Sanctuary Shift. A spell known only by those who are of royal descent. As the name itself implied, upon the invocation of the spell, it would transport the caster to a sanctuary. It was created and designed to safekeep and safeguard the royals in case of imminent threats. The idea was conceived by a past civilisation. The stories had various spins, but the gist of it was that one of the princes managed to raise the ire of a dragon, leading to the near-complete destruction of the kingdom. The royal family had nowhere to go when the dragon came and attacked the capital. Their escape path was cut off by the fmes. A court mage, who was accompanying the royal family, was quick on his feet. He teleported everyone within a certain radius to an underground vault that was used to store the kingdom’s treasures and artefacts.

  From then on, every subsequent civilisation had adopted his contingency pn. The Argon Kingdom was no different. Though dragons no longer existed, there were still many situations or sequences of events that would lead to results simir to a dragon’s attack, such as an uprising or an insurrection. The current situation could be considered as either one.

  “W-what about you, Marie?” the princess asked. Though she had never invoked the spell for its intended purpose, she had invoked it for practice. A mandatory lesson for any member of the royal family. She knew that the spell only worked for royals and royal guards. Marie was neither. She was not branded with a Geass mark as a royal guard was.

  “I will be fine, Your Highness,” Marie answered with a smile. “You must go.”

  “You will not be fine, Marie. You will not—”

  “It does not matter, Your Highness. I don’t matter. You are all that matters.”

  “Absurd!”

  “Princess Lucianna. This is no time to argue.”

  “H-help me…” Stefan croaked, clutching the arm that was just at Marie’s mercy. He had yet to recover from his incapacitation, nor had he recovered from the humiliation. He looked to be struggling to even stand. His legs were trembling heavily. His gaze was unfocused.

  “Stefan…” Lucianna sighed. She wondered where it went wrong with her brother’s growth. “Stop being so pathetic. You still have two of your legs. Use them. And you still have your tongue. Say the words and you will be sent to safety.”

  “I-I don’t remember the words…” he admitted with a huge blush, which he struggled to hide.

  “You can’t be serious… Do you remember any of the lessons?”

  “Your Highness, this might be insolent for me to say but I don’t believe His Majesty had even attended the lessons. Not for a long time.”

  “Truly?”

  “At least it was, according to the whispers.”

  “P-please… Lucy… You can’t leave me here,” said the king of the Argon Kingdom. The fear could barely be contained in his voice and tone, as if a slight jolt or nudge would make him spill out all of his fears and insecurities.

  “I can’t do that,” Lucianna said. Her voice did not waver. “I don’t have the Murux to teleport two individuals at once and neither do I intend to save you.”

  “What?” he excimed.

  “Consider this your punishment. This would not have happened if you weren’t so incompetent and… malicious.”

  “Incompetent? Malicious? You dare—”

  “I dare,” Lucianna asserted. “I’m all out of forgiveness, dear brother. I’m done trying.”

  “No, no, no! You can’t leave me! I am your king! This is treason!”

  “This is justice.”

  “Your Highness, you should leave now.” Marie stepped in between Lucianna and Stefan. “They’re coming.”

  “Marie… You will die.”

  “If I do die… if my death saddens you greatly… then become the ruler that you were always meant to be and avenge me then. Now, go.”

  “... I will, Marie.” Lucianna nodded as she fought back a tear. “I will.”

  Just then, the room shook as something hard and heavy rammed into the doors from outside. As this was the private chamber of the king, various protective and defensive enchantments were in pce. The doors were only wood but the enchantment made them strong enough to withstand the strength of more than a dozen men. However, a Syer’s strength was worth dozens of men, let alone an augmented Syer.

  “Leave now!” Marie shouted and began casting a spell on the doors. The enchantments were holding but she doubted they would hold the doors for much longer.

  Lucianna gave one final nod before she began chanting the spell. As she was doing so—

  “You are not leaving!” Stefan snarled. He rose to his feet, seemingly broken free from his shock. “As your king, I command you to take me with you!”

  Lucianna ignored Stefan’s aggressive pleas and continued with her chant. She was now cursing her past self for not being more diligent with her lessons. The spell should have been easy but even the simplest things can be difficult if one’s out of practice.

  “You fucking bitch!” Stefan cried and charged at Lucianna.

  “I can’t let you do that, boy,” Marie said as she quickly moved in between Lucianna and Stefan.

  “I am your king! Get out of my way!”

  “King of idiots and sycophants, and I am neither. You are no king of mine.”

  Stefan screamed incoherently and threw himself at Marie.

  The head maid twirled and sent her foot into the face of the pitiful king of the Argon Kingdom.

  Stefan went flying until he crashed into the doors that were pounded from the other side. He bounced off the door and fell face-first to the ground.

  “Farewell… Lucy,” Marie bade. She had her eyes trained on the doors. She couldn’t afford to take them away as the Syers could come bursting through any second now.

  “Farewell, Marie,” Lucianna said as the spell took effect. A radiant fsh enveloped the princess and when the light died, she was gone.

  “It has been a pleasure,” Marie muttered under her breath.

  The enchantments finally reached their limits. The doors flew off their hinges in pieces. Two Syers, seemingly entangled by dark shadows, strode into the room. The two Syers let their gazes wander. Their gazes fell on Stefan, who was sprawled on the floor in front of them.

