The valley was silent until a wet thud sounded of Sir Kaelen's body sliding from his saddle. The elder knight laid in the dirt, his blood staining the white dust of the road. Sir Valerius stood over him with his rapier gleaming with a cold treacherous light.
"You can stop hiding now boy" Valerius said, his voice cutting through the air. He didn't turn around "You've been tailing us since we left the village. Your footsteps are quiet, but the forest breathes differently when you move through it."
Elias froze behind a thick oak tree. His heart hammered against his ribs. He had underestimated a Silver Knight's senses. Even with the Nature's Call ability masking his presence, a master of the blade was tuned to the vibrations of the earth itself.
"Come out" Valerius commanded, finally turning his head. His eyes were devoid of the warmth he had shown Theo earlier "Or do I have to fetch you?"
Elias stepped out from behind the tree. He didn't look like a scared child anymore. His posture was low with his eyes fixed on the traitor's hands.
"I wondered why the quest didn't end" Elias said softly.
Valerius didn't wait for a conversation. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a horizontal slash through the empty air. A crescent of compressed wind, a Wind Blade tore through the distance. It was a technique that could decapitate a man from twenty paces.
Elias lunged to the side, activating his Nature's Breath meditation. He felt the world slow down as the wind whistled past his ear, severing a lock of his hair and trunk of the tree behind him.
Valerius paused and a genuine laugh escaping his lips. He began to applaud, the sound mocking in the quiet valley "Impressive! Truly impressive. A village rat who knows how to breathe. To dodge a Silver Knight's strike... you have talent boy. It's a pity that talent ends today."
Elias didn't respond. He sprinted toward the fallen Sir Kaelen. If he could get to the elder knight, maybe there was a chance.
"Too slow" Valerius hissed.
He didn't use his rapier. Instead, he grabbed a discarded shortsword from one of the dead mercenaries and infused it with his Aura. The blade began to hum with a blue light. He hurled it like a spear.
Elias twisted his body in mid-air, but his eighteen-year-old muscles couldn't keep up with his mind . The glowing blade grazed his upper arm, ripping through his tunic and carving a deep bloody furrow into his flesh. Elias tumbled into the dirt whileclutching his arm, sliding to a stop near the dying Kaelen.
Valerius walked toward them with slow and deliberate steps. He looked like a reaper of death.
"I have to thank you, Elias" Valerius said, a cruel smile stretching across his face "That purple paste of yours... it's a miracle. After I finish you and the Young Master, I'll return to your village. I'll slaughter everyone until I have the recipe. Imagine the fame! A knight who discovered a medicine that heals instantly. I won't just be a lord...... I will be a legend."
He threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing off the cliff walls.
Elias looked up from the ground. Despite the blood dripping from his arm, his expression was eerily calm "Why did you think the paste I gave you was for healing?"
Valerius stopped laughing. He frowned, looking down at the scab on his back where the wound had been. "What are you talking about? I felt the pain vanish. The skin closed before my eyes. I saw it—"
Suddenly, Valerius's eyes bulged. He staggered forward, clutching his throat. A massive spray of dark blackish blood erupted from his mouth, splashing onto the white road. He fell to his knees, his rapier clattering to the ground.
"What... what did you... do?" Valerius gasped, his voice sounding like it was bubbling through water.
"In my past... I knew a story" Elias spoke, his voice cold and distant, echoing off the jagged cliffs. "There was a boy whose family was slaughtered by a knight simply for bumping into him by mistake. That boy went mad with a singular purpose. He dedicated every waking second of his life to studying the darker side of nature, obsessed with one goal, to get revenge."
Elias took a step forward, his shadow falling over the gasping Valerius.
"But he realized something early on. He didn't want to create a normal poison. He knew that if a knight felt even a flicker of something wrong in their veins, they would immediately use their Aura to disperse and purge the toxin before it could do real damage. To a master of the blade, most poisons are nothing more than a temporary itch."
Elias leaned down, his eyes locking onto Valerius's terrified pupils.
"So, he spent decades refining a masterpiece of malice. He created a poison so deceptive that it mimics the sensation of healing. It doesn't fight the body, instead it waits. It has no scent, no taste and no immediate lethality. It has only one trigger for its fatality... the use of Aura itself. The very power you use to protect yourself is what activated the corrosive agent I placed in your wound."
Valerius tried to stand but his legs gave way. His skin was beginning to turn purple, starting from the side of his healed wound.
"He created a poison that mimicked the feeling of healing" Elias continued, stepping closer "It feels warm, doesn't it? "
Elias looked at the dying traitor. He knew no one in this era had ever seen this poison. It wouldn't be discovered for another 3 year in the original timeline. The "Purple Death" was a secret of the future.
"I spent all night gathering the herbs for it" Elias said "I knew a Silver Knight wouldn't let a stranger touch them unless they saw a benefit. So, I played the part of the 'helpful village boy.' Of course, the healing paste I used on myself was real"
Valerius coughed again, more black blood pouring over his chin. His eyes were filled with terror and confusion "How... how did you know? How did you know I was the traitor?"
Elias looked down at him with a gaze that felt cold.
"I didn't" Elias said coldly. "I just knew that one of the two guards had to be compromised. A Silverwyn doesn't get ambushed by mercenaries unless someone on the inside opens the door. So, I applied the poison on both of you."
Valerius's eyes widened. He looked at the unconscious Kaelen.
"Don't worry" Elias whispered, leaning down "If Kaelen is loyal, he would be attacked before he could even use his aura, and he wouldn't be able to use it while unconscious. I can purge the poison from him later, But you? You used your Aura to throw that sword at me."
Valerius tried to speak, but his lungs had turned to liquid. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed forward into the dust, his body twitching once before going still forever.
Ding!
[Hidden Objective Completed: Identify and Eliminate the Traitor.]
[Quest: The Silverwyn Incident — Status: Completed!]
[Calculating Rewards...]
[You have earned 500 System Points.]
[Reward: Title 'The Duke's Hidden Trust' (Function: Currently Unknown)]
[Reward: Skill 'Poison Master's Insight' (Level 1)]
Elias let out a long, shaky breath. The blue screen flickered in his vision, but he ignored it. He rushed over to Sir Kaelen. The elder knight was still breathing, but only just. Inside the carriage, Elias could hear Theo Silverwyn sobbing, too terrified to come out.
"It's over, Young Master" Elias called out, his voice returning to that of a calm youth "The traitor is dead. But Sir Kaelen needs help."