The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Homecoming

By the time Ares and the others reached the outskirts of the city, the sun had already risen.

They continued along the road for a while before eventually arriving at the D’Averon estate.

The familiar mansion stood beyond the large iron gates, surrounded by the expansive grounds belonging to the D’Averon family.

Ares slowed his pace as they approached.

Draven looked up at the estate.

"Is this your home, Master?"

"Yeah."

Ares nodded casually.

Cedric looked at the mansion as well.

Before they could continue, the guards stationed at the gate suddenly noticed them.

One of them stared for a moment before his eyes widened.

"Young Master Ares?"

The guards immediately straightened their posture.

"Welcome back, Young Master!"

The gate was opened without delay.

Ares gave them a small nod as he passed.

"Good morning."

The guards bowed.

"Good morning, Young Master."

Ares glanced toward the mansion.

"There are some unfamiliar faces among the guards. Are they knights from Velmorne and Randale?"

"Yes, Young Master. Several knights from both territories have been stationed here recently."

"I see."

Ares nodded.

"Where are my mother and father?"

"They’re inside the mansion, Young Master."

"Alright."

Ares entered the estate with Draven and Cedric following behind him.

They had barely reached the entrance of the mansion when the door opened.

A woman hurried out.

The moment she saw Ares, her expression immediately changed.

"Ares!"

She quickly approached him and pulled him into a hug.

"My dear, why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?"

Ares froze for a moment before smiling.

"It’s good to see you again, Mother."

Mara finally released him and looked him over carefully, as if checking whether he had returned with any injuries.

"You should have sent word ahead. I would have prepared everything properly."

"There’s no need to go through all that trouble, Mother. We have a long academy break, so I decided to come home and spend some time here."

Mara’s expression softened.

"You decided to come home..."

She smiled.

"That’s wonderful. I was beginning to wonder if the academy had completely stolen my son from me."

Ares chuckled.

"I wouldn’t go that far."

A moment later, a man stepped out of the mansion.

Ares’s father followed behind Mara, his expression carrying the same surprise at seeing his son unexpectedly return.

"You really did come back without warning."

Ares turned toward him.

"Good morning, Father."

His father nodded.

"Welcome home, Ares."

"Thank you."

His father then looked toward the two people standing behind Ares.

"And who are these gentlemen?"

Ares glanced back.

"These are my subordinates. This is Draven, and this is Cedric."

Mara looked at the two of them.

"Subordinates?"

She tilted her head slightly.

"Are they your classmates?"

"No."

Ares answered immediately.

Mara’s eyes narrowed with curiosity.

"They look rather young."

"They’re not students."

Ares smiled awkwardly.

"It’s a long story. We can talk about that later."

He placed a hand over his stomach.

"Right now, we’re tired from traveling... and we’re hungry."

Mara immediately understood.

"So that’s what this is about."

She turned toward the maids.

"Please inform the kitchen that Ares has returned. Have them prepare breakfast immediately."

"Yes, Madam."

"And prepare enough for everyone."

"Yes, Madam."

Several maids quickly went toward the kitchen.

Ares smiled.

"Thanks, Mother."

"Of course."

---

Not long afterward, the dining room had been prepared.

Ares sat at the table with Draven and Cedric, while his parents sat across from them.

Several dishes had already been placed on the table, and more food continued arriving from the kitchen.

Draven looked around the room before glancing at Ares’s parents.

"So these are your parents, Master."

Ares nodded.

"Yeah."

Draven studied them for a moment.

"Now that I look at them properly, I can see the resemblance. You definitely inherited features from both of them."

Ares glanced at his parents.

"I suppose I did."

Mara smiled.

"That’s something a mother likes hearing."

His father gave a small laugh.

"So, Ares. How has the academy been?"

"Pretty good."

"You’ve been there for quite some time now. Are you enjoying it?"

"Yeah. There are plenty of interesting people there."

Mara nodded.

"We also heard about the competition."

Ares paused.

"You did?"

"Of course."

His father smiled.

"The results reached us not long ago. Your academy took first place."

"Ah, that."

Ares scratched his cheek.

"It wasn’t anything particularly difficult."

Mara stared at him.

"You say that as though taking first place is an everyday occurrence."

Ares simply smiled.

His father laughed.

