Draven noticed the cloaked man beside him reach for the dagger dangling from his waist. But before he could get his hand on the dagger, Draven smashed the glass in his hand against the table and stabbed Ryker with the shard. The mercenaries were startled. The very next moment, Draven disappeared from the barstool and appeared a few meters away from Mirian. His wings quickly appeared on his back. Then, with a powerful flap of his wings, Draven sent Mirian flying out of the tavern through the door.
To Draven's shock, the mercenary beside the wooden box slit his throat with a dagger. He fell face first on the wooden box, bathing the box with the blood gushing out of his throat.
"What the fuck?' Margoth was stunned.
The runes began to glow brighter and brighter. The box radiated a bright crimson-red light from within. Draven's wings slowly shrunk, and in a few moments, they disappeared. Draven couldn't open his wings or use teleportation anymore. As Ryker said, the box sucked all the etherian energy in the air. The box had a very short range. Unfortunately, Draven was inside a room full of mercenaries who wanted to kill him. Hence, escaping from the room was no longer an option. It was not like Draven actually wanted to leave the tavern.
Draven flicked his wrist as the sword came out of his wrist, making a sharp noise. The mercenaries saw a blood-red pill appear in Draven's hand out of nowhere. He tossed the pill into his mouth.
"Take him down,"
The mercenaries grabbed the crossbows hanging on their backs. Draven quickly grabbed a round table as the mercenaries riddled the table with crossbow bolts. If it weren't for the table, Draven would have been skewered. Draven ran, keeping the table as a shield until he jumped over the bar counter.
The mercenaries, however, kept firing at Draven. Bottles on the shelf shattered. The berserker pill took effect in Draven's body. As a result, his muscles tensed and expanded in size. His eyes turned blood red. Yet, Draven did not head onto the battle. Instead, he grabbed one of the ale bottles, tore the bartender's robes, and put the cloth into the bottle. Draven picked up a crossbow bolt on the ground. Without a second thought, he rubbed the crossbow bolt's metal head against his sword. Sparks flew due to friction and lit the cloth Draven put into the ale bottle.
"Nice thinking Draven," Margoth admired Draven for his quick thinking. Draven threw the ale bottle with a burning cloth in it. The mercenaries did not expect such an attack. The moment the bottle hit the floor, it exploded. Fire gushed out, engulfing a mercenary. He screamed and rolled down on the floor. The smell of burning flesh mixed with alcohol filled the air. Draven did not give the mercenaries any time to retaliate. He threw bottle after bottle. In a few moments, fire engulfed the entire tavern. At that moment, the bartender was almost naked due to Draven tearing his cloth.
Wooden beams fell down from the ceiling. Draven could feel the scorching heat on his skin. He slowly craned his neck to see what was happening. He noticed the mercenaries coughing and running out of the tavern. Draven was about to go for the box when a wooden beam fell right over it, crushing it into pieces. As soon as the wooden box was destroyed, Draven felt the etherian energy in his body. He grabbed the bartender and teleported outside the tavern.
When Draven appeared outside, he saw several mercenaries coughing and rolling on the floor. People stared at the scene with pale faces. Mirian was among them.
"You crazy mother fucker!"
"You're dead!'
A few of the mercenaries screamed. Their faces were burnt, and the pain made them courageous. The mercenaries lost almost eight people to the fire. Most of the mercenaries who escaped the tavern were either coughing out smoke or growling in pain.
"Flaming Phoenix mercenaries. Who thought the fire could hurt you?" Draven snickered. He grabbed the mercenary on the ground by his neck. The berserker pill gave Draven enough strength to lift the mercenary in the air. Draven's eyes turned predatory. The mercenaries stared at Draven. Their eyes glistened with fear. Without the box, they had no chance of stopping Draven.
"I survived your attack. Now it's my turn," Draven cracked his neck. Some of the mercenaries didn't even wait a second before turning their tails and running away as fast as they could. Unfortunately, Draven teleported in front of them. The mercenaries were startled. Draven plunged his sword through the gap between their armor and neck.
