Extra27

Monarch Chapter 60

Chapter 60 - Interlude

Fredrick stood on the wall with his hands resting on the wooden railing, fingers clenched tight enough that his knuckles ached.

The sun slowly sank below the horizon, red as a drop of fresh blood. The trees below swayed lazily in the evening breeze, leaves whispering like they were sharing jokes at his expense.

But the sight didn't matter to him. It only briefly helped settle the storm inside his mind.

What mattered was the silence.

No one ...

Monarch Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Rayne stayed silent, waiting for Axel to admit that his words were just a joke. But nothing like that happened.

Axel simply poured himself a cup of something that smelled like burnt herbs and cheap alcohol. The man didn’t offer him any, which was probably for the best. Axel took a long sip, sighed, then finally lifted his eyes to Rayne.

“You are wondering why you got the position,” he said flatly as a matter of fact.

Rayne nodded. “Yes.”

“W...

Monarch Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Rayne stared at Casper, unable to wipe the sweat still trailing down his cheek. His left arm buzzed faintly with lingering heat, the pathways he’d just opened pulsing like a second heartbeat. Casper stepped closer, boots silent on the dirt floor of the tent.

Her gaze stayed locked on his shoulder, and Rayne had the distinct impression she wasn’t just looking at it.

She was seeing through it.

Her eyes shone lightly with mana as she crouched down to his le...

Monarch Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Rayne had been seen as a ghost his first day in this world, and now he was being looked at the same way again by Commander Evans and the three captains gathered in the command tent.

Captain Edran rubbed his eyes as if he couldn't believe he had crawled out of a grave. The woman he knew now as Captain Verella only smiled, finding the whole thing interesting while Captain Clark Doloris looked blank, staring at the commander instead of him.

The rest of them seemed t...

Monarch Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Rayne’s boots struck the stone floor with steady, determined steps as he backtracked through the tunnel. The map felt unnaturally heavy in his pocket, as if the lines inked on it carried weight far beyond their size.

He knew it was just the hope in his heart, wishing that the markings in the map turned out true.

No undead or any other monster bothered him, and in just two hours, he reached the fourth dungeon room of the level.

The wooden, iron-banded door...

Monarch Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Rayne darted sideways as the beetle charged, its six legs hammering the ground hard enough to make the dirt jump. Its mandibles snapped shut where he’d been a second ago, biting into empty air with a sound like steel grinding on stone.

Rayne exhaled, realising that the beetle was going to give him a much harder fight than the undead.

As he watched, the beetle pivoted faster than something that size had any right to. Its shell rippled as it moved, and he saw the ...

Monarch Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Rayne ducked—barely.

A rusted mace screamed past his ear and smashed into the stone wall, spraying chips across his face. He didn’t flinch. Another undead lunged from the right, its broken spear thrusting straight for his ribs. Two more were closing in behind it, weapons raised, hollow eyes locked onto him.

Four at once. He might have panicked two days back, but now, it was just routine.

Rayne twisted his body, letting the spear scrape across his leathe...

Monarch Chapter 53

Chapter 53

The door creaked open with a slow, uneven groan.

Rayne kept his sword raised as he looked into the doorway, shoulders tense, bracing himself for seeing a big, ugly bug monster with claws that could rip his head off easily.

But there was nothing.

He blinked. The room beyond him was… empty.

There wasn't even a hint of a shadow or a monster hiding.

The glowstones lining the ceiling cast a pale, steady light over smooth stone walls and a floor unt...

Monarch Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Jason’s boots slammed against the bridge, every plank rattling beneath his feet as he ran and cursed his luck. Dean’s limp body bounced on his shoulder with every stride, slowing him, dragging at his balance. But he didn’t stop. None of them did.

Behind them, the chimera’s roars hammered into his spine. Ahead, worms screeched on the planks, snapping rows of teeth at their legs.

But Jason kept going until he saw Rayne.

Rayne staggered near the middle...

Monarch Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Blistering heat washed over all of them as soon as Jason opened the door. A fireball the size of a man’s torso hovered near the gate, flickering in front of a pair of hands.

For a heartbeat, Rayne thought it was the lair of another monster, but then the flames sputtered, wavered, and collapsed into sparks, revealing the person behind it.

