Taume's body fell forward, landing heavily. Zein could only look on in shock as his cousin, one of the few people he had in this world, fell, his midsection blackened from the flames. They still danced around his body, illuminating the burns even further.

Suddenly, chills ran up his spine. The kid had been just in front of Taume and yet when Taume fell, he'd fell straight down on the ground. Detecting vision in his periphery, he turned and saw Lucas' eyes.

Immediately, he was locked, the only movement he could make being his eyes focusing on Lucas'. Still, even then, it was completely out of his control. His eyes were locked on Lucas' eyes.

Zein, very rarely, felt fear. He was a tall man, at 6'7 (2 meters) and well built. Additionally, his magic prowess, while weak, was nothing to scoff at in and around Heussel. Yet while looking into the five year old's cold piercing eyes, his blood cooled and stagnated.

He watched in dread as Lucas took a step toward him. His vision began popping, black dots jumping around. He felt something inside of him break and in that moment, he trembled.

Immediately, Lucas' eyes lost their light and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Zein repeatedly blinked, partly to refresh his now stressed eyes but also because he felt like he was opening them the first time each time he did so. It was like something had had a hold on him or blanketed his vision and it was now being uncovered.

He looked down at Lucas, gripping his sword. He wanted to kill him but it was like all his resolve had vanished. His mind was in turmoil, debating it.

On one hand, there was nothing the kid had done to him that he wouldn't do in his place. His uncle had just wanted to take him on a trip outside their castle and this happened. There was no logic behind it. He couldn't understand how he'd just gone along with this plan so easily. On the other hand, he was at a point of no return. He was likely doomed either way. However, as long as Lucas wasn't alive, he couldn't be targeted directly. This was unless his fellow villagers snitched on him but that was stupid. Just like they knew who he was, he knew exactly who had encouraged or help plan the act.

Ultimately, he shook his head and walked towards Lucas. He would kill him. He should, at least, go through with it.

However, just then, the shaft shook. Looking up from Lucas' body, he scrutinized the collapsed rocks. They were moving.

He stared in dumb confusion for a few seconds before a fear crept into his mind. They'd never confirmed whether or not Batain was truly dead. Logically, he should be. They'd caught him off guard, forcing him to endure all the rocks with his physical body which should be much weaker.

Still, unless he was hallucinating, the image in front of him was irrefutable. Suddenly, fire burst from the rubble and Zein was forced to jump back. However, he was smart enough to pull Lucas along with him. If Batain really was alive, he needed some leverage.

More bursts of fire shot out of the debris before a massive explosion blinded Zein, forcing him to look away. Once the wave of yellow and orange light faded and he could see again, he looked back up to see a saber a foot away from his head, slicing down towards him.

He tried to use Lucas as a shield while dodging but at that point, it was far too late. He didn't have time to say goodbye to the rest of his body before he was disconnected from it.

Batain put his sword away before grabbing Lucas from the, now headless, corpse's arms, picking him up in one arm and slinging him over his shoulder. Then he torched the man's body, leaving nothing but blackened bones.

He looked back at the other body he'd found before walking over and doing the same. This time, though, he grabbed the skull and put it in Lucas' bag.

Batain Cazenarch was in horrible shape. He had scrapes and cuts all over his arms and torso from the constant shifting of rocks. In fact, he'd broken his left arm leaving it swollen and twisted. Luckily for him, he'd realized what was happening in time, and tried to shield himself as best he could with mana. If not for that, he'd likely be dead.

They'd planted a simple trigger array that would start as soon as enough pressure was felt and trigger a chain reaction that brought the rock walls crumbling down and inwards.

Having already realized that, Batain's mana roiled as he fumed at the idea of him being caught off guard to such an extent. It wasn't difficult to spot at all. It was entirely unlike him to fall for such a simple scheme.

Of course, he'd already understood why he'd fallen for it so easily. While in the rubble, he'd evaluated his condition and discovered a strange lingering mana in his body Specifically, it was a worm of mana, that had slithered into his brain. He could feel it dulling his senses.

It was only once he fully removed it and recovered his battle-ready state that he broke out of his stone chamber. It was clear that this had been planned from the start with Marie poking him in the chest. He should have noticed it then, that a random woman shouldn't have the strength to draw blood with a single poke. Yet even just after the implantation, the magic immediately took effect. Or maybe, she'd somehow implanted the mana even before that. Either way, he hadn't noticed a thing.

