The man who had been doing the talking didn't change his facial expression, seeing that Walter had decided to fight rather than hand over the Book Of Mysteries. Knowing that Walter was chalcenterous, he didn't underestimate him.
"Get the Book Of Mysteries," the man said gently, not bothering to threaten Walter anymore. He was a Tier One, Killer of the Vile Knyghts and had mastered all his martial arts. Seeing that Walter was only an Array two, Conjurer of the Thaumaturgy School, he felt that he was too weak to be able to fend off against all the Knyghts present. A Knyght who was at the peak of Tier One was actually equal to an Array Two. Even though the other twenty Knyghts were at the inchoate of Tier One, Walter was still outnumbered.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Several feet stomped the ground, rushing towards Walter with their swords drawn. Their swords shimmered as they reflected the fulgent candles burning on the walls.
Walter's muscles tightened as he kicked off the ground, propelling himself towards them. He had once battled Dan Richards and knew that magic couldn't work with Knyghts so he decided to fight them with the martial arts he had acquired. He was actually very bold to face them because of one thing—because he had the Dragon Scale Art to help him!
Fist of Dragon!
As several swords cut through the air, hacking at him with pure sharpness, he blocked with the hardness of his clenched fists.
Pa!
His fists shattered the swords they hit, hitting the wielders. The momentum of his punches was filled with prodigiosity, the others watching as their comrades were torn through by punches with prodigiosity.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The men continued slashing at Walter, surrounding him as they did so. They were using this formation to trap him within them, giving him little or zero chance of defending himself.
Walter was not alarmed. He was an experienced Arcane Guard—even more experienced than anybody who knew him thought. He had the Dragon Scale Art, why should he fear plain swords? He was unharmed after being shot by bullets, why should he fear metals with slow momentums?
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The metallic blades slashed his metallic skin, producing metallic sounds which resonated through the building. Several sparks of fire appeared on his skin but he was unharmed except but his clothes.
He exerted force into his feet, kicking off the ground into the air. It was as if the ground wasn't a hard surface and was a spring board with the way he was sent into the air, soaring over the men.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He ran on their heads towards Jane and Amber, attempting to grab them as fast as possible and use the Teleportation spell to escape immediately!
He jumped off the heads of the men and soared towards Jane and Amber, spreading out both hands like a hawk.
The leader of the men, seeing this immediately thrust his right hand forward the moment Walter was going to grab his wife and daughter. His fingers curled as he exerted strength into them.
Fist of Dragon!
His fingers hit Walter's chest with brute force, a clang sound resonating across the room. His fingers were filled with so much strength that Walter was sent flying backwards into the other approaching men.
"You're not the only one who knows the Fist of Dragon," the man said as he stared at Jane and Amber. His stare filled them with coldness and pressure that they could not even think and stood still like statues. This was the aura of a Knyght, a projection of the Will Body[1].
Walter, finding himself in the midst of the Knyghts, immediately kicked into action. He wasn't stingy with his punches as he traded them with the men.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
Sharp sounds filled the room as Walter's fists either tore through heads, chests and torsos of the men. Several visceral organs were sent flying all over the building with the impact of his punches. He didn't even dodge anymore and got slashed several times. But then, his Dragon Scale Art was formidable and not one sword even gave a single scratch to his skin.
In a few moments, most of the men were dead with only five standing. They stared around them at the corpses littered over the whole place, their eyes filled with horror. They hadn't imagined that Walter was this powerful! They were mere Tier One Knyghts who had not reached the peak of their Tier and had not mastered any martial art like that. The martial arts they mastered allowed them fight ordinary people and not a monster like Walter! They looked at the corpses over and over again, losing the will to fight him.
Amongst the corpses stood Walter with a grim expression. His fists were clenched, draped in blood. His white shirt were all cut to shreds and draped also draped in blood. He tightened his fists as he walked slowly through the corpses towards the remaining five men.
On the ground were heads, hands, legs, eyes, hearts, intestines and several other body parts. The corpses lying on the ground all missed a body part or more! Crimson blood flowed out of the bodies like a stream of water, covering the whole ground.
