The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: And So, the Eclipse Begins

A lot happened after Algazar became Cedric.

Honestly, even now, I’m not entirely sure how I managed to turn an ancient undead king into one of my subordinates.

I suppose that’s just how things have been going lately.

One moment, I was dealing with an ancient disaster that had returned after thousands of years, and the next, Draven was standing beside me proudly explaining that his former acquaintance had finally been avenged, while I was somehow expected to decide whether an ancient undead king should become part of the Eclipse.

Naturally, I said yes.

Not because I had some grand plan for collecting powerful beings.

At least, that’s what I told myself.

Still, having an ancient dragon and a former undead king under the same organization isn’t exactly something an ordinary noble child gets to experience.

Then again, I stopped being an ordinary noble child a long time ago.

When I think about it, the Eclipse itself wasn’t supposed to become this large.

It started with me giving Eclipse power to a few people and wondering what would happen.

Then those people became stronger.

Then they started helping me.

Then I found more people.

Then those people became stronger too.

At some point, I stopped being able to keep track of everything personally.

Vhan and Vince took over more of the Order’s major operations, while Aurora, Herrera, Octavia, and Leonora became responsible for different parts of the organization.

The Seven Crowns and the Ten Reapers eventually followed, and after that came even more members, facilities, intelligence networks, resources, and all sorts of things I never originally planned for.

I had wanted a power in the shadows.

Apparently, everyone else took that idea much more seriously than I did.

I still remember when the Eclipse was small enough that I could personally keep an eye on almost everyone.

Now there are hundreds of members.

There are hidden facilities.

There are people operating in different territories.

There are businesses generating ridiculous amounts of money.

There are people gathering information for us without even knowing the full purpose of what they’re doing.

And there is an entire organization that can continue functioning even when I’m nowhere near it.

That’s convenient.

Very convenient.

It also means I can spend more time pretending to be an ordinary student.

The academy itself has been rather interesting in its own way.

Not because of the lessons.

Those are still mostly boring.

I already know most of the things they’re teaching, and listening to instructors explain basic magic theory or kingdom politics isn’t exactly the most exciting way to spend an afternoon.

But I did meet Rhal.

He’s noisy.

He somehow knows every rumor circulating around the academy.

He talks about fishing far more than any normal person should.

And despite all of that, I’ve grown surprisingly used to having him around.

He’s probably the closest thing I have to a normal friend.

Which is rather strange when I think about it.

I have people in the Eclipse who would willingly throw themselves into danger without hesitation if I ordered them to do so, yet the person I can casually sit beside and talk about completely meaningless things with is a guy who wants to sell fish during his school break.

I suppose that’s what makes him useful.

He reminds me that not everything needs to involve the Eclipse.

Sometimes it’s nice to sit under a tree and listen to someone complain about money.

Speaking of money, that is another thing that somehow got out of control.

Starlight was supposed to be a useful source of income and a legitimate business through which the Order could operate openly.

Instead, Aurora and the others apparently decided that a simple business wasn’t enough.

Restaurants.

Luxury goods.

Weapons.

Magical tools.

Rare monster materials.

Auctions.

Artifacts.

Collectibles.

And eventually plans to expand into other cities.

The amount of money Starlight generates is honestly ridiculous.

I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to do with all of it.

The Eclipse certainly has enough resources now.

And yet, whenever I ask Aurora about the finances, she somehow manages to explain that there are still more things we could invest in.

I stopped asking.

It’s safer that way.

The Order has also started taking care of people who were abandoned by society.

One of those places was an old orphanage that was barely surviving when Leonora discovered it.

So the Eclipse stepped in.

The building is being repaired.

The children are receiving food, education, medicine, and training.

The sisters have been given Eclipse power and enough strength to protect the orphanage themselves.

Some of the children have potential.

Others don’t.

That’s fine.

They don’t all need to become warriors.

The important thing is that they have a future.

I think that’s probably one of the better things the Eclipse has done.

Not that I would ever say that to Aurora.

She’d probably make a big deal out of it.

There were also the laboratories.

That situation was considerably less pleasant.

What we originally thought were isolated experiments turned out to be connected to something much larger.

Humans were being experimented on.

Monsters were being modified.

Strange substances were being developed.

People were disappearing.

And some of the creatures they created were strong enough to become serious threats.

The laboratory disappeared beneath a massive attack, leaving behind nothing but a crater.

The kingdom eventually came up with its own explanation for what happened.

That’s fine with me.

If they want to believe it was some kind of magical accident, I’m not going to correct them.

There are enough questions surrounding the Eclipse already.

We don’t need to create more.

Then there was the Assassination Guild.

That one was rather troublesome.

Count Velmorne decided to send five elite assassins after my parents, apparently believing that eliminating them would solve whatever problem he had with the D’Averon family.

It didn’t.

The assassins entered the estate.

The Eclipse was already waiting.

My parents survived.

The assassins didn’t.

The incident also made the Assassination Guild realize that something had interfered with their contract, although they still didn’t understand exactly what had happened.

