BOOM!

Another explosion shook the castle walls and rattled the windows.

Jaskier winced as he heard another explosion, this time much closer than before.

This battle was far from over.

"Sir!" The familiar voice of Sir Gerald called from behind him, "We need to regroup."

With a sigh, Jaskier turned to face his friend.

BOOM!

But before he could say or do anything another explosion shook the very ground he stood on

This time it was coming from the west, near where the walls met the ground, and not the east.

“You know what to do," the voice of his captain commanded.

“Make sure there aren’t any of them on the walls when you attack.”

" Do we need them for bait?” someone from far behind shouted but no one bothered to reply

“MOVE!”

The group that had assembled before him nodded and began slow marching.

Their next order was simple.

"Fire!"

This command was followed immediately by a great roar as the fire arrows began flying towards the enemy's supposed location. As fire rained down on the very castle they swore to protect Even more, archers gathered ready to shoot, ready to break their sacred oath.

All because of one man

Jaskier shuddered as he heard another explosion.

This time There were screams from within the walls.

He knew some it was from His fellow men, men who must have been severely injured during the first barrage, but no one seemed willing to give up or surrender or stop instead, they continued shouting orders in the direction of their fallen comrades,

they were ready to sacrifice everything.

Jaskier had seen more blood and gore during this battle than in his entire 129-year-old military career.

A loud roar sounded overhead and Jaskier looked up to see a dragon diving toward the castle walls, roaring loudly, it must have decided to make another pass-through.

Jaskier looked around stunned at the carnage, destruction, and death that had taken place since this morning.

In his mind, he could still hear the screams of those that died fighting against that monster the man who just barged in

{one man, one man did all this}

the thought hit him like a hammer, and he stumbled back away from the wall, tears streaming down his cheeks. He covered his face with his hands.

BANG!

Jaskier's head snapped up. Was that just an arrow? Or had that been an explosion caused by that weapon? Did even matter? did their actions have any meaning?

Jaskier felt his mind wander unable to help himself

He began to think to doubt

But why…he thought, staring blankly into nothingness, why are they unable to stop him?

"Sir, we're closing in on his position," one of the soldiers beside him said, snapping his attention to the front once again, as they moved into the castle toward the throne room.

There was an unmistakable crackle of thunder above them.

BOOM!

The very air began to crack as lightning danced in the sky.

CRACK! The ground shook

As a horrified Jaskier watched the dragon got hit by one of those blue thunderbolts and then fall to the ground

"Holy goddess help us all" he whispered in horror and disbelief.

"LET'S GO! LET'S GO!" the loud booming voice the captain used rang clear but Jaskier was too distracted by what he just saw.

"WE HAVE TO STOP HIM!" The captain shouted and the whole battalion seemed to agree with this sentiment as they rushed toward the throne room

Jaskier just followed absentmindedly and blindly, trying to block out the sound of a dying dragon.

{a fucking dragon}

he thought again

{he is able to kill the fucking dragon}

{what use are we against him}

"Good gracious lord what good are we against him" Jaskier muttered the thought out loud as they marched forward

As the despair filled Jaskier he was startled when the attack came.

Jaskier felt the attack before it actually came and maybe that is what save him or maybe it was just dumb luck that he survived that but whatever it was he survived and for that he was grateful

he felt the hairs on his neck stand on end, as the air around them crackled and sizzled with heat

, as though he had stood in the midst of a bonfire

then something flew past him and as it flew right past his ear it let off a piercing scream that deafened him

another second later the blue dazzling lightning arcs came like dancing snakes and hit them

then a powerful force swept Jaskier off his feet and threw him forward into the wall,

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and everything went black for a moment then suddenly everything was back and the smell of smoke hung heavy in the air

Jaskier tried to get up but his arms and legs were refusing to obey his commands,

he heard nothing but a ringing sound as he tried to look around the only thing that obeyed him was his eyes

Jaskier opened his eyes to see the beautiful throne room, the ornate marble floors reflecting the fiery glow of the mana crystal hanging from the gorgeous chandeliers on the ceiling,

the golden statues and paintings that lined the walls,

and the many banners

and the royal family huddled in the corner whimpering and trembling as a dozen royal knights flanked them to protect them.

