Urgency suddenly rushed through Arion’s entire body as he was moments away from losing his family. With pure desperation in his voice, he yelled, “STOP!! PLEASE STOP!!” His terror-filled voice suddenly brought the three knights’ movements to a halt. A deep breath escaped Arion’s lips as he felt like a huge boulder was lifted off his chest. Right then, “Oh? So the filthy hellspawn speaks?” The priest turned towards Arion with a mix of surprise and annoyance on his face. He clearly wasn’t expecting Arion to be able to speak. Arion managed to shake his limbs a bit as he felt the invisible force pinning him down slowly but steadily losing its grip over him. The priest’s eyes contracted as he moved towards Arion.
Right as he was inches away from Arion, the sound of metals colliding suddenly echoed throughout the area. Startled, the priest and Arion both looked towards the source of the sound, which happened to be from the lord’s location. The priest’s eyes widened as he saw the lord’s sword resisting against the sword of the green knight behind the baroness. Before the priest could react, Ardent unsheathed his sword and clashed with the green Knight behind him.
“Wh-...,” the priest began speaking with a surprised expression, but then slowly, his smile turned to a smirk. “DO YOU CITIZENS SEE THIS??!” He suddenly exclaimed with a mix of surprise and forced fear on his face. “THIS ENTIRE FAMILY HAS TAKEN THE SIDE OF THE DEMONS! EVEN MY DIVINE HOLD CAN’T KEEP THEM DOWN!” The priest exclaimed while raising both of his palms held together.
Within the moments the priest spoke, the lord managed to disarm two out of three knights, while Ardent pushed the green knight back upon a short clashing of swords. The crowd became restless, every citizen gathered around the area slowly began taking their steps back with horror on their faces. The lord supported the baroness to stand up while gazing around him. “They will not listen to me no matter how hard I try..” The lord said to the baroness with a concerned look in his eyes.
“That’s right…” The priest said as the rest of four knights immediately surrounded the lord with their swords pointing at the three. “Your family’s swordsmanship is next to none in the kingdom… I can see the aura that you used to break out of my hold.” The priest said while smiling.
From his perspective, a faint golden glow surrounded both Arion and the lord, unseen by the crowd. “Why are you doing this?” The lord asked as he pushed the baroness behind him, positioning her between himself and Ardent, shielding her from both sides. “Because your wife birthed a hellspawn,” the priest replied with a wicked smile as a white glow emanated from his two joined palms. The lord’s brows furrowed as he recognized the light. “NO-!” Even before his words could properly come out of his mouth, dozens of white spears appeared, impaling both the lord and Ardent.
The baroness’ blue clothes were showered in the blood of her husband and elder son. Before she could comprehend, her entire world was torn apart by the white spears that impaled the lord and Ardent. A painful scream escaped her lips, with such intensity that it broke her voice. Her throat hurt more with each scream, yet she felt nothing. Nor could she hear her own voice, her brain unable to comprehend what had happened as she screamed with all her heart. All strength left her body, causing her to fall to her knees. She lifted her palms in front of her eyes, seeing splashes of blood on her pure white skin. She lacked the strength to look at either of the two dead bodies, causing her to stare blankly at her palms.
The priest extended his arms wide. “And thus, by the mercy of the gods, the two sinners were granted the blessing of perishing through one of the divine techniques of Lord Prakasa,” the priest said in a calm and satisfied tone. At this point, the invisible force had completely released its grip on Arion, though he remained unaware of it. His mind was numb, his heart pounding with incredible strength as his body moved involuntarily. Arion's feet carried him towards his mother, his actions unconscious. The knights aimed their swords at Arion, but the priest signaled them to stop. “It will be easier for both of us,” he added with a smirk as his eyes followed Arion’s movement.
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With each stumbling step, the strength drained from Arion's body until his legs collapsed upon reaching his mother. Witnessing his mother's tears, Arion felt an overwhelming urge to embrace her. He stretched his arms wide, pulling her towards himself. As her bloody arms wrapped around Arion's head, she swiftly removed the locket from her neck and placed it around Arion, who remained oblivious to the gesture.
The priest brought his palms together once again, followed by the white glow appearing in his hands. The baroness saw the priest smiling at her as the light intensified. She immediately realized he was knowingly prolonging his attack to mock her. But the baroness chose to focus on her son. “Your eyes shall see the sun rise at the horizon,” she said. Just as she began speaking, a spear of white light appeared on her right and impaled her abdomen. "[COUGH!]...But before it sets…” A second spear appeared and stabbed her left side. Despite the blood gushing from her mouth, she continued, “You shall be feared by darkness itself.” As she uttered her final words, a white light spear appeared behind her and impaled her heart.
The white spear pierced through her, also striking Arion's right lung, causing the light to vanish from both mother and son's eyes simultaneously. Their blue clothes were drenched in blood, which flowed down their bodies and pooled at their feet.
“And thus, the God's judgment rids the earth from two more sinners.” The priest said with a satisfied smile while opening his arms wide. The priest turned towards Sir Eonard, who was still frozen by the invisible force. “What a shame… You couldn’t even protect your lord…” The priest said while shaking his head from left to right, as a tear streamed down Sir Eonard's eyes, hidden under his helmet. Still frozen in place, he saw the crowd slowly dispersing away from the area. He failed to comprehend the complete change in their attitude from just a few hours ago. The priest walked towards the white horses, followed by the green knights, with a constant smirk on his face.
Sir Eonard felt the invisible force slowly losing its hold from his body the further away the priest went from the place, leading to him being able to freely move after a few minutes. He stepped forward, followed by the four white knights behind him. Upon reaching the body of his lord, all of them went on their knees and placed their swords on the ground.
—
[Somewhere outside the phoenix land]
Four sets of steps hastily rushed towards a well-built wooden house. A huge muscular man, with a white beard and white hair, pushed open the front door. While the other three individuals stayed outside the door, he took one step ahead. Before his foot could properly get placed on the ground; “A great disaster has been created…” An old lady said in a shaky voice, while supporting herself with a stick as she moved forward. The man bent his one knee and lowered his head the moment he saw the lady approaching. The lady looked at the man with milky eyes with her wrinkled face contracted with concern. “Samartha… You must find that boy…” The lady said in a restless tone.
Samartha raised his head and looked at her shivering milky eyes; “Madam Gwatha… Did you have a vision?” He asked in a tone of pure respect. The old lady shook her head in disagreement; “It was a nightmare… a great evil is about to step on earth… and that boy will be the conduit…” She answered in a breathy voice as her body began to shake. Samartha swiftly stood up and grabbed her, preventing her from falling on the floor. Out of the three, the red-haired boy and girl stormed inside the house; “Madam Gwatha!..” they said in unison while worry echoed in their voice.
“Her body’s contact with her soul is weakening..” The man standing right outside the door whispered in a strange sharp voice. His tone was emotionless, and the voice was clearly heard by everyone present despite the man whispering from outside the door. Samartha looked at the old lady with somber eyes as he slowly placed her on his lap; “This… is my last request….” She barely managed to speak with the light in her eyes getting dimmer. “...Where is he?” Samartha asked in a low voice. The old lady gathered her fleeting strength to speak; “Phe-.....”
Samartha slowly closed her eyes with his hand as he sensed no movement from her. “Is…” The red-haired boy hesitantly attempted to speak. “Yes.” The man standing outside the door whispered without any emotion in his voice.
[END OF CHAPTER: 4]