After celebrating their expected victory, Wesley and the others headed back to their homes.

Meanwhile, Dean and Patricia sat at the dining table, their faces buried in their hands.

“So even the Brodik family has fallen?” Patricia quietly whispered.

“Yes… a mercenary group was making a delivery today at their estate, and when they walked through the Brodik family’s gate, they saw hundreds of bodies strewn across the grounds. The entire family, even the guards, were killed.”

Dean continued, “We must be extremely vigilant until the next King is crowned. I’ve been thinking that maybe we should evacuate some of the youngest generation to another city until this thing boils over.”

“Including Wesley?”

“Right.”

They looked toward Wesley, who had returned from school and was playing with his friends out in the courtyard

Dean sighed. “Let’s send them away tonight. The guards have already been briefed for such an occasion and are prepared to escort the younger generation to your family in the Reiniad Kingdom until this is all resolved.

“Besides, the younger generations of our two families have yet to meet. Might as well use this as an excuse for that.”

Patricia looked out the door to her joyful son with pain and longing in her eyes. “It’ll be for the best.”

***

Later that night, in Wesley’s room, he sleepily rubbed his eyes as he confusedly gazed at his mother, who was standing above him and shaking him awake. Alarmed by her restless behavior, he jolted forward, sitting up in his bed. “Why are you here so late? Are we going somewhere?”

“Yes, Wesley.” Patricia lovingly ruffled her son’s hair, her voice shaking slightly. “You’re going somewhere very fun with your cousins for a few weeks. Um, a vacation!”

Wesley relaxed, his expression changing from worried to excited. “Ah! Fun! Where? Where?”

“The Reiniad Kingdom! You’ll be meeting your mommy’s side of the family for the first time! Aren’t you excited?”

“No.” Wesley playfully hit his mother on the arm and smiled.

“Okay, you rascal. Come, we have carriages ready. Your cousins will take care of you, okay?”

Patricia led Wesley through the estate to the entrance and helped him onto one of the carriages. With some difficulty, she began to say, “Remember, be a good boy and listen to your cous-”

At that moment, Patricia sensed a sudden surge of magical energy in the air above her, causing her scalp to tingle.

Danger!

She unceremoniously shoved Wesley into the interior of the carriage, causing him to land with a ‘whuump’ and an “ow”!

“Intruders! Defend the carriages!” As quickly as she could, Patricia frantically began to draw a protective magic seal.

However, even as she drew her own, she saw a hundred magic seals activate overhead.

…

Devastation.

Broken wood pillars exploded outwards from destroyed buildings as various spells assaulted the earth, transforming the previously impressive estate into a ruinous wasteland.

In the midst of it all, Wesley remained huddled in the carriage, too afraid to move. Alas, he was too young to internalize the violence occurring around him.

After a short period of time, the explosions and other various...sounds slowly faded into eerie silence.

Slowly, Wesley crawled his way to the door of the carriage and poked his head out of the opening.

What he saw was a barren wasteland strewn with dead bodies, including those of his cousins, as well as some unknown figures garbed in dark gear.

Wesley bit his hands in an effort not to cry. After calming himself down a bit, he leaped out of the carriage and slowly sneaked his way back to his parents’ house near the back of the estate.

Upon reaching the house, he quickly climbed in through the back window, where his bed provided a convenient landing zone.

But the sight that greeted him was less than comforting.

“Dad!” Wesley’s eyes teared.

His father was sprawled over his desk, a metal spike pierced through his abdomen, his face scrunched up in pain. His mother stood over his father, frantically drawing seals.

As someone born to the Lumient family of the Reiniad Kingdom, Wesley’s mother was an adept user of light magic, which focused on shielding and healing

Infusion of Healing!

This seal was moderately difficult to draw and control, but in the hands of a skilled user like Patricia, it could save people from the brink of death.

Having finished writing the seal, Patricia patted Dean’s head and asked, “I’m about to pull it out. Ready? Try your best to not clench or flex as that will make you lose more blood. It’ll be alright, dear.”

With a grimace, Dean nodded and prepared himself. Meanwhile, Wesley walked up behind Patricia with his eyes wide at the gorey sight.

Patricia pulled the metal spike out of Dean and focused her energy into the finished seal. Instantly, the spell began to work its magic, first by repairing his innards, then mending his outer skin.

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At the same time, she whispered to Wesley. “Wesley, don’t make any noise, okay sweetie? We’ll be fine here.”

By this time, the fighting outside had stopped. Only a few loud bursts of fighting out here and there, while many faint footsteps echoed through the main courtyard.

After a while, the footsteps stopped, and a low voice sounded out from the courtyard, where the carriages had been waiting.

“Have you counted? Have we gotten them all?”

Another voice sounded from the same location. “Sir! We’ve been unable to locate about ten or so members of the Gia family. Of the elder two generations, only two are missing, which leaves eight in the youngest generation.”

“Hm… with that, the Gia family is no longer a threat… but I’d still prefer to tie up as many loose ends as possible. Search all of the houses and make sure there aren’t any in hiding. Report the situation to the client and hold a perimeter around the city for the next week.”

“Yes sir!”

Footsteps spread throughout the estate.

Wesley looked toward his parents. What could they do?

His father’s wound had mostly been patched up, but he was still weakened and would need time and rest to fully recover.

His mother was exhausted, having used a powerful and advanced healing spell. She wouldn’t be able to exert herself much further either.

As for Wesley… he was but an elementary mage, who hadn’t even learned how to draw seals. The invaders had even fatally wounded his father, so how could a mere child like Wesley hold them off?

