The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: The Night the Assassins Were Swallowed by Darkness

"My, my... how presumptuous. Did you truly believe you were the ones who would decide how this ends?"

The woman’s expression froze.

The voice had not come from the Count.

It had come from somewhere behind them.

Every assassin turned at once.

The room had changed.

Seven figures now stood in the darkness near the opposite side of the chamber, as though they had been there all along.

They wore black attire unlike anything the assassins had ever seen, their bodies concealed beneath long black capes and their faces hidden beneath dark hoods.

At the center stood Nao.

His grey hair carried black along its edges, and beneath the shadow of his hood, his red-and-black eyes stared silently at the assassins.

A large black coffin rested across his back.

Beside him stood Vanessa, her long violet hair falling behind her shoulders as one hand rested casually against the shaft of an enormous scythe.

Behind them stood the five Harbingers, each carrying a sword across his back, their presence completely silent.

The assassins stared at them.

Even the Count and Mara were unable to understand what had just happened.

"Who..."

The woman slowly lowered her weapon.

"Who are you?"

Vanessa stepped forward.

Her expression was calm.

"We are the Eclipse."

Nao’s voice followed.

"We walk where light cannot reach."

The five Harbingers spoke one after another, their voices low beneath the silence of the room.

"When light meets darkness, neither shall prevail—for we are the shadow that devours them both."

The assassins exchanged glances.

"What is this supposed to be?"

One of the men tightened his grip around his sword.

"Some kind of cult?"

Another looked toward the Count.

"Did the Count hire them?"

The Count himself looked completely bewildered.

"I have never seen them before."

Vanessa’s smile widened.

"You don’t need to concern yourself with who we are."

She turned her head slightly.

"Protect them."

Two Harbingers immediately stepped forward, positioning themselves between the Count and Countess and the assassins.

Mara stared at them.

"Who are they?"

The Count could only tighten his grip around his sword.

"I don’t know."

The assassin woman clicked her tongue.

"Whatever they are, there are only seven of them."

She raised her weapon.

"Kill them."

One of the assassins immediately lunged toward Vanessa.

The blade came down with enough force to split a person from shoulder to waist.

Vanessa didn’t even step back.

She simply raised her scythe.

CLANG!

The collision shook the room.

The assassin’s eyes widened as the enormous weapon stopped her blade completely.

"What..."

Vanessa’s smile became more pronounced.

She pushed the scythe forward.

The assassin was thrown several steps backward, her boots scraping violently against the floor before she regained her balance.

"How can she wield something that large?"

The woman stared at the scythe in disbelief.

Vanessa tilted her head.

"Is that everything?"

The assassin’s expression hardened.

"Don’t underestimate me."

Magic suddenly surged through her weapon.

Dark red light crawled along the blade before she disappeared from Vanessa’s sight.

She reappeared at Vanessa’s side.

Shing!

The blade tore through the air.

Vanessa raised her scythe again.

CLANG!

Another strike.

Then another.

The assassin accelerated, her weapon leaving crimson arcs through the room as she attacked from different angles, each movement reinforced by magic.

Vanessa blocked every strike.

She simply moved her scythe from one position to another, turning aside every attack as though she were swatting away an inconvenience.

The assassin’s breathing became heavier.

Vanessa sighed.

"How disappointing."

The flow of Eclipse power suddenly leaked from her body.

The air around her trembled.

The assassin’s eyes widened.

"What—"

Vanessa disappeared.

SHING!

The next instant, she stood behind the assassin.

Silence filled the room.

The woman’s hand fell to the floor.

Her weapon followed.

Blood spread across the stone.

"AAAAAAARGH!"

She dropped to her knees, clutching the severed stump where her hand had been.

The other assassins froze.

"What happened?"

"She moved too fast!"

Vanessa slowly turned toward the remaining four.

Her expression was almost playful.

"Now then."

She rested her scythe against her shoulder.

"Who would like to be next?"

The remaining assassins immediately attacked.

The room erupted into motion.

Two assassins rushed toward the Harbingers, their weapons glowing with magical energy as they swung simultaneously from opposite sides.

The first Harbinger drew his sword.

CLANG!

He caught the first blade while turning his body enough to evade the second.

The assassin immediately released a burst of magic through his weapon, sending a wave of force across the room.

The Harbinger crossed his sword before himself.

BOOM!

The impact drove him several steps backward.

He planted his foot against the floor, stopped himself, and looked up.

"So that’s your technique."

His sword began glowing with Eclipse energy.

"Then allow me to return it."

He vanished.

The assassin barely raised his weapon before—

CLANG!

The Eclipse blade struck his guard with enough force to crack the floor beneath his feet.

The second Harbinger was already fighting the other assassin.

Their weapons collided repeatedly, steel and magic filling the room with sparks as the assassin attempted to overwhelm him with a succession of enchanted strikes.

The Harbinger avoided the first.

Blocked the second.

Redirected the third.

Then stepped inside the assassin’s range and drove his shoulder into the man’s chest.

The assassin staggered.

A sword flashed.

He barely managed to twist aside as the blade passed his face.

"You’re better than i expected."

The Harbinger smiled faintly.

Across the room, another assassin charged Nao.

Unlike the others, Nao didn’t draw a sword.

He reached behind himself and released the enormous black coffin from his back.

The coffin struck the floor with a heavy—

BOOM!

The assassin stopped for a fraction of a second.

"What’s that?"

Nao opened the coffin.

Darkness spilled from within.

"Something you shouldn’t have asked about."

The assassin attacked.

Nao swung the coffin.

The sheer force of the impact sent the assassin flying across the room.

CRASH!

He struck the wall hard enough to crack the stone.

