Auriel was suddenly awakened by the sounds of screams outside. At first he thought it was just his imagination but then when he heard more screams following it he jolted awake in an instant. He rushed over to the window to look out of his room trying to figure out what was going on. The sight that greeted him was a wall of flames closing in on all sides, people were running for their lives all with terror stricken faces and blood covered the streets.

‘What in the world?’ Auriel thought while looking out at the once peaceful village.

Suddenly the door to Auriel's room burst open causing him to reflexively whip around and face whoever was there. It was Ryan accompanied by several guards who all looked to have a grim expression on their faces. “Auriel! I’m glad you’re awake! Please come quickly! The village is under siege and we must evacuate!”

Ryan quickly came over and started guiding Auriel out the door. Luckily Auriel didn’t have many things so he was ready and out in a flash. Auriel and Ryan started running out of the mansion surrounded by three guards. When they reached the outside the two guards in front were immediately attacked by some men who were obviously apart of some bandit gang. One guard was immediately slain while the other managed to block just in time to meet his attacker's sword. The bandit that had successfully killed one guard was immediately charged by the guard behind Auriel and Ryan. The bandit stumbled a few steps back before finding his footing again and battling the guard.

Ryan looked in at the scene frozen in terror, the way to the carriage was blocked by the attackers and the fighting was starting to gather some unwanted attention. Auriel quickly assessed the situation and figured the best odds were to get Ryan out of the village. Auriel quickly grabbed the fallen guards sword belt and fastened it to himself, before Ryan could question anything, Auriel grabbed onto Ryan and ran to the carriage.

“Auriel wait!” Ryan screamed in horror as a shadow descended upon Auriel's form. Auriel shoved Ryan behind him as he parried the weapon of his attacker. After the attacking bandit was stunned, Auriel made quick work finishing the bandit off soon leaving nothing but a lifeless corpse. ‘Hm… It seems that if it weren’t for my superior skill I’d be easily overpowered. This mortal body is quite weak...’ Auriel noted as he sheathed the blade quickly. Ryan was in shock at the expert skill Auriel just displayed though he wasn’t left much time to dwell on it as Auriel was already pulling on his arm again. When they made it to the carriage, the butler was inside hiding but as soon as he saw Ryan and Auriel he quickly started to assist them.

“Hurry! We must make haste and leave Lord Kondor and Sir Auriel!” The butler shouted as he got out of the carriage to help the two of them inside. Once Auriel and Ryan were inside, the butler jumped in the driver's seat and cracked the whip. The horses started to sprint down the road at full speed making the carriage jolt abruptly. They dashed past the chaotic scene the village now displayed and soon they were out of the gate and on the road leading out of town.

Ryan, who seemingly has finally calmed down enough to regain his senses, turned to Auriel and grabbed him by the shoulders, “Auriel! Without you I… You saved my life!” Ryan’s eyes were filled with gratitude towards Auriel making him smile cheekily and puff with pride, “This is nothing for a go- guy like me!” Despite his slip up Ryan didn’t seem to notice anything amiss, he was just incredibly grateful and had a newfound admiration towards Auriel.

Their peaceful moment soon died as Auriel caught sight of some riders behind the carriage. “They just won’t give up will they…” Auriel noted as he peaked out the window. Ryan looked out as well and immediately jumped in fear.

“What are we going to do?! They’ll catch up before we reach the next town, much less the Earls estate!” Ryan was once again in a panic and Auriel also didn’t feel so great about this situation. He knew the most important thing was for his survival and goal but he couldn’t just let Ryan perish, he gave him lots of good food! Auriel mulled over it a couple seconds more before finally deciding on a plan.

Ryan looked as if he were about to jump out of his skin from how anxious he was until Auriel placed his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan felt a wave of calm wash over him, completely overriding his previous emotions. Auriel just was testing the extent of his divine ability without using the trump card Diran gave him. He felt it was limited but in this situation not much was needed, and clearly it had done its job and completely erased Ryan’s anxiety.

Ryan blinked at the pleasant feeling dominating his senses, seemingly coming out of a daze as soon as Auriel finished manipulating his energy. “Listen. I’m gonna jump out and hold them off, you get help.”

Ryan’s eyebrows rose in shock, “What! How will you get out of there?!”

Auriel shrugged, “I’ll run away once I get the chance.” After he assured Ryan that he wouldn’t do anything too risky, he then gave Ryan a bit more of his golden jewelry. Ryan was shocked looking at the jewelry and then Auriel repeatedly.

“I can’t just take this!” Ryan shook his head trying to give the jewelry back.

“Right now it’ll only hold me back, just consider it a future investment.” Auriel patted Ryan on the shoulder as the latter gaped at him before climbing out the Carriage window. Auriel climbed to the top of the carriage roof, and looked at the number of bandit’s following on horseback. ‘There’s only five, however that big knight guy in the back looks like trouble.’

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After assessing the situation, Auriel jumped down and somersaulted as he landed. He gritted his teeth through the pain as he drew the sword within the next second and cut the first two horses legs.

“Naeeeh!”

Both of the horses tumbled forward, their riders falling with them and successfully knocking each of them out. The other three bandits slowed their horses to a stop, the flailing bodies of the wounded horses blocking the clear path ahead. The two bandits in front of the bigger one immediately dismounted their horses and charged at Auriel with a roar.

Auriel rose to his feet and readied himself, ‘This mortal body can handle one because my immortal skill is superior but two might be a bit tricky…’ Auriel sweated with nervous and excited energy as the closer of the two bandits extended his sword to him. Auriel defended the blow however quickly finding his strength was outmatched and was forced to step back, diverting the strike to the side. The bandit swung clumsily so he was forced to fall to a knee and stick his sword in the ground for support, giving the other bandit a chance to take the lead. This also benefited Auriel as he immediately hopped on the chance for a quick take down.

