Hero of Darkness

Kahn stood as Azrael on the edge of a tall tower as he looked at the downpour covering the entire city. The lightning struck few times and the populace was forced to hide under their houses or take cover under this stormy weather.

As for what happened this evening.. Kahn had agreed on few terms to have the Grandmaster Blacksmith, Albestros Winston make him full body armor & even upgrade his sword. But to make him accept the commission, he had even revealed his secret identity as Azrael.

Kahn who was very careful and always did his best to completely remove any tracks of killings and his other identity, willingly revealed it to the old man. Not only because he was emotionally moved after his tragic story.. But also because he wanted to do something for the old man on his own accords.

When Jerome had told the old man's history, Kahn was thoroughly enraged but also understood why not even the Snakekin had dared to put some names in the small books of criminal names he once gave to Kahn. Because the background of those people was something nobody could dare to offend.

As for the old man's tragic story.. It was something that would make even the most heartless people feel empathetic towards the man and boil their blood in rage.

Kahn had already decided that he won't be a warrior of justice and only use Azrael as means to achieve goals that would benefit him. But today, he was going to contradict his own words.. And he revealed himself as Azrael to Albestros in order to make the old man feel certain that Kahn would keep his promise.

Albestros Winston was once the most famous and talented Blacksmith in the entire Flavot city, dozens of noble clans, government officials and powerful people used to have their weapons and armors made from him. Hundreds of people lined in front of his shop and a few hundred people worked under his brand.

The most notable thing about the Grandmaster rank blacksmith was that unlike the other blacksmiths of the same rank, he was both a blacksmith and an artificer. He could do jobs of both different professions as he had spent many years gaining the knowledge of magic formations and runes; he was considered a total behemoth when it came to his craft.

His name was renowned around many cities and he was ranked as the 11th best blacksmith in the entire Rakos Empire. Just his prestige alone was enough to make anyone before him bow in respect.

Over the decade when he rose to fame, people would even wait for an entire year to have him make their weapons & equipments as his work results were far superior than the other three.

He and his family lived inside the very mansion Kahn had visited this evening & there'd always be people lined up in front of the gates.

But everything changed one day...

Albestros had a daughter & a son. The daughter was 21 and the son was 18 years old. His wife had passed away a few years ago because of terminal illness and he only had his children to live for.

Albestros was on a business trip and had to meet some influential people in a city close to the capital. So he was out for a week; during those days a heart-wrenching scene that shook the entire city happened.

Albestros's daughter, Cynthia was seen as one of the most beautiful young maidens even among the daughters of the noble clans. Many had proposed marriage to her including some of the most powerful and big noble clans, but respecting her wishes and given how he cared for his children; Albestros had turned down many of the proposals politely.

During the week he was gone, 4 young heirs of the noble clans who were going to be the next leaders of their respective clans had kidnapped Cynthia right from their mansion and even killed the people guarding it.

Saying that she should've made her decision and declining their proposals had disrespected and embarrassed their powerful clans. And at the end of the day, her father was nothing but a lowly craftsman.

And for the crime of offending these clans, she would have to go through severe punishment.

What happened after that had sent shivers to Kahn when he heard to story.

Cynthia was publicly rap*d by these noble heirs one by one in an open square, right in the middle of the city. They did in front of thousands of onlookers and brutally tortured the young naked girl saying that those who look down on the nobles should meet the same fate.

Given their background and their own small army of soldiers that were present there, even the city guards and officials didn't intervene. The normal public who couldn't tolerate this heinous act retaliated but what could a normal person with no weapons or training do in front of seasoned warriors? Dozens of men & women who tried to stop this act were killed in that square and this deterred the onlookers.

Gerald, the son of the blacksmith was training to be a knight in a military school. When the news reached his ears, he ran towards the square hurriedly and lost his mind after he saw what was happening to his loving & caring elder sister.

Without the care of his life, he stormed into their formation and even killed 4 people.. But in front of hundreds of experienced soldiers, what could a newbie like him do.

To make this already cruel scene more gruesome and unable to watch.. The soldiers tied Gerald on a platform and made him watch as the sons of the 4 clans rap*d his sister in front of his own eyes.

Cynthia's gut-wrenching cries for help were heard by thousands of people but not a single one of them dared to help them after watching the fate of the others who tried to. Her pleads for mercy and screams for help fell only on deaf ears.

