The City Lord smirked before laughing coldly. His laughter echoed inside the Crane Clan which made the hearts of his targets to shudder in fear. At first, they thought that with the Patriarch, Guardian and the number of mages they have on their side they can defeat or even kill the City Lord
But they were too naive if they think like that! There's a reason why only Grand Knights can become a City Lord. Even if that mage was at the bottom of the rank, his power was still something that's unstoppable for Knights and below
The City Lord intentionally showed that the two sides were evenly match to lower their guards. It's not that the City Lord cannot kill all of them but with their numbers, he wasn't sure he won't let anyone escape. This was the reason why he resorts to act like the Crane Clan has a slim chance
If in the first place, he showed unstoppable power the Crane Clan would choose to let some of them flee and start anew! This was something that Otto cannot allow. In history there are a lot of heroes that rose because of vengeance. In this case, the City Lord will become the evil one for exterminating the Crane Clan. If anyone of them survived no matter how low the chance is, they can become someone much stronger then Otto!
But now, from the power he used on the earlier spell, only four Knights remained from the Clan including the Patriarch and the Guardian. He didn't make any flashy spell that will make one think of as super powerful. It was just swords made from ice that he used at the right time. The result was too anticlimactic that it will leave one disappointed
Whether it be soul strength or magic comprehension a Grand Knight was far above than Magicians lower than it!
The four remaining Knights were taken aback as they finally witnessed how insanely powerful the City Lord is. No wonder people say that he can make any Noble Clan to vanish
The four gritted their teeth in anger. Those people are almost all of the Crane Clan's descendants. There are only few that was away from the Clan. If they want their Clan to survive it would be extremely hard!
The four looked at each other and had a tacit agreement. The three of them made a triangle formation in front of their strongest expert and was ready to use their life to let him escape
The City Lord looked at them and sneered. He can read their minds. It wasn't that hard to know what they were thinking. A Clan that's on the brink of extinction will do everything they can to preserve their blood.
"Heh... don't think anyone of you can escape today and live a new life with your blood descendants! My men are one step ahead of you and located every single member of your Clan that was hiding! I am the City Lord and the only Grand Knight Mage in this City. My control over this City is not something that stronger Cities with multiple Rank 3 Mages can compete!"
Despair... utter despair. Their plans were laid out in the open by the City Lord along with the harsh reality. They were precisely thinking of helping the Guardian, their strongest expert to escape and lead their remaining descendants but the City Lord didn't let them! True, their City is one of the weakest Cities out there as they only have 1 Rank 3 Mage. But this made it so that the City Lord's grasp on them was higher than other Cities
As the supreme power, the City Lord has great control over things inside the City. No one can threaten his position unless there's another Grand Knight that will appear
Realizing that this was the end for them. The four looked at the City Lord with ferociousness ready to take out everything they have
"Third ready your spell" Third nodded his head and gathered mana on his wand. The two were sure that this was the final bout of the four's strength. They were top experts and won't underestimate any opponents even if it looks like their victory was already set in stone
"[Water Magic: Water Snake!]" One of the Knights said and activated the most powerful spell he can. Droplets of water appeared and condensed into a one-meter water snake packed with all the mana he can control at once
"[Wind Magic: Wind Blades!]" Another Mage activated his most powerful spell and tens of condensed wind blades appeared on top of him. This spell also has the maximum amount of mana he can control at a time
"[Fire Magic: Flames Blast!]" The Patriarch pointed his wand to the City Lord and tongues of flames danced around it, ready to explode on everything on site
"[Innate Skill: Rock's Anger!]" This Innate Skill of the Guardian was what made him one of the strongest Knights out there. It just doesn't rely on his own power but it also draws strength from the Bloodline coursing through his body
The four activated their spells almost at the same time and every one of them was something that human bodies cannot take. Mages would either block it with their spells or dodge it
Craze, ferocity, and madness can be seen on the faces of the four as they put their everything on this attack. There's almost a hundred percent chance they would fail but this is a matter of survival! This is the only way for them to save their Clan!
"DIE!!!!" The four shouted at the same time and launched their most powerful spells
The City Lord was indifferent on the powerful spells they activated and only gave his order to Third. "Now!"
Third's spell was already ready and was just waiting for the City Lord's order. Green light flashed on his wand and once again activated his spell. "[Wind Magic: Wind Ride!]"
