It's almost midday.

We are approaching the gates of Hullbeck wall.

The gates are closed and there are a lot of people standing by the side of the road. Carriages, merchants, peasants and even some low nobles.

“Why are the gates closed?” I murmur to myself.

“Halt!” A black hair guard by the gate shouts to us.

He asks ‘us’ to stop? With the gates closed and in the middle of all these people? This is not a good sign.

“Are they onto us?” Nora asks, worried.

“Hmm.”

It’s not an impossible scenario, but we would need to be one of the unluckiest persons on Earth.

Oh wait, I am one of those.

“Maybe we should turn back?”

“Too late now. If we run away, it will only raise suspicion.”

Nora looks back at the guard worried.

“Just act natural. What will be will be.”

She nods. “Ok, I’ll try”

I pull the reins and stop Mark. The guard walks in our direction.

Everyone is looking at us. The merchants stopped doing their trade just to watch. The nobles stop chatting to see us.

Not good.

I prepare to summon my bow just in case.

“State your business.”

“... Just passing through.”

“Oh? The city is in quarantine you know?”

My heart begins to pump faster as if predicting that there will be trouble. I can feel the mana in my hands, ready to use.

“Get down off of the horse.”

“Is there a problem?”

“Kid don’t make me repeat myself, get down!”

“... Fine.”

I pass the reins to Nora and get down of Mark.

Nora is extremely nervous. She’s constantly changing her gaze between me and the guard.

He gets closer.

“Huh, tough body. Why are you here coward?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t ‘huh’ me. You’re a fuckin deserter! You should be cleaning barracks and peel potatoes!”

The fuck is this?

I look around. Everyone has a resentful expression and watches us with indignation.

I understand now. They are not suspecting anything. This is just bullying.

The people around here already knew what was going to happen, thus why they turned their attention as soon they noticed the guard telling us to stop.

“Hey, kid!”

I turn my head towards him, but as soon I do so, something hard hits me right in the face.

The strength and the surprise made me fall to the side. Supported by my arms and knees, I see the blood dropping on the ground. He broke my nose.

“AL!!!”

You son of a bitch...!

“Who the fuck told you could look away!? When a senior is talking to you, you keep the eye contact!”

I put my hand on my face and rub it, to spread the blood across it. I have to hide the wounds, they will heal in any minute. He can’t notice that.

“Look at me kid!”

“...”

I get up and meet his gaze. The wounds already healing, but since my face is covered in blood, he won’t notice.

“What’s with that look uh!? Show more respect!”

He swings his sheathed sword and hits me in the stomach.

It hurted a bit, but unlike my face, it’s not a weak spot. He notices my lack of reaction.

“I’m looking at you like you asked, is there something you want jackass?” The anger got the best of me and I said that unconsciously. I hope he ignores it and just let us go. We shouldn't attract attention.

“Well well well, the kid has a mouth.”

He unsheathes the sword and points it at me.

“Tsk.”

“Afraid kid? You should be. This is a real sword and it kills. One simple slash and you can kiss your life goodbye!”

“...”

My expression doesn’t waver. He expected me to show fear I bet.

The abuse of power, the use of fear, torturing someone just for fun… Unforgivable!

People like you should be hanged!

“Kid… Are you not aware of what this thing can do?”

“I do. I even pity you for relying too much on it.”

“What!?”

“C’mon, I dare you, use it. Try to kill me fucker.”

“You…!”

He hesitates. Any coward would if their target challenged them to kill them.

It would be best if he just gave up or if I faked it and pretend that I was scared, but I don’t care at this point. Scum like him, deserve to sleep 5 meters under the ground.

After a moment, he finally makes his mind and strikes. He throws his arm forward aiming for my chest. I dodge to the right and dash forward. I grab the hand holding the sword and strike his elbow with my right knee. It breaks and bends in an impossible angle.

He let’s go of the sword.

“AHHH!”

To finish, I put all my strength on my kick to his chest, making him fall behind a few meters.