Ares then glanced toward the window.

"By the way, I’ve noticed several knights around the estate whom I don’t recognize."

His father nodded.

"Those are knights from Velmorne and Randale. They’ve been stationed here because of the recent situation."

"I see."

Ares took a sip of his drink.

"By the way, congratulations on your promotion, Father."

His father smiled.

"Thank you. Though I wouldn’t say I accomplished it alone."

Ares raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"There were people who helped us."

"Hmm?"

Ares tilted his head, deliberately pretending not to know.

"Who?"

His father’s expression became slightly more serious.

"They call themselves the Eclipse Order."

Ares paused for only a moment.

"The Eclipse Order?"

"Yes."

His father leaned back slightly.

"They’re unlike any organization I’ve encountered before. Every member we’ve seen possesses an extraordinary level of strength, but there are five individuals in particular who stand above the rest."

Ares listened quietly.

"One of the women has violet hair. I’ve encountered her before. She and another man from that organization saved your mother and me from an assassination attempt."

Mara nodded.

"She appeared out of nowhere. I remember her clearly."

His father continued.

"She carried a massive scythe, larger than her own body, yet she swung it as effortlessly as someone handling a wooden sword."

Draven quietly raised an eyebrow.

Ares continued eating as though the conversation had nothing to do with him.

"There was also a young man among them," his father continued. "He fought several highly ranked knights at the same time. Not only did he keep up with them, he was clearly overpowering them."

Ares nodded slightly.

"And the other two?"

"I’ve heard their names are Nyxaria and Valentine."

His father’s expression became more serious.

"From what I’ve seen and heard, those two may be the strongest among them."

Ares lowered his cup.

"The Eclipse Order..."

Mara looked at him.

"You’ve heard of them?"

"Of course."

Ares nodded.

"Their name has been appearing in the news quite frequently."

His father continued.

"That’s because their activities have spread considerably over the past few months. They’ve been connected to the downfall of several bandit groups, smuggling operations, and even laboratories involved in human experimentation."

Ares remained silent for a moment.

"Human experimentation?"

"Yes."

His father nodded.

"Some of those laboratories were apparently conducting extremely dangerous experiments on people. The Eclipse Order destroyed them."

Mara sighed.

"The news seems to spread faster with every passing month."

"We still don’t know what their ultimate objective is," his father said. "But from everything we’ve witnessed, they seem to be protecting people rather than harming them."

He smiled faintly.

"Whatever their reasons are, I’m certainly not going to complain about having them on our side."

Mara suddenly joined the conversation.

"They protected me as well."

Ares looked at her.

"During the territorial conflict?"

"Yes."

She nodded.

"There were assassins after me. I thought i were going to die."

Her expression became more serious.

"Then those two women appeared."

"The woman named Valentine killed the assassins almost instantly. It was difficult to even understand what had happened. One moment they were there, and the next..."

She paused.

"They were dead."

Ares remained quiet.

His mother continued.

"Apparently, the assassination guilds were involved."

Ares shrugged.

"That isn’t particularly surprising. Assassination is their profession, after all."

He glanced toward Mara.

"If I hadn’t woken up that night, your mother and I might not have survived that night."

The dining room became quiet for a moment.

Ares looked at his parents.

He already knew that the Eclipse Order had protected them.

After all, he was the reason they existed in the first place.

But hearing his parents talk about them as though they were some mysterious organization operating somewhere beyond his reach was strangely amusing.

Still, he had no intention of revealing the truth.

Mara eventually smiled.

"Enough of that."

She picked up her utensils.

"You’re finally home. There’s no reason to spend your entire break talking about assassins and dangerous organizations."

She looked at Ares warmly.

"Let’s simply enjoy having you here."

Ares smiled.

"That sounds good to me."

A short while later, the last dishes arrived.

The table was filled with freshly prepared food, enough for everyone.

Draven looked at the amount of food in front of him.

"This is quite a feast."

Mara smiled.

"Eat as much as you like."

Cedric nodded politely.

"Thank you for your hospitality."

Ares picked up his utensils.

"Well, we traveled quite a distance to get here."

He looked at the food.

"So let’s eat."

The three began eating together with Ares’s parents, while the conversation gradually shifted away from assassins, organizations, and political conflicts.

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