Jaskier blinked a few times trying to clear his eyes before looking back at the royal family,

the great and powerful king was whimpering and crying on the floor next to him was the queen also whimpering and crying as she held the helm of the king's cloak and the little away was the crown prince staring in abject terror,

at the scene, before him, he could see everything but he heard nothing but ringing in his ears as he struggled to focus his vision and get up and go to them...but the ringing in his ears wouldn't leave...and so instead he crawled on his hands and knees toward his king, ignoring the burning pain in his body,

in his head at least he did so but in reality, he just lay there looking up at the terrible scene as his comrades, commander and captain lay right beside him at least what was left of them.

the mangled bodies of the royal guards littered the floor and the other members of their company scattered about the room in various states of disarray his friends, his comrades, his companions lay sprawled around him some with wounds, some without wounds, but they all lay dead or worse, dead in bloody pools of their own blood. Tears streamed down his cheek, and his breathing grew heavy and shallow he gasped for breath desperately and tried to crawl away in hopes of escaping this nightmare but he couldn't move he couldn't think he couldn't feel.

Something caught Jaskier eye and

Jaskier froze in horror as he saw the man no that was no man that was the monster standalone right in the middle of the carnage

"Lotan" Jaskier whispered

THE BEAST THAT DESTROYS EVERYTHING

not a speck of blood could be seen on his pristine black outfit Jaskier felt cold as he saw the floor that was covered in the blood of his fallen comrades, but there was nothing on the man, not even a single drop of blood or a stain or even a god dammed wrinkle.

He looked more like a Noble attending ball rather than the monster who had just killed and destroyed more the half of the royal retinue

the royal knights formed a circle around the royal family as they stretched out their hands the mana in the air fluctuated as complex runes, sigils and diagrams appeared in front of the knights

Jaskier soon realized what the knights were trying to do.

They were trying to seal the void in hopes of cutting off the ambient mana available to the man

Jaskier didn't dare move, his heart beat so hard it threatened to burst his chest he couldn’t take his eyes off the scene before him his heart felt like it would leap out of his chest any minute,

He watched as the knights struggled with the task in front of them as more and more magical energy poured into the area surrounding them but no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t stop him

Jaskier looked back at the man who was now calmly attending to his pistol as the knights were desperately trying to complete their task.

the man was dressed in all black clothes there wasn’t a single part of his body that was not covered in black except for his hands that glowed with a soft white light glow and his face

his face was the most intriguing part of the man according to Jaskier his face displayed perfection and beauty

his flawless beautiful face, the face of someone that would be feared by everyone

His hair were jet black and fell around his shoulders almost like they were made of water

as he looked around the room, he seemed calm and collected but as Jaskier took in the sight of his face he looked...possessive, cruel even happy

Jaskier could see the hatred burning in his eyes

But Jaskier was mesmerized by the man when a bolt of pure golden lightning ripped through the air striking the man right between the shoulder blades,

But the man did even notice the attack as he just calmly attended to his pistol,

{was he perhaps cleaning it}

Jaskier thought terrified as he tried to crawl again to the barrier but his limbs refused to cooperate

the Jaskier froze as he watched in horror as the man calmly pointed his pistol, at the group, and blue lightning appeared and began arcing and dancing around him like flames

a blue hue filled the room

the man’s mouth moved perhaps he said something but Jaskier couldn't hear a word over the ringing

Jaskier tried to look away from the scene before him to no avail

his own breathing grew louder as his heart raced faster than a speeding horse he could barely breathe as he watched the man raise his arm and point his gun straight at the king's head

Then the man pulled the trigger and Jaskier flinched expecting one of those devastating attacks that killed his entire battalion,

but nothing happened as the lighting around the man disappeared along with all the ambient mana in the room.

