The head of the sledgehammer came hurtling down towards Heron's head. Thanks to Heron's sharpened instincts, he reacted fast.
However, that was not enough as the sledgehammer was faster than he is. Furthermore, taking out his knife delayed him but a moment which is fatal!
Crack*
"Urgh!" Heron retreated but his arm was not spared.
Seeing this, Lyssa couldn't help but exclaim.
"Heron!" as she comes out of her room.
"Lyssa, no! Come back to your room!"
"What is happening up there!? Did they wake up?"
One of the two fathers downstairs asked, readying themselves.
"What are you doing!? Didn't I tell you not to harm anyone else?!" even though he was stabbed and was on his knees, the one with a sack over his head, the leader, shouted in anger.
"What are you doing about? You're already been stabbed! This is self-defense."
The second man rebuked while the one who holds the sledgehammer said with relief.
"Thank goodness. Even though this house is disappointing, nothing valuable inside, we got ourselves a pretty toy." he looked at Lyssa with lustful eyes.
Lyssa trembled while Heron was enraged, almost forgetting the pain in his arm.
Meanwhile, Elihim had the sudden urge to blast these fools away with all of his power. However, he restrained himself.
'No, showing my power to my parents will destroy my future plans. They will surely rely on me more than Ellie...'
Back to the small hallway on the second floor, the one who was stabbed gritted his teeth and shouted.
"We are not here to play! We brought you here to deal with Heron. He can be formidable sometimes!"
"Just... who are you and do you want?!"
Noticing that there are four more men waiting downstairs, Heron lost a bit of confidence.
Lyssa, on the other hand, ran inside the room and looked under the bed to find a box. She breathed heavily and quickly opened it to find a weapon.
It had a strange shape. Unlike knives, it had no blade. Unlike other weapons, it doesn't seem to be lethal at all. But carrying it, Lyssa found it was a bit heavy.
On its handle, there was a strange trigger. A block of black metal was attached to the handle. There were even numbers engraved on its side.
[P365]
'Remember, Lyssa, how do you use this Artifact?!'
She turned it around and seeing it again made her remember how it works. It was given to her by her father when she left them for Heron.
His father told her to only use it in desperate situations.
'Aim and pull... that's all you need to do, Lyssa.'
Lyssa was filled with determination.
Back outside, Heron didn't know what to do. After just his first attack, he was already incapacitated. There are six enemies left.
'What do I do? This is the second floor, they can't just jump out the window, especially the two kids!'
The one with the sledgehammer laughed.
"Hahaha! What's with your surprised expression? You live far from the town with only a fence protecting you. Why? Because the view is great?"
They laughed again.
'We had tougher security before but when we lost our money, we had to sell them. They are right, we've become too complacent and forgot that there are still scummy people like them!'
"Damn it, I'm sorry, Heron!" the one who was stabbed finally lost strength before falling.
The other two fathers climbed up the stairs to see one of them died.
"Dan!"
"Dan..?" Heron remembered this guy. Dan is one of the two men who waited for him back then when he got Elihim.
"Why are you doing this!?" he shouted.
"Heron, this is all your fault! If you only didn't sever the town's connection to the city, none of us would be suffering right now!"
"Just hand over the kid, Heron. We'll take him away so that the Imagi will fail his mission. After that, we will leave!"
'They just want to take me?' Elihim then smiled, 'That's good, take me anywhere you want.'
"So that's your plan!? What are you going to do with Elihim?" Heron gritted his teeth. He realized this was his own doing. However, that still didn't excuse these people for their doings.
"Bash his head, of course." the one with the sledgehammer shouted while the others were silent, "Quick and painless just like the Mayor ordered."
"T-the mayor?" Heron was speechless. He was full of rage and anger that he was about to charge it when a young voice interrupted them.
The door to Elihim and Ellie's room opened. Elihim who was rubbing his eyes asked;
"Dad, what's with noise?" he exited his room and closed the door while locking it at the same time.
"No, Elihim, get back!"
"Eh? Dad, who are these people?" Elihim looked up.
Seeing their target, one took Dan and shouted, "Take the kid and we'll leave!"
It was only two of them who acted. The four whom they brought along didn't flinch.
"Come on, let's leave!"
"Shut up!" a man swung his arm and struck the one who held Dan on the stomach.
"You! Tsk!" however, it was not enough to make him fall. Thinking there is no more choice, he took Dan away.
"Let them do what they want, just take the kid."
"Damn it!" the other father followed, taking Elihim.
"What!? Dad, what is happening!?" Elihim cried but he was very calm in his mind.
Hearing Elihim's shout made Lyssa gain the courage to come out again and point the strange weapon towards the one who is taking Elihim.
"Drop my child or I'll kill you!"
Elihim looked and saw the weapon Lyssa was holding. His eyes widened.
'A gun?'
However, the others were just dumbfounded.
"Pretty lady, how are you going to kill me with that?" the one with the sledgehammer mocked.
'This is bad...' Elihim saw that Lyssa's hands were trembling. Looking at how she holds the gun, it was very obvious that she was inexperienced.
Not even Heron knew about what Lyssa was holding.
To strengthen her intimidation, Lyssa pointed up and pulled the trigger with her eyes closed.
Bang!*
The loud noise almost made everyone jumped.
'It's the real deal.' Elihim looked with bafflement.
Meanwhile, with this loud bang, it was impossible for Ellie not to wake up.
"Elihi?"