Luke heard the explosion and felt a rumble when he ran through the hallway of the castle that led to the great hall. When he arrived there, he could see many of the servants, workers and knights assemble there.
"Excuse me, miss Victoria!" He spotted Victoria among them and hurried over towards her.
She looked surprised but managed to snap out of it quickly.
"Why are you here, young master? You need to stay inside of your room. It has a magic barrier that will protect you." Victoria didn't listen to what he had to say and only pushed him to the stairs.
"B-But I need to go save my mother!"
"What?" Victoria's expression blanked. "Is she outside at the moment?"
"Y-Yes. I need to s-save her! H-H-Her highness told me that miss Grace is outside the castle as well."
"…." Victoria frowned," I shall be the one to go. While I do that I want you to promise me that you will go to your room."
'Should I… trust her with this?'
Luke looked at Victoria and noticed a confident smile on her face.
He nodded hesitantly.
"O-Okay…"
"Thank you. Then…" Victoria turned around and put her hand under her skirt. She pulled something out. Something very large.
It was a blood-red spear measuring 2m in length. It had a pointed end on one side and a curved blade on the other side of its head.
Her body exuded dense aura that was as great if not greater than the amount of mana explosion that happened earlier.
The crowd in the great hall looked at her in shocked silence. Someone's footsteps echoed down the stairs at that moment.
When everyone looked up, they saw the head butler walking down the stairs. He wasn't wearing white gloves like he normally does but was wearing armguards around his wrists.
"Since the lord of the castle is not here to protect the family, I, along with Victoria will take this task." Sebastian unhooked his jacket and put it on the stairs after folding it neatly. He rolled up his sleeves and took off his tie.
Sebastian looked even more muscular when he was only wearing a shirt with a waistcoat.
He looked towards everyone and ordered:
"Stay very still so that I can count you. If I find you moving from the group then I shall assume you are an enemy and kill you without exception.."
"Y-Yes!"
Sebastian then turned to Victoria after finishing counting everyone. There were about fifty servants and knights.
"This is a rather unexpected time for you to be showing your combat skills."
"There is not the time for holding back when the family is in danger."
Sebastian smiled.
"You have truly changed, Code Four…"
He whispered the last two words so that only Victoria could hear.
She frowned for a second before speaking:
"I will go look for miss Claudia and young lady Grace. Please hold out until I come back." She smiled at Luke again before disappearing into thin air.
"E-Eh!?" Luke was surprised when he saw her disappear. Sebastian chuckled and explained, "That is her shadow abilities. It is related to her class' skills."
'Don't only assassins use those kinds of skills?'
Luke knew that much.
"Losing a majority of your combat force will come back to bite you, old man," A voice suddenly spoke from the second floor of the castle.
Everyone looked up and saw a man with a white mask and a dark cloak covering their body.
Sebastian chuckled.
"This old man has far more years of this field than you, boy."
"Hah. If that was the case why didn't you tell the girl to stay? The thing an assassin should avoid the most is face multiple enemies alone."
"Well, that is because I trust her and she trusts me. Plus, that girl and I already knew you were up there. You should work on your skills as an assassin. She knew that I alone am enough for however many people you have."
Luke could see veins bulge on Sebastian's neck as the top button of his shirt busted.
"Tch. Getting cocky old man just because you're a washed-up bastard with some experience?" The person dropped down from the second floor and landed soundlessly on the ground.
The crowd freaked out and retreated back from the intruder.
The knights had their sword drawn but considering how they were recruits fresh out of the Imperial Order, they wouldn't serve as much help. That was why Sebastian told them to get back.
A white essence was leaking from Sebastian's body. It was far different from aura or mana since the density seemed far heavier. Aura would circulate around the person's body because of its lower density while mana would fly freely into the air because it was weightless.
This power, however, fell flat on the ground as if the gravity itself was forcing it down.
It was known as Ki.
It was a power many martial artists learn once they reached a certain level in their respective class. Sebastian had an unarmed class which made his attack power more proficient when he did not have weapons.
He was thus known as a [Monk] and he could not wear any equipment once he entered a fight. Not only would it decrease his overall attack power, his balance and technique would also be heavily disturbed.
That meant that Sebastian could only use his body.
"L-Look out!"
Luke yelled when he saw the intruder took out something shaped into claws. He charged at Sebastian with abnormal speeds that didn't even make a sound.
Only Luke could see how the man was moving.
"…?" Sebastian seemed so speechless at Luke's good eyes.
"Huh?" The man's three blades struck a white barrier. He attacked again but the same thing happened. The man jumped back after his confused cry.
"Your weak attacks cannot penetrate my Ki defence, boy."
"Heh…" The man chuckled which made Sebastian frown.
Suddenly, a figure jumped out from his back and headed towards Luke.
"Young master!" Noticing that, Sebastian tried to run towards Luke, however, the man with the white mask hindered him.
The figure was also a cloaked individual but this person's weapon was different. It was a mace.
Luke shrieked when he noticed the danger approaching him.
The man swung down, but unexpectedly, Luke dodged to the side.
The mace struck the floor, thereby breaking it apart and causing dust to rise. Perhaps it was instinct because Luke unsheathed his sword and met the mace when the man did a full turn and swung it again.
'Guh! So heavy!' Luke winched at the power of the man when he was sent flying back.
"What!?" The man seemed shocked as he pulled back the mace and tried to strike again.
However, the fist of a certain person aimed for his face and broke ten of his teeth and his nose. The man fell on his back, unconscious.