That was probably for the best.

If they had immediately discovered the truth about the Eclipse, things would have become considerably more annoying.

Still, the kingdom eventually began noticing a pattern.

Unknown people dressed in black were appearing in places where they shouldn’t have been.

Nobody knew exactly who was responsible.

But eventually, the same name began appearing in the rumors.

Eclipse.

Not everyone knew what the name meant.

Most people didn’t know who commanded it.

Almost nobody understood how large the organization actually was.

But the name had started appearing in conversations among people who mattered.

I had never intended for the Eclipse to remain completely hidden forever.

A secret organization that nobody knew existed was certainly useful, but eventually, there comes a point where hiding everything becomes more troublesome than simply allowing people to know that something exists.

So now the kingdom knows one thing.

The Eclipse exists.

That’s all they need to know for now.

They can wonder about the rest.

While all of that was happening, another problem appeared.

Algazar.

The Grave Tyrant.

An ancient existence that had once been feared as a disaster capable of destroying entire regions.

A group of lunatics decided that Algazar was a god and attempted to bring him back.

And somehow, they succeeded.

I still remember the first time I saw him.

He was completely covered in armor, carrying a massive greatsword, surrounded by countless undead.

He looked exactly like what you’d expect from an ancient undead king.

And he was strong.

Very strong.

Aurora was ready to deal with him herself, but I decided to approach him personally.

Then Draven appeared.

Apparently, he knew Algazar from an ancient era.

I had no idea how many absurdly old people—or dragons, in this case—Draven had met during his lifetime.

He started preparing some ridiculously powerful magic, and for a moment, I thought he was actually going to destroy Algazar himself.

Then I remembered that he was supposed to follow my orders.

So I appeared behind him and hit him on the head.

That part was probably my favorite.

Afterward, we learned that Algazar had once been a holy knight.

He had died and returned as the Undead King, carrying his hatred for thousands of years because he believed the people responsible for his defeat had never received punishment.

Then Draven told him the truth.

The Black Dragon of Calamity had already killed thousands of people before its own defeat, including people connected to the events surrounding Algazar’s death.

For the first time in thousands of years, Algazar realized that the people he wanted revenge against had already been avenged.

His hatred had continued long after the reason for it had disappeared.

That was when everything changed.

Instead of remaining an undead king consumed by revenge, he finally let go of it.

Draven then suggested that he become my subordinate.

I told Draven to stop deciding things for me.

Algazar, however, accepted.

He swore an oath to follow me.

And just like that, one of the most terrifying figures in ancient history became part of the Eclipse.

Of course, keeping the name Algazar would have been troublesome.

So I gave him a new name.

Cedric.

I gave him Eclipse power.

And now, instead of an undead king wandering around with an army of undead, Cedric can actually exist among ordinary people without causing an immediate panic.

That should make things easier.

At least, that’s what I hope.

Then there’s Draven himself.

I met him because I happened to wander into a hidden treasury while exploring the mountains.

I activated an ancient crystal.

The crystal awakened him.

I found an enormous amount of treasure.

Draven tried to intimidate me.

It didn’t work.

I considered eating him.

He became terrified.

Eventually, he agreed to become my subordinate.

Then he gave me the entire treasury.

I’m still not entirely sure whether that was because he respected me or because he was afraid I would actually eat him.

Probably both.

He also has a human form.

Unfortunately, he looks like an eight-year-old.

He insists that he’s an ancient dragon who has lived for thousands of years.

Anyway, that’s how I ended up with an ancient dragon and an ancient undead king as subordinates.

At this point, I don’t even know what else could possibly surprise me.

Actually...

That’s probably a dangerous thing to think.

Whenever I believe I’ve seen everything, something else appears.

And who knows what else is waiting beyond the places we’ve already explored.

I suppose that’s what makes this world interesting.

I originally wanted to become a power in the shadows.

I wanted to create an organization that operated behind the scenes, influencing events without anyone knowing who was responsible.

I wanted to become someone who could appear at the right moment, say something mysterious, defeat an enemy with overwhelming strength, and disappear before anyone could understand what had happened.

Looking back...

I think I succeeded.

Maybe a little too well.

The Eclipse exists.

It has grown far beyond what I originally imagined.

And now even an ancient dragon and a former undead king.

The kingdom has begun noticing us.

Our enemies have started looking for us.

And I’m still attending the academy like an ordinary student.

It’s almost funny.

I spent years building a power in the shadows, only to end up spending my mornings sitting in classrooms and my afternoons listening to Rhal talk about fish.

Still, I don’t regret it.

I’ve gained something I didn’t have in my previous life.

People I can trust.

People who follow me because they believe in what I’ve built.

An organization.

And a world that still has countless places I haven’t seen.

Maybe that’s why I’m not in a hurry to finish everything.

There will always be another problem.

Another mystery.

Another enemy.

And, knowing my luck, probably another ancient creature waiting inside some mountain.

I smiled at the thought.

"Hopefully, the next one isn’t another dragon."

Although, if it is...

End of Volume One.

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