Everything made sense to Heath now.
According to rumours and factual evidence, Kirkstead had been peaceful and untouched by the world for all of recorded history. Going over the mountain path was a difficult hike but not so much as to deter raiders and full-fledged armies.
It was all because of the illusion barrier. Not even the villagers knew about it. They were clueless because they didn’t show any malicious intent while entering. Even all his [Royal Inquisitor]s that were all above level 75 had been tricked by it. Most shockingly of all, a Level 91 [Empyrean] that had a Wisdom over 800 was almost fooled.
Heath couldn’t even fathom the power and skill of the person who created the illusion array and he suspected that the [God-Killer] had a connection to—or was that very person. By now, the killer would know they were here.
But as Heath and his band of [Royal Inquisitors] snuck into the village under the cover of darkness and nothing happened, he frowned.
Were they hiding? Or were they giving him a false sense of security? A trap, maybe?
No, he had the drow with him. She would know if it was one.
So they were hiding…
Heath grinned.
***
Milo woke to a deafening bang.
Drowsy, confused, and barely able to see a thing, he had just got up from his bed when the screaming started.
“Nooooo!” His mother’s harrowing voice came from the room over.
Milo’s soul chilled. A shot of adrenaline rushed through his veins. Something instinctual told him to move.
He ran through the door and down the hallway. His parent’s bedroom was only several paces away and when he rounded the corner, a tall red-robed figure stood before him under the door frame leading to his parent’s bedroom.
Milo came to a stop.
He looked behind the red-robed person and saw a charred corpse. His mother wept over the corpse, holding it in her embrace.
Milo stumbled back into the wall, his legs having lost all strength.
“Father…?” Milo’s voice trembled, unable to believe what he was seeing. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare.
His lips quivered as he slowly craned his head up at the red-robed person. Their face shrouded in darkness, all Milo could make out was a twisted, evil smile.
He recognised who this person was instantly. He recalled the rumours and stories.
This man was an…[Inquisitor]. The people who ran the Grecia Empire behind the shadows. The dogs that had committed unspeakable atrocities wielded a blue fire that burned all that it touched.
He would’ve run inside to save his mother, but Byrn ran in front of him, appearing out of nowhere. He shoved his little brother back and yelled at him in a pleading voice, “Just run!”
That was the last thing he ever said.
Byrn attempted to tackle the [Inquisitor] to the ground, but as his arms wrapped around the man and the combined force of 27 Strength pushed into him, the [Inquisitor] stood standing like an immovable rock. Milo and Byrn were stunned.
Realising that the [Inquisitor] wasn’t moving, he kneed him in the stomach and then, roaring, his older brother wound up his arm and put everything into a single punch.
But his fist didn’t meet the other person’s face. It met a hand wielding a blue flame.
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Starting with his hand, Byrn disintegrated into grey ash. He was gone like that.
Just a few paces behind Byrn, John came to a halt, mid-way through his sprint. He had been ready to join the fray and support his older brother when he was suddenly reduced to ashes. All his reckless courage and anger were suddenly extinguished. It was as if someone had poured cold water over a blazing fire.
There was a moment of indecisiveness as both Milo and John hesitated.
Now that it was quiet. Distant screams reached their ears. From the window behind the [Inquisitor], Milo saw a tall flame spiralling into the sky. It wasn’t just them. Kirkstead was under attack.
By then, a yawning Ostin had stumbled into the hallway, confused as to what all the fuss was about. The small boy noticed the tense standoff and froze. Before Ostin could put together the pieces in his mind, John shook Milo out of his frightened stupor.
“Take Ostin and run! I’ll hold him back!”
Drawing in only shallow breaths of air, Milo could only stumble over his words. He knew this was likely the last time he would see his brother. He wanted to say something at least. But he couldn’t find the right words.
He simply nodded and gave one last hard stare. As he turned away, he caught a glimpse of the [Inquisitor]. Lips drawn from cheek to cheek, a twisted smile revealed itself.
Milo shivered.
His intentions were clear. After he killed John, they’d be next.
He swept Ostin off his feet and ran. Out the back door he went, he jumped straight into the golden fields of Eesht. The Eesht would hide him. Cover his trail. He had never been outside of the valley before, but if they had to camp in the wilderness for a few nights, he’d do it. They’d find a new place to settle down.
“Milo, what’s happening?” Ostin asked, teary-eyed, and his voice trembling.
Milo stayed quiet. He didn’t know how to answer him. He wanted to delay the inevitable as long as possible. It would make their escape easier. He didn’t want to alert anybody to their location via a sobbing child.