The chamber turned dark and the knight closest to the king fell to the ground unconscious.

{Mana Burn}

{They succeed, in putting up the barrier}

{Now the effect of the mana burn is in place no one could use any technique that involved the usage of mana} Jaskier thought happily as he watched the royal knight cheer

The king jumped in excitement and pointed at the man angrily

as he shouted something at the man, more profanities Jaskier imagined as he relaxed on the ground in relief

The king started barking orders at the soldiers who gathered around the king as and began loading their crossbows.

Jaskier couldn't hear a word he shouted over the ringing in his ears

he could also see another group of soldiers came in

Jaskier looked up as the soldiers rushed into the fray and surround the man as they pointed his weapon at the man.

Jaskier then looked toward the man who still pointing the pistol at the king

Jaskier felt a smile form on his lips, a feeling he hadn’t felt in months welled up inside him, But the expression quickly vanished

when he noticed the man smile like a man who had just won

then he pulled the trigger and Jaskier saw a flash, and as he watched helpless the king fell to the floor

Jaskier felt panic rise inside him, and quickly pushed himself to his feet as he began running toward the king, or at least he tried to

"No" he gasped aloud

another flash and another knight closest to the king fell to the ground. And another and another until in just a few seconds five men and women lay on the ground, lifeless.

A wave of nausea washed over him at the sight

He tried to turn away from the sight but it was useless, every movement felt like a stab to the heart, every movement was agony, and Every step was agony. He didn't feel pain, he felt numb, He couldn't breathe

The man began marching forward as he fiddled with the pistol and then a second later another barge of flashes began and royal knights began to fall one after the other like dominos,

Then the man took out another pistol and began to move like he was dancing and with every movement, another flash occurred and another soldier and knight fell,

until no one but the crying queen and trembling crying prince were left,

As the man reached them, Jaskier watched in stunted horror, As the man raised his pistol and aimed it right at the prince's head

Jaskier felt rage bubble inside of him and he couldn't take anymore

but before he could anything a flash of yellow occurred,

Jaskier could only watch as the prince fell down with a gaping hole in his forehead, blood oozing out of the hole

the queen lunged at the now dead prince, screaming and sobbing hysterically at the loss her son suffered. Jaskier could see that her mind was already lost in the abyss, her heart broken and shattered

as Jaskier finally gave up on standing, as he sank to the ground, he tried to say one last prayer, and hoped, that somehow someone would hear him.

The queen turned toward the man and opened her mouth and said something, maybe beg for her life in an attempt to delay the evitable perhaps or it might have been something else but she never got the chance as another flash occurred and she too fell to the floor. Jaskier watched in horrified disbelief as her body felt lifeless on the prince's corpse.

Jaskier could see the tears streaming down the woman's cheeks, as she clutched the prince's body close to her, while he lay motionless on the cold marble tiles.

Then man turned toward the king and fired once more killing the entire royal family,

Jaskier knew he had no power now, no weapon, no magic, and all hope are gone, so he knew would die here

just like the rest.

It happened so fast that Jaskier could barely comprehend it,

Jaskier lay there numb and helpless,

He watched helplessly as a rift cracked open near the man and a beautiful woman dressed in a red dress came out of it and drifted toward the man no the monster and hugged him tightly. She held his face tenderly, and spoke to him in hushed whispers, then she looked at him her bright golden eyes perched right threw

They were kind sad and full of love at the same time

Jaskier tried to get closer, tried to call out, tried to beg the woman to save him

But his voice failed him, as the world started to darken around him. The darkness engulfed him as his eyelids grew heavy. As his thoughts faded to black...

When the darkness was gone, Jaskier felt himself falling...falling through empty space. Falling...falling...

And then everything went black.