The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 88: Chapter 88: The Main Laboratory

The underground passage eventually opened into a massive chamber.

Unlike the narrow corridors they had crossed earlier, the room was wide enough to accommodate dozens of people at once, with high stone ceilings, reinforced pillars, and several elevated walkways overlooking the central floor. Magical lamps illuminated almost every corner, leaving very few places for anyone to hide.

At the far end of the chamber stood the main group of guards.

They were not wearing armor.

Instead, each of them wore a clean white robe fitted tightly enough to allow unrestricted movement, with their weapons already prepared at their sides. Their appearance was almost more reminiscent of scholars than soldiers, but the killing intent in their eyes made their true purpose obvious.

Nao, Neil, Saora, and the five Harbingers eventually emerged from different entrances around the chamber.

The researcher they had captured was dragged behind them, barely conscious.

Nao looked toward Saora.

"How did your part go?"

Saora casually rested her umbrella against her shoulder.

"How can I say it? Uneventful, I suppose."

Before she could say anything more, one of the Harbingers entered behind her, dragging an unconscious man across the floor.

Nao glanced down.

"Oh. Is that the researcher?"

Saora nodded.

"Yes. He was in the room with the man we eliminated."

Neil looked over the chamber.

"So this is where they’ve gathered their main forces."

The moment the words left his mouth, one of the white-robed men stepped forward.

"It’s them."

His voice carried throughout the chamber.

"The intruders who breached the estate."

Another man looked across the group carefully.

"There are only eight."

He raised his hand.

"Kill them."

The white-robed soldiers immediately spread throughout the chamber.

Steel was drawn.

But before they could charge, the air around the Eclipse members began to change.

Nao reached behind himself.

Dark energy gathered around his hand before taking shape.

A massive coffin-like weapon formed behind him with a heavy metallic sound.

CLANK.

Neil extended one hand.

Several dark blades materialized around him.

Then another.

And another.

Within seconds, dozens of floating daggers hovered behind his shoulders, each one surrounded by faint Eclipse energy.

Saora opened her umbrella.

CLICK.

The five Harbingers simultaneously drew their swords.

SHING!

One of the white-robed knights stared at the weapons.

"Are those artifacts?"

Another shook his head.

"No."

He narrowed his eyes.

"That’s magical power."

The first man raised his sword.

"Surround them."

The knights moved.

The battle began.

A dozen swords came from different directions at once.

The Harbingers separated immediately, refusing to let themselves become surrounded.

One stepped forward.

CLANG!

He caught a sword against his own blade.

The white-robed knight pushed hard.

"You—"

The Harbinger twisted his wrist.

The opposing sword was redirected.

SHING!

His blade passed across the man’s chest.

Blood sprayed across the white robe.

The knight staggered backward.

"Gah!"

Another rushed in to replace him.

The Harbinger stepped aside and allowed the attack to pass.

Then—

THUD!

His elbow struck the man’s jaw.

The knight stumbled.

A second blade immediately pierced through his abdomen.

"Urgh!"

He collapsed.

Another knight charged from behind.

The Harbinger turned.

CLANG!

Steel collided.

The two exchanged several rapid strikes, each one aimed at vital openings rather than simply trading blows.

SHING!

CLANG!

SHING!

The knight’s breathing became ragged.

He realized too late that he was being pushed backward.

"You..."

The Harbinger stepped forward.

The knight raised his sword desperately.

"Wait—"

SHING!

His sword arm fell.

"AAARGH!"

The Harbinger finished him with a single thrust.

Across the chamber, the battle was becoming even more chaotic.

Neil raised his hand.

The floating daggers shifted.

"Go."

FWOOSH!

Dozens of blades shot across the room.

The knights immediately raised their weapons.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Several managed to deflect the daggers.

Others weren’t fast enough.

THK!

THK!

THK!

Three daggers struck different targets.

One man collapsed instantly.

Another staggered backward with a blade embedded in his shoulder.

"What are these things?!"

Neil snapped his fingers.

BOOM!

The daggers exploded.

The blast threw several knights across the room.

"AAAGH!"

"Get away from them!"

The surviving knights scattered.

Neil calmly raised his hand again.

More daggers appeared.

"You should have done that sooner."

The weapons accelerated.

FWOOSH!

The knights tried to retreat, but the blades curved through the air and pursued them.

One knight ducked beneath a dagger.

Another struck one away.

Then the blade exploded.

BOOM!

The shockwave threw him into a pillar.

CRACK!

He fell to the floor, coughing blood.

Neil didn’t even look at him.

Another wave of daggers formed.

Meanwhile, Nao had already entered the center of the battlefield.

The massive coffin behind him opened.

CREAAAAK—

A surge of Eclipse energy poured from within.