After a few seconds of panic, Wesley’s parents glanced at each other, and nodded. Dean grabbed Wesley and lifted the small boy over his shoulder.

“Let’s sneak over the back wall.”

They quickly sneaked out the back of their house, away from the main courtyard. In seconds, they’d reached the back wall that separated the Gia estate from the rest of the city. Vaulting over it, they sped toward the city walls. Only when they were far away from the city would they finally be safe!

Unfortunately for them, their pursuers were no amateurs. Although they had sent the majority of their forces into the Gia family’s estate, they had delegated a few sentries to patrol the surrounding area.

It was precisely one of these sentries that had spotted Wesley and his parents escape. He briefly closed his eyes and muttered a few lines, then trailed his targets from the shadows.

At the same time, Dean, Patricia, and Wesley had made it to the wall that separated the first ring of Blue Wind City from the second and third rings.

In the process, they passed a tavern by the name of “The Apple Hut.”

Inside the tavern sat what looked to be a middle aged man, drinking his sorrows away with the bottle of wine in his hand. As the trio of Gia family members sped past the tavern, he cracked open an eye, then groaned to himself.

“That idiot…”

A few seconds later, he disappeared and the bottle of wine crashed to the ground.

“Eh?” One of the waiters in the tavern scratched his head. “Wasn’t someone sitting there?”

Just moments later, Wesley and his parents made it to the city wall, but the gate was closed. Dean adjusted his hold on Wesley, then he and Patricia both jumped high into the sky and flew up and over the walls, landing shakily on the other side.

Despite having escaped the city, Dean and Patricia didn’t dare to rest. After all, despite the deadly situation in the city, to be outside could be even worse. Here, the assassins wouldn’t have to worry about any passerby or city guards getting in their way.

Unfortunately, their only hope for survival was to escape far, far away; they couldn’t be sure if the Gia family’s allies within the city had been compromised as well.

Even as Dean and Patricia sped away from Blue Wind City, fifty assassins quickly tailed behind. Soon, the chase entered a forest.

As the trees engulfed the hooded figures, the leader lifted two fingers, then pointed them forward.

Instantly, twenty assassins surged forward from behind him to cut the escaping trio off.

Moments later, the rest of the assassins caught up as Dean, Patricia, and Wesley, unable to break past the initial wall of assassins now surrounding them, could only stand and await their fate.

Dean and Patricia stood back to back, facing away from each other, with Wesley protected between the two. The situation couldn’t look any worse. Their pursuers hadn’t left any openings, as even the sky was covered, with many of the assassins perched up in the trees.

At this crucial moment, Wesley’s mother made her move.

Light!

It was the most basic of basic spells. For a mage who specialized in light magic, this spell didn’t require a seal; one could quickly channel and release a surge of mana to cast it. However, at this time, the spell’s effectiveness was invaluable!

Blinded by the sudden flash of light, many of the assassins instinctively covered their eyes and turned away.

However, the assassin leader was less than impressed and quickly began drawing a magic seal.

Seeing this, the subordinates who could still see immediately followed.

Before the trio could escape, the leader had finished drawing his seal, and a metal cage formed around the Gia family. After a few seconds, the Gia family still hadn’t been able to escape the enclosure, and the various assassins had completed their magic seals.

A flurry of spells flew toward the trio as they resigned themselves to their fate. Dean and Patricia were hit almost immediately by several spells, but just before the first spell could reach Wesley…

*Ahem*

In an instant, everything in the area froze in place. The assassins, their spells, Wesley, and even Dean and Patricia’s falling bodies paused in the air.

A middle aged man slowly emerged from the shadows of the forest into the center of the conflict and looked down at Wesley.

“I didn’t really think I’d have to help you so soon. Let’s see…”

He looked around and shrugged, then reached down and grabbed Wesley’s head.

“In return for this help, you will have to make a slight sacrifice.”

With Wesley’s head in his hand, he muttered a few words, then withdrew his hand and walked back into the darkness of the forest.

A few moments later, everything began moving again. However, all of the spells directed toward Wesley and the metal cage surrounding him had disappeared!

Furthermore, the kid who had been too scared to make a sound was suddenly yelling at the top of his lungs. The ground beneath him began to frost over, and the surrounding air turned frigid.

One of the assassins was starting to get cold feet. “Sir, what do we do?”

“Shut it!” The leader was somewhat nervous, as he’d never witnessed such a situation before.

“…If nothing happens for a few more seconds, just kill the goddamn kid the old fashioned way.”

One...two…

On the third count, Wesley suddenly went silent.

A mere second later, snowflakes began to softly fall on the forest floor. Moments later, it had transformed into a harsh blizzard accompanied by giant stalagmites of ice that sprouted from the forest floor to form a defensive wall around Wesley.

As the temperature in the area continued to drop and entire chunks of ice crashed down from the sky, many of the assailants were forced to retreat to safety. Even so, several of the assassins were impaled by these shards of ice.

Even their leader, who was close to breaking through to be a King-class magician, fled from the scene with his tail between his legs.

“Shit!” The assassin leader cursed. “This… power is near the peak of the King-class! We didn’t get paid enough for this. We’re leaving!”

Seconds later, Wesley was the only person left at the scene, with his father’s frozen body on one side and his mother’s on the other.

As the last of the assassins disappeared into the darkness, the blizzard subsided, and the ice in the area slowly began to melt. Wesley, who hadn’t moved ever since he’d stopped shouting, suddenly stirred. He patted the ground around him and slowly stood up.

“Mom?”

“Mom?? Dad??? Where are you?”

But try as he might, he couldn’t find his parents.

The world before him was black.

It was all black!