'It worked!'
Jin exclaimed internally as he felt the searing pain of the sunfire on his flesh.
Upon feeling the innate corruptness and evilness of his cursed energy, an idea struck his mind.
An idea that would let him utilize the power of the Solar Sacraments.
'Let's get this done and over with.'
He thought as he faced the location where the remnants of Portia's mother were present.
"B-Brother Jin, what's happening!?"
Distress could be vividly heard within Portia's voice as she looked at him worriedly.
"W-What do I d-do? Should I get some water?"
"Haha. There's no need. Dying is something foreign to me, after all."
Jin then knelt in front of the remnants of her mother's corpse before whispering, "I told you earlier that I'll give your mother a proper burial, right?"
"Mhm!" Portia responded with teary eyes as she was overwhelmed by everything that was happening.
"Don't worry, this won't take long."
Jin's voice trembled, unable to completely hide the feeling of being burnt by the holy flames.
He then knelt in proper position, and clasped his hands together as he whispered prayers after prayers for the soul of her mother.
Meanwhile, Portia could only look at him from the side with a worried expression on her face.
This lasted for a few moments before Jin spoke out loud, "May the Sun Goddess welcome your soul with open arms."
[Sunfire Offering]
Fwooooo—
Portia's eyes reflected the scene of her mother's corpse turning into beautiful wisps of flames.
It was a pity that all that remained after Kael's outburst were remnants.
Nevertheless, Jin's sincerity touched greatly upon her heart. She could feel the genuineness of his actions.
"T-Thank you…"
Her voice trembled as she covered her mouth, doing all her best to avoid breaking down.
"Hic… hic… Thank you, B-Brother Jin!"
Still, she was but a little girl after all. It didn't take long before two streams of tears fell down her cheeks.
Fwooo—
Distinguishing the flames that burnt his flesh, Jim immediately went ahead and caressed Portia's head.
"Don't worry, I'm here for you, okay?"
As he whispered to comfort her, his mind wandered to his sister and father.
'Is Dad and Tanya okay? I hope that they were able to evacuate without anything bad happening to them…'
Thinking about his only family, Jin felt needles poking at his heart.
He glanced outside and was able to vividly see the turbulence of mana in the air, evidence of the countless demon beasts that wildly roamed the area.
Nevertheless, he didn't rush Portia and just quietly stayed with her, caressing her head in order to comfort her.
***
"Find the heretics! I'll give a bonus to whoever can bring me their heads!"
At this moment, Kale shouted crazily above the Cabanary Fortress.
"Understood!"
The other dark clothed figures replied in unison as they scattered and searched the vicinity for any clues about the so called heretics.
The ruins of the once bustling fortress below him didn't bother Kael one bit.
The only thing that remained in his mind right now was to kill the heretics that dared kill his subordinates.
"How dare heretics like you who worships a false god dare kill the chosen believers of light!?"
Kael seethed in anger as he couldn't help but remember the pitiful corpses of his loyal subordinates.
"In fact, it even looked like something used a cursed art on it. Maybe the heretics allied themselves with a demon?"
As his anger worsened, Kael set his eyes upon the location of the Training Center.
"I originally wanted to spare the innocent people who had nothing to do with the heretics, but it seems like I have no choice."
His figure then blurred and shot towards the Training Center.
His goal was clear– to hinder the evacuation of the citizens of the Cabanary Fortress. After all, he couldn't just let them go due to the chances of the heretics being with them.
"It's your fault. You left me with no choice." Kael muttered as he landed on the training grounds of the Training Center.
He had no information as to where the people evacuated.
However, he didn't need to.
Raising his right leg slightly, he let out a sadistic smile as he stomped it on the ground.
RUMBLE— RUMBLE—
The ground quaked as cracks spread out like spider webs.
BOOM— BOOM— BOOM—
Kael didn't stop there, he continously stomped his feet on the ground until it caved in.
What was strange, however, was the fact that even with all the commotion he was causing, there was no demon beast that attacked him.
***
A few minutes earlier…
In the tunnel…
"Dad, are we going to be okay?"
Tanya looked at Leo with a sore face, it was obvious that it was due to her crying.
Ruffling her hair, Leo smiled with all the strength he had and said, "Of course, we just need to live for your brother too. Just like how we did with your mother, okay?"
"Mhm!" Tanya nodded, tears threatening to fall from her eyes once again.
Nevertheless, she steeled herself.
'I need to be strong. So that my brother doesn't need to watch me cry all the time!'
A determined light shone on her eyes.
Seeing this, Leo smiled with a proud expression on his face, 'Right, I still have my daughter. I can't lose myself in grief just yet.'
However, at this moment…
RUMBLE— RUMBLE— RUMBLE—
A strong earthquake shocked the crowd as they hurriedly tried to maintain their balance.
Debris from the ceiling were falling as the lighht son the tunnel flickered repeatedly.
In an instant, Leo hugged Tanya and used his body in order to shield her from any debries that befell them.
Glancing at Clyde, he shouted, "What's happening"
However, Clyde only shook his head, "I don't know! The rampage of the demon beasts shouldn't have affected the tunnel!"
At thus moment, a dangerous glint lit up in Agnes's eyes, "That should have been the case since this tunnel is made for escaping."
"That is unless…"
She didn't need to continue her words as Clyde, Mika, and Leo all understood what she was implying.