City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread by Thomas F

Stena Carter

He turned and began to run.

A sigh rang out in my mind. He should have surrendered, but I am glad he didn't because now I could fight him, which I so desperately desired.

I looked at him for a moment before my precious ring activated; beautiful, intricate silvery wings materialized behind me.

They moved, and I flew into the air. It had taken quite a lot of practice to learn to fly, but I loved every moment. I love to fly; it's such a regret that I had to do it under concealment and camouflage.

Lady Carla had declared it's not time for people to know about it.

This artifact is from the Silver Wing series of flying artifacts; it's a trinket artifact and made for short flights, but as long as I am in the city, I could fly for hours and days.

Here, in the city, it is not my energy powering it, but the emotion essence of the legacy.

The wings are fast, and I appeared in front of him. "There is no use in running, Mr. Marlais; it will only make things painful for you," I warned him.

He looked up, surprised.

Well, he couldn't sense me. It's not just my Chief's Stealth, but also something that Madam Caena did.

When I want to, I can become completely invisible to enemy skills.

They could only visibly see me and only Lv. 40s like him. To rest, I could become completely invisible as long as I am in my domain, which is the legacy and the park.

He didn't respond to my threat.

"Last chance. Surrender, Mr. Marlais," I offered him a last chance. I really don't want to, but my brother will not let me hear the end of it if I didn't.

They want their shiny new captive in one piece. So, they could take him.

The moment we learned the man's identity, my foolish brother salivated visibly. He is the man wanted across the kingdoms and empires; he is a treasure trove of information and intelligence.

He is a terrible man, and he has done horrific things that deserve a hundred executions.

He even did things in my very own home kingdom. Unfortunately, we can't kill him; he is too valuable.

He didn't reply and kept running, seeing that my lips curbed and activated Precision Aim, Piercing Shot, and Vital Strike, with the power of Faithwrought.

The legacy skill that all those who believe in it get a huge boost from.

Among all the Stone Mercenaries. I am the only one who has benefited from this skill. Even Zela and Jon didn't get this boost despite being bodyguards of Lord Silver.

They work for Lord Silver; I work for Master Silver and Velvet Garden.

My arrow shot out, and it moved fast, reaching him in an instant. I could see the surprise appearing in the raven-haired man's eyes, and immediately, a short sword came out of his cloak, and he flicked it away.

However, there was a surprise that appeared in his eyes as he did. His eyes lingered on me for a fraction of a second before they turned ahead.

His surprise did not mirror my own. If he could not manage even that much, he would never have earned the notoriety attached to his name.

He is a Lv—40 powerhouse.

Through the information we have, we concurred that his class is less aligned toward combat, but he could fight and fight pretty well.

So, I activated Rapid Release and immediately began to shoot arrow after arrow at him.

The arrows moved fast, which forced him to slow down and move his sword to defend, but that's not enough. My arrows are really fast, and some went past his sword.

It was then that his movement turned ghostly, and he dodged through them.

As I was shooting, my eyes met his, and my vision darkened. It only lasted for a moment before it stopped and returned to normal, while his eyes went wide.

"This is my domain; these attacks won't work on me," I said. Well, it's not my skill that stopped it, but the protection from legacy.

It's not a skill, but something more powerful. I had stopped asking questions about such things.

I intensified the shooting; he is still moving, though much slower than before, as he has to dodge and defend against my attacks.

I can't let him cross the boundary. Once he did so, he would be within the police's domain.

They wanted to deal with this man and even requested Madam Caena and Lady Carla to let them. They had the same request with the army, but what happens in Legacy is none of their damn business.

Legacy is a special privilege area; Legacy Security here handles law and order, and we are more than capable of dealing with threats within our domain.

A few seconds passed, and seeing him defending, I activated Accelerated Arrows, and immediately, the speed of my arrows suddenly increased.

Now, the attacks of my arrows have incredible speed, which is even harmful to Lv. 40s. I have nicked Jon and nearly defeated Zela, despite her aura methods.

This place boosts me, and with Faithwrought; I am even more powerful.

The fast arrows reached him, stopping him in his tracks. His sword moved blurringly fast and clashed against my arrows, and his ghost-like movement dodged them.

That is enough for me, as I had stopped him. Landing a hit now, I can do that.

