I fluttered around over Soundov's shoulder, where we both watched as the cloaked mercenaries filed down the street. They were heading to the edge of town, towards a very specific portion of the flame wall.
"Hey—there's a gap in the fire over there!" I exclaimed telepathically. "Quick, now's your chance to get out!"
Around 6 feet wide at the most, there was a clear hole in the purple flames where Grey Storm was rapidly filing out of the town from. I found it odd, as Dryden seemed to have the ability to transport the mercenaries with the same portals that he used to move around.
"I won't be abandoning my people, I'll stick around until this turmoil is over," the mayor replied, before looking towards the smoldering remains of the bell tower. "Let's go see if that undead monster is calling the hunt off."
It was strange that the mage seemed to have switched gears so quickly, especially as the mayor had just spoken to him. I wondered if he was in a hurry to wrap things up and move along. As we hurried down the street, we arrived at the central plaza minutes later. A wall of guards awaited us as we arrived, where they stood there watching as a growing mob of people began to boo and jeer, seemingly emboldened with the recent retreat of the mercenaries.
As we approached the plaza, I could see that it was Lysander and Dryden that were being heckled by the crowd, where each was preparing to hop on their respective mounts. I fluttered in for a closer look using my moth.
"Yeesh, a difficult crowd, to say the least," Lysander chuckled as he patted the head of his giant crow. "Come on, let's scram. The cultivator is probably long gone by now."
"Fools, they'll regret not being more helpful to our investigation," the horseman replied as his flaming, skeletal horse let out a shrill whine. "I have charged enough power to complete the operation. We can go anytime."
"Huh? What are you talking about, let's just leave," the scythe-wielding man answered as he began to wave to the angry mob. "Sorry for wasting your time, good people. We'll be on our way then."
"And never come back, you kingdom dogs!" one man spat.
"Next time your hooded thugs try to ransack my house, I'll flay them!" a woman jeered.
"Tell the king to shove you all and your magic up his pompous ass!" another yelled.
Snickering with a shake of his head, Lysander took to the skies on his crow, which cawed loudly as they gained altitude and began to circle the area. Dryden wordlessly kicked as his undead horse, which screamed and began to gallop forward. Seconds later, it began to lift off into the air, seemingly running on an invisible road as it began to round the town from above.
"Well thank goodness that's over," Soundov sighed, where he was warmly welcomed by the crowd, who'd realized that their mayor was present. I kept my eyes on the two mages, however. While Lysander was more distant, Dryden appeared to be circling the plaza closely from above. Suspicious, I fluttered up towards the two, where I listened in as they continued to converse. The headless horseman in particular made a loud announcement to the crowd below.
"Unfortunately, due to a lack of cooperation, I am forced to take drastic measures to ensure that the cultivator does not escape this town," Dryden began. "Thus, it shall be purged of all life, making sure that this blight upon our world is not allowed to escape."
"W-wait, Captain, you can't be serious," Lysander interjected as he had his flying mount pull up next to the horseman. "We don't even know if the cultivator is still down there."
"We cannot take that risk, or our mission will be a failure," Dyden continued as he raised his bony hands above his head. "This unholy fire will annihilate 90% of everyone down there. Those too distant to be caught in it will be hunted and killed by the Grey Storm, who I have ordered to wait outside of town. There can be no witnesses."
"Dryden! That's going too far!" the crow-riding man yelled as he now circled his superior with his mount. "I didn't come out here to torch innocent people."
"Shut up, fool, our orders are absolute. If that cultivator wants to play hero, let him come here and intervene," Dryden hissed. "Otherwise, we'll have to assume that he might be down there and terminate everyone and everything."
Shit. I was mortified upon hearing this, where I fluttered back down to see the many panicked expressions in the crowd. Soundov's mouth was agape, where he stared skywards with the rest of his people as a gargantuan ball of purple-black fire began to materialize above the middle of town. The civilians began to scream and run around the plaza, some taking cover in the buildings and others simply on their way to get as far away from the area as possible. Lurching forward, Dryden continued to ignore the pleas of his subordinate and let out a shrill, malice-filled cry as he launched the enormous projectile downwards.
"NOOOO!! Wait!!" I interjected, telepathically screaming at the horseman. "I'll give myself up, just spare them!"
"A little late for that, cultivator," Dryden hissed as he released the gargantuan attack. "At least I'll know that this will kill you too."
I forced the little moth skywards, trying to speed towards the headless villain in an attempt to do something to disrupt his heinous deed. As the ball collapsed into a giant wave of flames, set to wash over a majority of the town, I directed the insect' vision down towards the mayor.
"Tino…" Soundov said, his voice heavy with sadness. "Take care of Lyka for me. Keep her safe."
"No! Sir, you can still get out of here, remember the gap we saw in the barrier!" I tried to argue as a stampede of screaming people began to run past us.
"I'm sorry for calling you a demon," the mayor sighed as the flames bore down on everyone and everything. "Turns out the real demons were supposedly on our side. Don't let this town die in vain—
"Wait!! No!!"
With that, I lost connection to my moth host. Back in my corncob body, I used my still-limited kernels to activate my sight again just in time to see a massive purple explosion a short distance away. Sounding like a blaring furnace, the dark-purple flames washed over the buildings, almost like water, leaving horrible, horrible screams in its wake while the buildings engulfed turned deep black.