'When did he get behind me?!' I screamed inwardly, my eyes widening behind my raised arm. I instinctively froze when he spoke, knowing I had entered grave danger.
The cloud of dust suddenly cleared, hinting at the use of an Elemental-Craft. The sun had almost gone down at this point, and only a minute orange tinge existed on the horizon.
"Did you do all this?" The Ragi asked, and I shuddered. My luck had run out. Everything had been going too well, it seemed the world only planned to end me.
I voiced a swear inwardly, lowering my arm slowly. I dared not move too quickly.
Other soldiers arrived behind the man; further enforcing my belief. Death had caught up to me.
"I asked you a question!" A mighty blow crunched into my left side, at that statement. I gasped in shock and pain as my figure was sent flying, before rolling on the ground and coming to a halt.
"A-ack…!" I grunted, shivering from unbridled pain. My vision shook violently even if I was lying on my side, unmoving. My arm slowly traveled to my left chest and even before I laid my hand on it, blinding pain erupted from it.
'It's broken,' I thought, trying my best not to convulse. No less than seven ribs were broken. I nearly ran mad.
My breathing threatened to grow rapidly but I knew only agony waited at the end of such a process. And I could not risk falling unconscious. No.
Approaching me with slow steady steps the man spoke. I had not even seen his face yet. Damn.
"Next time I ask you a question, you respond."
I barely heard his words from the thumping of my heart—A thumping that seemed to have moved to my ears.
I tried to stand; gathering all the energy left in my bones, when his shadow suddenly loomed over me. His very figure now meant death to me.
I managed to get on my knees with my arms still on the ground when a kick slammed into my right side and my world spun.
He had put less force into it to preserve my life, but that blow had been enough to cause my eyes to grow blurry and my vision to shudder violently.
This time I was beginning to lose control.
A trail of dust ensued as my figure tumbled a couple of meters before I seemed to go limp.
A distasteful expression appeared on his face at that sight.
"He's too weak to have been the one to do this," Sir Vex said, frowning. Too many of his men were dead. He had only been able to arrive so quickly because he had other business that happened to be within the town's walls.
It would take the others no less than two hours to arrive.
"Yes sir, he had help. There was a second person. But they escaped with Seinaru's corpse," one of the soldiers explained, and Sir Vex's expression froze.
"What... did you just say?…" His countenance expressed a frightening look now, and the deadly aura around his figure intensified. Everyone felt the cold sting of fear.
"T-the other person escaped with Seinaru's dead body s-sir."
...!!?
A horrible pressure descended on the world Immediately after, as his hill-stage prowess unveiled itself through his aura.
Sir Vex approached me, this time with an even more severe attitude.
He laid hold of my limp figure and raised me by my neck till he looked into my eyes. They were nearly dead and listless now.
My crimson hair seemed to have lost its luster and the suffering I experienced showed on my face through the paleness of my features.
"Is what he's saying true?" He questioned as if he doubted the words of his people. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to give him the comfort he sought.
"Yukov protected him, while we suffered, he deserved to die. Yukov's leaders itself deserve to perish for abandoning its people. My faction will one day see to this," I declared, oozing as much contempt as possible to sever whatever suspicion could be tied to Yukov.
Our actions had to be attributed to an infidel group.
He bought my act. I had done it well after all. I even wore my crazed smile to ensure he found no loopholes.
His expression froze as it finally dawned on him how severe the matter at hand was.
"But your partner has abandoned you." He said, trying to lure me out of my seeming loyalty.
My crazed smile curved into an even crueler one. "I will be glad to give my life for our cause. This Is war!" I cried with lunatic fervor. "If one or two or fifty of us die during our mission, It is only normal."
My words shook him, and he knew I saw it. Worry seemed to seep into his features.
"You bluff. Your organization cannot contain up to fifty people," he countered, serious.
I saw a chance to further lure him into my story and took it. He obviously worried about such a thing. Having to fight a third group that had no real side would be troublesome. But could also potentially be useful.
"Whether you believe this or not doesn't matter. All that matters is that Yukov's interests are thwarted. That bastard was one of them," I hissed.
"Eating and drinking in comfort as though his people did not suffer."
Sir Vex's black eyebrows creased and now I could get a hold of his facial details.
He looked no older than his mid-forties, had short black hair, and despite his power level, his face saw lines of stress embedded in it. His growth had probably been stagnant for a long time.
"But he did good to your people whenever he saw the chance to." He sounded confused.
"As if that changes anything. He probably only did so in feigned kindness, giving out peanuts compared to what he enjoyed."
The Ragi paused at that point, and I felt his grip on my neck tighten. I knew he could snap my neck in an instant.
"Would you join us if we promised to do better to your people while you help us weaken Yukov?"
A wave of silence unfolded after his words, as everyone including me felt taken aback by that offer.
The soldiers dared not talk, and I had not anticipated that turn of events. In consequence, I was speechless.
He saw this and sought to quickly exploit that weakness.
"The Empire has more than enough resources, and we can come to an agreement—" Confidence flowed out of his tone, but his words were cut short by the sudden appearance of a speeding black blur descending from the sky to crash into his figure.
BOOM!!
CLANG!!
An explosion of pure force followed by the colliding of blades resounded in the mansion's courts whilst my figure was flung away—crashing into the wall in the distance.
My ears rang violently, and dark spots appeared in my vision. A burning sensation spread inside me as a result, but the rest of my suffering drowned it out.
"So you're the one that caused this much bloodshed?" Sir Vex's voice rang out amid the whooshing clouds of dust.
A sharp gust of wind pierced and cleared that mass to reveal the new situation.
Eiko's cloaked figure stood between me and the Ragi. She had both her swords unsheathed... and yes, Seinaru was no longer with her.