The journey back to the port hadn’t been an arduous one. All they did was dump us into the trade ship and shuffle up the crew before setting off to the Halurath Isles with their two ships. There hadn’t been much talk throughout our return trip, for the haughty sailors preferred to ride in silence, unlike the noisy crew of Lykan. The fake warship would earn us some good shins, along with the trade cog, but for now, only tiredness of the expedition tainted my lady’s mind, and her happiness had died down by the time we started sailing again.

The port was up in flames when we reached the harbor, screams mingled with monotonous voices of the fleet resounding in the distance. One of the fleet ships was burning with bright flames that overshadowed the glow of the mana lamps within. The workers at the pier had disappeared, and burned bodies decked the stony wharves, marred with scars of flames. Our vessel stopped at a distance from the port, oblivious to the crumbling of the port.

More screams echoed in the distance, the war cries of fleet officers too stark to ignore for the raucous shouts of drunkards. The entire edifices at the shore were decked in swirling black smoke that moved landwards owing to the sea breeze. I wasn’t optimistic about these bizarre cut scenes that followed my lady everywhere. Was this another death flag?

“Pirates again?” Reav asked Garlan as we watched the rampant flames in the distance. She had decided to accompany us back with Nuva, who bid the ship stop from the top basket.

“Not pirates,” Garlan said, touching his cutlass for reassurance. “Pirates don’t fly to the city. They use ships.”

“I always thought pirates had wings,” Reav rolled her eyes and rushed to the rump to talk to the commander.

I walked back to the captain’s quarters to wake my lady up. Her breathing had become softer, head poking up through the sheets, expression one of absolute bliss. No scratches followed again, and she was up with little resistance.

“My mare, mongrel!” she rushed out of the cabin when I informed her about the fire. It meant we were jumping headfirst into the flames whether I entertained the idea or not. And I was certainly interested in unearthing the mystery behind the fire. As long as the world kept this undead entertained, multiple death flags won’t be a problem.

Lykan’s crewmembers had apprehension on their faces as they watched their primary settlement burning. The other faction was, more or less, unaffected. This wasn’t their business, so they were good as long they followed Lykan’s order and dropped us at the port. Whether we lived, they could always earn prestige and privilege in the Isle once Prince Balar succeeded the throne.

“We won’t go any further,” Reav said, tramping down the stairs of the rump. “Curino said this is as far as we’ll go. They’ll drop a boat. Our means of transport back to the port, ey. Eight to ten sturdy seamen can fit into that,” she pointed at the boat, which was no different from a regular boat with holes. “Need more than that to face a fire of that scale.”

Nuva had climbed down the rigging and was standing beside Garlan. “There is an underground passage to the outside from Lykan’s restaurant. It is cramped, unused, and probably dirty. Can get you out with no problem, ey. If you escape the mob and flames. We have our mates to help in the restaurant. They need our help.”

“I’m going nowhere without my mare!” my lady said, glaring at Nuva.

“You will go without your mare, my lady,” I said, meeting her resolute stare with my own. “I will get her back. Garlan will accompany you.”

“Let Reav and Nuva handle your lady, bread lad,” he said, quite seriously. I was about to refute him, but he patted my shoulder. Garlan never trusted anyone, so the reassurance from him was worth more than hundreds of my own doubts. “My stallion needs me. I doubt it will follow you to the depths of hell.”

“You don’t order me around, mongrel,” she said with her cold voice.

We stared at each other for a while before I sighed. “Fine, you’re coming,”

I would feel more at ease if my lady was around me. Who knew how the world had planned her demise?

The boat was ready with ropes, and Reav commanded her crew members to split up, three to follow her, and the rest to reroute to Halurath Isles with Captain Cramkar. I didn’t know the latter, nor was I interested. I paced back the quarters and strapped the bag to my shoulders when Garlan walked inside.

“Are you sure letting Letitita tag along is a good idea?” Garlan asked, scratching his stubble that had grown quite prominent in the last two days.

“She is strong, Garlan,” I said. “You just don’t give her much credit. Didn’t you see how she held up her own during the erratic battle a few hourglasses ago?”

“But we are talking about sage mischief here, Rudolf,” Garlan said.

“Sage mischief?”

“The Karleburo,” Garlan shook his head. “She’s a crazy fanatic, and this isn’t the first time her cult has set flames to the cities of the kingdom. The bitterness with the royal family might be claiming the lives of thousands of bottles of ale, and even money is getting burned futilely in these crazy endeavors. I’m not sure why her psychotic tendencies burst out today, but this shit will destroy the economy of Achlon for a while. Even Coln had gone up in flames a decade ago. You can never know what crazy things that fucking fanatic will do.”

Sure, he wasn’t worried about humans. I smiled. “Either way, Garlan, my lady is scarier than some deranged egoistic sage who decided to burn fleet ships out of the blue. And a city with it.”

“I can’t counter that confidence, bread lad,” Garlan patted my shoulder with a crafty smile. “Let’s steal some shins when we are escaping. Letting money and ale burn is such a loss.”

I rolled my eyes and marched out of the room. My lady gestured for me to accompany her as she pointed at the decrepit wood. With much reluctance.

We climbed the shaky boat, Reav handing the two oars of the massive boat on her own as the ropes lowered us to the aggrieved waters below. Nuva shouted some nautical terms of the world that didn’t make sense to me, and my lady held my hand as we sat on the horizontal plank close to the rump. Reav roved blithely once the boat had reconciled with the waves below, and her sheer strength astounded my lady.

“Strong, ey?” Nuva grinned. “Most experienced sailor on board. But the crew,” he pointed at the two other crew members, “is scared of her. Sweet lady. Surprised they are, ey.”

