After witnessing their undefeated Red Horseman slain by a bandit, the hearts of the soldiers were shaken like an earthquake. Their eyes wavered and their hands hesitated. The person standing before them was no man. "It must be a Devil."

In their eyes, the stance of Ethan soaked in red blood, who mercilessly slain a Templer without hesitation, formed a striking image of hell.

In the pairs of Marla's father, he saw an image of striking light as if it just came down right from the sun to vanquish the darkness and seed the land of new spring.

Ethan got back to his mount and decided to join another fight. Dovos and Igüan also gave him a nod, telling him that they would hold off the soldiers by themselves.

As soon as he commanded, Rings took off like a swift gale to the northern field where Clara was fighting Raün.

The captain of the soldiers thought Ethan was fleeing, unaware of the fact that their boss, Raün, was fighting on the north side. He told his men not to chase, to conserve his men. He decided to report to Raün first. "We can track him later. Let's report the causality and treat the wounded." He also let Dovos and Igüan go thinking the bandits had failed their primary mission, to loot the village. He didn't have a faint suspicion that the true goal of his enemies was to kill the Templers.

Dovos and Igüan quickly disengaged and followed Ethan on foot. They needed to kill Raün before the captain noticed their true intentions. It was a race against time. Back when Ethan was fighting Hammer, the soldiers were not serious because they thought Hammer would win. Dovos believed they wouldn't make the same mistake twice. "The moment they notice their boss is in danger, they will come in full force. We must kill Raün before then."

Cleo never imagined it would be an easy match against Raün either. She went full force from the start. Despite that, she found herself being played around like a little brat by Raün.

Her blades had never once landed on Raün even though there were two. Raün easily evaded her attacks like nothing. When she felt the attack would land, she found herself being pushed away by a gust of wind. "Damn you. Laugh while you can. I will rid that smirk off your face the moment I catch you."

"Oh, if there isn't that snake mouth of yours on your face, I may enjoy playing with you. ... Not that I am not enjoying now, though. I find it sexy."

"I find your vile perverted mouth convulsive."

She charged toward him again while gritting her teeth. Unlike the last time though, she pulled a trick. Just when she was about to reach him, she cast vinegrip on Raün. Although it wasn't the real vine, the rough blades of grass grabbed Raün's feet. Even if it held for a second, it would be enough for her to slit his throat.

Unfortunately, Raün happened to cast a spell of his own at the exact moment. Inferno blast. It is the combination of the wind and fire spell. The wind amplified the magnitude of the fire spell forming a blaze. It burned all life forms, terraforming the surrounding green grass plain into a charred dusky barren.

Cleo was also caught by the blaze. It engulfed her whole.

Thankfully, Karla happened to be nearby. Karla quickly threw the cloak Cleo left on the ground earlier. Cleo caught the cloak and used it as a cover. The devastating spell burned the cloak completely but it didn't hit her directly. Karla's fast thinking saved her from getting extensive injuries.

After being blown away from the window by Raün, Karla woke up inside the pig pen. She shoved off the mud from her clothes while worrying that her mother would scold her again for dirtying them. Then she remembered her sister and went back to the building. There, she found a woman in the cloak with bags of coins in her hands standing by the window. Then, she saw her running away with the bags, soon followed by Raün. When she saw Raün was gone, she took the opportunity to save her sister again. "I am fine, Karla. I wasn't hurt. What about you? I saw you blown away."

Karla showed Marla that she was fine. She swung her arms around and jumped to convince her sister. "You silly girl. Then, would you like to help me once more? Can you follow that blonde girl in the cloak and watch her from afar? Of course, don't get close and try to stay out of trouble, though."

"Why? She is just a thief." "Maybe. Or I don't know. I saw her in the eyes and something tells me she is not a bad person." And so, per her sister's request, she stealthily followed Cleo and Raün from afar. Then she found out that her sister's hunch was right. So, she helped Cleo.