“Ahhh! My arm! You motherf--!”

“What’s the matter!?!? Where’s your bravado uh!!? Is that all!? C’mon! Get the fuck up!”

I walk towards him.

His expression turns to fear and he tries to crawl away.

"Help me!" He calls the others.

Keep calling for help loser. I’m going to pick you up and rip off your face! I’m gonna break off your teeth and feed them to you! I’m gonna--!

“Al.” Nora calls me.

“What!?” I look behind, still enraged.

She’s looking at me, worried.

“You’re being… Just like in that dream.”

“...”

“You won. Please… Let’s just go.”

… Dammit, I almost lost it again, like in that day...

“Hey!” Another guard shouts. “Get on the ground! And you get off the horse!”

He and another five are running towards us. But unlike this one, they are mage guards.

I immediately run to Mark and mount him.

I was going to grab the reins, but as soon I got on Mark, Nora kicked him and drove us away from the walls.

“Stop!!” The guards keep shouting.

One of them mounts a horse by the side of the road.

“Hey! That horse’s mine!”

“And your country needs it!”

He starts his chase.

The other five turned back. They are going to get their own horses.

“Mark is strong, but there’s no way he can run faster than them with us both mounting him.”

“What do we do Al!?”

“Keep running! I’ll come up with something!”

Nora follows the road away from the city.

For a while, Mark manages to run at a good speed, but the long travel and the weight are taking their toll on him.

The guards are getting closer.

We have to split up. There’s only one way this is going to end.

She doesn’t need to see it.

“Nora, keep riding as long as you can. Order me to come back in half-an-hour.”

“What!?”

“Don’t stop!”

I jump off the horse and roll on the ground.

With my knee on the ground, I raise my torso and look towards the incoming guards.

“Al!!”

She pulls the reins and slows down.

“What are you doing!? Get out of here!”

“...” She hesitates for a second. “Alright, be safe!” She kicks Mark once again and they run away.

Alright, let’s give them a reason to ignore Nora. This place is far enough from the city

I extract 200 mana units and direct them to the first guard.

“Mana!!” He shouts.

The same guard extracts negative mana and neutralizes my attack.

He stops right then and there, as does the others when they get close to him.

“Wait, he casted the mana!?” One of them asks.

“That’s impossible! He’s black hair!”

“But it was him! I felt it coming from h--”

“It was me, dumbasses.”

“...” They look at me, perplexed.

“How or why doesn’t matter. What matters is that I can use magic and I have reasons to kill you all.”

“What?”

“Long ago, I promised myself I would never succumb to rage anymore. I promised that if I kill anyone, it would be as sane and conscious as possible. But…”

I extract 17000 mana.

The guards expressions turn into fear. They don’t have enough mana to counter it and their equipment will not save them.

“That doesn’t mean I won’t kill or feel anger. You just sat and watched while your friend did what he wanted. No… You guys probably did the same before. With other people”

“...” They keep their silence. I can notice their nervousness and fear. If anything, they just want to run away.

“Regardless of my feelings, you saw me using mana. You also suspect who I am by now, don’t you? I can’t take the risk and let you live.”

“A-ah…”

I divide the mana into several parts, so it doesn’t create World Magic.

“So… Let’s see how you fare,” I ignite one of the parts on fire “against someone who can fight back.”

***************

I feel mana behind me, in the distance.

“Just why!? Why can’t we just get home without fighting!”

This is so unfair!

I’m not dumb Al! I know what you are going to do!

“Gh… Alright! This is far enough! Stop Mark!”

I pull the reins. I turn him to the side and look back where I left Al.

“He’ll be done in—”

*WOOOSH*

Something just went past me. Something grazed my right cheek. I feel pain. A small cut. Something cut my cheek.

I put my fingers on it and look at them. Red. Blood.

I look behind me. An arrow is stuck on the ground a few meters away.

“Did, someone, just…”

I’m dumbfounded. I can’t believe what just happened.

Who would–

WHAT AM I DOING!? I have to run!

