The bandit captain's eyes widened, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his ribs. He recognized Lyra's face, a face he'd personally marred with his own hands, a face he'd left for dead.
A chill unlike any he'd ever known snaked through his veins, freezing his blood. He stumbled backward, his weapon clattering to the ground.
Lyra's gaze, cold and unwavering, bore into him. It wasn't just a look; it was a palpable force, a weight pressing down on him, crushing the air from his lungs.
It became like the ground beneath his feet seemed to tremble, the very earth itself recoiling from her power. A low growl rumbled in her chest, a sound that spoke of ages of vengeance.
The other bandits, paralyzed by fear, watched in horrified silence as their captain crumbled before them. His eyes darted wildly, his body shaking uncontrollably.
Sweat beaded on his brow, a stark contrast to the chill that had settled deep in his bones. He tried to speak, to beg for mercy, but only a strangled gasp escaped his lips.
it was like he was trapped in an horrific illusion, one so terrifying his whole body were reacting to what ever he was going through in there.
Kael watched, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. He didn't need to lift a finger. Lyra's power, the emotions and pains channeled from the souls of the dead within her was more than enough to crush these pathetic men.
A wave of shadow erupted from Lyra, engulfing the bandits one by one. Each bandit screamed as the darkness consumed them, suffering the same fate as their captain.
Their bodies contorting in silent agony before crumbling down, not a single one of them could escape from her. she unleashed the horror of being hunted on the bandit that they all died of terror, leaving behind strong stench of death.
The air, thick with the stench of death and fear, finally cleared. The only sound was the crackling of the campfire and the distant howl of a lone wolf. Lyra turned to Kael, her eyes still glowing with a cold, unnatural light.
she shows neither relief from avenging her people nor any satisfaction of killing the bandits.
"They paid a heavy price," she said, her voice devoid of emotion, yet carrying the weight of a thousand lost souls. "But it's not enough. There are others. They must pay too."
Kael nodded, his gaze hardening. He knew she was right. The massacre of Oakhaven was not a random act of violence. It was a carefully orchestrated ritual, a sacrifice to some dark power. And those responsible would pay the ultimate price.
especially now he had come to find out the link between both worlds have been breached, he sure knew this whole charade is the working of some sick bastards supernatural influence.
but it doesn't matter anyway, he isn't scared to go up against anyone. be it supernatural or enemies of the natural world, "I've made a huge mistake and I'm not going to stop until I fix it and take down those bastards alongside it"
Kael declared determined as he set his gaze into the horizon, he might have become a monster in the process of seeking out power to destroy his enemies and avenged his love ones
but he is no beast to unleashed an unspeakable horror on this world, "those bastards" he curse recalling what might have lead to this outcome "if only they haven't temper with my rituals back then, things wouldn't have spiral out of place"
"Tell me everything you know about Noel Oscar and what's going on," Lyra said, her voice low and dangerous. "Tell me everything, and I will help you get your revenge and fix this error."
Kael hesitated for only a moment. He had spent years running, hiding, and enduring pain. Now, with Lyra by his side, he felt a surge of power, a hope that he hadn't felt in years.
He would use this power, this darkness, to avenge his loved ones, to punish those who had wronged him.
but his past isn't something he really wishes to talk about, it something he love to remain being buried in the deepest path of his soul.
"The Oscar family… they are not what they seem," he began, his voice filled with a chilling resolve. "that's all I can say, if you decide to help me out, know you won't only be facing of against my family and those proud nobles
we might also face off against dark evil buried millennium ago which had just been resurrected
they would be pretty strong and could possibly kill us, there is no grantee we can succeed in this"
Lyra emotionless eyes stirs deep into his soul, resonating with the pain, grief, revenge and every negative energy he got stuck within him.
"I know, there isn't much left for me in this world anyway. if dying to fix this world so what happened to my village wouldn't happen again
then my soul can rest along that of those which constantly cries within me, tormenting my soul with their anguish"
Kael nodded in agreement, there is nothing more to seek after other than a peaceful death when you've settle all score holding that peace from you
"we are still too weak to do anything, we can even stand against the nobles with this menger strength we have. we need to get stronger and to do that we need knowledge
this party trick won't work on experience Mage with many years of studying magic, cope with the fact you are only a rank one mage per standard
if a rank three warrior were to be here, the outcome of this little endeavor of ours would have taken a different out come"
"what do suggest we do then?" Lyra knowing fully well the truth of those words was even more eager to get stronger, never again do she want to be helpless before anyone.
"we'll figure that out on our way, for now let's just focus on surviving" saying that, Kael gesture for her to take care of the corpse before they leave.
understanding his intentions, Lyra used another of her new ability on the corpse. "soul siphoning" she uttered in a low tune
the ground seems to tremble a bit as a powerful force dark chain sprout out from Lyra body, extending and piercing into the body of every dead bandit
pulling out their souls from their bodies, the amount of horror they had gone through could still be seen on the twisted and painful expression of their spectral figure.
once all that was over, she burnt the bodies and both of them turned towards the opposite direction. leaving behind everything to brace what is to come.
a short while after they left, two people arrived the scene on a flying beast. immediately they saw the flame they had an ugly expression on.
"this bastards, had their greed cause them to fight between themselves?" one of the two question seeing the state of the place burning.
"I highly doubt that" the mid age man following behind answered the young man as he tries to deduce what had happened here
"from what I could tell, someone powerful most have gotten to them before we did" the young man looked towards to explain further
"tsk, tsk, tsk. you sure need to learn fast Edward, you are an heir of the ever leaf family. how can you take that position from your competing siblings if you're this slow to grasp simple matters"
Edward rubbed the back of his head helplessly wearing a funny smile, "that's why I have you master, I know you got my back"
the old man shook his head tiredly, "I really should have choose supporting another ever leaf than this senseless weakling" he thought within him seeing the unrepentant smile on the boys face.
"back in the village, though everything was burnt to the ground just like it is here, I couldn't find any trace of dark energy. considering the circumstances surrounding the massacre village
there should have been abundant of that, after all it is the very reason we paid this fools to slaughter the entire village in the first place
my guess is, someone cleanse it, probably one of those light mage with their sentimental beliefs of purity and purification
at first I thought this bastards might have betrayed us, selling us out to other dark practitioner who might have siphon that energy for their own gain"
he pause to analyze the scene one more before he continues, "but seeing the state this bandit are, I take back that deduction. it's obviously the working of a powerful light Mage
what's confusing me though, I can't feel a shrade of soul fragments within this place
it's like it's been completely cleaned off, though their is a substantial amount of dark energy lingering in the air but it's still strange"
Edward having being lost somewhere within the long explanation skip the details as he went about asking what concerns him most
"so can we still get that dark energy for the ritual, I need to get stronger if we are to ever win this. if you are ever to get what I promised you
I believe you don't want to see me fail knowing what the others would do to you after supporting me against them"
the old man felt his rage kicking in, he wanted more than anything to kick this proud cocky youngster in the face.
he calm his nerves not to be worked up by his nuisance personality, he stand to gain more if he helps this scum achieve their aim.
"the amount of dark energy here isn't that much as to what is required but it should be enough to request for help
we don't know who our enemy is an who they are working for, I believe this little token might get out friend from the other side to help out
after all we are all in this together, we all stand to lose something if this all fails"
he step forward and with a simple gesture retrieve a gorg like object from his robe. muttering a few inaudible words the dark energy lingering in the air that was invisible all along condensed and poured into the gorg
once every last drop of it had being acquired, the duo mount the flying beast and shot up in the sky, leaving the same way they came.