I had already activated Keen Sight and was watching his every movement, attacking the weakness. Forcing him to stop completely; if he keeps moving, he will run away.

This feels good!

Usually, my job is administrative, since nobody dares to mess with legacy.

It is through that which I am earning my levels.

The last true battle I had fought. I did it against that bastard Adran, which I lost so humiliatingly. The next day, I submitted my resignation to Lady Carla, given that I had failed to protect the legacy, which was my job.

She refused to accept.

Since then, I worked hard every minute. So I could deal with any threat that comes my way.

Finally, one of my arrows slipped past, which he wasn't able to dodge fully, and it cut through his cloak and through his arm.

He almost dodged it at the last moment, but the cut was still deep.

"I told you, it will be painful, Mr. Marlais," I stated, without stopping. He looked at me with his icy blue eyes, and they grew colder, resolve appearing in them.

The next moment, the sword disappeared from his hand, and a staff appeared; it looked like a walking cane.

The staff was as dark as night, with beautiful blue designs carved on it and a red-and-green elephant head at the top.

'Staff of Arsali.' The name felt familiar. I am sure I have read about this staff in the list of artifacts from the merchant states. There is something about it being stolen a few years ago, with its master assassinated.

'Careful, it has the force abilities,' warned the Madam in my mind. The next moment, the elephant's eyes lit up, and he swung it.

It created a force wave that sent all the arrows flying, before coming at me and sending me flying.

I pushed more essence, controlled the wings, and turned to him. To see him started running again, and now he was doing it even faster. I could sense the artifact's power aiding him.

I didn't run to follow him. Instead, I turned my bow toward him.

"You have revealed your trump card; it's only fair that I do too," I said, and a red arrow appeared in my bow. It is crystal-tipped, with runes carved into it.

That's not what makes it special. It is the thing it is forged from; the mist.

Heavy arrow. Explosion Arrow.

As I activated the skill, I turned to the man and activated Chief's Warrant. A suppression skill that is very powerful in the legacies domain.

Immediately, he slowed down.

Seeing this, I shot an arrow. It moved fast, crushing through the air before reaching the man. He sensed it and turned before swinging his staff toward the arrow.

A wave shot out of it and encompassed the arrow, but unlike the arrows before, it didn't fly away.

Instead, its tip blazed, and its speed increased as it tore through the force wave. I could see the alarm in his eyes. He should be alarmed; that arrow is really powerful and expensive.

If people knew the cost of it, their eyes would go wide.

It reached him and met his staff. As he did, the arrow exploded, and it was not only the skill that did more damage, but the power contained within the arrow.

There was a fiery cloud of explosion before a man was flung out of it, bloodied and battered.

…

Geldnim Marlais

I crashed hard against a tree.

I felt the power of the skill; I never believed it would be enough to harm me with the power of this staff.

I had taken it from the man I had assassinated. A man with a powerful family and connections. It had saved my life many times, and all the time I used it, I killed everyone, leaving no evidence.

Now, I had tried to save myself, but here I am, nearly falling unconscious as I finally crashed to the ground.

Still, I didn't let go of the staff. It is my lifeline, the only thing that will help me escape.

I opened my eyes and my skills roared once more to escape, but I could do nothing; I saw her appearing directly above me, and once more, the same red arrow was nocked in her bow.

I shuddered at the sight and gripped the staff lightly.

"Please don't," she warned.

I really wanted to do it, but I saw the same red arrow, and once more, I saw the man with the woman in the wheelchair, with a relaxed smile on their faces.

"Dear sister, I told you not to injure him. Now we'll have to patch him up before we can begin working through our long list of questions."

"Why are you blaming me? It is his fault for not surrendering quickly," she replied without her eyes leaving mine. Like his, there is no worry in them.

Like, they are absolutely confident that I could not escape.

It seemed I had been defeated. I let the thought settle, then relaxed my body. "Good. Now let go of the staff," she instructed, keeping the arrow trained on me.

I hesitated for a moment before letting it go. It's a good artifact, but not the only one; with the condition of the empire, I could easily steal one when I escape.

And I will escape.

This is not the first time I had been captured, and it would not be my last escape. I had broken out of far stronger prisons than anything this backwater city of Greltheaven could offer.

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