  “S-save… save me!!” Stefan gave a loud scream as he crawled hurriedly and desperately towards Marie with an arm reaching out.

  “It had not been a pleasure serving you… boy,” Marie gave a harsh and cold bid before the two Dark Syers plunged their feet into the back of the man-child of a king.

  Stefan managed a soft croak before life left his body.

  “I always knew it was a terrible idea to be employing automatons as enforcers,” Marie mused.

  The Syers turned their attention onto the maid once they confirmed the king was dead, not that they actually needed to confirm it. It was simply the protocol and parameters integrated into their logic circuits.

  “Any chance that I might convince the two of you?” Marie asked flippantly. Syers were essentially mute. She didn’t expect an answer. She was convinced of her end and nothing she said could convince the Syers otherwise.

  “The princess, where is she?” the Syers asked, in a twisted, hollow, and mechanical voice.

  “Now this is a surprise. Since when do Syers speak?”

  “I am no Syer, servant,” the Syers growled in unison.

  “Ah, I see. You’re the puppeteer of these Syers. The mastermind, aren’t you?”

  “Where is the princess?”

  “You would never hear it from me, whoever you are.”

  “So be it.” The two Syers sprang at Marie as soon as they had finished their words.

  Marie twirled and flourished her skirt, which was a part of her maidservant's garment. The skirt covered the entirety of her lower body, leaving only a glimpse of her feet. Her flourishing skirt was rge enough to hinder the two Syers’ sights, albeit only temporarily. Still, it was more than enough time for Marie to draw the two hidden bdes strapped to her thighs. When her skirt had settled and the two Syers were upon her, she thrust her bdes at the unassuming killer machines.

  The Syers rolled out of the way, despite being caught off guard. They were quick to recover their bearings. Their arms turned to bdes.

  Marie pulled herself back as two bdes sshed across the air. She could hear the winds being sliced apart, sending chills down her spine. The Syers’ bdes were sharp and they moved faster than her eyes could follow. One wrong move and she would be dead. Her instincts and experience were her sole saving grace.

  The Syers spun and unleashed a flurry of blows at Marie.

  She didn’t bother to trade or exchange blows. She would not triumph against them in direct combat. She poured Murux into her bdes before throwing them at the feet of the Syers.

  Although perplexed by her action, the Syers did not stop to ponder. They were relentless in their objectives. However, their indifference caused their immediate downfall. The two bdes by their feet exploded, tearing and shredding the whole room apart with their immense shockwave.

  Marie worked fast in casting a barrier in front of her, shielding herself from the explosion. Though she saved herself from being blown apart by the explosion, she was still thrown off her feet. More specifically, she was tossed out of the room which was, thankfully, only a storey high. The shockwave had disconcerted her bance, making it impossible for her to soften the nding. The fall would have broken a few of her bones if her servant's garments were as simple as they looked.

  Being the secret protector of the princess, she was outfitted with garments made of special fabric and cloth. Unless a bde was coated with a spell, her garments could even withstand a ssh or a stab. Moreover, Marie herself was adept at using Murux and spells to enhance her combat capabilities. With all these aspects combined, she survived the shortfall with little to no injuries.

  Marie quickly picked herself up from the ground. She had nded in the courtyard. It was not a pretty sight it once was. Bodies and corpses littered the ground, soldiers and servants alike, young and old. They were all killed in the same manner, mutited by a rge and sharp object. The Syers had not been discriminating.

  As Marie was about to make a dash for her escape, something caught her attention in the corner of her view. It was a Syer fighting against another Syer but the tter one was shrouded in darkness. The Dark Syer had its arm thrust into the chest area of the untainted Syer. The darkness crept from the Dark Syer’s arm and onto the Syer’s body. After that, the Dark Syer let go of the Syer and walked off, leaving the Syer to be consumed by the darkness. The Syer struggled for a few seconds before it suddenly stopped moving. When it resumed moving, the darkness was already entangling it like the two Marie had just fought.

  “Good lord… How can the kingdom recover from this…?” Marie gasped softly but in despair.

  It was barely a whisper but the Syer heard it clearly. It cocked its head towards Marie.

  “Damn it,” she muttered.

  The Syer did not dawdle or hesitate. It immediately rushed at Marie. “Where’s the princess!?” the Syer roared.

  Marie did not dawdle or hesitate either. She immediately turned and ran. She was barely an opponent for a normal Syer, much less one that had been augmented by darkness. Just as she started running, something fell in front of her— no, something nded right in front of her.

  “This is not good…”

  That “something” was in fact the two Syers from before. They had survived the explosion, though they were missing a limb or two and half a face. Still, they were moving.

  “Give me the princess,” the Syers said. Their voices had become even more distorted than before.

  “I will give you only death!” Marie baulked and charged at the two Syers. “Be it mine or yours!”

  The Syers brandished their arm-bdes and prepared to lunge at Marie. However, before they could, something appeared between them and the maidservant. A dark figure, but no darker than the Syers. Before they could even register the abrupt presence, their heads went flying off their necks.

  Marie stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened. “Who are you?” she asked.

  The dark figure did not answer but when it turned around and showed its face, Marie knew what the figure was.

  A vampire.