Adam's hands trembled as he rummaged through his desk, searching for something desperately.
"Calm down, kid, reinforced steel won't hold them for long, and you'll just attract them when you seal everything shut," Augustus said, trying to soothe him.
"Just go hide in the basement. You must have at least an array or something right under your sleeves," Augustus suggested.
Adam's anxiety ebbed slightly with Augustus's reassurance. "Y-yeah, I have tons of defensive treasures in my basement," he stammered.
"Alright, now go. I'll go out and lure them away from this building. You stay put," Augustus instructed.
Augustus was about to leave the store when he was stopped by Adam. "Take anything you need from the store. My father said you are one of the soldiers that survived the great war. You come back alive and pay me the money once all this nonsense is over."
Augustus nodded. "Yeah, I have retired. But, I'm just cannon fodder in the war. Anyway, I'll take up your offer," he said, grabbing items he needed from the shelves.
'These instant recovery mana stones are precious, it cost five hundred each now but I doubt the world would remain the same as yesterday. Might as well as many as I can, I might need it since I lack mana.'
'This coat looks neat, good stats boost and casting speed increase. All these gears are great, yep I'll just grab everything I can wear for now.'
Augustus shamelessly emptied the store to ensure his survival chance.
After he "borrowed" from the store, Augustus rushed out of the building and ran as fast as possible out to the open area to lure the Trixions away from Adam's store, as promised.
One of The Trixions caught Augustus running out from the store, It then scanned Augustus with a scanner technology attached to its eyes. "There's one over there. He's at the golden core realm with some trace of mana. He's at least a two-star mage,"
"For now, the higher-ups tasked us to prioritize killing every soldier that we see. Let's go," it said to the other two Trixions.
Three Part-Humanoid Trixions leaped down from the building and ran straight towards Augustus.
"Only three of them are following me. That's way less than I thought," Augustus thought to himself. "Though, the Three of them are at the Nascent Soul Realm judging by the Qi density. It looks like all of them are aura users. There's no trace of mana on them."
"Sigh, This is bad. Three of them are at a higher realm than mine, and they're all at least 2-star aura users," Augustus thought to himself, analyzing the Trixions' strength.
"I can only use my old tactics," Augustus thought to himself as he led the Trixions far enough away from Adam's store. Once he felt they were at a safe distance, he turned to face them. "I know what you guys are looking for," he began. "I'm a retired soldier, but I have information from my commander that I'm willing to trade for my life."
The Trixions looked confused by Augustus's words, but one of them decided to negotiate. "Let me hear what you have to say," he said.
Augustus knew he needed to buy time, so he randomly babbled about a stone, all the while secretly setting up his trap magic. One of the Trixions talked to their higher-ups to confirm Augustus's claims, giving him time to finish his preparations.
"It looks like they don't even know what they are searching for," Augustus thought to himself. "The more time you guys delay, the better my chance of survival."
After confirming with their higher-ups, the Trixions finally asked Augustus to describe the stone he had mentioned. He was surprised they were asking such specific questions. Unsure of their intentions, he decided not to say anything else, not wanting to attract more attention to himself.
"I might have said the wrong thing," Augustus thought, "but there's no time for regret." He randomly described a blue jewel the size of a boulder, hoping it would satisfy their curiosity.
"Capture the man, we need him alive," their commander said through the communication device. The Trixions immediately attacked Augustus, but he was ready. The traps he had laid triggered one by one, instantly killing two of the Trixions and leaving only one.
"You filthy earthling, come with us peacefully or you will not meet a good end," the remaining Trixion cursed at Augustus.
"Try to move one more step and you'll be killed instantly. I have set up many traps while you guys were talking, and I have also had time to enhance the traps' firepower," Augustus declared and instantly left in a hurry to return to Laura's side, running as fast as he could.
Upon arriving at his house, Augustus screamed at the top of his lungs, calling for his wife, "Laura!"
"Don't come in, run aw-," Laura's warning was cut off mid-sentence as she was held hostage by five Trixions in a room upstairs.
"Wow, what a party you guys are having here," Augustus remarked sarcastically.
