thief of fate-Chapter 41: The Shield That Never Sleeps

"Do you think everyone dreams?"

That was the first thing said that night.

The phrase came out in a low, slightly hoarse voice, as if the speaker was whispering it to himself, not to his companions. Yet, the other four stopped moving and looked at him.

"...You’re saying weird things again, Kaiden," murmured a woman with grey hair tied back. Her eyes were sharp like knives, but not devoid of intelligence.

Kaiden didn’t respond immediately. He was staring into the darkness ahead, where the edges of the academy walls emerged, covered with strange creeping plants.

"It’s just..." he sighed, then smiled a half-smile, as if something in his mind wasn’t quite right. "If someone stood in the same place for a century, under the rain, under the sun... wouldn’t he have the right to dream?"

"Kaiden, we’re here to kill some people and spread chaos, not to hold a poetry session," said the bald man leading the group. His name was Brahon, and his strength alone was enough for him to be nicknamed "The Star." He carried a massive sword in one hand, and in the other, a glove brimming with cold black energy.

Kaiden nodded begrudgingly, but his smile didn’t fade. "Got it... No time for dreams."

They were five. Brahon the leader, Kaiden the eccentric mage, Lena the silent assassin, Drin the hulking man who never spoke, and finally, Sheel, a boy with a childish appearance but a rage compressed like an explosive.

They slipped between the corridors, leaving no trace but the echo of unheard footsteps. Each one of them held the rank of Knight, except Brahon, who had reached the rank of Hero. Their goal wasn’t entirely clear, but the instructions were precise: sow terror, kill two or three, then retreat. Controlled chaos, but calculated.

They had bypassed the awareness of several people without being discovered.

Then... time stopped.

Or at least, that’s how it felt.

He appeared before them, without sound, without warning.

A tall man, wearing a dull grey armor, without shine or ornament. Standing directly in front of them, no raised sword, no expression on his face.

"Take one more step, and I promise there won’t be any part of your body left," he said.

Kaiden was the first to smile. "Hah..."

But Brahon didn’t smile. His eyes narrowed, watching the man’s features.

"Who are you?"

"Raphael," the man said simply. "My job: guarding."

"...Raphael? You’re the human shield?"

In a flash, Sheel fired a magical arrow at him.

Raphael didn’t move.

The arrow exploded on his chest.

He didn’t flinch.

He didn’t step back.

He didn’t blink.

Then he looked at Sheel, and said in a voice like ice:

"Your turn is over."

He vanished from his place, and appeared behind Sheel in the same instant. What the others saw was a silver flash, and what remained of the boy was a corpse falling to the ground.

Lena’s scream tore through the stillness. She lunged with two swords toward Raphael, her movements like a dance twenty strikes in a single second.

All of them... struck his armor. Without effect.

He struck her with the back of his hand.

She flew, hit the wall like a straw doll, unconscious.

Kaiden smiled again, his eyes widening, but he didn’t move.

Drin roared and charged, his iron fist falling like a meteor.

Raphael raised his arm and received the blow with his chest.

Drin’s fist stopped.

Then shattered.

Drin screamed in pain, while Raphael lifted his leg and kicked him as one would kick a stone.

Brahnon was the last to speak, his voice deep, but its tone had changed. It was no longer the tone of a confident man, but of one beginning to feel something was wrong in the equation.

"What is this... His body can’t be pierced... He doesn’t budge..."

Brahnon finally charged, using his skill: "Break the Limits!"

An aura exploded around him, the ground shook, and the air compressed. He struck with his sword, all his strength focused in a single blow.

But Raphael slowly raised his sword.

The sound of the clash was like a mountain’s scream.

Then... Brahon’s sword broke.

He dropped to his knees no blood, no wound, just... surrender. As if his body no longer resisted.

"What... are you?"

Raphael approached, his eyes gray like a dead sky.

"I am the guardian. I am the shield that stays in front so everyone else can run."

Then he raised his sword, and said calmly:

"And I have no regrets."

After a few minutes, when a group of guards arrived followed by two instructors, the scene was nightmarish.

The walls were cracked, the air saturated with ash, and five bodies lay on the ground, bleeding or unconscious.

And he...

Was standing.

In his place.

Without a drop of sweat.

Without a scratch.

Instructor Ethan stepped forward and said in a hesitant voice:

"Raphael... what happened here?"