Milo heard his brother’s scream echo in the distance. He closed his eyes, wishing that none of this was real. That he would wake up in his bed if he tried hard enough. But he couldn’t deny reality. The spire of fire that he saw earlier was merely one of dozens that dotted the horizon. Smoke had blotted out the sky. Screams and shouts came from every direction.
He had found himself in hell.
The only thing that gave Milo hope in this situation was the possibility of escape. Fortunately for him, his family lived on the outskirts of Kirkstead. If he remembered correctly, then if he exited north of their fields and then ran through the neighbour’s, they’d reach the base of the mountain range. From there, they’d vanish into the wilderness under the cover of nightfall.
As he ran, [Enduring Work] applied a 1.25x multiplier to his endurance, allowing him to move at a full sprint. Despite his short legs and the weight on his shoulders, he travelled swiftly.
Several minutes passed as he ran through an endless ocean of golden Eesht. In the white moonlight, they were instead grey and lifeless. The scent of Eesht rejuvenated and calmed him. Now all he could smell was smoke.
By the time he exited from the northern tip of his family’s fields and disappeared into the neighbour’s, sweat was dripping from his forehead, settling upon the top of his eyebrows. He struggled to breathe. His chest rose up and down with every step, his lungs desperately taking in what little air they could find.
The neighbours were kind, friendly people. Their father Frank, would often come over when they needed to move stuff. The wife, Marilyn, would appear on their doorstep out of nowhere and gift them with entire plates of mouth-watering food.
So Milo did his best to look away from the fire that had engulfed their house. Behind him, his home was in flames too.
Quickly, he thought. He had to get out of the valley as soon as possible before the [Inquisitor] could find him.
He spotted the river through the swaying Eesht.
It took him a moment to realise that salvation was just up ahead. His already pounding heart sped up even faster. Thumping in his ears like a drum, he ran across the final stretch with all the strength his legs could muster.
All he had to do was cross the river and he’d escape. He could see the base of the mountain range just beyond.
As he exited the Eesht however, a dark shadow ran into him.
“Caught you!” An evil voice cackled.
All the air in his lungs was pushed out of him. Milo bowled over and dropped to the ground. He lost all his strength and Ostin fell to the grass beside him.
A deep, throbbing pain dug into his stomach. It felt like he had a hole punched through him. The pain overwhelmed him. He lay completely limp as he gasped for air.
“Milo!” Ostin exclaimed, scrambling over to his brother. He attempted to pick up and carry away his much heavier older brother, and continue running. But he was too weak.
The [Royal Inquisitor] stood ominously before Ostin and Milo. Ostin cowered in fear and embraced his brother.
“Get up, Milo! Please, he’s going to kill us!” Ostin cried.
Milo tried calling out to his little brother. But it was as if he had been locked out of his own body. No matter how hard he thought, it wouldn’t listen to him.
On the outside, Milo had a blank look on his face. His mouth hung wide open as saliva gathered, his tongue unable to swallow it back down.
“Holy shit, Eminent Nightfall, I can’t believe you used [Paralyse (V)] on a kid!” A voice exclaimed in shock.
The voice had belonged to one of two [Royal Inquisitor]s who had suddenly appeared.
Codename: Eminent Nightfall, [Royal Inquisitor] of the Grecia Empire, ignited the [Cold Flame] sigil on his palm. Blue light revealed his face. A face with black wrinkles and saggy cheeks appeared, a sharp jawline outlined by the blue fire of his hand. Thick and sharp grey eyebrows hung over his tired eyes. Old and frail, he looked like a starving hyena.
“I just killed the rest of their family about ten minutes ago. The boy—he.” Eminent Nightfall took a moment to catch his breath. Age had gotten to him. If everything went accordingly, then this would be his last mission. [Master Inquisitor] had promised so himself.
“...he saw my face. I just don’t want him wriggling around when we take him and the rest of the prisoners away,” the aged [Royal Inquisitor] explained.
Ostin snapped his back and gazed at the old man in horror. Had he heard correctly?
“Oops! Sorry.” The [Royal Inquisitor] realised his mistake and corrected it.
He moved too fast for Ostin to react.
His arm moved like a blurry whip as his fist dug into Ostin’s stomach. If he didn’t have perfect control of his strength, Ostin would have died.
Ostin dropped to the ground and went limp.
“I really am getting old. My wrist hurts after that,” Eminent Nightfall groaned as he shook out the pain in his wrists.
Milo was slipping away from reality. Everything was blurry. All five sensations were growing more and more distant. Darkness encroached on the periphery of his vision.
The last thing he saw was the smirking face of Eminent Nightfall.
Unwillingly, Milo fell unconscious for what seemed like an eternity.