Casper stood there, and Rayne couldn’t believe it for a second.

Her appearance was starkly different from the last tim...

Monarch Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Shawn’s hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, knuckles whitening. Rayne stood his ground, refusing to look away. The chamber seemed to shrink around them, every soldier pulled taut like a bowstring, waiting to see which of the two would snap first.

Rayne fully expected the man to charge at him. He already hated him due to his bloodline. But instead, he let out a breath, removing his hand from the hilt.

“Step aside,” Shawn growled. “That’s an order...

Monarch Chapter 49

Chapter 49

For a moment, no one said a word.

Bran lay limp inside the half-cut cocoon, his skin pale and stretched thin, his white beard matted with dried saliva and strands of silk. His eyes were shut tight, sunken as if weeks of sleep had been forced into him.

Rayne felt chaotic emotions bubbling inside him as he struggled to comprehend the situation. The others looked equally frozen as John moved his dagger to cut off more of the cocoon.

The more Bran’s body was ...

Monarch Chapter 48

Chapter 48

They checked three more rooms in quick succession but found no more corpses. All of them were filled with different sorts of bug monsters. The first room was filled with more rust bugs, but there were two among them that looked bigger, with wings on their backs.

Shawn almost looked regretful as they moved on without entering. Rayne guessed that the man had fought these bugs before and was confident he could clear the room and get the rewards it would give.

By now,...

Monarch Chapter 47

Chapter 47

The world twisted and stilled.

Rayne felt his stomach lurch as the air folded around him, every sense blurring into a whirl of black and violet. For a heartbeat, it felt like he was falling through thick smoke, and then, suddenly, his boots struck solid ground.

He staggered, almost falling face first. The sound of snickering made him realise he was standing on solid stone.

He took a breath and felt cold air filling his lungs. Mana prickled his skin, and he b...

Monarch Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The clang of steel rang across the campyard.

Rayne stepped back as Jason’s axe came down, splitting the dirt where he’d stood a heartbeat before. Dust kicked up around them, coating his boots and the sweat that rolled down his neck.

Jason grinned, lifting the axe again. “You’re fast, I’ll give you that, but you’re holding back too much. Come on, Rayne. You’ll have to swing harder than that in the dungeon!”

Rayne tightened his grip on his swor...

Monarch Chapter 45

Chapter 45

The tent fell silent after Commander Evans’ words. The only sound came from the faint crackle of the brazier in the corner and the rustle of parchment under his hand.

Rayne’s breath caught in his throat. Nate stiffened next to him, glancing at him, probably thinking the same thing.

“Dead?” Rayne asked, his voice quieter than he intended.

The commander nodded slowly, turning another page of the report. His voice sounded almost casual as he spoke, “T...

Monarch Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The march to the frontlines took them five days despite minimal rest, and even when they passed Fort Algar, which only had a few men on its walls now, Rayne decided not to stay long. He knew his party wanted a night's rest in their rooms, but they had been late with the supply quest already.

Fortunately, all of them seemed to understand it.

None of the monsters bothered them this time, and they kept to the army road. His map was handy, but more than that, there we...

Monarch Chapter 43

Chapter 43

The aftermath of the battle was quick.

The fires had burned out hours after Marcus' death, leaving behind a scorched wasteland of ash and bone. The barns were nothing but blackened skeletons of wood, and the wheat fields were trampled flat and stained red.

The air reeked of iron, smoke, and something fouler that clung to the tongue—scorched flesh and death.

They’d won, though no one looked like victors.

The garrison had six soldiers dead, but all ...

Monarch Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The ground trembled as the roar got louder and louder.

All the fighting stopped in a matter of seconds, and everyone's gazes moved toward the treeline, above the flames and smoke, and they all saw the same thing.

A hulking form emerged, running on all fours. It was the size of a carriage, its body covered in sinewy muscle and patches of cracked, dark hide that glowed faintly with tendrils of dark mana. Its head was long and hound-like, but twisted, with too many ...

Monarch Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Kesh crouched at the edge of the treeline, right behind a boulder, and peeked at the mouth of the cave that might or might not be his doom.

The whole quest had him gripping his sword all the way, and now his worry was reaching its peak.

