People were still worn by the attack and the defenders were drained. It was time for Anders to make his choice; he could already hear the monsters in front of the group screaming. The elite soldiers of the Church were already on their way and close.

Pained screeches traveled into his ears as the sound got closer and closer. Anders didn't know what choice to make. His mission was finished and he knew what happened, but these people were innocent and even Fiona was here.

He wanted to be able to at least save a few, but at this point it was impossible with Fiona's stubbornness.

His mission from the Federation came first. All he was here for was to infiltrate the city and uncover what the Church was doing.

But now he had to choose as around him, commoners and merchants hid behind rubble, faces drained after weeks of surviving this hellscape.

Grunts and gasps came from behind as men dressed in black leather armor embroidered with crimson branches fell to the elite Church soldiers. Their faces obscured by dark helms, the soldiers wielded curved daggers that glinted cruelly in the dying light

There were 5 and they looked at Anders before closing the distance. Anders tried to raise his arm but groaned in distress as his slightly charred arm lost all strength. He watched as if time slowed down; he watched as a knife slowly neared his eye as he looked at the man wielding it.

'Damn it,' was his last thought.

Just then, a burst of force blew the group of goons away as time seemed to speed back again. Anders looked behind him to see a tired Fiona. She handed him a belt that contained vials with scarlet liquid inside.

"I got these from my father on my birthday. Drink them and fight,"

Fiona had no way to hold off these people, but Anders did. He strapped the vials around his waist before taking one out and drinking it. His arm healed fast, almost as fast as Cain's regeneration. Awe grew on his face as he looked at Fiona.

"You have to explain to me what you did to repel them, as well as this wonderful concoction!"

"I will, now go!"

Anders lifted his sword and charged at his assailants. They appeared to be communicating when he looked at them, but they noticed his presence and separated just as fast. Each went in a separate direction and promptly surrounded him from afar.

Uncaring for their tactics, he kept charging at the one who stayed still as the others now closed the distance.

His sword beamed with lighting itself as sparks formed around the blade and himself. His eyes glowed white as his veins glowed yellow and fluctuated. It was the ultimate form in Truth's Grace, Truth's Smite.

Anders forced his estoc forward. His skin peeled off as the sword itself was against him. He focused his energy, feeling power course through his veins. Sparks flew as he raised his estoc skyward. The air hummed and cracked with electricity.

Then, with a primal roar, he thrusted his sword forward. As soon as his arm fully extended, lightning erupted from the blade's tip in a thunderous blast.

There was no charred corpse. Instead, the force of the attack forced so much energy into the body of the figure that it blew up into bits and decorated the entire street. Pieces the size of Anders's hand all the way to his fingertip littered the ground as he saw one of the man's eyeballs stuck to a road sign, melting from the heat of his attack.

With such power came a price. Half of Anders's body was burnt to a crisp. His skin and muscles were gone as a black crusty material fixed itself on his entire right side. The pain writhed as his other hand uncontrollably shook for one of the vials.

With prior thinking, he smartly moved the belt's side with the vials to his left, keeping them preserved. He raised the vial to his charred lips as he got most of the liquid in his mouth. His senses were gone on his right side - smell, touch, sight, taste, all of it.

Before, the liquid tasted fruity, but now he just felt his mouth hurt as it traveled down his throat. He immediately felt its effects as his body repaired and he watched his skin regenerate as he saw with Cain.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

A feeling he couldn't recognize revealed itself as he watched his skin grow like he was witnessing the birth of life. Anders felt power and more than that....worth. He felt like he finally reached Cain's level. He felt like he could finally get his revenge and prove himself.

This feeling fueled him as he noticed the other attackers still charging at him. They were only momentarily surprised by his actions, but they didn't seem to fear his strength. This led to anger on his part as he felt they were obligated to kneel in front of him.

His sword created sparks as he charged back with mad laughter.

Steel screamed against steel as Anders parried a flurry of blows. He slid past his opponent's guard and buried his crackling blade deep into the man's chest. Blood sprayed as the assassin crumpled. The others closed in, their dark cloaks billowing. Anders charged to meet them.

He cut them down like their companion, one by one, just like Cain. Each time he would take a vial and regenerate instantly just like Cain. He mutilated their bodies as he ended their lives, their blood bathing the ground. Just. Like. Cain!

