KABOOM!!!!
There was a giant explosion that caused more of the already burning house to collapse. Yes, it was really bad. And that wasn't even the unfortunate part. The houses in the Southern district are mostly made of wood, and they are closer together. The genius who designed the district was paid very little. So, in order to save money, he thought it would be a great idea to pack the houses closer together. In normal situations, that wouldn't be a problem.
However, in the event of a fire, it would take a few minutes for all the houses to catch fire. The people in the district realized this, and they were running to and fro with wooden buckets full of water. They were trying their best to make sure their houses survived. So far, it was working, well, that was considering the fact that the other houses hadn't caught fire yet.
Reeve stood up, with his clothes … rather, what remained of his clothes, on fire. Eskaria's face was pale and she was perspiring heavily. Her clothes were now hot and socked with sweat. Despite being unconscious, her breathing was rapid, and she was even coughing. Reeve turned to look around, before putting out the fire on his clothes, or whatever remained of them. From the debris, a figure came out. Without waiting to see how the figure would react, Reeve took Eskaria and sped towards what looked like an exit. A burning plank fell in front of him, causing him to change his path slightly.
"It appears I have underestimated you", began the figure, as it walked out of the burning house, or rather, what remained of the house.
Reeve put Eskaria down, when they were outside the house. Afterwards, he turned to face the masked figure. Despite the air having been hot, and the house having been on fire, the masked man was not harmed at all. In fact, his clothes were all fine. There was no evidence that he had been walking out of a fire.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Reeve.
"…"
"You want to kill me, I get it. Did you have to burn the entire place down? Are you trying to kill everyone else?"
The masked man remained silent.
Reeve took a stance, before saying, "Come on then! Let's see how tough you really are!"
The masked man chuckled. It seemed as if he had heard the funniest thing, and Reeve did not like that at all. He dashed towards the masked man, who edged backwards a bit. Reeve threw a swift punch, which the masked man blocked, somehow. The masked man didn't expect the punch to be a feint. Reeve leaned forwards before coming back with an upper cut!
"Rising dragon!" he exclaimed, before punching the masked man in the chin. Without waiting for the masked man, Reeve spun backwards, before performing a kick that sent the masked man flying back into the burning house.
THUD! CRASH!
Due to the masked man crashing into a wooden pole, the whole structure ended up collapsing. By this time, people were now gathering towards the place the two were fighting. Reeve carried Eskaria, whose face was no longer pale. She was still unconscious though. He looked around, but didn't see Soren anywhere, so he left.
A few minutes after Reeve had left, the masked man came out of the debris. This time, his clothes were on fire. A chunk of his mask had broken off, from the left eye area. With the flick of a sleeve, the fire was extinguished.
"How long are you going to continue watching?" asked the masked man.
Shortly afterwards, another figure came out. This figure was also wearing a mask, but they were wearing a black uniform, with red armbands.
"Long time no see, Avarice", spoke the newly arrived figure, with a voice that couldn't be identified as male or female.
"Red Crow! It has been a long time indeed. So, are you not afraid of your house burning down?" asked Avarice with a chuckle.
Red Crow laughed out loud, and then replied, "Are you sure you should be worried about me, when you caused such a commotion? Besides, didn't you hear? I've moved."
"Huh? To where?"
"I'm going to live in the capital now", replied Red Crow.
"The capital, is it?" asked Avarice, as if he was thinking about something. He then continued, "I have always wondered, why did you refuse Pride's offer to make you a part of the Sins?"
"Well, I cherish my freedom. Anyway, I don't remember the last time a Sin lost a fight", said Red Crow with a loud smirk. "Oh, wait, the last time was when Pride lost against Pectus Volo!"
"Enough! Watch your mouth, Red Crow."
Red Crow chuckled, before saying, "By the way, we will meet again sooner than you think. Especially if you're going to try to kill the Skycrawler kid again."
"Don't tell me you're going to interfere!"
"Well, it depends what you mean by interfering. I will give you a warning though. My client has decided to extend our contract. And the first job on the contract … can you guess?"
"Hmpf!"
"Yes, you're right. That's if hmpf means protecting the Skycrawler kid. You see, my client is convinced that the kid is a descendant of the Forgotten Emperor."
"That's ridiculous! If … Don't tell me …"
"Of course, that would explain why Pride wants the child dead at all costs. Anyway, I have said enough. I'm sure Pectus Volo will not be happy with what you helped to do."
"Ha! We both know that Pride will be the next king. Besides, Pectus Volo has more issues to deal with."
"Well, either way, that has little to do with me. I was here to offer my greetings. It's time to start my job", Red Crow said with a chuckle.
The masked man let out a sigh, as Red Crow vanished from his sight. It appeared as if he was worried about something.
When Reeve finally arrived at the fourth road, he was really tired. Trying to run while carrying someone does a number on one's stamina. And it doesn't matter if that someone is a zombie.