He wasn’t good at fighting. At least not as much as the others. Certainly not as good as Rayne, who seemed to improve every day as if the gods themselves were gifting him more stats than the others. He wasn’t even a scout like...

Monarch Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Rayne knelt in the middle of the wheat field, breath fogging in the chill of the night. It was almost midnight, and the moon, obscured by thin clouds, was almost directly overhead, providing barely enough light to see the men around him.

Ahead, the barns lay ahead. But they had been transformed into a deserter camp now. Firelight was everywhere and tents sprawled across the premises. Through the flames, he could barely make out a few sentries keeping watch.

But he...

Monarch Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The room quietened at the mention of a spellsword. Rayne heard a gasp to his right but didn't turn to see who it was. He simply stared into Captain Baker's eyes and saw stark fear in them. The old man moved his hand to take another sip of the watered wine.

Rayne racked his brain, trying to remember where he'd heard the word before he recalled his conversation with Casper. A spellsword was basically someone who could use mana skills. Captain Edran was one.

Although...

Monarch Chapter 38

Chapter 38

All of them soon took their seats at the large table stacked with food and wine. Rayne sat right in front of Baker, and Jeff sat on the left of his captain. His own party members took their seats on his side.

There were more seats than people as the others were still out, but the captain barely asked anything about them. Rayne was a bit surprised since the man was unusually chatty and curious, talking about his days in wars to asking about the frontlines and the troll e...

Monarch Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Rayne moved through the narrow streets, boots clicking against uneven cobblestone. The afternoon sun caught on shuttered windows and crooked signs, while the air still smelled of ale and sweat. He guessed part of it was simply the people running through the streets and the hawkers calling out prices while driving a cart.

Despite the smell, Bricksall was busy.

It reminded Rayne of a town in Europe, but that was more or less a guess. He'd hardly ever left his countr...

Monarch Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Even if Rayne asked more questions on the hanging corpses, Jeff stayed silent. He quickly collected the orders, gave them back to him, and stepped out from behind the desk, gesturing for them to follow.

“Come, I’ll show you to your rooms. You’ll find them more comfortable and clean than Fort Algar.” His tone was pleasant, but Rayne didn’t miss the way his eyes flicked to them as if measuring whether they were going to insist on knowing more about the corpses.<...

Monarch Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Rayne's anger mounted high. The air itself smelled foul, but he didn't turn his eyes away from the sight in front of him. He couldn't. On his left, Nate handled Kesh, who had fallen on the ground, an unreadable expression on his face while Jason muttered a slew of curses.

All of them were used to seeing death, but not like this.

The five bodies were strung up by frayed ropes. Two of them were adults, but the other three— all of them were children, one of them lo...

Monarch Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Rayne stared ahead at the dirt road moving straight to the horizon. The forest closed on both sides of the road, towering trees blotting half of the sky. Shafts of sunlight pierced the canopy here and there, falling like scattered spears across the dirt track.

The squad’s boots crunched in uneven rhythm, the sound broken only by the occasional rustle of armor or clink of a weapon against a belt. And of course, the chatter.

“Couldn't we have gotten horses for t...

Monarch Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Rayne moved through the old library, looking through the titles of different books in each section of the room. Dust clung to his gloved hands with each title he pulled out. These were clearly very old, and no one had bothered to update the library since then.

Fortunately, what he was mostly interested in was all the old information—from the gods to how the status and class system actually worked. Alongside those, he also picked up a few books on sword styles and the ...

Monarch Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Gold was the best thing in the world.

That thought rang in Rayne's mind with each step he took to Captain Edran's office.

Eyes followed him at each corner, the patrolling soldiers glancing at him as he passed them by—more at his new gear than his face.

It had already been two days since the blood duel, and the celebration had lasted the whole day, then the night until Rayne had been too drunk to continue.

Once he had woken up, he had headed straight ...

Monarch Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Fredrick came so fast Rayne nearly forgot to snap up his shield in time. One moment, he smiled at him with the gaze of a predator, and the next, he lunged, blade aiming for his shoulder.

Rayne put up his shield just in time. Steel rang against steel, and sparks flashed as the edge slid down towards his arm. He managed to deflect the blow as Fredrick jumped back, but the next second, he came with another ferocious strike.

His sword whistled through the air as he mo...