Debris rained down as the mansion exploded to pieces and people inside were either burned alive or crushed by the wreckage. The merchants who had broken into the mansion were burned alive, while the archers on the roof were flung a block away and slammed hard against the stone floor, dying instantly.
...one of them had the misfortune to fall into an iron railing, impaled to death.
But the one who had the worst fate was the priest. He cast a barrier of light to protect himself, but barrier only protected him from the shock wave, not the heat. The searing heat evaporated all the liquid from his body and charred his skin to black.
He fell to the ground in the mansion's backyard gasping for air, his lungs burning from the hot air. He agonized for some time, before dying of asphyxiation.
"How did this happen?" The captain stared stupidly at the burning mansion. He was completely focused on Athos, so he didn't notice the familiar approaching the manor. From their vantage point, a giant fire spear appeared from the sky seemingly out of nowhere.
"You shouldn't look away in the middle of a fight." Athos spoke looking at the captain. He activated his third magic ring, causing a dome of water to appear around him and expand, flinging the guard's corpse and the captain away. The water suddenly froze, creating a barrier of ice around him, and the captain froze in the middle of the barrier.
Athos knew the barrier wouldn't last long, so he quickly drank a potion of superior healing, while pulling the arrow from his calf and the spear from his shoulder. He poured another potion over the shoulder wound to speed the healing, and grabbed the sword as soon as he regained control of his right arm, piercing the immobilized captain's chest until he reached the heart.
'My current mana is...15%. A few more basic spells and I'm dry.' Athos thought, analyzing his own situation. He deactivated abilities such as Sensory Field and Cold Mind to save mana, relying on his natural senses to fight.
To make matters worse, the guards were attacking with renewed fury. The baron had sheltered his families inside the manor for security reasons and to ensure that none of them escaped. However, the plan backfired and they ended up dying horribly.
"You bastard!!!"
"My son! You killed my son!!
The guards roared like wild beasts as they surrounded the ice barrier and attacked from all sides. Individually, it would take some time to break the barrier, but the constant attacks had undermined their integrity, and soon they would take revenge on the bastard who killed their families.
"HAHAHA! The feeling of losing someone you love is excruciating, isn't it? But don't worry, I'll make you join them right now!!" In response to the screams of hate, Athos only scoffed. He steadied the cracked and dented shield in front of his body and taunted the guards to attack him.
Consumed by fury and despair, the remaining guards didn't care about formations and attacked as soon as they managed to break through the barrier.
One of the guards finally broke through the barrier enough to look inside, only to be met by a sword at his throat. The blade pierced his neck until it came out the other side. before twisting, destroying the neck, and leaving the head trapped by a thread of meat.
The guard fell dead to the ground, while his colleagues were surprised by his sudden death, Athos positioned himself in the middle of the dome and took advantage of it. Whenever a hole was made in the dome it would attack, forcing the guards to retreat or lose a limb.
Athos noticed that the cracks had spread all over the barrier and in a few more attacks it would be completely destroyed, so he decided to run away. He began to run with his shield raised, synchronizing his run with the guards' charge.
One last strike hit the barrier, causing it to shatter in a shower of fragments and a white mist to spread. But before the guard who broke the barrier could rejoice, a red shield came out of the white mist and hit him, throwing him away. Athos didn't slow down and kept running, trying to flee the scene.
'The original plan was to use the fire spear against the guards and leave the baron defenseless and kidnap him, but I'll have to be content with knowing the son of a bitch is dead.' Athos thought, realizing that it was useless to continue the fight.
The furious guards tried to chase after him, but Athos swung his sword back as he ran without turning, sending a wave of darkness. The guards already knew about this attack and some were able to dodge it in time, but most were hit and suffered a curse of dizziness.
They felt as if they had suddenly become drunk as the world around them spun. The cursed guards fell to the ground and began to vomit, while the few unaffected ones continued their pursuit.
"Great! Now, quick steps!" Athos drained every last drop of mana from his core and activated a speed enhancing skill. Mana flowed from his joints to the sole of his foot, increasing his speed of movement.
'I need to escape underground. The underground base is out of the question, but I know the sewers like no one else, once down there I-' Athos started to formulate an escape plan, but the link between him and Falco was suddenly severed, distracting him.
He turned his head back to look, even as his instincts told him to run as fast as he could, and saw the Falco falling from the sky, a jagged rock stuck in its abdomen. In that moment of distraction that he had, a stone spear shot out of the ground where he had just stepped, piercing through his metal boot and his right foot.
The stone spear hit his heel, sending Athos crashing to the ground, his foot bent at an unnatural angle.
"ARGGHHH!" Athos screamed in pain as he gripped his ankle, unable to stand. He looked around but couldn't find the person responsible.
"I have to admit boy, you really caused a disaster. Since when do word keepers cause genocides?" An unknown voice spoke before two more stone spears appeared and impaled Athos.
The stone spears hit Athos from the front as he lay on the ground, lifting him five feet off the ground. The spears were approximately two inches wide and pierced his left lung and stomach, causing him to drown in his own blood. Athos felt his lungs burn as he struggled to breathe.
A hole in the earth opened up and a man Athos knew came out of it. He was dressed in a green robe with a hood in tatters. He had a youthful face, but he looked incredibly strong, with an oppressive aura coming off his body. Ricley, who should have left town, had suddenly appeared amidst the chaos. Hooded men appeared on the roofs of the buildings, but Athos could not see them as he kept his head down.
He carried a wand in his left hand, while in his right hand, a dying body of a blue-robed mage. The mage was dead.
"I assume you two know each other?" Ricley threw the dying wizard's body to the ground in front of Athos.
Despite all the pain he felt and the position he was in, Athos managed to raise his head enough to look at the face of the mage in front of him. He felt his blood run cold as all his pain became irrelevant for a moment.
Hot tears fell from his eyes as he looked into the face of the man who had taken care of him for the past five years, the only person he still loved in this world and who he considered almost like a father.
Athos wept as he recognized Khali's body.