My instincts kick in and I kick Mark, but as soon I do that, another arrow hits Mark thigh.

Mark whines louder than never before. I never heard, or imagined that, a horse could whine so loud.

He rears.

“No no no, don’t!”

I did my best to hold on but in the end, the inclination was too high and I had to hold on the reins. But it wasn’t enough. I fall on my back on the ground.

“Ahh!”

Ouch, ouch!

I hear Mark running.

No! Mark is running away! Damnit!

Ugh, fast! I need to do something before he shoots again!

I look in the direction from where the arrows came.

“Take this!”

I extract 6000 mana units and set everything in front of me on fire.

“...”

I get up.

“Did I get him?”

The trees and grass are aflame, but I don’t hear any screams or anything. People would scream if they were on fire, right? They wouldn't die instantly.

So… I didn’t get him?

!!!!

My heart races. My legs are shaking. I look frantically everywhere.

“Where are you!? Show yourself!!” I scream with everything I have.

No response.

“If you don’t show yourself, I’ll set everything on fire!!!”

Still no response.

Damni—!

!!!!!

I heard something!

I look to the left. Someone with a dark cloak is stepping out of the bushes.

“Wh-who are you!? What do you want!?”

He stops. He’s looking at me.

“Sorry, I don’t want to do it, but I have to kill you.”

That was a female voice!

She gets a knife out of the cloak.

“Stop! I don’t want to hurt you.”

She dashes towards me.

“Gh!”

I use Physical Magic to raise a 4 meters pillar of the ground and then launch it against her.

Then I notice a shadow on the ground. I look up. She jumped over it!

She’s coming right at me from above! I jump to the side and avoid her knife.

“Why are you doing this!?”

She ignores my question and strikes me again.

“Ah!”

I dodge her knife again.

I cast Fire Magic again and burn the area in front of me. But like before, she jumped so high and just in time to avoid my magic.

That’s too fast! She’s using Inner Magic!

I jump again just in time to avoid her knife.

I look at her. The hood on her head fell back.

She’s a light blue mage.

***************

I only needed a few minutes to finish them. All but except one.

The road is filled with blood, corpses and ashes. Five guards were killed right here.

Painful or not, I made their deaths quick.

The sixth guard will follow them soon enough.

Next to a burned corpse, is a guy still breathing, but struggling to move.

No wonder. The weight I’m putting on him with Physical Magic is similar to of a bull.

“Ghhhh! Damnit…!”

“So, who am I?” I ask as I crouch near him.

“You are– ghh! The traitor! You and the bitch are both traitors!”

“So you say. What were your orders about us?”

“Go to hell… Why should I tell you?”

I shrug. “You shouldn’t, but I think you should reconsider telling me.”

“Reconsider my ass you scum!”

*sigh*

“You do realize your position right now, don’t you? Your fate is in the hands of a guy with enough reasons to kill you. Do you really want to give me more reasons?”

“Curse you…” He rests his face on the ground and seems to be considering something. Then he raises his head again. “If I tell you, will you let me go?”

“Yes.”

“Can I trust you?”

“Yes, you have my word. Tell me everything, and you can walk away.”

“Ok… We were told to pay attention for a young guy and a teenage girl. They said that they— no, you would probably be hiding your hair with hats or hoods.”

“And?”

“And that there was a small chance that you would have dyed your hairs. In black.”

“And what were you to do in case you found us?”

“Just report it to the captain. We were told to leave you two alone.”

“I see.”

We have to be careful. Black hair will not be effective for long.

“What bad luck… Of all the people, you two had to be them… That’s why we couldn’t believe that you were him! Facing a S Servant just like tha—”

“Thanks for the info.” I get up and walk away from him.

“Ah, hey! Can I go then?”

“No.”

“Wha!? But you said—!”

“Sorry, I lied.”

I increase the weight on him. I hear sounds of bones and metal crushing, as well blood splashing everywhere.

I certainly don’t need to see the scenario.

*sigh*

Now I just have to wait for Nor—

A huge urge to meet her rises inside of me.