As the corpses of these supposedly elite troops lay dead around him, Anders felt the inferiority he had for Cain vanish as something else germinated.

'I did it! I'm now like Cain! I reached his level!'

If Cain were here he would instill reality into his foolhardy apprentice. He would say something like "No, you're not a fool" or "It's because you're relying on those potions". But Cain wasn't here to pull Anders out of the realm of imagination.

Anders looked up in the sky as he giggled to himself and everyone looked at him with a mixture of amazement and admiration.

"Quite the show, 1st pupil. Quite the show...I suppose I have no choice but to let you leave," the priest's voice echoed. The people desperately trying to escape became ecstatic and they all yelled and screamed with joy as fists were raised in the air to celebrate their victory.

Anders laughed out loud with a sneer as he kept walking. He led the group to the gate as their expressions grew more and more excited. Finally, this hell was over and it was all thanks to the Federation.

The gates stood before them as the joy couldn't be contained and many began to run; actually, it was everyone. They all passed Anders as he looked bewildered and annoyed at their actions. But his face changed as soon as he heard the whistling of arrows breaking the air.

A blacksmith stared defiantly as the arrows fell, clutching his young son whose face was buried in his tunic. “Don’t look,” he whispered. His grip failed as the arrow pierced his heart. The boy wailed, alone and afraid as even with his father's protection, his flesh was pierced too.

Anders watched as blood flew and the group before him all fell to the floor. Nobody remained standing as bodies lined the ground a few feet to freedom as life left them.

Anders stared for a while, dazed. He scanned the bloodied bodies strewn before the gate, bile rising in his throat.

So much pointless death. The empty eyes of a mother clutching her child pierced his soul. He should have protected them. His fists clenched as regret and fury overwhelmed him.

He reflexively looked down at his waist and saw only a few vials left. His face turned anxious as he ran into the group and looked for someone, all the while the Priest's voice projected into his surroundings.

"As I said, I had no choice in letting you leave. It wasn't the same for them. If you used your head earlier, you would know I had way more men since they were stationed all around the wall and all. Ha ha, I guess you can only blame yourself. What can you do?"

The priest's mockery didn't even notice by Anders. He quickly flipped bodies until relief finally came. He found Fiona, and she was still alive.

"Cough...cough...Anders, I'm sorry. I won't make it,"

"I already know that! Quickly tell me how to make these potions! I need them to be as strong as Cain!"

Even with her dying state, Fiona made an expression of unease seeing Anders's face and hearing his words. His eyes glowed with ominous light and a smile that gave her dying body chills. Anders's face was wrong; his mouth curved so high it seemed like she was in some horrific nightmare.

Still, she decided to respond, "I...cough don't know. As I said...It was a gift from my father."

"Shit! You seriously don't know! Dammit, you stupid bitch! You got me involved in this and you can't even give me a potion recipe!"

Anders stared at the red vials on his waist, the scarlet liquid distorted in the glass. He had gained the power Cain had, but at what cost?

The pained look in Fiona's eyes pierced him worse than any blade. He had sacrificed mercy for might. Was this a necessary evil, or had he lost himself?

It didn't matter anymore, he let go of Fiona's body as the arrow in her back pushed deeper into her body. With a pained gasp, she died. He knew full well he could save her with one of the vials, but he needed them, or at least thats what he told himself.

'I'm sorry Fiona, I need what you have given me to avenge you all... to kill Cain.'

With her death, Anders left without acknowledging the priest and other Church combatants on the walls and roofs around him.

Anders faded into the fog, the vials clinking ominously at his side. Doubt flickered in his mind. Had he traded away too much for power? But the greed in him smothered any remorse.

"Sir, are you sure we can let him go? He knows of the experiments!"

The priest raised his hand and silenced the worries of the men around him.

"Don't worry, it's all in the Lord's plan. It was a bonus that I succeeded in planting a seed that will lead him to madness. His mental state is sure to diminish from what I just witnessed. That miracle liquid is like the drug that will ruin him. The Lord will be pleased!"

The rest of the members kneeled as they all simultaneously chanted due to the priest's words.

"May the Lord bring the End!"

The priest smiled at the zealots at his feet. "Indeed he shall, hahaha."