"Guards!" Jiro's yell startled everyone, including Raven. He was just about to make a move on the third guard when the yell came, drawing out the man from his relaxed stance. At the same time, he turned and noticed Raven, with a dagger that swam with black flames in his grasp.
"Attacker!" The man called out and unsheathed his sword at the same time Raven lunged forward. The man's sword slashed through the air, but because of how abrupt it was, Raven was easy to dodge it and get right in the man's personal space. His dagger slashed the man's wrist that was holding the sword, causing him to drop the sword, before it swung upwards and buried itself in the soft spot beneath his chin.
"Gurgh!" The man choked on blood as the dagger dealt fatal damage to him. His body slumped to the ground helplessly, followed by a small pool of black blood flowing out of the wounds on his body.
The sounds of hurried footsteps came before Jiro and the final guard came around the corner of the carriage to the sight of yet another guard dead with a young, white haired boy standing over the corpse. Black flames danced around the dagger in the boy's hand and the scent of Dark Magic filled Jiro's nostrils.
'The Dark Magic practitioner is a child?' Jiro was shocked but soon regained his composure.
"That's him! We need to take care of him quickly!" He jumped back while the sole remaining guard dashed forward with determined steps. Jiro's lips moved as he mumbled words underneath his breath. A strange glow began to form around his hands as he called upon the ambient mana that was present all around them.
"Shower me with your blessing! Allow me to show this unbeleiving heretic your grace, O Great God of Light!" From low mumbles, Jiro's voice was soon raised to a bellowing tone, bouncing among the trees. At the end of his incantation, a bright golden glow enveloped his body.
Meanwhile, Raven was facing off against the last living guard of the carriage. The man was much more prepared than his comrades had been, and seeing as all three of them were dead, he knew not to take Raven lightly. All the training that he had undergone in the Knight Training Program of the White Empire was put to use as he deftly used his skills to put a lot of pressure on the smaller form of Raven.
"Give up now and allow me to free you the burden of your sins, boy!" The knight righteously said as he delivered a firm vertical slash that forced Raven to quickly dodge to the side, but he was met with a strong kick that sent him rolling. The man followed with a stomp that Raven was able to dodge by rolling away.
Raven's heart was beating rapidly. Not because he was scared, but because he was excited. He felt a rush of fire in his veins that he had never felt before. He was excited because none of the people he had killed in the past had put up such resistance. The only one that had tried resisting him was the village chief of the last village he had burnt down, and the man had lost pitifully.
Raven was still holding back a lot of what he could do because he wanted to get a measure of the knight before him. However, before he could get his fill, the voice of Jiro Court cut through the air.
"Knight Albert, step back. I will deal with him."
Albert turned and saw Jiro walking toward him and Raven with two beings beside him. It was obvious that they were creatures made by magic, but their forms were strange. However, befre he could ask, he felt something touch the side of his helmet. Then a blazing heat enveloped his body.
"ARGH!!!" Knight Albert's screams rang out as his head alone was engulfed by vicious black flames that burnt everything in moments. Only his head was affected by the flames, and even his armor did not get burnt.
"Tch! I will make sure you suffer a hundred fold of what you have done, heretic!" Jiro scowled and Raven turned to him finally.
Raven took his time to examine the forms of the two magic constructs in front of him. They were two sets of golden armor that floated several inches above the ground. They were clearly strong, from the waves of mana that Raven could feel rolling off them. He could not deal with them as easily as he dealt with the four knight guards.
"I will deliver your head to the White Empire and gain the merits I need to progress in my study of White Magic, the only true Path of Magic. The righteous path!" Jiro had a fanatic look in his eyes as he raised his hand and clenched his fist, clearly fantasizing about gaining more power by killing Raven.
"You talk too much." Raven scowled and glared at Jiro. It was time for him to take down the crazy man. There was no need for much talk. If he could take him down, then he would have another chance to meet the robed person once again and find out more things. Of course, only after giving the person a punch in the face.
The black flames around Raven's dagger burned hotter and darker as they began to grow and spread across his forearm. A cold calm settled over Raven's mind as he prepared to lunge forward.