Sebastian was the one who threw the punch. He had already detained his opponent while Luke was focused on his own opponent.
"That was splendid footwork. You surprised me when you read that man's movements while even the knights here could not do the same."
Luke blankly looked at his hand that held the sword. Perhaps it was because of the fact that it was a good quality weapon because his body felt lighter when he swung it around.
His mind didn't have any thoughts besides reading his opponent's movements.
"Keuk…! Don't… think you've… won yet!" The man with a white mask made a hand sign which made Sebastian's eyes widen.
"Get to cover! Now—!"
His voice was drowned out by a second explosion—although on a smaller scale—that went off.
'Oh no!'
Luke realized that people could get hurt so he was about to rush towards them but he was pulled by Sebastian and pushed onto the ground. Sebastian used his own body to shield Luke.
BOOM—!
He could hear screams that were silenced by the burning infernos that resulted from the explosion.
"Haa… Haa…" Sebastian got up after everything was over. His back was burned from shielding Luke but he seemed fine.
"A few died as a result of that magic bomb…" Sebastian searched the pockets of the man he knocked out and found yet another magic bomb, "It is activated using a certain hand sign. Since these men were carrying it, they must be the expendables."
Luke was blankly staring at the scene which resulted from earlier. His eyes were unmoving as he looked at the burning corpses of people who were alive just a few seconds ago. Some of their bodies were still twitching but it was already obvious that none of those ashen bodies had any life in them.
Some were lucky with only losing a limb or being burned by the heat. However, what they all had in common was a scream of agony.
"This is what these people do, young master Luke. This is your first but certainly not your last time seeing these things happen in front of you."
Luke could feel himself wanting to cry but he forced his tears down by shutting his eyes and turning away. It felt like a knot was turning in his stomach.
'How could...someone do this…'
He was an ordinary village boy so he never knew what it was like to be in danger of being assassinated. He had never even seen so many people dying in front of his eyes. The only incidents where he saw people die in his village was old age, sickness or accidents.
"Do not worry about the deceased or those injured in the blast. I will make sure their families are informed and compensated," Sebastian patted Luke's shoulder. He pointed up the stairs.
"You need to go now. Take these people with you. They serve no purpose other than being meatshields now that everything had come to this."
"B-But…" Luke gazed at the people in the great hall. They were looking at him with fearful eyes, perhaps because their fate now lay in a boy.
Luke lowered his head, realizing the responsibility he had to fill as the heir. He had never led people before. It was actually the opposite ever since he could remember.
"…Got it." Luke said resolutely.
Sebastian smiled silently and stood back up. He was looking in the direction of the smoke which resulted from the collapse of the front door of the castle.
"Let's go!" Luke stood up and ordered. "If we don't get to safety then more of you will die! Do you want that!?"
Silence. No one uttered a response, however, Luke's words definitely had an effect since a few looked at each other and nodded.
"Then follow my orders and get to the second floor! We will be safe in the magic barriers!"
Many of them hurriedly stood up in response to Luke's yell. Even the injured flocked towards him.
Luke looked at Sebastian for the last time before running up the stairs.
◇
"His stuttering stopped." Sebastian thought out loud as he looked at Luke's back as he ran up the stairs, "His tone was also confident. I can feel his warrior spirit. Is he finally experiencing his growth spurt?"
Sebastian heard footsteps arise within the smoke in the great hall. He looked towards the smoke.
"The signal went off which meant that they couldn't secure the guy?"
"Seems so, big bro."
Multiple voices emerged out of the smoke and the collapse of the castle's front door. Sebastian idly waited for the guests as he dusted off his suit.
"Man, all this trouble and manpower just for a lowly thug."
"The boss is worried that the guy will spill the beans after all so it's obvious that we have to take care of it. Think about it, if the Spear God, Marcus von Berkley were to find out who tried to kill his son then our entire organization collapses."
"Ohh, that doesn't sound good. No. It. Does. Not."
Multiple shadows appeared after the smoke faded. They numbered about more than twenty.
Sebastian calmly waited for the intruders with his hands behind his back.
"Oh?" One of them noticed Sebastian standing at the bottom of the stairs that led directly to the second floor.
Besides the two leading in front, the other people were covering their heads with cloaks.
Sebastian approached them fearlessly, "I will only ask this out of habit for my gentle nature. Would you be so kind so as to leave? I will overlook you killing ten of the servants I guided for so many years during their employment at the castle. The families might be sad and look for answers but I can always say a cocky gang tried to mess with us."
Silence.
The larger man tilted his head.
"Hey, bro."
"What?"
"Is this old man ordering us to leave?"
"I am asking you to leave. There is a big difference between ordering and requesting someone to do something," Sebastian was now standing right in front of the man, gazing into his eyes.
The one he called "bro" didn't seem to care about what Sebastian said so Sebastian instead asked the other guy.
A sound of flesh being struck rang out in the great hall.
Sebastian felt a tingle on his cheek as the man's large hand struck him on the face. Although the pain was miniscule, the force made his head turn to the right.
"No one but my bro tells me what to do, you fucking geezer," He grabbed Sebastian by the collar, however, his vision flipped a second later after Sebastian lifted his arm for a split second.
It was a movement that was so fast that none of the intruders could read it at all.
The man's head was twisted to the back where it was impossible for a human head to turn. His neck was broken in just a split second. His face was still surprised and his eyes wide open.
"If nothing will change even if we talk then I shall have to resort to other means," Sebastian cracked his knuckles as he increased the amount of his Ki, "Entertain this old man, young ones."