafting. Surprisingly, Lee had an artifact ready every time Bastil came to collect one.

Daniel knew Lee never forged anything. He could tell what the youth did by the sound, no matter if Lee was sitting still or practicing.

But there was something mysterious about the guy. First of all, he never panicked or despaired. He always acted as if his presence here was only temporary, even after spending almost a year in prison. Of course, the larger part of it was practicing the supposedly deadly move, but Daniel wasn’t sure what to think of it.

He didn’t have much hope in Lee, but there was something that forced him to send a message out, bribing a prison guard with an inconspicuous vest. It was a low-quality artifact, but capable of saving life, and the guard gladly passed the massage on, or so he claimed.

Now, though, Lee surviving the next part depended entirely on whether he had done it.

***

Close to a year had passed since Lee last saw Lucien Duvant. Like the last time, the dwarf sat in his throne, idly swinging his short legs below. Unsurprisingly, Duvant had found a way to carry Stonerend on his back, and it was on him even now while he was sitting.

Lee was relieved to see the other elemental lords weren’t present – only Bastil. Other than that there were the regular guards at the doors, probably elemental masters.



"Bastil told me you have a new inspiration?" Duvant said.

Both his expression and the tone were as friendly as when they met the first time. If Lee didn’t know, it would’ve been hard to believe that the man was a pathological liar, slaver, and murderer.

After hearing Daniel’s stories, Lee could recognize that the only thing about the dwarf was real was his height. Even if one ignored the things that he said or thought, Duvant’s body was stacked with different kinds of artifacts, and that is why during their first meeting the proportions seemed so unnatural.

"Yes, your Lordship!" Lee’s eyes sparkled, and his inner anxiety was masked by outward excitement, "I realized you must really like artifacts, so I thought of a super set for you! An incredible set of artifacts that would synergize with each, multiplying your defensive capabilities! You see, I thought of combining over fifteen separate runic formations ..."

Lee paused, helplessly glanced around, and asked, "Can I get something to draw on?"

Duvant flicked his fingers and one of the guards rushed away, and a moment later returned with a stack of white paper and writing utensils.

Lee took everything, and knelt right down on the floor, excitedly drawing pieces of armor, one after another. His movements were confident and precise, and none of the present thought of questioning whether he actually is an artificer.

"I call it – the Overlord’s Mantle!" Lee said without taking eyes off his work as he continued to draw different symbols, "Earthen ward rune formation perfectly works with Iron sigil formation and Pulse matrix.. They can be activated at the same time by the owner, you, your Lordship, or in case of attack. I call the combination of them – Absolute Aegis! If you don’t like the name, you can change it, your Lordship! So, where was I ..."

Lee talked quickly and a lot, and his words were accompanied by rows of runes appearing on the paper one after another. At this point he couldn’t stop blabbing even if he wanted to – he was in too much pain from revolving the wind energy within. In fact, he would’ve loved to scream, but forcefully transformed the inner agony into outwardly excitement.

Neither Bastil nor Duvant had seen anything like that and when the former stepped closer, to take a look over Lee’s shoulder, the latter couldn’t resist, and jumped off his throne as well.

Duvan’t wasn’t a paranoid elemental lord for nothing. He was reluctant to approach, but when Bastil was already standing right next to kneeling Lee, Duvan’t threw precautions aside. The common sense dictated there was no danger, despite him feeling something was off.

In fact, he attributed the last part to his stagnated belief in the fact that a lousy elemental master could never craft a real artifact. The youth in front of him was the living proof of the opposite.

He slowly approached, but stopped, when Lee suddenly got up, and showed Bastil his drawings, explaining peculiarities of the new chest armor. The youth technically was his slave, but dared to address the explanation to someone else. That wasn’t acceptable.

No matter how experienced Duvant was, human nature won. The deadly curiosity. He moved forward, only to to be caught mid-step.

Lee used the fact that the man was already in motion towards him, and took a long step to meet the dwarf, while at the same time Daniel’s creation appeared in his hand. The tip of the weapon pierced Duvant’s eye in an instant, and his head blew up like a water melon right after, raining the brain matter all over the hall.

Everything happened faster than the blink of an eye, and even Bastil, who stood next to Lee, didn’t have a chance to react. The sight paralyzed him, though, and more so because of the implications of the assassination.

If an elemental lord like Bastil froze from shock, the guards at the door were even less capable of doing anything. This was the perfect moment for Lee to retreat, but his whole body suddenly convulsed in agony, and he dropped to the ground, covered in Duvant’s brain matter and his own blood.

The explosive use of the wind element caused the same side effect he experienced after swallowing the wind spark. Lee’s entire body was covered in tiny cuts, and the blood gushing out quickly formed a large puddle beneath him.

The bloody sight was surreal with the dwarf’s headless body still standing straight with Lee’s convulsing body at his feet, and the two people who arrived through the man-sized rift were left speechless witnessing it.



"How about that!" One of them said, "Who would’ve thought that the mighty Lucien Duvant would meet his end like this."

It was a man, dressed in plain clothing. The peculiar part was that he didn’t have a weapon. He also didn’t prepare an attack to deal with Bastil or the guards.

Behind him was a burly guy, muscular, but with childish face. He cluelessly stared at the sight, apparently caught by surprise.

"Gerard?" Bastil recognized the speaker, "You were behind this?"

"I wish!" Gerard shook his head, "To be honest, I’m as shocked as you are."

But then his expression hardened and tone changed. He asked, "Where are the rest?"

"Just because you killed Lucien it doesn’t mean you’ll catch me!" Bastil said, "You don’t even have a weapon!"

Giving a shallow laugh, he transformed into a ball of flame, rushing towards the door, but before he reached it, he fell to the floor, face first. Only then the ears of the guards registered the swooshing sound of two arrows that caught the elemental lord.

"I don’t need a weapon." Gerard snorted, "I have Donk!"

Then he glanced over his shoulder at the guy holding a bow, and said, "Donk, kill the rest!"