"Bodd, go join in the escort, not a single hair on their bodies should be harmed. And have someone contact Mensa to send soldiers here. And if possible, any of the others." Stefam commanded with a tense expression.
"Y-yes, Your Grace." Bodd answered nervously. He could sense the urgency in Stefam's voice, so he did not dally a second. He quickly went over to the other soldier and joined him. "Let's go." He urged Mark, Ara and Rodbar. Without wasting time they all quickly left the area.
After making sure they were safe and out of sight, Stefam turned his gaze back towards the spot he saw the archer last. Frowning his face, he dissolved into light and blitzed past the building and went over to its opposite side.
Stefam had a foreboding feeling when he saw the uniform on the archer. He immediately recognised the uniform to be that of the Tholarians. His mind raced with different possibilities when he saw the Tholarian soldier and he came up with two probable conclusions, and they were, either a war was about to start or was already underway. If either of his thoughts were confirmed true, then that meant that the Tholarians were connected or maybe even responsible for the events at the haven.
It was a reasonable line of thought based on what he had observed. The Haven being engulfed In chaos on the day of the exchange, an event that brought a lot of important figures to one place. Then the Tholarians invaded while the Haven was still under attack.
It couldn't have been a coincidence, and Tholaria being the ones who invaded made it even more plausible, because the Tholarians already had hostile relations with Tasvill. The fact that they also had a change in government recently that seemed to provoke Tasvill at any opportunity made it even more convincing.
But there was one part of all these that really confused Stefam, and that was the fact that some of the enemy imposters were youths and students even from the Library, how had Tholaria been able to plant seeds that young in Tasvill and since when have they been put in place? Asides that Stefam was fairly confident in his inference.
After he made it to the other side of the building he saw the archer again, this time he wasn't alone. A Score of other Tholarian soldiers were also there and they all progressed deeper into the haven menacingly, their gleaming weapons stained with crimson.
Stefam's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the Tholarians before his expression hardened to that of unconcealed anger. The number of Tholarian soldiers he saw made him feel like his thoughts seem closer to the truth.
The Tholarian soldiers spotted Stefam from the bright light that suddenly flashed in front of them, obstructing their marching path. When the light dimmed down and revealing Stefam's form the soldiers immediately recognised him as Ludwig's son.
It wasn't really hard to know that Stefam was Ludwig's son due to their striking resemblance. If one didn't know any better, they might assume they were twins.
"You all have some nerve." Stefam sneered coldly at the Tholarians.
"You Tasvillers don't seem to understand how big the world is." A figure stepped out of the group of Soldiers. He had a presence that stood out from the rest of the soldiers. He didn't have any weapons with him, which suggested he was either a mage or an extremely powerful Suguden.
"Tasvill has gotten too big for its own good, after today there won't be a Tasvill anymore." The man said with a light smirk on his face. After the soldier finished speaking a chill seemed to envelop him, gusts of cold steam emanating from his fists, confirming his status as a mage to Stefam.
The large number of men In front of Stefam should have been enough for him to think twice before he engaged them, but not many people knew the extent of his prowess. It was understandable, as Stefam hadn't fought in any wars during his lifetime to establish himself, unlike Ludwig and some others in his generation who had gained recognition as some of the most powerful people around.
Even if Stefam couldn't kill all of them, he was still confident that he could hold them till Bodd returned with reinforcements, but the case was different here. Stefam was sure that he could take care of all the men here, afterall they all seemed to be footsoldiers, save for the man at the forefront.
Without another word, the Tholarian soldier waved his hand forward and a cold wind blew at Stefam. In the next second a mini mountain of ice stood where Stefam had been. But with Stefam's speed, there was no way he would be caught by an attack like that.
Flashing away from that spot in a burst of light, Stefam appeared in the middle of the Tholarian soldier. His fingers a blur of motion, as he quickly weaved through a series of hand signs.
Multiple small magic circles appeared in the air, in various positions. Stefam's speed caught the Tholarian soldiers off guard. Before they could even know the outcome of the ice attack, Stefam was no longer In front of them but amidst them, with numerous small glowing magic circles dotting the air around them.
When the soldiers finally recovered from their shock, they looked at Stefam menacingly, their blood lusts soaring into the sky. It didn't matter what the magic circles could do, it would not make any difference if they killed the caster before he could unleash the spell.
Brandishing their various weapons, they all attacked Stefam simultaneously. The ice mage that had stepped out from the soldiers was the only one that didn't join the attack. Since Stefam appeared in the middle of their formation, any attack he launched might hit his men.
That was just what he was telling himself, but what really stopped him was fear, a strange sense of fear overwhelmed him at that moment. He found it confusing; it looked like Stefam had truly put himself in a desperate situation, but he couldn't just shake off that feeling of dread.
Then he observed the magic circles in the air. The number of circles matched the exact number of Soldiers, each facing a man, including himself.
He had never fought with a light mage before so he didn't know the range of spells they had and their effects, but there was one thing he knew, and that was, they were fast, incredibly fast.
On instinct, the mage quickly formed an ice barrier. His gut feeling urged him to erect it, and from his experience, he knew his instincts were usually right.
In that split second, before the soldiers' attacks could reach Stefam, the circles each released tiny, almost unnoticeable beams of light. The beams pierced through the heads of all the soldiers, causing their movements to pause momentarily before they all fell face-first to the ground, tiny holes on their heads leaking blood.
Behind the ice barrier, the ice mage was on his knees, his breathing labored as blood leaked from a small hole just below his shoulder blade.