Hero of Darkness

Right when things were about to get heated between the two groups, one from the Oakenshield company while the other from Hero's Party… a human dressed in black clothes as if he just changed into this presentable attire, appeared at the entrance of the company door and intervened. 

Kahn, who summoned his usual black and gray longcoat and rest of the clothes as soon as he came close to the site of the clash walked forward and tried to calm down the crowd that looked like they were about to draw their weapons and cause a slaughter. 

"Sir Omega, Sir Jugram… please calm down. 

They're from the church… your allied force. 

We're all friends here, aren't we?" spoke Kahn in a respectful tone towards his own subordinates. 

"Don't meddle in our affairs. It is them who overstepped their boundaries first." said Jugram, whose normal human appearance was of a man in his mid-30s.

"Tell master Oakenshield that will get rid of these intruders. So can carry on with his work without worrying." ordered Omega to Kahn as if he was his superior. 

"Please don't say that. I'm sure there's some sort of misunderstanding. 

They're from the hero's party… no way would they truly intend to cause any harm to any innocent citizens here." spoke Kahn in a vehement voice as if he was a big-time fan of the opponent group. 

"Am I right?" asked Kahn as he looked at Axel and his team members. 

"Yes… there indeed seems to be a sort of misunderstanding. 

We only intended to meet master Oakenshield regarding some matters." said Axel as he adjusted his tone. 

[Who is this guy? He's only a beginner master rank and yet he seems to be someone close to the company's administration and the blacksmith.] asked Axel to his teammates. 

[If I'm not wrong… he should be the new disciple of Throk Oakenshield. You know… the one who is rumored to face master Tawerik's disciple in a blacksmithing faceoff according to rumors.] replied the fireborne saint. 

Just then, Edna also replied telepathically. 

[Looks like these saints are from completely different departments. The way he speaks to them with respect… means they're not his comrades. 

I think these seven saints are not actually part of the company and they're more like tasked with protecting Oakenshield. 

Like some guards or mercenaries. To me, they appear like outsiders. 

Because that human saint is too big compared to humans of our empire.] she hypothesized. 

[Yes, lord Axel. Edna is right. I think they're hired help. 

Otherwise, if they were from the imperial clan, we would've known about them from our sources and they wouldn't be speaking so rudely to us either.] spoke Tamak. 

[Still… to hire seven saints and that too from outside of the empire. 

I don't think that the old dwarf could afford it or has that type of connections or authority after the incident with Rogis.] replied Axel as he sped up his brain. 

[But there's one force other than the church who can manage to hire these powerful individuals just for the bodyguard work.] said the fireborne. 

[The imperial clan.] said Axel with a serious expression. 

"You there… What is your name?" asked Axel to Kahn. 

"Kahn Salvatore, lord Hero." replied Kahn in a meek voice. 

"Huh… even a guy with no strength or background dares to casually talk with lord Axel without bowing or kneeling now?" spoke an elf scholar among the group who appeared to be a second stage saint and released his killing intent on Kahn. 

Thud! 

Kahn's figure quickly slumped down under this pressure and knelt on the ground as he was currently hiding his strength at master rank. 

[This fucking moron!] cursed Axel in his mind because this teammate of his ruined the situation that was just calming down. 

"That's it!" shouted Omega and quickly unsheathed his katanas to attack while Jugram was ready to leap off and attack the whole group. 

"What's happening here?!" 

Before Omega could even move and attack the elf, a sudden loud voice resounded in the sky above them. 

A floating figure of a young woman adorning an armor that was a combination of white, brown and green suddenly appeared a few hundred meters above in the sky. 

Her black hair and green eyes along with an extremely gorgeous facial structure were the most striking features of her appearance. 

[The hell! What's she doing here? And when did she even get here without any of us noticing?!] exclaimed Kahn. 

[Teleportation scroll. And epic rank one at that.] replied Ceril who was sitting inside the building. 

This sudden arrival during the moment when things were close to getting bloody… was Venessa. 

[Damn it! This was not part of the plan! 

We were only going to maintain our secrecy with ambiguous information and let these idiots think what they liked… but this princess; we can't make up any lies anymore. 

Apart from Omega and Jugram, all of you hide your auras completely.] ordered Rathnaar. 

Their original plan here was to let the hero's party think that Kahn was only a disciple of the old blacksmith and not someone associated with his subordinates. 

And they'd let the opposite side make assumptions of their own and report it to church. But Venessa suddenly showing up here was going to mess things up. 

Before anyone could speak… Venessa's eyes landed on Kahn who was forced to kneel… more like he chose to kneel to maintain his fake background. 

SHRILL!! 

Venessa suddenly released her killing intent as soon as she sensed a murderous aura forced upon Kahn and then looked at the source… the hero's party. 

"The audacity of your trash dumpsters!

Do you know who he is?!" shouted Venessa and quickly landed in between these two confronting sides. 

Her wrathful gaze landed on their figures as she brandished her sword the very next moment. 

The entire hero's party was simply too shocked at the moment because first, there were suddenly seven saints here… and now, the one and only princess of the Vulcan empire herself appeared on the site. 

Venessa, with her raged expression, quickly declared in a tyrannical voice… 

"He's my man!"