"Pitiful. You waited all these years honing your skills, planning your revenge, just to be pathetically saved by a brat. How does it feel when you finally understand that all your plans and dreams become futile? I am sure your father must have felt the same when he went against Lord Mordu'. I still remember his face when he was about to be impaled. It was the same face your sister, Marla, did when she accepted her struggle was futile against the mighty Raün. That pitiful face of helplessness, that face of giving in, that face of acceptance that they are mere subjects to the Lord and his sons; that they live in our mercy. I enjoyed watching that face so much... until you two disturbed me. But I believe I will see a prettier one from you so, it is worth the trouble," said Raün.

He was so sure of himself that he had won the fight. "Show me that face and I may let you live or at least that brat_ after I played with you a little, of course." He proposed a deal.

Cleo laughed at his stupid joke. She spit on the ground in a show of defiance. And then she smirked. "You will never see me making that face, nor you will see it from others ever again. Today is the last day you will roam around the earth and spread your degenerate seeds. You will go to hell where you belong and make that stupid face in the presence of the Great Judge."

As soon as she finished, Ethan jumped onto Raün from behind. He cut him in half vertically. However, it was only the afterimage of Raün.

Raün had to use his most advanced wind spell to evade Ethan's attack. It made him out of breath. He was into talking trash so much that he didn't hear Ethan approaching. Also, Rings stepped stealthily to get close enough then it burst into sprinting to give a boost to Ethan.

"So you have help, huh? It doesn't matter. Just add one more to the number of corpses."

Raün showed his confidence which made Ethan smile.

"You have the same tongue, just like your pupil."

Ethan hinted that he had already dealt with Hammer and that it was his turn next.

Raün quickly understood the meaning. At first, he thought Ethan came here to save Cleo and ran away together. When he found out Hammer had been defeated by them and that two more people joined the enemy, he grasped the direness of his situation. Four against one. He accepted that this would not be an easy fight. "You do come prepared. But I assure you. I am not an easy target. An old tiger is still a tiger. It won't be scared by some monkeys."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Raün swang his sword from the ten feet's distance. Igüan scoffed as it was nowhere near to hurt them. He thought the bastard went full paranoid. Then, suddenly, Raün's sword broke into segments elongating the reach. The pointed tip of the blade flew in as close as an inch to Igüan's eyes until Ethan deflected it.

"Don't lose your focus. We are dealing with a High Templer. Stay on your toes at all times." Ethan warned his team.

Raün clicked his tongue in frustration as his sneak attack failed. Just by a glance, he noticed Igüan was the least experienced. He decided to take him out of the fight from the start but Ethan intervened in his plan.

Consequently, when Raün attacked Igüan, Cleo did not wait for Raün to defend. She circled to the back of Raün and threatened him. Raün quickly drew his sword back from Igüan and stroked it like a whip to Cleo who was at his back.

Dovos saw Cleo was going in so he made a diversion. With his warhammer, he hit a rock from the side breaking it. The force flew the fragments like missiles toward Raün. But they returned to their owner with a blast of wind from Raün. The shrapnel scratched Dovos' armour while a few sank into his arms where there was no cover.

At that time, Ethan went in from the side aiming at Raün's footing instead of the body. Raün stepped back to the other side and attacked Ethan. But his whip-like weapon hit the ground and went off-course instead, just like Ethan intended. Igüan saw the opportunity and jumped on Raün's blade with his shield, attempting to press it down.

Raün noticed Igüan's plan and swiftly retracted his blade to normal. He turned around and deflected Cleo's attack. He managed to block one but another blade cut his thigh superficially. A little deeper Cleo could have cut his femoral artery.

Threatened by consecutive attacks from all sides, Raün took the windsteps again and brought himself out of the encirclement. Windsteps always made him out of breath but it extended his wicked life every time.

"Don't think you will get away easily." Cleo pursued Raün in anger. She loathed him, despised him so much that she might die of choking by frustration if Raün would escape. And it blinded her to not see Raün blade. Like a whip, it came from the side and stabbed Cleo in the abdomen. It hooked in her body and pulled her away.

Ethan swiftly intercepted by cutting Raün's sword from the middle before it ripped open Cleo's belly.

