色戒无删除版

Cygnus sighed, "They really won't let me go, how tenacious. The organization I have hated for my entire life unexpectedly fell into my hands but another enemy popped out. How awful my life has become."

Onyx did not react because he fully knew that the master already knew who were after him. If it was not those two then probably all of them had their own thoughts. No one could blame the master though, because if that tragedy did not happen then none of these would transpire in the present. It was their own doing.

"Are you going to take over this kingdom or just leave it in ruins?" Onyx asked after a moment of short silence between them.

"Why would I even want to take control of this hateful kingdom? I'd rather see it in ruins than to make myself suffer from ruling it or whatever." Cygnus shuddered at the thought of ruling the kingdom that destroyed him.

"Then I will gladly assist you in your endeavors as the holy knight." Onyx bowed his head and placed his fist on his chest.

"Aren't you angry with me anymore?" Cygnus chuckled because of how fast the man changed his attitude.

Onyx closed his eyes and sighed. In all honesty, the man was just glad that he finally caught up with his master. It was pure torture to him to be with those priests who hated his master. He was also fed up with pretending to be someone good when clearly, he was not. Besides, the Justice of Light was now crawling with demons thanks to his efforts.

Cygnus poured tea in one of the cups and pushed it towards the man. Onyx gladly received the cup and joined his master in drinking tea. They remained in that position for a while until the noise outside of the manor stopped. The first one to enter was Mr. C because Nina and Vain were still enjoying themselves.

"Are they done?" Onyx asked after the butler appeared and started to change the tea on the pot.

"Not yet, they are still playing to their heart's content." Mr. C answered while boiling the tea then he poured out a little bit on the master's cup. "How is it master?"

Cygnus nodded, "Delightful." He continued to drink all of it and then he shifted his gaze to Onyx who was silently eating the treats on the table. "Aren't you going to return? Your men are already defeated."

Onyx froze and stopped eating. He gave his master a wide-eyed look before he frowned and glared at him. "No, I won't. I will be returning with you. I'm already fed up with all the pretending I am doing. You already declared war against this kingdom so there's no point in me returning."

Cygnus raised a brow then looked at the butler who was silently listening to the side. Mr. C nodded towards the master and he could do nothing but sigh. "Alright, I'm pretty sure that those people will send their prized heroes to hunt me down so, let's get down to it."

A message reached the palace and it contained the words that the king feared. The soldiers, mages and heroes they sent to subdue the man were all dead. They all died and their bodies were burned while the whereabouts of the holy knight were unknown.

The study was silent and became solemn as he crumpled the paper that contained the message. It was a total defeat. One of the witnesses even detailed in the letter how the duke's son killed the soldiers without touching them.

"Father, what are we going to do now?" The proud prince had a rare solemn look on his face at that moment. He also learned of what happened and now he was regretting that he showed that kind of attitude to the man.

"I'll need to talk with Rigel," the king answered. It was the only choice he had right now. He would swallow his pride and negotiate with the man.

"Isn't that a bit late already?" A voice suddenly asked which made the father and son tense up. They looked towards the direction of the balcony just outside the study.

They dare not face that direction. They could only hear the footsteps that were getting nearer and nearer to where they were sitting. Cygnus chuckled because of how tense they were. He sat down on the empty seat adjacent to the king and in front of the prince.

"Why are you here?" Orpheus asked after he got the courage to speak. He forced himself to look at the man whom he thought fondly of at first.

The red eyes startled him and sent chills to his entire being. They were like staring at his very soul right at that moment. His body felt cold like he had been doused with iced water. The man was not human and it made him even more fearful of what he could do.

"I'm here to hear what you have to say. Maybe you can convince me somehow." Cygnus answered while giving them a seemingly warm look.

Orpheus gulped before he finally spoke. "What do you want? What can we do for you to spare my kingdom and my people?"

Cygnus hummed and even raised his head slightly while thinking. The room became silent and only the sound of the wind from the outside could be heard. The lights were flickering as the atmosphere remained tense. The room was brightly lit and yet the prince felt like it became dark.

"What do I want?" Cygnus mumbled to himself. "But what I want is the destruction of this entire kingdom and this world as one. I don't want to see this world prospering after sacrificing the lives of my family."

"What are you talking about?" The king became confused because of those words. He didn't expect the answer that came from the man's mouth.

"Ah, how ignorant you are." Cygnus tilted his head and rested it on the palm of his hands. "This is why people only know how to make excuses. Do you want me to enlighten you, my dear king?"

Cygnus gave them a smile as he waited for their response. It would be better to let them understand why they were in that kind of predicament right now. It was a bit unfair to kill them all without them knowing the reason why.

Orpheus had his hands tightly clenched but he did not answer the man. Even the crown prince remained silent like he had become mute. Cygnus sighed and frowned because of their unenthusiastic reaction to his suggestion.

"Why do all people respond to me like that? I haven't done anything yet and is still speaking and yet they all looked like they wanted to flee?" He suddenly stretched his hands up and leaned on his seat with a frown.

"That's because you have been playing with them. They might want you to be straightforward and just tell them about it." Another voice echoed in the room followed by a black smoke that appeared behind Cygnus. It then slowly solidified into the visage of a man in an armor that was familiar to the two other people in the room.

The king and the prince gasped at the revelation they were witnessing. The holy knight who was supposed to be on the side of justice was standing behind the man who was going to destroy the world. A few seconds later and realization dawned on them.

"You were one of them," the crown prince spoke. His whole body started to shake in anger at the betrayal. "You betrayed us!"

"That's quite the accusation but I didn't betray you because I was never the holy knight from the beginning. I am the black knight that loyally serves the master. I only use this body because it is quite suitable for me." Onyx did not have much reaction while talking about who he was. They also witnessed how the man's blonde hair turned to black.

Orpheus couldn't help but be indignant. Everything they had been going through was a charade that these people created. They were all fools for believing their words.

"If I may say, yes, all of you were fools. What you see on the surface is what you only believe. But here's one piece of information you need to know, I wasn't actually going to destroy this world you see because all of my bad memories were locked away." Cygnus started to narrate, "But the lock broke and I remembered certain things."

His grin was too unpleasant for the king to bear. He avoided the man's gaze by looking at his son instead. The man was speaking nonsense because no one would ever believe that he did not intend to destroy their world.

"It is the truth whether you believe me or not. And now that my memories are on the verge of overwhelming me, I will tell you a very long story and you need to be patient with me because you will learn something valuable from this." Cygnus raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The room turned gray as a barrier was placed inside it. It prevented anyone from disturbing them and interrupting his story. He didn't like getting interrupted for no reason. After making sure that everything was set the master started his story.