Gerald's enraged roars and curses made no difference.. No God or a Savior came that day to protect a girl's honor. The soul-shuddering scene kept on for a couple of hours and finally.. Cynthia bit her tongue out and committed suicide by choking on her own blood.

Gerald on the other hand, swore to kill every single one of the heirs and their entire clans to avenge his sister. But the cruel and inhumane heirs didn't give him a chance to live another day. They cut open his belly, then his legs and hand one by one. To put it on a display for the entire city to watch and learn about the consequences of not following the will of the truly powerful.

But even till his last breath.. Gerald did not plead for any mercy or beg out of fear. He swore that even if he had to return from the dead or make a deal with the devil.. One day, he would spell the doom for their entire clans and everyone who carried their blood.

After both the sister & the brother died.. Their bodies were hung right in the same square. A cut-down and lifeless body of Gerald was hung on a rope while a completely naked and bruised up body of Cynthia was hanging beside it.

The noble clan heirs declared that anyone who tried to take down these bodies would become their enemy and them along with their entire family will be killed.

That day, the entire city saw how little did law and justice matter in this world. How their protectors who preached about safety and order, who swore to protect them only watched this heinous crime from a distance.

Two days later when Albestros returned and heard about how his children, the only reason why he still lived for were brutally murdered and put on a display for the public.. Something inside the old man died.

He was a man with no will to live anymore. But he still had to get justice for his children. The blacksmith went to the City Law Enforcements, his connections and even military officials who once owed him favors.. But none of them dared to help him.

It was one thing it if it were to be a single person or a single noble clan. Others would've teamed up against them in the name of justice and the criminals would've met a thorough punishment. But when the four strongest noble clans and their future leaders were put into the equation.. No power or law authority dared to go against them.

Even people like the Magistrate and Commander Straze did not heed to the old man's pleads.

Instead, new fabricated cases and defaming stories about his daughter and son were spread by these clans and their people saying that the daughter had illegitimate relationships with many young men of the noble clans and tried to rope in the heirs one by one until she was finally caught. The son had allegedly killed someone and asked the noble clans heirs to bury the incident in exchange for having his sister spend a night with them.

Even in death, Albestros's daughter and son were left with no respect or honor to their name.

The majority of the populace knew about how these stories were nothing but lies. But what could they do instead of keeping their mouths shut?

The tales of heroism and serving justice only happened in fictional stories but not in the real world where only strength and power mattered.

The Law didn't have any hold over the strong and it only existed to shackle the weak.

A week later, another unofficial decree from the noble clans came from.. That from now on, anyone who did any business or kept any connection to the old man would incur their wrath. They even banned the old man to leave the city and put a big reward in case anyone informed them about his escape. Just to keep the matters buried in the ground.

To set up an example.. They killed 9 people who had stood on the old Blacksmith's side and voiced their opinions. Jessica's father, who was the former lieutenant in the city security being one of them.

Jessica and Cynthia were childhood friends and because of that, even when the entire city had banished the old man in a way, she looked after the old man from time to time while avoiding the spies of the noble clans. That's why the old man came to her funeral that day while barely managing to hold back his tears.

Markus was also Gerald's sword instructor back in the day so he too felt bad for the old man and helped him smuggle things to sell so the old man won't die out of hunger over the years.

The once most sought-after Blacksmith of the city was now avoided like a plague by the masses.

But despite everyone knowing the truth.. Nobody helped the man who lost his only reason to stay alive.

At the current moment, Kahn looked at the dark clouds as he was basking in the cold rain.

The reason why he chose to pick the old man wasn't just because he wanted to get something out of him.. But because the old man had truly gained his respect.

Because unlike Kahn, who committed suicide after losing his will to live.. The old man still endured it all. Carrying on living with just a glimmer of hope that one day, his children would get the justice they deserved.

Even if someone were to say that Kahn was acting like a hypocrite.. He wouldn't care. There were some things that you could not look away from no matter what. The whole commission thing was just a reason he needed to convince himself for his future actions.

Because in his core.. He was still a man with a moral code.

Kahn spoke in a grim tone as he looked in a certain direction.

"If the Gods won't deliver judgment upon them.. If the law won't punish them.. Then I'll be the blade that cuts them down myself!"