The five men soon got over their fears and attacked Walter, their hands slashing down with strong grips over their swords. They wielded the swords with so much tautness, hoping to cut through Walter's hard skin.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He ran towards them, not bothering to dodge the sword attacks as usual. The men were weak and had no remarkable swordsmanship to be able to cut through his Dragon Scale Art.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
His fists moved in blurs, leaving afterimages. They struck at the men, one after the other with a great momentum.
Crack! Crack Crack!
The men felt their bones shatter within their bodies as the fists slammed into them. They gasped in pain, standing in the spot Walter had punched them. Their eyes were wide open, staring at nothing in particular.
Walter walked past them and stopped in front of their leader without giving them a second glance.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
They all collapsed to the ground and dismembered into chunks of flesh, spewing out crimson blood.
"Give me my wife and daughter," Walter said calmly as if he wasn't the one that killed the twenty men just now.
"Humph," the man scoffed, staring at his dead subordinates who were lying in their pool of blood. "Give me the Book Of Mysteries and I'll give you back your wife and daughter."
Seeing that Walter would choose to fight his way through, he said, "They are influenced by by my will and are experiencing great fear. Even though you try anything funny and get away with them, they would eventually die from fear without you being able to save them. That's what makes me a Vile Knyght."
Walter did not say anything as he tightened his clenched fists, making them tremble. He wasn't the least bit moved by what the man said. If he was able to save his wife and daughter, he would escape out of the city with them and then plead with Imaginary Cluster to give him one more chance to use it. Then he would change their fates, ridding them of whatever influence the man placed on them.
"Very well," the man said as he drew his sword slowly, the blade shimmering with lustre. Without delaying, he attacked Walter. His movement was swift and sharp, blending with the wind. His grip on his sword tightened as he spread his aura into his sword.
Sword Dance Art!
His aura which had blanketed the sword spread to the environment, filling it with sharpness and heat. He swung his arms, his movement accompanied with heat and pressure, causing the temperature of the environment to rise beyond normal. It was as if the environment had been transformed into a furnace!
The heat penetrated into Walter's body, the pressure holding him down as the sword cut through the air towards him. Even his Dragon Scale Art could not help him. This was because the Dragon Scale Art he cultivated were still at the inchoate level and as such, still had its flaws. High temperature was the flaw of metals!
Walter could not dodge in time as the swordsmanship was beyond his expectations, taking him by surprise.
Clang!
The blade of the sword hit his chest, slashing on the hard skin. The blade left a trail of crimson line on his chest as it slashed him, penetrating his Dragon Scale Art. If not for his Dragon Scale Art absorbing some of the momentum, that single attack would have hacked him into halves!
He quickly thrust his hands at the sword, his fingers extending to form powerful claws which gripped at the blade.
Sword of Karma!
Walter immediately felt coldness and pressure seep into his body, soul and spirit as he touched the blade. But then like Knyghts, he had a strong will. Not allowing the swordsmanship to weigh him down, he exerted force to his waist and bent backwards slightly to pull the sword out of the man's grip.
The man, being an experienced Knyght, loosened his grip on the sword's hilt but immediately moved forwards as Walter moved backwards, tightening his grip on it afterwards.
Pa!
Walter's right foot kicked at the man's torso with a great momentum. Puffs of dust accompanied his foot as they approached the man's torso.
The man blocked the attack by kicking Walter's foot with his own left foot, puffs of dust surging around them. He then proceeded to slap the hilt of his sword with his left hand, his right hand loosening its grip over the hilt. That movement sent the sword slipping out of Walter's grips, flying towards his chest.
Clang!
The tip of the sword hit his right chest and bounced back into the man's right hand, leaving a shallow hole there. Blood immediately trickled out, running down his chest with a sharp pain.
Walter's muscles tightened, bulging out more than before. The tightening of the muscles closed up the wound, reducing the flow of blood. Without bothering about his wound, he rushed at the man with his fists tearing through the air. The whole building cracked with the pressure of his move, threatening to collapse at any moment. Both fists approached the man's face with enormity, filling the whole surrounding with bluntness and heaviness.
Monkey Falls From Mountain!
