Commander Halkias couldn't stop himself from sharply intaking a breath. More than dismayed, he found the situation a tad laughable.
"Now, whoever might have survived that disastrous fire would die from drowning instead. Pity."
Reverend didn't share his commander's humor, but somehow, he wanted to laugh as well. They might have extinguished the fire, yet searching for traces just became all the more difficult for them. Their struggle was effectively replaced by a treacherous hurdle.
"Commander, is that what I think it is?" Reverend asked, hoping to appease his commander.
"What? The water?"
"Yes,"
"Right, it's water from the northernmost sea. The water there is one of the most Manna dense elements of this world. If not a Rahichna, only the water from that sea will be able to extinguish a fire created also from Manna."
The young knight cocked his head to the side, curious of his commander's words.
"So, you believe that the fire was caused by Manna, Commander?"
One of the corners of Halkias' lips rose as he replied, "There's no question to that. The sorcerers from the Obelisk are sensitive to the nature of Manna they're dealing with. If they figured that it was an artificial bomb that caused this incident, they wouldn't have used that much water from the northernmost sea."
Reverend's mouth went agape, appalled that he didn't take that reasoning into account. On the other hand, Halkias fixated his eyes on the developing smoke from the dying fire. Although the smoke was still dense, the Commander could see just how much destruction the Dukedom received.
Destruction might even be an understatement.
Commander Halkias and his men waited for the sorcerers' cue to enter the Dukedom. After nearly ten minutes of waiting, they finally got their signal.
{ "Whatever debris was left untainted. One of my sorcerers made sure to protect the scene of the crime from being drenched." }
"I'm wholeheartedly grateful for your assistance. Bear in mind that the compensation you requested will be given."
{ "I assure you that it's safe to inhale the leftover smoke within the barrier, Commander Halkias. It will dissipate shortly, but it won't for a few more minutes. I'm certain that you have something to hasten that process. You can begin." }
"Very well,"
The sorcerers didn't say anything more. Except for one, the rest went on to fulfil their main goal which was to repair the capital's barrier. Halkias gave the Obelisk sorcerer beside him a nod before glancing at Reverend. Right then, Reverend faced the Order and laid down the command to enter.
The knights and soldiers of the Third Order hastily approached the barrier, leaving their Commander, Reverend, and the Obelisk sorcerer behind.
One of the leading knights raised his hand to stop the advance, taking a step back thereafter. He proceeded to pull back his right arm, and in one swift motion, punched the barrier. Unable to bear the impact, a small section of the barrier crumbled.
Because of the explosion, and consecutively the fire, the barrier's sturdiness was reduced to one percent of its original. A Manna covered fist was enough to put a hole on it.
In the intervening time, Commander Halkias waited up to the point when all of his men were inside the barrier.
"Let's go."
Leading the way, Halkias walked towards the hole. The three of them sauntered further until their figures couldn't be seen from the outside anymore. In a surprising turn, the sorcerer exited the barrier and chose to wait in the open.
Meanwhile, the Third Knight Order continued to survey the area. They were enduring a visibility of no further than a meter. Added to that was the suffocating smoke. It might be safe to breathe, but the reality was still different. The smoke was too thick to be inhaled properly.
"Men! Can you hear my voice?"
Unsynchronized they might be, the knights and soldiers shouted their affirmations. "Yes, Commander!"
"I'll remove this noxious smoke, so dare not be startled."
At first, Halkias didn't want to use magic to quicken the dissipation of smoke. There was the risk of sweeping up the debris of what was once the Dukedom. However, he was confident in his skill to control his own Rahichna. Thus, in the end, he decided to go for it.
Halkias raised his left hand above his head, his palm facing upwards, and chanted, "Trov Vikhr Vey"
From his palm, a tiny cyclone came out. It spun on its axis, growing exponentially in size by the moment. In the blink of an eye, the cyclone became a plane that cut through the smoke three meters above the ground. A tempestuous gust soon broke out of that plane and blew the smoke to the top, consequently pushing it out of the enormous hole on the barrier.
Everything below the cyclone plane was untouched.
Because of his doing, the remnant smoke now had more room for movement. Halkias lowered his hand with a peculiar look on his countenance. He should be satisfied that it turned out just as he expected, but it seemed that it was the opposite.
'Hmm, there's something wrong with the volume of wind that I let out. It's smaller than what I had in mind. There should be plenty of Manna within this barrier because of the seawater and the fire remnants. But it appears that I was mistaken. What is going on?'
The instant that he was finished with his contemplation, Halkias could now gaze at the figures of his men, albeit a bit hazy. He then urged them to resume the investigation. As for him, with Reverend on his tail, he targeted the pile of ashes that was once the main mansion.
"Even the stones were reduced to ashes. A normal fire won't be capable of that within several minutes. Just what in tarnation did the Duke do this time?" He muttered under his breath, borderline irritated at his job.
It didn't make him feel better imagining that he might be stepping on human ashes. If it was the battlefield, he would simply ignore the actuality. Withal, the servants of the Gertrude Dukedom didn't wrong him in any way. It was despicable for Halkias, to say the least.
For a good fifteen-minute window, Halkias worked within the area of the main mansion. He was starting to get annoyed at finding nothing when something struck him. The Commander gazed at the ground as he lifted his foot and stepped on the same spot.
'What is this? Flesh? Or am I mistaken?'
Enthused at his discovery, Halkias crouched down and used his hand to dig through the ashes. After a minute, his eyes were feasting on the palest hand he had ever seen in his life.