Sweet was relative, but I didn’t want to debate who was what. As far as I was concerned, all mortals were the same, and I wasn’t interested in looking at the minuscule differences.

We reached the shore soon, Reave mooring the boat at an abandoned quay that hadn’t gone up in flames. The stench was horrendous in these parts, which might have become a blessing since the entire pier extending to the sea was untouched by flame. But all the grimier.

I patted my lady’s hand softly, and she let me climb the quayside first. A brief glance around the locale didn’t alarm me, and Garlan nodded at my [Devil eye] from a distance. I resorted to helping her out of the boat. It wobbled, but Reav’s weight helped my lady jump out without the fear of losing balance.

We walked through the darkness, ironically illuminated by the raging flames of destruction. A walk in the terrible hadn’t been enticing, and I firsthand realized that the [Hell fire] was causing the demolition, and no amount of water hurled was going to do a good job. But the fleet officers still tried, firstly trying to prevent the annihilation of the guild. To my disbelief, they managed to put off most of the flames.

Did that mean there were only a few high-ranked mages in the Karleburo ranks? Or maybe they didn’t want to burn the whole city. But, if they had enmity with the royal family, the sailors guild would have drowned in the ditch first. Only ships were being besieged, and a few dwellings around us, which undeniably scorched with [Hell fire]. There was something else brewing underneath all the farce, and my smile only grew broader.

We climbed the stair that led us right away from the quay. Main streets were crowded with bodies of mortals, scorching in flames. Some charred, some mangled, others amputated. The ruckus of the skirmish sounded crisp and clear in the distance, the echo too blunt even among the crackling sound of fire and crashes of demolition. We made peace with the streets and avoided the burning bodies and shouts alike, following Garlan through the bright streets. Shadows warped around us, shaking uncontrollably as flames claimed more residences, the devastation of stony abodes harming the mortals more.

“[Hell fire] is mingled with regular flames, my lady,” I said, touching the burning scorching cloth before me that once served as roofing. “See?”

“What does this mean, mongrel?” My lady asked, touching the bluish-red fire after me. “It isn’t warm.”

“Those with life force cannot feel it, my lady,” I said and glanced at Nuva and Reav, along with other crew members who were still following us. “We are good. You can save leave us and check on your restaurant.”

Reav looked away from me, perhaps from guilt, while Nuva stepped forth. “Lykan has asked us to protect lady Letitia, so we will do it.”

I sighed. “Don’t tell me Lykan planned for?”

Reav’s hesitance was enough for me to ascertain the truth, but Nuva just looked away from me. The rest of the crew members were as confused as my lady.

“Bread lad!” Garlan shouted from the end of the street. “That path’s clear. We can climb over the wall to reach the stables.”

I nudged my lady to go ahead, and she nodded, dodging a charred brick that had crumbled from the building. The people had cleared this area, so no commuters were swarming or running, aiding my lady to amble through the roads uninterrupted.

“What about our payment?” I asked, raising my eyes.

“We will handle it every two fortnights,” Nuva said. “We never betray those who have helped us.”

“Yes,” I laughed. “And that’s why you are burning this city. You don’t understand the political maneuvers. Grow up before talking about disloyalty. But, I’m impressed with your prince.”

“Mongrel,” my lady had already walked a few steps.

“Give me regards to Lykan,” I smiled. “And don’t worry. I have no hard feelings for your prince. On the contrary, I hope he becomes more ruthless in the future. Letting these people live wasn’t the right decision on his part.”

They stared at me as I smiled, and I saw fear on their faces materializing into shudders. Even Reav took a voluntary step back, pulling Nuva with her. Did she really ask me for a drink? I almost suppressed a laugh and followed my lady.

They didn’t follow us, and nor did they return to ‘save’ the supposed mates in Lykan’s established. I knew they weren’t lying about the secret passage, nevertheless. Call it undead instincts.

“Garlan,” I hadn’t finished talking when we crushed the wall with his {Strengthen] laden punch and kicked away the debris, putting off flames on the other side.

“Yes?” Garlan turned around.

“Never mind…” My lady jumped over, and I followed them. We had reached a noble locality now, and the destruction wasn’t as prominent as close to the port. Fires had disappeared now, leaving a few compound walls wrecked and charred. Garlan took the right street, away from the Prince Girizen’s palace in the central portion, and crumbled another wall.

The market was no better, and people were still running around aimlessly, trying to put off the flames. Some Apprentice mages cast [Splash] over and again, exhausted, dehydrated, still trying. They worked on some flames while not on others.

“Should I put off the flames?” I asked. “I can’t do anything about [Hell fire], but these petty flames shouldn’t be an issue.

Garlan and Letitia stared at me in disbelief. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us you could, bread lad?!”

“No one asked,” I shrugged. “And I am not interested in helping people.”

“Then help our mare, mongrel,” my lady said, trying to calm her nerves.

“Should I summon a wave from the ocean or drop water on us?” I asked and earned a smack on my head.

“[Waterfall] it is,” I sighed, and cast my spell.

I decided not to materialize the mana completely, since water-logging issues can get quite severe in this stinky city

One deep breath, one hand, and some external casting. No paraphernalia, no weird confusing chants, and, of course, no bread.

Water crashed on the entire city from all sides, leaving no locale untouched. Flooded streets earned terrified shouts from the distant parts of the city, which soon turned to cheers, starting from the market domicile around us. My lady and Garlan stared at the dark clouds above before their eyes fell on me. They were drenched as I was, but we dried just as fast, the droplets disappearing into thin air after putting out the flames.

“That was my bare minimum strength,” I smirked at them. If required, I could have summoned the spell over the entire realm.

“Bastard!” That made two of them, and I didn’t lose my grin.