The people could hear Draven's blade travel into the flesh. Blood spurted out, spraying Draven's face red. Draven spat out the blood that went into his mouth. To the mercenaries' shock, Draven severed the head and raised it in the air. He was brutal beyond words to the citizens. Usually, the mercenaries used to kill people and mutilate their bodies. So when they saw Draven giving them a taste of their own medicine, they shivered.
[Ding! Legend increased]
[The host has earned 20 Legend Points]
[The host has earned 30 Legend Points]
[The host has earned 50 Legend Points]
Draven ignored the sound of the notifications. Instead, he used teleportation repeatedly. Blood spattered on the ground every time he disappeared and appeared before a soldier. Screams and crying for help reverberated through the area. However, no one came to help the mercenaries. The people looked at Draven slaughtering the mercenaries with pale faces, except for Mirian. His eyes were glimmering with reverence toward Draven. Ever since he was little, the mercenaries and ruthless soldiers of King Azim tortured everyone Mirian knew and loved. He felt so helpless and weak. So it felt great to see someone returning the favor to these mercenaries.
After a few minutes, the tavern completely crumbled down to the ground. The temperature rose by several degrees due to the fire. Everyone was drenched in sweat. At that moment, the ground was littered with burnt wood and bleeding mercenaries. Some tried to crawl away using their last bit of strength, while many closed their eyes, preparing to embrace the sweet death.
Draven was exhausted after the battle. Still, he managed to grab a mercenary and lift him up. The mercenary was on his knees, groaning in pain. Slowly, Draven opened his mouth as the mercenary's body tensed. A cloud of white smoke slowly emerged from the mercenary's mouth and went straight into Draven's mouth.
[Absorbing a mercenary's soul…]
[Soul Absorption finished…]
[100 Soul Energy has been absorbed from the mercenary]
"I want more!" Margoth screamed inside Draven's head. Some people almost fainted seeing the mercenary's body getting thinner and thinner until the body looked like a mummy. Draven tossed the body aside and picked up another mercenary. Just like before, Draven absorbed the mercenary's soul without showing a shred of mercy. One by one, the mercenaries turned into mummified corpses.
[The host has reached 6000 Soul energy points]
[Congratulations to the host for unlocking two more power slots]
When Draven absorbed the last mercenary's soul, he received a new system notification. Strangely, Draven felt dizzy as the world around him began to spin. Draven realized he wouldn't be able to stand still for so long. Therefore, he quickly opened his wings and flapped with enough force to dash into the sky.
"Wait!" Mirian shouted, but it was too late. Draven had already disappeared into the clouds.
*****************************************
Meanwhile, a giant ship resembling an eagle was flying above the clouds. This ship was at least four times the size of Draven's ship; Sword. Inside the ship, a dark-skinned man. He was surrounded by glass walls. Several weapons such as golden swords, spears, and a set of armor with an eagle-like helmet, sat in a glass box.
The glass table before him had several maps, scrolls, and diamond-shaped rock from which a bright light shot out, forming a holographic image of a woman. The most noticeable thing in the glass room was a symbol hanging directly above the glass table. The symbol contained the two letters 'JF'. It was made of pure gold.
"How long till you reach Sinith?" asked the woman. She looked stoic and cold. Her skin was darker than the man before her.
"Two hours. Give or take, Walters," said the man in a thick accent.
"I don't need to remind you of the graveness of this mission. Failure is not an option. No matter what, we must not let the eternal fire fall into the wrong hands," said the woman named Walters.
"It won't. My team is ready and will do everything to retrieve the eternal flame,"
"You better. I pulled many strings to get your team on this mission," said Walters. Initially, the mission to retrieve the eternal flame was designated to the Supremes. However, Walters called all the favors to put her team on the mission instead of the Supremes. Therefore, failure was absolutely not an option for her.
"Do not underestimate the Flaming Phoenix mercenaries. I have received reports of them buying a cursed box from the black markets,"
The man did not even flinch an eye. Instead, he looked calm and composed as a born leader.
"Even if they activate it, we are trained to take down people like these mercenaries. I will retrieve the flames and contact you in a few days," said the man.
"Make me proud, Jonathan," said Walters before disappearing from sight. Without knowing the existence of another gifted one in Sinith, Jonathan and his team headed toward Sinith.