He replied without turning:

"Limited assault. Neutralized. Return to your duties, instructor."

Then he turned around and went back to his usual place at the northern gate, where he had stood for seventeen years.

Above him, an old tree, fruitless.

And in his chest...

A heart that does not beat, but watches.

Because he cannot sleep.

And he does not want to dream.

But he was thinking.

He was always thinking.

Not because he wanted to, but because his body does not sleep, and his mind does not fade.

"Five intruders... military training. Advanced stealth. Moved with an internal map, bypassed three checkpoints without triggering any alarm."

He paused for a moment, then whispered to himself:

"The level of execution indicates precise knowledge of the academy’s structure. Someone drew the path."

He raised his head slightly, his eyes seemingly scanning the ether.

"And their goal wasn’t direct assassination, but to spread fear. This is the mark of Black Moon..."

He knew the name. Many feared it. Few believed it truly existed.

But Raphael... knew.

Not because anyone told him.

But because his memory... holds more than people think.

"Black Moon only moves when a door is opened for them from the inside... a spy."

He stopped here, a moment of hesitation, a moment resembling emotion, but not quite.

Then his mind resumed, like an untiring machine.

"Who has the authority to adjust schedules? Who has the ability to issue access cards? Who can hide an eight-minute temporal gap without it being logged?"

An image appeared before him.

A young face. Calm. Rational. Kind.

Valerian.

Raphael froze for a moment.

But not out of doubt. Rather, something else... that resembled sadness.

"No. This boy... doesn’t have the capacity for this."

Then he continued in a voice no one could hear:

"And he’s already been under surveillance for two months. Any abnormal behavior would’ve shown."

He dismissed the possibility.

Instead... a new image appeared.

A man’s face, older. Seemed strict, professional. Earned everyone’s trust, appeared in every important meeting, smiled at the right times, and mourned at the required moments.

Ethan.

"A man who knows exactly when I move, and when I’m absent from a certain area. A man who sends me on external rounds during private meetings. A man with no family... yet doesn’t spend his nights at the academy."

Raphael’s eyes narrowed.

"And he was the first to arrive after the attack ended. Before the guards. And he didn’t ask about the attackers... only asked me."

The wind rose suddenly. But Raphael didn’t move.

Inside him, the decision settled.

"It’s him."

But he didn’t say that to anyone.

He wouldn’t confront him yet.

Because spies are not brought down by truth.

But by surveillance... and patience.

He looked back at the gate, his body a statue, and his eyes like an unblinking hawk.

Then he whispered:

"The night is over..."

Above him, the only leaf on the tree moved, then fell silently.

That was the sign.

And Raphael didn’t need more than that.

"If Ethan is the spy... then something must’ve leaked through him. No physical trace so far, no signature, no disturbance in the systems. But a mistake must exist. Every breach leaves a flaw no matter how small."

He opened his eyes.

"Movement schedules. He must’ve changed something himself, he can’t rely on coincidence. Maybe he visited the monitoring room, or contacted a supervisor. I must review every order issued under his name this week. Every command, every signature, every change. There has to be a thread."

He thought for a moment, then looked up at the sky. The stars were fixed, silent, like watchers who do not speak.

"And if it is him... he won’t be alone. Traitors like him never move solo. There must be another hand opening doors for him. An administrative assistant? A faculty member? Or maybe someone outside the academy."

The thought that followed was heavier than the one before:

"Is someone from the High Council covering for him? Is this breach deeper than we imagine?"

His hand muscles tightened, but his face didn’t change.

"I can’t confront him now. No evidence. And if he senses my suspicion, he’ll change his methods, or disappear. Worse... he might dispose of the evidence."

He turned his gaze toward the deserted corridors, then muttered:

"I need a beginning. One suspicious act. A strange login. A schedule modification, a change in guard positions. I’ll start from there."

He looked at the gate, then at the innocent souls behind it.

"And in the morning... I begin my search."

He knew no one would help him. This investigation is personal. Secret. If he misjudged, he would become the accused. But Raphael didn’t care about what would be said. Only what could be proven.

"I’ll request access logs. Travel logs. Track leaked energies near the control center. And I’ll personally visit three locations not mentioned in the guard reports. If there’s a gap... I’ll find it."

He closed his eyes again, his mind still counting the possibilities.

"And if Ethan is the head... then I’ll know the tail that moves him."