Green winds surrounded the City Lord's body. This time, the winds' intensity was higher than before and the boost on speed it can provide was better than the first one. Same spells can have different might depending on the skills of the caster
The sensation of being as light as feather once again travelled all over the City Lord's body and he bent his legs before leaping high in the sky. A single jump of him with the help of Wind Trail shot him seven meters high
The four powerful spells passed by his former location and only hit an empty air. The result was once again anticlimactic and tragic. The four Knights can only barely use a spell this powerful. The burden on their soul was so high that even though they are Knights they can't control the trajectory of their spells and can only shoot it in a straight line
Boom!
The loud sound of their spells exploding reverberated in the whole area hurting the ears of the normal people. Seeing the City Lord in the sky the four can only show a despairing and helpless look
Their mana was almost used up and their souls were aching from the pain of forcing themselves to activate a spell that powerful yet the City Lord only dodged it that easily. They were indignant but there was nothing they can do. They were too weak to change their fate
The City Lord's wand glowed with icy light and shot four icicles of ice. The ice pierced the four's chest, destroying their hearts and killing them. Their corpses landed on the ground and just like that they were dead. Their fight was not flashy or too intense yet four powerful Magic Knights died just like that
The City Lord landed slowly on the ground because of the winds around his body. He looked indifferently at the four corpses on the ground before waving his hand on Kryle's direction and finally kill him then patted his magic robe to remove all dust.
"Burn their bodies and make sure they are dead" Third nodded his head and dutifully did the orders of the City Lord
From today on, no more Crane Clan existed in the Soaring Magic City
------
On a small and worn out hut. A youth around fifteen years of age was holding his mother's lifeless body. There weren't any despair or tears on his eyes. It was only full of blame to himself. Blame that he's too weak, blame that there wasn't anything he can do for his mother that showered him all the love she can give
The mother that became his whole life and nurtured him. The woman that is the only important person on his life. He's blaming himself because he can't do anything when his mother fell sick. If he's strong enough he can hunt Magic Beast, sell their bodies for money and buy medicines for his mother
If he was strong, the outcome would be different than him holding only a dead body. If he was strong what he was holding should be his mother filled with love, has great vitality and is in good health
The desire to become strong and get anything he wants fiercely burned inside his heart. He slowly and gently took the locket on his mother's neck careful to not sully the body of the woman he loved the most
He opened the locket and saw a photo of two people that was in love with each other. "F-Father?" The youth said with mixed emotions. He lived his whole life without a father and whenever he asked his mother about it the woman only said that he'll know when the time is right
Who would have known that the right time would be the time before his mother's death? Before his mother died, she told him the whole story and everything he should know
It was the classic story of a rich and powerful Noble falling in love with a peasant. His father really loved his mother and planned on marrying his mother and make her the main wife. However, the Clan won't let him marry such weak and powerless woman without a background
It was okay if he made her as something he can play with but marrying was not an option. Even just the position of concubine was something they won't let his mother have
His father fought with everything he got but the Clan threatened him to kill the love of his life if they continue meeting with each other. Thus, his father has no choice but to abandon his mother not knowing that his lover was pregnant at that time
The youth was raised by his mother alone but before she died, she asked him to go on his father's Clan and live there. He might be a bastard but he's still a blood relative of that Clan. They would at least let him live a life not worrying about food and shelter
His mother also knows of his desire to pursue the path of magic and become a powerful mage. His father's clan will help him do that. Although they won't support him wholeheartedly but he would at least have better chance than being on his own
The youth bowed on his mother's body before deciding to give her a proper burial. With just his ability alone he won't be able to give his mother a proper one but with his father's help, he can!
The youth walked out from the small and worn out house determined to meet his father and rose to the top by becoming a powerful mage
His only hope was with the locket from his mother and he might not even be given a chance to explain how he is related to a Noble Clan but he will do everything he can!
With fierce determination, he went to the inner parts of the City where most of the Noble Clans live. The powerful and rich Nobles sneered while looking at him. They thought that he was some child of a servant in a Clan and they were looking down at him
The youth ignored them but made sure to remember their faces. Vowing to himself that if become powerful enough he'll make sure that they will pay for looking down at them
However, when he reached the Clan of his father he was taken aback by the scene. There were lots of people gathered around gossiping with themselves
One of their conversation entered the youth's ears that drenched his body in sweat, fear, and despair
"The Crane Clan is too unfortunate. They offended the City Lord and now they are exterminated. I heard that the City Lord's force was hunting every single blood relative of them. Just imagine how many people died today"