Dovos, on the other hand, stroke a stone like a golf ball. The missile was launched right into Raün's right shoulder, dislocating his bone and disarming him.

Raün quickly cast another blast of spell to keep the distance by blowing them away.

Igüan moved forward and covered the wind with his shield. He slanted the top of his shield so that he didn't have to resist the wind, instead redirecting the wind upward.

"Tch*, fricking pests," Raün swore at the resilience of Cleo and her men. Then, he saw an opportunity. Although he couldn't blow them away, the eyesight was blocked by Igüan's shield. He decided to windstep again and escaped. He saw a pond on his right with a big tree nearby. It was the pond where the village people came to take a bath or wash their clothes. The ground around the tree was raised forming a small cliff by the pond at one side. It was the best spot to hide himself and disappear from his enemies. He executed his plan immediately. By the time Igüan removed the shield, he would have disappeared into thin air.

However, he failed to take into account Karla as his enemy. Karla was standing there at a safe distance all the time, watching the fight. When she saw Raün was running away, she told Cleo right away.

Upon the news of Raün's escape, Dovos finally used the spell which he had been hesitating because it immensely drained his vigour; he wouldn't be able to lift his hammer in the rest of the fight. "Quakadoladoo!" Dovos shouted. It was nonsense. But when his hammer hit the crust of the earth, it split the ground along with a big tremor. The split travelled along the directed position and broke the ground at the base of Raün. It made Raün stumble.

At that time, Ethan threw his sword like a lance. It pierced through the air and went through Raün at the left shoulder blade. The force pulled the stumbling Raün along with it and hooked him at the tree.

"Arg... argh!!"

Raün cried at the immense pain he suffered.

Ethan helped Cleo up and took her to Raün who was helplessly stuck to a tree like a sinner who was about to meet his fate. With one arm dislocated and another torn at the brachial plexus, Raün stood there like a pitiful puppet. Cleo chuckled, "How ironic. You broke my mother's arms with these two arms and now, your arms become like this when you are about to meet your fate. And your face. How I wish I had a mirror to show it to you." She made fun of him. But after laughing too much, her abdomen hurt like hell so she had to sit down and calm herself.

Ethan told Dovos to take Rings and retrieved their horses while Igüan and Karla treated Cleo. He said Dovos to be quick since they didn't have time anymore. "The soldiers will soon be here. Hurry."

After taking care of their escape plan, Ethan returned to Raün to finish the job. Before he ended Raün, he asked a question to which he had been seeking for answer.

"As an agent of God, have you ever felt guilty or felt this is wrong when you did malice to those people?"

As soon as he heard Ethan, Raün laughed as if he heard the most ridiculous question he had ever heard.

"Malice? As a pupil of Lord Mordu', I live by abiding by his teachings. I have only acted sacred duty my Lord has commanded, a blessing for the people."

"Even if it harms the people and they don't want it?"

"The Lord wills it and I deliver. Only the Lord is the truth."

Ethan sighed, shaking his head, "Or maybe you idolised the wrong god. Believed in a trickster. Fell in his trickery. I pitied you. What a sad ending."

"There won't be a happy ending for you, either. When you lay your hand on an agent of God, there is only one thing awaiting you, Hell."

"Then, we shall meet again in the fiery pit. For now, I am sending you first. Say hi to Hammer for me."

Ethan slowly put the dagger into the left chest and ended Raün's life.

The team rode away from the scene as soon as Dovos returned with their horses. The soldiers of Temple tried to pursue them but they did not have enough mount to do so. The only mounts left were a horse carrying Raün's golden carriage and the oxen pulling the carts full of extorted goods called 'devotion'.

After letting the criminals who murdered the two sons of Mordu', the soldiers of Temple realised that the only fate awaiting them at the temple was death. They doubted the Temple would let them redeem themselves. They would be executed brutally in the most excruciating ways then they would be sent to burn in hell without being allowed to reincarnate. Frightened to the core, they scattered away into the mountains without pursuing revenge.

All that was left was two corpses and a story made up of villagers in fear of reprisal.

"A group of soldiers assassinated their own Templers in sleep and ran away with items of devotion."