Tribal Sign-In: Immortal At The Start

Chapter 306: A Jester

’He knows,’ Rion concluded and leaned back in his chair as he answered, "Duke Clifford. No, I should call you by your name, Vicente Clifford.""Who are you to ask me about my duty when you could not handle your own?"

Vicente didn’t react to his sharp tone; instead, he displayed an easygoing smile and replied,

"When I was made the duke, I had taken an oath to serve the former king heartily; however, with His Majesty’s death, I am no longer bound to that oath, so I decided to follow my heart, and it led me here."

"Ha... haha!" Rion burst into baffled laughter.

"So you say you fulfilled your duty by attacking the son of the man you had sworn to serve? Not to offend, but have you forsaken your title to become a jester? Because you would make a lot of people laugh with these jokes of yours."

Vicente’s lips dropped into a frown. "Let us be civil. This is no place for a barbaric showcase."

Rion shook his head.

"Here’s the thing, Vicente. You still think you command the same respect as before, forgetting that you are no longer a duke or a Leonara man. You are just a human who has been corrupted by power, much like the dark king."

Vicente’s eyes lost their warmth, and he said coldly, "It is rather ironic that you’re throwing one of your own people’s failures in my face."

Rion nodded. "Correct, after all, you too are a failure of us."

At his words, the tent fell silent, and the two stared at each other.

Rion watched him with a smirk while Vicente glared at him with eyes that could kill if possible.

After a few minutes of silence, Vicente stood up from his chair and stated, "I hope our next meeting goes warmer."

Hearing him, Rion raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"

"Hmm?" Vicente turned and looked at him with a confused expression. "As per your wish, I came to you. Do you want to attack a person you invited yourself?"

Rion could feel the smugness hidden behind those words, and his lips lifted into a smile.

"Of course not. But that only applies if you had indeed answered to my wishes; however, when did I allow you to attack my soldiers?"

With those words, Rion stood up from his chair and stepped closer to him.

Vicente stumbled backwards.

Suddenly, the dark lantern let out a hiss, and shadowy tendrils shot out of it.

The tendrils spread and wrapped around him, and before Rion could react, they covered his entire body.

Vicente appeared similar to the living shadows, and he entered the shadows to run away.

"What the!!" Rion looked around in confusion because to him, Vicente had disappeared into thin air.

That was what Vicente had thought, but the faint smirk crossing Rion’s face told a different story.

Rion suddenly knelt and whispered, "Oh Mother! Save thy child in thine embrace, protect us by thine shield!"

Just as those words escaped his lips, the runes that he had engraved all over the camp pulsed with a dim blue glow that brightened with passing moments, and a translucent membrane-like bluish barrier appeared over the camp.

Everyone raised their heads and stared at the barrier in awe.

"What is that?"

"Is that a barrier?"

"I have never seen such a big barrier..."

"It’s marvelous."

On the other hand, Vicente, who was gliding through the shadows, crashed into the barrier and was thrown out of his hiding.

He glanced at the barrier with wide eyes and whispered in disbelief, "How is this possible? Only an elf can cast such a big barrier..."

"I happen to know an elf or two." Rion’s voice came from behind, and he turned his head towards him.

"There is no point running. The moment you had decided to step into this camp, you had lost all the rights you had on your life."

Vicente glared at him with bloodshot eyes and stood to his feet.

"If that is what you want," he muttered, and more shadows wrapped around him.

A moment later, pitch-black armor covered his figure, and a similar sword appeared in his hand. "Then it would be my honor to sever that pretty head of yours."

Rion sighed and complained inwardly, ’He had to make it gay, didn’t he? Tch.’

Golden flames blazed at his right and purple wisps escaped from his left.

Vicente swung his giant sword, and the shadows beneath him rose to attack as well.

A tide of sharp shadow came toward Rion, and he slammed his right foot into the ground.

Golden flames burst outwards and crashed into the shadowy tide, stopping it within a moment.

Vicente swung again, and Rion teleported right before him. He struck his blazing right fist at the center of his chest and sent him crashing into the barrier.

A ripple passed through the barrier, and Vicente fell to the ground.

The lantern fell out of his hand, and he growled, "Oh, great sword! Consume this world!"

At his words, the lantern began to hum loudly, and a crack appeared in it.

"What did you do?" Rion asked as he teleported before the lantern and put it in his inventory.

[You have stored the Shadow of the Shadow Lantern.]

The shadows shrouding him dissolved, and he whispered, "Where did it go...?"

Rion heaved a sigh of relief, and a smirk appeared on his face. "So that thing was what gave you the confidence to do everything that you did."

Vicente gritted his teeth and spewed, "The only reason the royal bloodline rules over the kingdom is because of the gods’ blessing, and that item was a blessing given to me by a god. So how come I am not worthy of the throne while you are?!"

"What?" Rion frowned, and a screen appeared before his face.

[Error! Error! Error!]

[Stored item does not exist.]

[The shadow is being ejected.]

"Huh?"

Shadows flooded out from beneath him and spread all over the area.