Before he could recover, the coffin opened again.

Black thorns erupted from inside.

Fwish!

They wrapped around his arms and legs.

The assassin immediately poured magic into his weapon and attempted to cut through them.

The thorns regenerated.

He cut again.

More appeared.

Nao watched him calmly.

"You should stop struggling, it’s useless."

The thorns tightened.

The assassin’s expression finally changed.

For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Vanessa had returned her attention to the woman kneeling before her.

The woman was trembling, sweat running down her face as she stared at her severed hand lying several meters away.

Vanessa crouched beside her and gently lifted her chin.

"My, my."

She laughed softly.

"Look at you."

The assassin’s breathing became uneven.

Vanessa glanced toward the severed hand.

"That was your weapon hand, wasn’t it?"

She smiled.

"Such a shame."

The woman stared at her in terror.

"In all of our missions..."

She struggled to breathe.

"We’ve never failed."

Vanessa laughed.

"Never?"

She tilted her head.

"Then today must be quite special."

The woman stared at Vanessa’s young face.

"How..."

Her eyes trembled.

"How can someone your age possess this kind of power?"

Vanessa’s smile widened.

"Is that what frightens you?"

She stood slowly.

"How unfortunate."

She raised her scythe and rested its blade against the woman’s neck.

"Age has very little to do with power."

The assassin swallowed hard.

"You call yourselves the Eclipse..."

Her voice trembled.

"Even if you defeat us, there are others far stronger than us. The Assassination Guild will not simply—"

"Arrogant."

Vanessa’s voice became colder.

The assassin immediately fell silent.

Vanessa leaned closer.

"You still speak as though you’re in a position to threaten me."

The blade pressed lightly against her neck.

"Agh..."

Vanessa smiled.

"What a lovely expression."

She glanced toward the other battles.

The Harbingers were still fighting, their movements becoming faster as the assassins unleashed increasingly powerful techniques, while Nao stood almost completely still beside his coffin, watching the trapped assassin struggle helplessly against the black thorns.

Vanessa sighed.

"Hurry and finish this."

Her violet eyes hardened.

"Before you damage the mansion any further."

The Harbingers immediately released the full force of their Eclipse power.

The room trembled.

The assassins’ expressions changed.

Nao’s red-and-black eyes became completely cold.

"Enough."

The coffin behind him opened completely.

A violent surge of Eclipse energy erupted from within as countless black thorns burst outward, filling the space around the trapped assassin.

Nao raised one hand.

The thorns stopped.

For one brief moment, everything became silent.

Then—

BOOM!

The thorns exploded forward.

The assassin disappeared beneath the mass of black spikes.

At the same time, the remaining Harbingers released their power.

One sword became surrounded by a black aura that extended several meters beyond the blade.

Another Harbinger struck the floor, sending a wave of Eclipse energy through the room that shattered the enemy’s magical barrier.

The remaining two moved together, their swords crossing at the exact moment their opponent attempted to escape.

A violent flash filled the room.

When the light faded, the assassins were already defeated.

The Count and Mara could only stare.

They had witnessed everything in less than a minute, yet neither of them could comprehend what they had just seen.

The Count slowly lowered his sword.

"Who... are these people?"

Mara remained close behind him.

Vanessa walked toward the remaining assassin.

The woman was barely conscious.

Vanessa crouched beside her again.

"Now then."

She gently touched the woman’s chin.

"What should I do with you?"

Her gaze shifted toward the severed hand lying on the floor.

"I expected more from an elite assassin."

The woman struggled to breathe.

"You’re..."

Vanessa smiled.

"Disappointed?"

She lifted the scythe.

"You don’t need to tell us who sent you."

The woman froze.

"What?"

Vanessa smiled.

"We already know."

Before the assassin could say another word—

SHING!

Her head fell to the floor.

The Count and Mara stared in silence.

Vanessa looked at the blood on her scythe before sighing.

"Now we’ve made a rather unpleasant mess."

Nao glanced toward the coffin.

"Hmm?"

Vanessa looked at him.

"What did you do to him?"

Nao’s eyes shifted toward the coffin.

Inside, the remaining assassin was still alive, suspended among the black thorns as they slowly moved around his body.

"He was still conscious."

Nao said it as though that were a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Vanessa sighed.

"Enough."

Nao glanced at her.

"Yes,yes."

He raised one hand.

The small thorns suddenly expanded.

BOOM!

The coffin shook once.

Then everything became silent.

Nao closed it.

Vanessa walked toward the Count and Countess, who were still standing completely confused in the middle of their bedroom.

She stopped a few steps away and lowered her scythe.

"We apologize for the disturbance."

The Count stared at her.

"Wait."

Vanessa extended a folded piece of paper toward him.

"This belongs to you."

The Count hesitated before accepting it.

A strange seal was stamped across the front.

"What is this?"

Vanessa smiled faintly.

"You’ll understand soon enough."

The Count looked down at the paper, then back at the seven figures standing before him.

None of them offered an explanation.

Nao simply turned toward the window.

"Let’s go."

Vanessa nodded.

The Harbingers immediately regrouped behind them.

The seven figures moved toward the open window, their black capes trailing behind them as the moonlight fell across their silhouettes.

The Count took one final step forward.

"Wait!"

Nao glanced back.

For a moment, their eyes met.

Then Nao gave him a faint smile.

"Sleep well, Count D’Averon."

The seven figures vanished through the window.

By the time the Count reached it, there was nothing left outside except the cold night air.

Mara slowly approached his side.

"What..."

She looked down at the mysterious paper in his hand.

"...just happened?"

The Count stared into the darkness where the strangers had disappeared.

"I have absolutely no idea."

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