He began walking out of the shaft, glancing at Lucas' unconscious body a couple times. Lucas had noticed something was off just in time, though.

He wasn't suspicious of him or anything. After all, it wouldn't make any sense for him to be related to a small village like this. However, it was interesting that Lucas had figured it out. Maybe the kid had some sort of ability to recognize danger subconsciously and perhaps he had frozen up upon realizing the danger in front of him, instead of notifying Batain so he could be on guard as well.

Batain sighed, using water to wash away some of the blood. He didn't really understand Lucas. The more time he spent with him, the more he found Lucas to be a bit of a mystery. He was arguably better in technique than Batain, picked up magical concepts incredibly quickly, and it was difficult to forget weird incidents like the time Lucas had gotten possessed by the sword and slashed him. It suggested a freakish amount of intimacy with the weapon and just now, Lucas had defeated a full grown man with decent magic propensity, seemingly with the dagger that he'd gotten just today.

All of these factors combined made Lucas seem too much of a prodigy. At this rate, he might grow up to be better than Leroy. It truly was strange though. He'd think Lucas was some reincarnated sword master or something if it weren't for his occasional temper tantrums. He really was just a talented child.

Batain's mana, which had calmed while he quietly walked, grew violent once again. These bastards had tried to kill his nephew and snuff out his talent.

It was just then that he approached the bright opening of the shaft, hearing voices coming from outside.

"You see, brothers and sisters with Filou, anything is possible. You heard the cave-in. Zein and Taume should be returning shortly. We have taken down two members of the Cazenarch lineage, one of them being Batain Cazenarch." A couple gasps could be heard at that. Batain didn't purposefully do much to enhance his image but his lengthy battle records still made him an intimidating figure to some. The man in question, though, paid no attention to the gasps, focusing in on the voice.

"With Filou's magic, even the most brilliant noble becomes an idiot. He's far more powerful than any of the nobility. That being said, he isn't all-powerful and neither are we. We need to-, oh Brother Zein-"

Marie's words caught in her throat. She'd originally been talking about a plan going forward before she saw some movement at the mine shaft's opening. Assuming it to be Zein, she said so without thinking before recognizing who it truly was.

Batain's dark baggy eyes looked around. Outside the shaft was a gathering of several dozen people with Marie at the center. It wasn't anywhere near the full village but it was a surprising amount. 'Is his magic that good or do they all just hate that guy?' Batain mused. A lot of people transferred their hate of Batain's father over to him which both amused and annoyed him. It wasn't like he asked to be the count's son.

Of course, it was more likely the former. If it had managed to dull his instincts to that extent, it probably gave Filou easy control over most people.

Everyone stopped moving around and turned to follow Marie's vision. There was no shortage of goosebumps when they saw Batain, not fully well but still perfectly alive.

The man, himself, seeing that everyone had their attention on him for at least a moment, cleared his throat. "You are all guilty of conspiracy and treason and every single one of you will be executed."

Immediately after saying that, Batain sent out fireballs at Marie and those closest to her. Just as quickly, she responded with a blast of air that blew the ball of flame out. In response, he blasted rocks at the entire group. Though Marie managed to deflect those coming at her, several others collapsed, overwhelmed by the sheer speed.

His eyebrows slightly raised on their own. She was much more powerful than he gave her credit for. He quickly changed his mind. While he had intended to simply kill everyone here and report the matter to Regis, it was better he actually captured Marie. The rest, he would still kill.

Everyone else finally began to react, either running, simply panicking, or sending their own spells at Batain. There was no real organization in the group but the amount of mana in the air was still overwhelming.

Batain pulled Lucas off his shoulder, lightly tossing him a few yards behind him. His mana began rising before compressing itself. All of the little pulses of mana in his body began folding in on themselves, becoming smaller but much purer. However, it didn't matter how small they became as Batain summoned more and more mana from his body. Once he felt he was ready, he raised his hand.

This process had taken less than a second so all of the crowd's spells were still in front of him. He exhaled before a stream of blue fire shot out of his hand. At first, it was only a short beam but it transformed into a massive wave of fire that utterly overwhelmed everything in sight.

"Blueburn."