Yup. The order just came in. Better use Inner Magic to get there fast.

I use Accel Magic and run through the road.

***************

“Aaahh!”

“Ugh!”

It’s only been a few minutes, but it’s like it was hours!

Dodging, jumping, casting Fire Magic, that was everything I did until now.

I tried my best to hit her with Area Magic, but she keeps avoiding it with impossible jumps!

I’m tired and I’m running out of mana. Only ten thousand or so left. I wasted too much!

This is bad!

But she also has to be running out of mana, right?

“Haaa!!”

She dashes forward again.

What do I do!? If I attack her again with Area Magic, she’ll just dodge it!

Wait… That’s it!

The reason she always avoids my attacks is because she senses the mana being extracted. And just before I ignite it, she jumps out of the area! She’s just too fast!

What if I change my tactics?

She gets close and throws her arm forward, aiming for my chest. I quickly let myself fall on the floor.

“Wha?”

She’s practically on top of me.

This is my chance!

I put all the Strength Magic I can muster on my right leg and kick her in the stomach. She’s sent flying at least ten meters away.

She falls and rolls on the ground, with her arms around her abdomen. She’s screaming in pain.

I get up and look at her.

“Why are you forcing my hand?” I murmur.

She’s on the ground, defenseless.

… Should I kill her now...?

I don’t want to, but I don’t know if I can stop her if she tries again. She won’t fall for the same trick twice.

Maybe I can persuade her to stop? But she was so intent in killing me… Will she even hear me out?

“Why do you want to kill me!? What do you want!?”

Moaning, she gets up slowly.

“Ghee, I need to see them again— gah! Eehhh! And killing you is the only way!”

“Why?”

“You don’t need to understand.” She coughs blood. “I’m really sorry. I don’t want to, but I need to.”

She’s really going for it again…

“My family can help you! Stop this! I can help you!”

“You can’t, uff, there’s only one way to meet them again. Prepare yourself, this time I’m going all out. If you fail to stop me, I will kill you.”

So that’s it...?

Then you don’t leave me any choice.

I muster my courage: “Then I’m sorry too. I don’t want to die. I have friends that I want meet again, I have a family that I want to laugh with again, I have a person… Who I want to know better and be more with. If you don’t give me any other choice, I'll kill you.”

I made up my mind. I must protect myself. If she wants to hurt me, then what happens is her fault.

I ready myself.

And not even a moment later, she jumps straight forward. I extract 4000 mana and cast Physical Magic. As predicted, she jumps.

“Got you!”

I extract 6000 and cast Fire Magic in the air where she is.

A big fireball ignites in the air.

Did I get her?

Nothing comes out of the fireball and seconds later, it extinguishes.

There’s no body or scream… I didn’t get her…

“Oh no.”

I feel too dizzy and tired. My mana is depleted.

I fall on the ground. Sitting, I try to look for her, but my dizziness is getting the better of me and I can barely keep my eyes open.

“You almost got me.” She appears in front of me.

“Just how did you...?” I look upwards to see her face.

She doesn’t have her cloak anymore. I can see her light blue hair, just like the sky.

“You aimed for the wrong place. I threw away the cloak when I jumped. That’s what you aimed for. You also wasted too much mana with each attack.”

“...”

Does this mean…

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it painless.” She comes closer

“*sniff*”

My tears start flowing.

This is the end.

I’m sorry Al. I really tried. Now you are also going to die because of me.

She gently raises my face to expose my neck.

I feel the metal touching my throat.

I close my eyes.

I’m really sorry Al.

*WOOOSH*

*THUNK*

I hear the knife falling on the ground as also a body. I open my eyes, only to see the girl’s body on the floor… With an arrow on her head.

“Nora! You alright!?”

Al...

That’s the last thing I hear before falling unconscious.

Alright, here it is. Sorry for the delay.

I wrote a chapter in the last week but I wasn't happy with it. I deleted it and started over again.

Sorry about that : Real life sucks sometimes.