The man raised his sword at Walter's fist, drawing illusory arcs in the air. Several illusory arcs appeared before him as he did the sword strokes. When Walter's fists neared his face, they were distorted and followed the momentum of the illusory arcs. The man then seized the chance to hack at Walter's neck while his fists were still following the spinning momentum of the arcs!
Walter watched the sword approach his neck with great momentum, accompanied by heat and pressure. When the sword neared his neck he quickly arched his back inwards, his chest heaving outwards. The sword missed, its momentum expended. Seeing this, he moved his neck towards the sword before the man could recover it, bending his head so that the sword was locked betwixt his left face and left shoulder.
The man seeing this, thought that it was a chance to exert force into his hands and hack of Walter's head as the sword was actually pressing his neck. He exerted force to his waist, moving sideways so that strength was transferred into his hands.
Walter had expected this and knew the man would definitely fall into his trap—he had laid it out so well. Seeing that the man had actually fallen into his trap, he seized the chance to deal a fatal blow!
First, he quickly let go of the sword and moved his neck backwards, allowing the sword to miss. The man who had exerted so much strength into his hands could not help but follow the direction of his sword, leaving his body unprotected!
Pa!
Walter dished out a powerful punch to the face of the man, heaviness and bluntness accompanying it.
The man, seeing that he was in a disadvantageous position, tilted his head backwards so that the punch missed him by one or two inches.
Walter quickly flicked out his fingers, slamming them into the man's forehead with heaviness and bluntness!
Pa!
The man's forehead ruptured as the fingers travelled to his skull, causing it to crack.
Why? Why was I defeated? The man's face wore a painful expression as blood spewed out of his forehead, draping Walter's fingers. Accompanying the blood were bits of brain matter which seeped out of the crack in the skull.
Walter retrieved his hand, revealing four finger-sized holes vertically on the man's forehead.
Thud!
The man fell with his sword in his hands, his eyes filled with shock, pain, regret and bitterness.
Walter didn't recover as he rushed towards Jane and Amber who still stood in a trance state. He had to save them as quick as possible.
But just as he was nearing them, he had an ominous feeling. There was an impending danger and the danger came from his wife and daughter!
Boom!
They exploded into smithereens, spewing out evil and corruptive energies which spread towards Walter.
Magical Barrier!
He mouthed the spell, a translucent barrier appearing around him.
Sizzle!
The smithereens and dark energies hit the barrier emitting sizzling sounds and soon vaporized into thin air.
It took several minutes for Walter to recover from the initial shock. He just stood like a statue, staring at the position where his wife and daughter had stood.
Castor killed them! He gaped as he dropped to his kneels, tears welling up in his eyes. Castor killed them! Castor succeeded in killing everyone of his family! He killed every single one of them!
All hopes of living were shattered as Walter was plunged into the endless gore of pain. His head buzzed as all life force seem to leave him. He just stared into oblivion, his expression filled with pain and sorrow.
To think Castor had corrupted Jane and Amber from the beginning. To think that he had already sowed seeds of corruption in them. To think that even when he fought his way through the Vile Knyghts and killed everyone of them, Jane and Amber still died.
"They died," Walter muttered as tears trickled down his face. Losing a family member through natural death was something wafted with pain and sorrow not to talk of losing every single one of your family through unnatural death! His whole family had been ended in a single day by Castor!
His eyes moved towards his shirt with a pained expression. All this had happened because of the Book Of Mysteries.
With slow movements, he took the Book out of his shirt and stared at it, tears trickling down his face. He had made enemies with his friends because of this same Book and still lost his family despite getting this same Book.
"F*ck you!" he screamed as he tossed the Book away, not minding where it fell. "F*ck you Book Of Mysteries! F*ck you!"
Then he dissolved into light sobs, burying his face in his palms. Despite his effort to save his family, he still failed. He was a failure and was going to leave with it for the rest of his life.
[1] Will Body: This is the nascent soul equivalent of the Magical Body. Without it, Knyghts can't have any powerful combat ability. The Will Body is cultivated step by step through hard training and mastering of martial arts, making it more powerful. It is the essence of the will and soul of the Knyght. Unlike sorcerers who cannot project their Magical Bodies at low Magic Array, Knyghts can project their Will Bodies, although into the minds of people to petrify them and crush them mentally.