The bandit was slightly more wary and took a more stable stance than his fellow criminal before swinging his sword. Auriel met the blade with gracefully parries that chipped away at the bandits body. Soon the bandit collapsed, falling in a pool of his own blood. The clumsy bandit finally pulled himself up to fight but at the sight of Auriel's sword finishing off the first bandit quickly, he hesitated.

Auriel sensed this and immediately came for the bandit's life. The bandits' fearful eyes clearly reflected in the blade of the sword that was coming to take his head. A millisecond before Auriel could end the second bandit's life, a large foot kicked the bandit out of the way and his sword was met with a large claymore. The vibrations of Auriel's sword meeting the big bandit's unmoving weapon sent a shiver up and down his spine. ‘I need to get the hell out of here and fast!’

Auriel quickly jumped back, making a motion to turn tail and run but it seems he wasn’t going to be that lucky. The bandit knight quickly caught up with him, caging him in. Auriel narrowly dodged the claymore coming down on him and seeing how he was left with no other option but to fight he sliced at the closest opening in the bandit knights armor. His blade managed to luckily land a strike on his opponent’s wrist, the claymore user’s grip on his weapon weakening because of it. This gave Auriel a sense of accomplishment however it was immediately crushed when the bandit knights weapon was upon him again in a flash.

Again and again Auriel and the bandit knight danced around each other’s advancing blades in a fury of movement. Auriel had yet to take any injuries from the blade; however the overwhelming power of the larger man was starting to chip away at his mortal body’s stamina.

Throughout the fight Auriel has managed to successfully strike the weak points in the bandit knights armor causing tilted favor of the fight to slowly balance out. Auriel finally managed to make a solid strike at his opponents head, the bandit knight attempted to dodge but only successfully avoiding a fatal wound. Auriel changed the directory of his blade to slice up at a slant, taking off the bandit knights helmet and in the process slicing a gash in his cheek.

Suddenly the bandit knight roared in rage and blindly charged Auriel with his entire body. This took Auriel by surprise because the bandit knight changed tactics completely. With an upward swipe of the bandit knights claymore Auriel soon found himself empty handed and before he could react a large boot kicked him squarely in the stomach. For the first time Auriel felt pain.

Auriel spat blood as he was launched into the dirt road. He bounced and rolled a few paces away from the spot he was standing at moments ago now trying to catch his breath.

‘AAHHHHH! THAT HURT SO MUCH!!!’ Auriel mentally screamed as tears welled in his eyes. He glared at the now cocky looking bandit knight staring down at him. Auriel started to scramble for his weapon only to be kicked back down into the dirt. He coughed again and laid out on his side now too far from his weapon to even consider retrieving it. He had to find a way to run somehow.

Auriel found himself being hoisted up by the collar of his shirt and slammed into a nearby tree now face to face with the bandit knight. He glared defiantly into the bandit knights eyes and thrashed around kicking and clawing at his captor. This made the other man grin evilly however he didn’t do much else. The other man observed Auriel closely, his eyes looking over him with a rather deprived look.

“You know, for a man, I already thought you were short but you’re not bad looking now that I’ve gotten a better look at this pretty face.” The bandit knight spoke for the first time since they encountered each other, sheathing his claymore to touch Auriel's face. Auriel attempted to avoid the bandit knights touch but to no avail as the man was insistent on examining his new discovery thoroughly.

“Usually I don’t go for men, but I think for this face I can make an exception. You really did a number on me and my men so consider this your repayment.” Auriel could feel the bandit knights aura suddenly turn from vicious spikes to a sticky disgusting tar. Auriel curled his nose in disgust, this man was truly evil and he wanted nothing more than to smite him on the spot. If it weren’t for this challenge and his pride he’d have immediately turned this putrid being into dust.

“The second you lay a hand on me, your next breath will be your last. That’s a promise.” Auriel bit back venomously despite the fact he’s clearly at a disadvantage. However the bandit knight obviously liked the defiance that Auriel showed so boldly to him because his aura only pulsed with even more excitement.

“Well that’ll definitely be a problem, but not if my little kitty doesn’t have any claws.” The bandit knight's voice was filled with disgusting mock affection but the threat wasn’t lost on Auriel. Suddenly he wasn’t dangling anymore, finding himself dropped on his feet and getting his head smashed back into the tree. Auriel felt the world was spinning as he fell to his knees. He would have fallen over if it weren’t for the fact the bandit knight decided to use his foot to pin his wrist to the tree. Auriel looked up at the man to glare at him but the sight of the bandit knights claymore in a position to slice at Auriel's pinned arm made his eyes widen, ‘Wait is this guy gonna cut off my fucking arm?!?!? Diran wouldn’t really let that happen would he???’

He struggled to move and tried to shove off the bandit knight's boot but it was useless. The claymore slowly lifted higher and higher, then as it dropped so did Auriel's heart. Auriel turned his head and closed his eyes as he braced himself for pain. It felt like centuries went by in Auriel's mind but it was as if the outside world was at a standstill. Nothing happened for a long time before Auriel got the guts to crack an eye open and see what was going on.

The claymore was mere inches away from Auriel's pinned arm, it was shaking but didn’t move any closer. Auriel's eyes traveled up the blade seeing the bandit knight's hands still grasping the weapon, but also there was a dark gauntlet grasping their forearm.

Auriel blinked rapidly, ‘Eh?’

The bandit knight was stopped by a dark red knight who seemingly came out of nowhere. The new arrival seemed to make both Auriel and the bandit knight both stare in shock although the dark knight's focus was solely trained on the bandit knights face.

“I think you’ve done enough.”