Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill

The sound of footsteps echoed through the palace — heavy, thunderous, and far too loud for comfort. William had no idea what kind of creature was walking around, but whatever it was... it was massive.

A question gnawed at his mind. How was this thing walking through the palace without triggering any of the traps? How was that even possible?

"If it was triggering them… I'd probably be hearing something else by now," William thought to himself.

No... the most likely explanation was that the creature somehow knew how to avoid them entirely.

Either way, it wasn't like William had much of a choice.

If he turned back, he'd run straight into Kier and the others — his own party, who were now hunting him down. A fight against them was practically a guaranteed loss in his current situation.

But if he went forward… he'd face a mysterious creature. A gamble. A risk. But at least it was a risk with an unknown outcome.

For William, that was worth it.

So he pressed forward, gripping his sword tightly, ready to call upon his black fire magic if it came to that.

The closer he got, the louder the footsteps grew. Louder... heavier... until—

There.

In the distance, he finally saw it. A towering figure clad in pitch-black armor. Humanoid in shape… but whatever was wearing that armor, he couldn't see its face.

The sheer energy radiating from that creature was overwhelming. William felt the creeping weight of fear—an unsettling certainty that he probably couldn't win this fight.

And yet... he gripped his sword tighter, steadying himself for battle.

But then—he noticed something strange.

The massive black armor wasn't moving to attack him. In fact… it wasn't moving aggressively at all. There was something else—something peculiar—like a faint... connection between them.

"What…?" William blinked, confused. "How… how is this possible?"

How could he feel connected to a creature he was seeing for the very first time? It made no sense.

But it didn't stop there. As the seconds passed, the realization hit him even harder.

He could... command it.

His thoughts—his intentions—they translated into actions. The armored figure responded perfectly, moving exactly as he willed it to.

Kneel. The armor knelt.

Jump. It jumped.

Strike. It swung its massive sword through the air.

It was flawless. Immediate. Absolute.

"This… this isn't like my beast-taming magic," William thought. That magic required full rituals—complex procedures to establish a contract. But he hadn't done anything remotely close to that here.

"Then... what is this? Some other kind of bond?"

He kept testing it, pushing the armored figure through a series of motions—jumping, crouching, slashing. Every command obeyed without hesitation.

It was real.

For some reason, William now had total control over the armor.

"Could it be… because of my royal bloodline?" he wondered, narrowing his eyes.

It made sense. That armor was clearly a guardian designed to protect the palace from intruders. A sentinel. A construct of absolute loyalty to the royal family.

And William... despite everything... still carried that royal blood.

It had to be the reason. It was the only explanation that made sense right now.

Now, William felt far more confident about facing Kier if it ever came to that. With that armor by his side, his odds of winning had increased drastically.

But even so, he made the smart decision—not to go back. There was no point in confronting them again. His focus remained on the mission.

What mattered now was returning to where Jhen and Victoria were waiting. That was the priority.

The original plan had been simple: retrieve the magical mirror capable of disabling the palace's traps. But the mirror wasn't there. It was gone.

William had no choice but to accept that the situation had changed.

He walked—step after step—through the vast halls of the palace. His own movements remained silent, but the same couldn't be said for the massive armor following him. Every step it took made the floor tremble, echoing loudly through the corridors.

Fortunately, he didn't run into anyone—no humans, no magical beasts. The path remained clear.

And after what felt like an eternity navigating the labyrinth, William finally returned to the chamber where Jhen and Victoria were.

They were sitting exactly where he had left them, backs against the wall, quietly waiting for him to return. Both had expected him to come back holding the magical mirror.

That… wasn't what happened.

Instead, he returned empty-handed… with a towering black suit of armor at his side.

"Where's the mirror?" Jhen asked, frowning, her tone sharp.

William glanced at her, a trace of disappointment in his expression. "I went to the treasury... but there was nothing left. The royal family cleared it out before the castle fell."

Jhen's eyes widened, her face tightening in frustration. Victoria sighed, visibly deflating.

William walked over and sat down beside them, letting out a long breath. "And that's not even the worst part," he added, rubbing his temples.

"I ran into some humans while exploring the palace... and they were disabling the traps."

Jhen's head snapped toward him, her eyes wide. "What?" she gasped, her face frozen in complete shock.

She couldn't believe what she had just heard. This was something that wasn't supposed to be happening.

"That doesn't make any sense," she said. "Even the skilled mages from the noble family that took over the castle can't deactivate the traps."

William nodded. "Yeah. These are different people. One of them was that Kier, remember? And the others looked like adventurers or something. At least they were wearing clothes similar to adventurers."

He decided to tell everything. "And there was a woman among them. She's the one deactivating the traps."

"Do you remember what she looked like?" Jhen asked.

William tried to recall the moment when he passed by them. He ran pretty close to where that woman was, and yeah, he did see her face. He just couldn't remember it clearly at first.

But then, the memory hit him.

"She had black hair, pale skin, and like… a beauty mark near her mouth, on the left side."

That was all he managed to see since she was wearing a hood. But it was more than enough for Jhen.

"I know her. She used to work at the palace with me. That's why she knows how to deactivate the traps," Jhen said.

That was a huge revelation. William was surprised as well.

"But now what do we do? I don't trigger the traps, but you two do, and we don't have the mirror," William said.

Jhen looked just as lost. "You're gonna have to do something alone again, William."

"What?"

The way she said it made it clear it was serious. William got a bit nervous but didn't show it.

"You'll have to go to the room where you can improve your bloodline… but here's the problem. I wasn't just your guide. I was also a requirement to open the door. You need two people with decent bloodlines to unlock it," Jhen explained.

That was the issue. In this situation, William was going alone, so even if he managed to reach the place, he still wouldn't be able to open the door.

"Can it be anyone?" he asked.

"Yeah, anyone. And that's why this mission is gonna be dangerous. You'll probably have to attack someone from that group you saw… and kidnap them," Jhen said.

William had thought the same. The only people walking around the palace were Kier and the rest of his group. So if William really needed someone else, he'd have to grab one of them and drag them there.

"This is gonna be really dangerous," William said. "They were pretty strong, and fighting them as a group would be almost impossible."

Jhen nodded, but then said, "I heard some weird noises when you got close. Like metallic footsteps. Was that from the armor?"

"How do you know about the armors? I mean… the armor, right? I've only got one with me."

"They're armors that were created to protect the royal family. This is great," Jhen said, standing up and pacing back and forth. "There's a room full of them, and you can control them. If you show up with several of those armors, that group will probably give up on fighting. Then you'll have a chance to grab one of them and get out of there."

That plan was like a light at the end of the tunnel. William could already picture himself showing up in front of Kier with an army of powerful armors… and all of them kneeling before him.

For the first time, William was feeling like a monarch, a demon king who had come to take over the island.

"And how do I find that room? This place is huge, feels like a damn maze," William said.

Jhen knew that very well. "You need to find a map. It should have everything you need. I think that's the easiest way."

"And where the hell am I gonna find a map?"

"In my old room. I had a map hidden behind the wardrobe. A full blueprint of the castle. No way anyone's found it until now."

Jhen then explained to William where her old room was. He left right away, heading toward that place.

It was a bit far, but not hard to reach. William walked almost in a straight line, with only two or three turns.

When he finally arrived, he opened the door to her room, hoping he would find what he was looking for.