Chapter 46 Battle Of The Black Seal II
The blasts didn’t stop coming.
Sebastian’s soldiers reacted on instinct, not fear. They ducked when shadows tore through the air, leaned low over their horses when the ground erupted beside them, urged the animals forward even as screams cut through the ranks. They had trained for chaos. They had been raised for war.
Sebastian barely registered the first blast that grazed past his shoulder.
His eyes were already searching the sky.
There.
A flicker of movement, a ripple where the shadows thickened unnaturally. His jaw tightened. Rage rose fast and sharp, swallowing every other thought.
“So that’s how you want to do this,” he muttered.
He didn’t hesitate. His first move was pure instinct. Sebastian gripped his sword, rose slightly in his saddle, and hurled it with terrifying precision. The blade tore through the air like a comet, embedding itself straight through the chest of the first Shadow Wielder that revealed himself. The man barely had time to gasp before he fell, body hitting the ground with a sick thud.
Sebastian did not wait.
The sword snapped back into his grasp, cold biting into his palm as his power stirred. He rose in his stirrups and slashed. He was fast and brutal, severing the head of another Shadow Wielder before the man could even solidify.
The second one hit the ground with another dull thud. Then war erupted.
They came spilling out of the sky now, dozens of them, then hundreds. Dark figures cloaked in writhing shadow, eyes glowing like dying embers. The air grew heavy, thick with dampening magic and the stench of corruption.
“Shadow Wielders!” a soldier shouted again, louder this time. “Brace!”
War erupted.
Steel clashed with shadow. Ice screamed through the air. Horses reared, soldiers roared, and the earth itself seemed to tremble beneath the violence. Sebastian fought like something unbound, ice curling around his limbs as he cut through enemies with inhuman speed.
He froze shadows solid and shattered them with a flick of his wrist.
Then—
“No—!”
The sound tore out of him, raw and unrestrained.
Sebastian saw it happen in sickening clarity. A spear of condensed shadow pierced through Anderson’s chest, punching clean through armor and flesh. The advisor gasped, his body jerking violently before he slipped from his horse.
Sebastian didn’t think.
He screamed.
“No! Anderson!”
He was off his horse in an instant, skidding through blood-soaked dirt to where Anderson lay. Sebastian caught him before his head hit the ground, hands shaking as he pressed them against the wound, ice instinctively spreading beneath his palms.
“Stay with me,” Sebastian begged, voice breaking. “Stay with me, please. You can’t— you can’t leave me now.”
Anderson’s breath hitched, wet and uneven. Blood bubbled at the corner of his mouth, staining his beard dark.
“Seb…” he rasped, forcing a weak smile. “Still… barking orders even now.”
“Don’t,” Sebastian choked. “Don’t talk. Save your strength.”
Anderson’s hand fumbled weakly, finding Sebastian’s wrist. His grip was trembling, already fading.
“Listen to me,” he whispered. “You’re… you’re not allowed to fall apart yet.”
Sebastian shook his head violently. “I need you. I don’t— I don’t know how to do this without you.”
Anderson’s eyes softened, pain flashing through them. “You’ve been doing it… your whole life.”
“That’s a lie,” Sebastian snapped, tears burning his eyes. “You were there. You were always there.”
Anderson swallowed hard, coughing. Blood spilled freely now.
“I did what a father should,” he said quietly. “Because someone had to.”
The words broke something open inside Sebastian.
“I tried,” Anderson continued, voice trembling. “To keep you… kind. To remind you… that power doesn’t mean cruelty.”
Sebastian pressed his forehead against Anderson’s, a single tear finally escaping. “You succeeded. I swear you did. Even though I hated to admit it, you were always right. Now please stay strong and try to live you old man!”
“Promise me,” Anderson whispered urgently, fingers tightening for one last moment. “Promise me you won’t let the darkness take everything. Don’t become what he was.”
Sebastian sucked in a shaky breath. “I promise.”
Anderson’s gaze searched his face, as if making sure. “Even when it hurts.”
“Even when it hurts,” Sebastian repeated.
A faint smile curved Anderson’s lips. “Good… My king.”
His grip loosened.
And then he was gone.
Sebastian stayed still, frozen in place, cradling the body as the world raged on around him. For a moment, it felt like everything inside him went silent.
Then Gayle approached, blood splattered across his armor, eyes wide. “My king— they’re gaining on us!”
Sebastian lowered Anderson’s body gently to the ground. He rested his forehead against the man’s chest for one last heartbeat.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’ll keep my promise. Just… not yet.”
He stood.
Something in him shifted.
His face went blank, eyes darkening to a glacial black-blue that glowed faintly with power. The air around him dropped several degrees, frost forming instantly on the blood-soaked earth.
Sebastian didn’t shout.
He didn’t roar.
He moved.
Ice exploded outward as he surged back into battle, faster than before, faster than thought. Shadows froze mid-attack, shattered with brutal efficiency. He slaughtered them without mercy, his expression unreadable, movements precise and lethal.
A wave of ice spears erupted from the ground, impaling three Shadow Wielders at once.
Another tried to flee. Sebastian caught him by the throat and slammed him into the dirt, freezing his limbs solid.
When it was over, bodies littered the battlefield. Shadows dissipated slowly into the air.
Only one remained alive.
Sebastian dragged him forward by the ankle, boots leaving trails in the blood-soaked soil. He stopped, towering over the whimpering Shadow Wielder.
The man shook violently.
“You will take me to where your kind hides,” Sebastian continued, voice cold enough to freeze bone. “To the Black Seal.”
The man nodded frantically.
Sebastian released him and turned toward the horizon, eyes burning with frozen fury.
“Get Anderson's body and wrap it well, we continue our March,” he ordered.
“Yes your majesty.” The soldiers answered and soon their march continued.