Rage was in the house, making his way through the staircase and trying to reach the voice calling for help on the upper floor.
"The fire is too hot. It isn't easy moving from the stairs. I need another route."
Rage looked at the window nearby and jumped through the window onto the next house, wooden walls. The nearby house wasn't on fire yet, to his relief.
He climbed the house by taking two leaps upwards and reached the level opposite the upper-level window. He jumped on the window's frame, grabbed it with his finger, and threw himself.
He immediately got up and tried to find the lady in the smoke, but he saw a familiar figure instead.
"Near, is that you?"
Rage saw Near in the fire with a lady in his arms. He had her wrapped, trying to shield her from the fire.
"Ya, it's me. The fire is too thick. I can't carry her through the window, since the lady is pregnant, help he out with the staircase."
Rage nodded without questioning Near's presence in the situation;
he was happy enough to get help, but now, he had to face an obstacle he had tried to avoid earlier.
The burning staircase was a problem, the flame was too high to move slowly with the lady, but Rage had other plans. He brought out his from a bag he had tried around his torso.
"Go, Now!"
He punched the burning floor crushing the section on fire and throwing them away manually. Soon enough, the section fire was reduced, and Near carried the lady in his arms through the fire, safely exiting the house." Thank you SO much. How can I ever pay you back?!"
The disabled man ran to Near and Rage as Near laid the lady carefully on the road. The man was delighted. His smile was bright, and his tears of sadness were now replaced by happiness.
While the man looked at his safe wife, Near and Rage slowly moved away from the scene.
They walked through the crowd and talked without looking at each other. Rage began the questioning.
"Why were you there?"
"The same reason as you. I heard your talk with the man and just went in."
"Why did you try something like that?"
"I don't know, I have had fun burning the houses down, but then I just saw a kid crying inside on the burning houses..."
Near's tone shrunk for a second, and he paused and continued right after.
"Looking a the kid just struck a bad memory in my mind. I went in and saved the kid after that I began looking at the countless kids running, crying, and some even burning in front of me."
"...."
"I was feeling terrible. I knew I had to do this to save people, but What kind of person am I if I am enjoying this suffering?!"
"..."
Rage had no argument to give, he felt that Near and he were more similar than anyone in the team. Those who experienced the pain understand the suffering of others.
"I understand you, Near, but we are doing our work here. Let's go to the location we are supposed to meet the rest of the team."
Near nodded, and they both moved towards the meeting point of the squad,
* Boom
"!!!"
An explosive blast was heard near the back gate of the capital, and green smoke covered the entire area. The objects blocking the gate entry were coming flying off.
"What is happening?!"
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Arthur was sitting beside a lying Shin, utterly shocked by his words.
"What do you mean by this?!"
"Ay! Don't get too surprised, do you think I will be unfair by only supporting one side?"
"No, course not. I gave your queen one chance at victory too. If you are right, then, she is currently with the cannons, I stole from the Holy Roman Empire."
"..."
Shin was deeply troubled for the queen's safety. If she were to be killed, the battle would be lost for Lynx as the capital was on the brink of collapse.
"Oi, Do you want a chance too?"
"Huh?"
Another chance brought Shin back from the abyss of fear and gave him a trinket of hope.
"I've heard the people of Lynx's capital would fight for themselves if the soldier loses. So, why not put it to the test?"
"What are you planning?"
"It's simple. I'll give you the antidote for my paralysing poison and the flare gun back to you."
"..."
Shin's brain was back to analysing the situation in an objective mode,
"He is a person who enjoys chaos, but he won't pass me everything back without any backup. Also, the time for messengers to arrive is closing. So, I should be able to catch him, but I need to know more about this guy."
Shin didn't react to Arthur's words and tested his reaction.
"Oh, you think I won't do all this? I will just before that, Do you the biggest flaw of the capital's protective doors?"
"no."
"It's that they are supported by only one contraption of a chain. If that were to break, the gate will remain open until the chain and system are rebuilt."
Shin immediately understood where this was going.
"You plan to destroy the chain contraption to let the Asphodel's soldiers storm the capital?!"
"You are quick to catch on and I have passed them a letter about this but whether the letter's reached them or not is out of my bounds. So, If I burst open the gate, A unprepared or a prepared Asphodel force will come in."
"..."
"Don't worry. You have a chance to fight too. Rain will start in a few minutes, so the people will be free from protecting their houses, and the battle will set equally for both sides."
Arthur brought out a bottle from his robe and kept it beside Shin.
"Here's your medicine. Ask your soldier to feed it to you. You'll be good in a few seconds and I will be going, don't try to chase me and I will give you your flare gun right after-"
"No! Don't!"
Arthur filled the Flare shot into the gun and went out of the window; the door and chain contraption was visible to anyone, but he turned around and fired the shoot towards the other side.
"Kaboom!"
The shot went right through the gun into the gate chains, exploding the contraption and blowing away the objects blocking the gate.
He threw the gun back at Shin,
"Now, the Asphodel forces need to make a long run too. Hope you have enough guts to do something by then, Goodbye."
Arthur ran away on the spot, Leaving behind a Shin who was blown away by the unpredictability of the man.
"What the hell?"
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