"Tell us everything that you know, or your wife will die," threatened the Trixion, holding Laura's life in their hands.
"With how fast you guys found my house and my wife, there must be a traitor among us from the human side. Is it the government?" Augustus asked, trying to buy time to set up a trap.
"Don't try to buy time setting up the trap. We already heard that you are a master of trap from our report." one of the Trixions said, interrupting him.
As the sentence was finished, a Trixion sneaked up behind Augustus and broke the hand he was secretly casting magic with, causing him to groan in pain and making it impossible for him to move.
Augustus had failed to notice someone sneaking up on him, indicating that the person was extremely powerful.
"It looks like there's no chance of me surviving this time," Augustus thought.
"Spare my wife, and I'll tell you where the stone is located," Augustus offered.
Hearing Augustus' suggestion, the Trixion who had sneaked up behind him grabbed his face and licked it with a devilish smile.
It also revealed the Trixion shocking characteristics. He had a slender face with six horns on his head, blue long hair, and dark-red eyes.
Augustus' face darkened as soon as he saw the Trixion's horns. "Six horns? How is one of the strongest Trixion commanders in this lowly place?" he wondered.
"I doubt a retired soldier with no connections knows something about the stone. Hearing you call it a stone makes me think you might have just seen it," the Trixion sneered.
"Perhaps you stumbled upon it in some random dimension?" The Trixion's hand slowly caressed Augustus's face, sending shivers down his spine. With a sinister smile, he stopped at Augustus's neck and lightly squeezed it, adding force by force, carefully control his strength so that he didn't break his toy, relishing in the fear and pain he inflicted.
"I could easily kill you and loot your storage for answers, but where's the fun in that? No, no. I think I'll kill your dear wife first and reveal the truth to you."
"It's been far too long since I last came back here for a killing spree. I'll take my time and savor every moment of it."
"Now, take a look at her. Do you know who she is? She's Princess Campbell, the very one who murdered your family." Laura began to shake her head and cry, but her mouth was sealed shut by the Trixion.
The Six-horned issued a signal to stop sealing her mouth shut which allow Laura to speak again.
"Don't listen to anything he says, Augustus. He's our enemy," she pleaded.
"It's alright, Laura. I'm aware of everything now. Nothing he says can change anything," Augustus reassured her.
The Trixion scoffed. "How touching. But that won't save her."
With a flick of his hand, a loud bang echoed throughout the room, and Laura's head exploded, leaving Augustus frozen in terror.
'What...' Augustus is stunned, he didn't even have the chance to react. 'Laura?'
"We've already interrogated her, but there was no information about the stone. So, now we'll turn our attention to you," the Trixion said, his voice dripping with malice.
"Is what I said accurate?" The Six-horned asked with sinister smile.
Augustus remained silent, staring blankly at the ground, trying to process what has happened in the past few seconds.
The Trixion shrugged. "I suppose you realize there's nothing you can do to change the outcome. But why not take others down with you? More souls to join you in the afterlife."
"Who said I can't do anything?" Augustus retorted, his eyes blazing with determination. The Trixion grinned.
"Well then, show me what you can do." As he stepped forward, he triggered one of Augustus's traps. Of course, the explosion did nothing, not even leaving a scratch which is not a surprise, Six-horned won't get damaged by his 2-star mage's magic.
"Hey, are you searching for a white-colored stone? Come to think of it, it's kind of shiny when I found it on the ground" Augustus asked, a glint in his eye.
The Trixion was taken aback. "You have it?"
Before entering the building, Augustus had hidden the stone inside his mouth, setting an explosive trap just in case.
Since the stone was highly coveted by the Trixions as soldiers, he would not let them take it no matter what.
As soon as the Trixion confirmed his suspicion, an explosion went off inside his mouth, obliterating it.
"YOU?!" the Trixion which figured out what's happening exclaimed, reeling in agony.
Augustus, despite his injuries, flipped the Trixion off with his uninjured hand. "See you in the next life, sucker," he taunted before the Trixion killed him in a fit of rage.