Chapter Twenty-Three: The Shadow Guards Strike

"Shadow Guards, attack! Don't think for a moment that I, Peter, fear you. Exterminate those rebels!" Peter roared, rising steadily into the air and leaving the range of the raging lava below.

The Shadow Guards were beings akin to monsters, cultivated by the Peter family over many years, or rather, through generations. This was the reason Peter had been able to slay so many powerful foes—his family possessed a secret art that could resurrect the dead. Though they returned devoid of memory, they retained all their magical or sword skills, and after resurrection would serve the Peter family for generations. In truth, it was a refined version of the forbidden necromancy of the continent, yet its basis was not the dark arts but rather the renowned magic of light. Simply put, these were troops forged by necromancy of the light element.

There were eighteen Shadow Guards in total, each one a grand mage or great swordsman. The moment they appeared, it was as if a pack of wolves had been loosed among sheep; in a single instant, the crowd melted away at the point of contact like ice against searing iron. Watching the masses fall in swathes, cut down like wheat at harvest, Hughes grew anxious. Though he was the true mastermind and leader of this uprising, and Pius and the others had been sent to their deaths by his own design, his influence was insufficient. Should casualties mount, he feared a mass desertion would follow, sealing his defeat. When Peter had tempted him with immortality, it was n