?Barely a meter before Ss stood a man frozen in ce, his eyes balls having turned white and his sword inches away from Ss'' throat.


    Everything from the sword to his clothes were covered in ayer of frost.


    The other man couldn''t be seen anymore, but there was a crack on the ground in the exact ce he stood. The crack wasn''t too big. It probably had the length of a manhole.


    Walking past the frozen statue figure, Ss walked up to his sister, his eye still zing with an emerald intensity.


    "Y-You killed them..." Syra spoke, her face expressionless. She was stillying on the ground, her entire body shaking with fear.


    "Why did you leave mom and dad''s side. Do you know what could have happened to you?!" Of course, she didn''t. She was a kid. She wasn''t supposed to know, and Ss wouldn''t tell her.


    Humans could be truly deprived sometimes, and finding that at such a young age... Well...


    All that can be said is that such a discovery could truly impact the amount of empathy one holds for human life.


    "You killed them." She pointed at Ss.


    "So?" he tilted his head. He could hear a few more of those bandits getting closer, but he could probably kill them. They didn''t feel that strong.


    "You killed people... Why did you kill them? Why did you kill them?! Why did you kill them?!?! Why why why why why why why why-"


    *Thud*


    ''I don''t have time to deal with this.'' Sighed while retracting his hand from her neck after having chopped at her Carotid Sinus. He didn''t really like using this method since it had the chance to kill someone if done incorrectly, but this was a world of magic. There was no way such a weak attack could kill someone, right?


    Throwing her over his shoulder, Ss began to run back to where his parents were.


    ***


    *Sching*


    *Splurt*


    Lochra''s de cleaved through one of the bandit''s necks. Most of the bandits were actually pretty strong. Most people in the ga core wouldn''t be able to hand them, so despite their low numbers, they were incredibly powerful for a bandit group.


    "Oh... I see you''ve killed little Connie." A man suddenly appeared out of thin air, his figure cloaked in a mostly white coat that reached his calves. The coat was open to expose his exposed chest. While his pants were ck, reaching all the way to his ankles.


    Blood could be seen staining the ends of his coat as a trail of innocentsy dead behind him, each one of them reaching out in onest breath of hope.


    Maybe they saw the light at the end of the tunnel, or maybe they were trying to beg the young man for mercy.


    Either way, they were dead now.


    A giant sword could be seen strapped to his back, covered inrge runes that continued to glow every few seconds.


    He had a pair of piercing blue eyes and fabulous blonde hair that he, for some odd reason, kept stroking back


    He wore a pair of white cloves


    He almost looked... Rich?


    ''He''s insane.'' Lochras instantly thought as he held his broadsword up and pointed it at the man. The man wasn''t wearing armor, yet Lochras could tell that his clothes were littered with runes.


    His white gloves were most likely artifacts, and his golden earrings? Probably amulets.


    "Oh well. The man shrugged with a broad smile before reaching for his sword as well.


    "Though, I hope the rain and your blood won''t ruin my clothes." The man snickered while his smile broadened further.


    "You''re lucky I don''t have my armor. Otherwise you wouldn''tnd a scratch on my skin." Lochras sneered.


    Rhea had already entered one of the buildings they were using for shelter, so Lochras didn''t have to worry about her. Keira was protecting her and everyone in the shelter, too, so they were most likely safe.


    They were quite a distance away from the shelter so they were most likely safe. The only thing Lochras was still worried about was Syra, who still hadn''t shown up yet.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Pointing his de at Lochras, the man spoke once more.


    "What''s your name, warrior?"


    "Lochras Skrk, imperial knight." Lochras lowered his center of gravity.


    "Oooo. A knight. Well, since you shared, its only fair I share too..." He grinned, but just when Lochras was about to disregard his warrior''s pride and attack mid-monologue, he heard the man''s next words.


    "Death, the 4th General of the Darkless organization." He replied warmly before his facial expression morphed into one filled with joy and killing intent.


    "Nice to meet''ya."


    ''Sh*t.''


    Lochras turned around and swung his de in the blink of an eye.


    *ng*


    "Ooooooo! Nice," Deathughed as his previous figure disappeared into the air like a shadow turning to mist.


    The sh between the two created a powerful shockwave that pushed away all the raindrops around them.


    Holding his de over his head, Lochras shed down at the man, yet the attack passed right through his body without any consequence.


    Lochras grit his teeth, but eventually, he also smiled.


    "Ahhh... It''s been so long since I''ve truly gone all out..."


    Death frowned momentarily, but with a grin, he flipped away andnded on the ground in gymnastic fashion.


    "Oh, really?" He stroked his hair back and looked into Lochras'' eyes.


    "They all think they''re better than me at first, but in the end..." Death''s body sunk into his shadow.


    "They all end up dying the same way." His voice trickled into Lochras'' ear like a steady stream of oil going down his ear canals.


    "I can say the same thing..."


    Suddenly, killing intent erupted out of Lochras'' body while his toki increased substantially,pacting around his body like a thick, and now visible, suit of translucent white armor.


    ***


    "Commander." A young man spoke, his body lowered to a kneeling position as if he didn''t even dare look hismander in the eye.


    "Yes, Architect?" Themander looked back at the kneeling young man.


    They were both standing on the town''s wall, looking over the destruction, death and shed blood he caused.


    "I can sense a few strong presences. One of them is one of the three we''re after. Are you don''t want to partake in this battle?" The "Architect" asked.


    "You''ve already ensured that the priest will not participate in this battle, nor will his little white knights. There is no reason to participate, but if the chief does show signs of bing a pain in our asses, I''d like it if my right-hand man were to take care of it." Themander looked back at the kneeling young man, who was smiling from ear to ear out of pure joy.


    "If the situationes to it, I will ensure you are not disappointed by my disy..."


    "Good. I expect great things from you..." Themander grinned, his eyes narrowing into slits as he stared at a certain person jumping from building to building with someone on his shoulder.


    "In the meantime, there is someone else I''ve been dying to meet."


    ------------------


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