Home / Fantasy / The Dark Blade: Return Of The General. / Chapter 197: Protectors Not Conquerors
Chapter 197: Protectors Not Conquerors
Author: Rachel Holt
last update2026-02-12 15:12:16

The flashback faded as Jacob processed the truth his father had died to protect. All this time Jacob had believed his family was murdered for political power and wealth. The reality was worse—they died because Lord Krigg had discovered the artifacts' true nature and tried to ensure they could never be misused.

"He was protecting the entire world," Jacob said quietly, the weight of that realization crushing. "Not just Seron or our family. Everyone. And I have been using the artifacts to pursue p
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  • Chapter 217: The Realization

    Jacob held Verons suspended in the air while power from four artifacts coursed through him in ways that should have killed him instantly. His father's warnings echoed in the back of his mind—never unite the artifacts, never attempt to channel their combined power, never cross the threshold from wielder to vessel because mortal flesh was not designed to contain forces meant to shape reality.But his father had been wrong about one thing. Or maybe right in a way he had not understood.The artifacts did not want to destroy their bearer. They wanted to transform them.Jacob felt it happening to him now. His body was changing at levels too deep to perceive directly—cells restructuring, mystical pathways opening that had been dormant since birth, the barrier between physical form and pure energy beginning to dissolve.It should have terrified him. Instead it felt like coming home."You cannot do this," Verons gasped, still struggling in Jacob's grip. Shadow poured from his body but the ligh

  • Chapter 216: Rage Awakening

    Something broke inside Jacob. Not physically—the healing had addressed the broken bones and collapsed lung. This was deeper. Something fundamental that had been holding back a reservoir of power he did not know existed.Anna was dying. Right there in front of him with Verons's blade through her shoulder, blood spreading across her chest in a pattern that looked too much like the way his father's blood had spread across temple stones fifteen years ago.History repeating. The people he loved murdered by enemies who thought themselves untouchable.No.The word came from somewhere primal. Not a thought but a rejection of reality itself, a refusal to accept what was happening no matter what laws of physics or mystical power said was possible.Jacob's eyes snapped open and they were not his eyes anymore.Fire blazed in his pupils—not metaphorical flame but actual mystical energy burning so hot it distorted the air around his face. The artifacts he had been carrying responded to something in

  • Chapter 215: Desperate Sacrifice

    Anna placed both hands on Jacob's chest and channeled power she did not have. The guardian energy came from somewhere deeper than her normal reserves, pulled from the place where life itself resided. She felt it tearing through her as it left, each pulse like ripping pages from a book until there would be nothing left but empty covers.Jacob's heart stuttered. Once. Twice. Then caught rhythm again, beating weak but steady.Anna collapsed forward onto his chest, gasping. Her vision was graying at the edges and her hands had gone completely numb. Marcus was saying something but the words were not making sense, like he was speaking a language she had forgotten how to understand."You gave too much," Marcus said, and this time the words penetrated. "Anna, you need to stop. If you channel any more you will kill yourself.""He was dead," Anna whispered. "I had to.""And now you are dying instead. Is that better?"She did not have an answer. Could not think clearly enough to formulate one. J

  • Chapter 214: First Defeat

    Time did not actually stop. It just felt that way because everything happened at once—Ben Tate's guardian corps hitting Verons from three sides simultaneously, Roseline's blades carving through the air where his throat had been a moment before, Marcus throwing something that exploded into blinding light that made the shadow coating Verons's body recoil.The coordinated assault bought Anna exactly two seconds.She grabbed Jacob and started dragging him toward the exit. His body left a blood trail across the sanctum floor, red mixing with the darkness that seemed to be seeping from the walls themselves.Verons recovered from the surprise attack faster than should have been possible. His shadow-blade swept through Ben's guardians and three of them fell with wounds that would not heal. Roseline barely dodged the backswing, her coat torn but her body intact as she rolled away and came up moving toward the exit."Running?" Verons called after them, his voice carrying amusement that made Ann

  • Chapter 213: Overwhelming Power

    The guardian blast hit Verons square in the chest and actually drove him backward. Shadow peeled away from his body in strips, exposing flesh underneath that looked wrong—too pale, veins visible through skin that was becoming translucent. For three seconds Jacob thought Anna had found a weakness.Then Verons stabilized himself and the shadow reformed. Faster this time, flowing back over exposed flesh like water filling a container. Within moments he looked exactly as he had before, completely unmarked by an attack that should have vaporized a normal opponent."Interesting," Verons said, examining himself with clinical detachment. "That actually hurt. Not much, but more than zero. Perhaps you two are not completely useless after all."Jacob and Anna moved together without needing to speak. They had trained for this—fighting as a unit, covering each other's weaknesses, combining their powers in ways that multiplied effectiveness. Every technique they knew, every strategy they had practi

  • Chapter 212: Transformed Enemy

    Verons's transformation completed and the temperature in the sanctum dropped so fast that breath turned to mist. The shadow that coated his body was no longer just a layer—it was part of him now, integrated with flesh in ways that violated everything Jacob understood about physical reality."You see?" Verons's voice came from everywhere, not just his mouth. "This is what your ancestors could have become if they possessed vision beyond their narrow moral constraints. Power without limitation. Existence without the weakness of purely mortal form."Jacob channeled energy through his artifacts and fired a concentrated blast. The attack crossed the chamber faster than thought, aimed precisely at the spot where Verons's heart should still be located beneath the merged flesh and shadow.Verons was not there when it arrived.He had moved. Not dodged or blocked—simply moved from one location to another without appearing to cross the space between. The blast struck empty air and dissipated agai

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