Several knights surrounded him.

"He’s alone!"

"Take him!"

They attacked together.

Nao’s expression remained calm.

The coffin suddenly slammed shut.

BOOM!

A massive force erupted outward.

The attacking knights were thrown backward.

One crashed into the floor.

Before he could stand, Nao appeared above him.

THUD!

The coffin slammed down.

The stone beneath the knight cracked.

"ARGH!"

Nao lifted the weapon again.

Another knight attacked from behind.

CLANG!

Nao blocked the sword with the edge of the coffin.

The force pushed him half a step backward.

He looked at the man.

"You’ve got some strength."

The knight gritted his teeth.

"Don’t think this is over!"

Nao smiled.

"I wasn’t planning to."

He swung.

BOOM!

The knight was launched across the chamber.

He hit the wall and dropped motionless.

On the opposite side, Saora calmly walked through the battlefield.

A knight attacked her from the left.

She opened the umbrella.

CLICK.

The sword struck its surface.

CLANG!

The knight’s expression changed.

"What—?"

Saora twisted the umbrella.

The sword was violently thrown aside.

She stepped forward.

Her boot blade flashed.

SHING!

The knight fell to one knee.

"Please—"

Saora’s umbrella rotated.

WHRRRRR—

A compressed blade of air tore through the room.

FSSSH!

The knight’s body collapsed.

Another knight saw it and froze.

"Monster..."

Saora looked toward him.

He immediately raised his sword.

"Don’t come any closer!"

She smiled.

"Then you should run."

He hesitated.

That hesitation cost him his life.

FSSSH!

The invisible blade struck.

THUD.

His body hit the floor.

The remaining knights finally began to understand what they were facing.

The Eclipse members weren’t fighting like ordinary intruders.

They were dismantling them.

One by one.

"Fall back!"

A knight shouted.

"We can’t hold them!"

Another screamed as a Harbinger’s blade narrowly missed his throat.

"There’s too many of them!"

"No!"

The man beside him shouted.

"They’re the ones who are outnumbered!"

He raised his sword.

"We can still—"

SHING!

His words ended abruptly.

The Harbinger withdrew his blade.

The knight collapsed.

Silence followed for half a second.

Then the remaining guards began retreating.

Nao looked around.

"They’re losing their nerve."

Neil’s floating daggers continued circling behind him.

"They should."

Saora quietly added,

"They’ve already realized the difference between numbers and strength."

The remaining knights gathered together.

But before they could launch another attack—

The air changed.

A strange distortion appeared near the far side of the chamber.

Everyone turned.

Two figures suddenly appeared.

FWOOSH!

One instant, they were at the other side of the chamber.

The next—

They were directly in front of the Eclipse members.

CLANG!

A Harbinger barely raised his sword in time.

The impact forced him backward.

Another figure attacked Nao.

BOOM!

Nao blocked with his coffin.

The force pushed him several meters across the floor.

Neil’s daggers immediately surrounded the newcomers.

Saora lowered her umbrella slightly.

The two men stood calmly among the chaos.

Their robes were different from the ordinary guards, and their movements carried an entirely different level of confidence.

One of them looked across the Eclipse members.

"So you are the ones responsible for destroying our facilities."

His gaze moved from Neil to Nao, then finally to Saora.

"As expected, you’re no ordinary intruders."

He smiled faintly.

"And judging from your appearances, you’re surprisingly young. I have to admit, I didn’t expect people your age to possess this level of strength."

His companion chuckled.

"Age doesn’t matter. We’ll kill them all the same."

The first man nodded.

"Exactly."

He raised his sword.

"We don’t need to understand where your power comes from. We only need to eliminate you before you cause any more damage."

For a moment, nobody answered.

Then Nao smiled.

Neil’s expression remained calm.

Saora’s lips curved upward.

Even the five Harbingers showed no signs of fear.

The two men exchanged a glance.

The first frowned slightly.

"What?"

Nao tightened his grip on the coffin.

"Do you really think that will work?"

The man’s smile faded.

"What?"

Nao’s eyes sharpened.

"You walked into this room thinking you were the ones hunting us."

Neil’s daggers began rotating slowly in the air.

WHRRR...

Saora opened her umbrella.

CLICK.

The five Harbingers lowered their stances.

Nao smiled.

"But you haven’t realized it yet."

He stepped forward.

"You’re the ones who walked into our battlefield."

The two men finally understood that something was wrong.

But it was already too late.

Nao vanished forward.

Neil’s daggers launched simultaneously.

FWOOSH!

The Harbingers charged from different angles.

Saora’s umbrella began spinning.

WHRRRRRR—

The two men raised their weapons.

CLANG!

The next clash shook the entire chamber.

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