Pinned behind those barrels, the deafening roar of bullets tearing into the surroundings left us with few options.
I refused to die like a fool, and even less to fail my very first official mission.
To climb the ranks of Eresboros, I had to succeed—no matter the cost.
After I shook him, Lucas finally came to his senses, locking his blue eyes onto mine.
“Drey…
I’m so sorry.
I’m good now.
What’s the play?”
I saw the Lucas I knew again, but with a new glimmer of devotion.
In that moment, I realized this boy would do anything I asked, without a second thought.
He was a valuable asset.
“Listen to me carefully, Lucas.
If we stay hunkered down here, we’re dead and the mission fails.
Here’s what we’re going to do…”
I whispered my plan into his ear.
Despite the horror of what I was forcing upon him, he offered a fragile smile, born purely out of trust.
“I’m with you, Drey.
I know you’re the only one who can get us out of this.”
He paused, looking at the children weeping beside us.
A flash of sorrow crossed his eyes.
“Listen, kids…
We’re sorry.
I hope that one day…
you’ll forgive us.”
Looking at him, it struck me how his brown hair and the innocence in his blue eyes tragically amplified my own guilt.
But there was no time for regret.
I planted a hand on the rim of a barrel and snapped upright, exposing myself to the danger.
“Stop shooting!” I roared.
“Stop right now, or the kids die!”
In one fluid motion, I grabbed the nearest little girl—the one crying against my jacket—and locked my arm around her throat, using her as a human shield.
I watched horror paint itself across the faces of the parents opposite us.
I knew that to reach my goal, I had to be logical, pragmatic, and—if necessary—cruel.
If I had to sacrifice what little humanity I had left to survive and exact my revenge, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second.
Little Marie squirmed against me, choking in my grip.
“Mommy…
Mommy, help me!
I don’t want to stay with the bad man!”
A woman stepped slowly out of the group, hands trembling, face distorted by tears.
“Marie…
My little Marie…
Don’t worry, Mommy’s here.”
Deep down, I understood her pain, but my expression remained marble-hard, cold as stone.
She took a few more steps toward me, extending her hands in supplication.
“Please…
What do you want?
Money?
I’ll give you everything I have, but please, let my daughter go!”
Her pleas were in vain.
My choice was made; the mission came before everything else.
But I had to feign negotiation.
Hope is a dangerous thing.
It’s a poison that can bring the strongest men to their knees, but it’s also a formidable weapon when you know how to inject it into your enemy.
I dripped that poison straight into the hearts of this mother and her small civilian militia.
“Fine,” I said, my voice steady.
“We’ll release the children.
But we’re not dying here.
We’re keeping them with us until we reach the entrance of the lower alleyway over there.
Once we’re safe, we’ll hand them back.”
“Liar!” shouted the leader of their group.
“What proves you won’t just bolt the second you hit the alley?”
“You’re holding weapons that can take us down at any moment.
If you see us pick up the pace, all you have to do is pull the trigger.
But if you shoot now, one of your magical bullets could easily tear through a child.
That would be a shame, wouldn’t it?”
The parents stiffened, disarmed by the ruthless logic of my words.
The leader stepped closer to Marie’s mother.
I loosened my grip on the little girl slightly to prove my good faith.
“Damned shadow organization…” the man spat through gritted teeth.
“Fine.
We accept the deal.
But I’m warning you, at the slightest attempt to—”
I cut his threat short, knowing he was merely trying to mask his own helplessness.
Lucas moved first, flanking four of the children.
I followed closely with the rest of the group, Marie still under my guard.
The parents parted slowly, their weapons lowered but still trained on us.
I paused for a fraction of a second beside the mother.
“Mommy…” the little girl sobbed.
“Marie, my sweet girl…
Don’t worry.
As soon as we’re home, I’ll make your favorite meal.”
The scene echoed a painful memory.
My own mother would have done the exact same thing if the roles were reversed.
The thought only hardened my resolve.
“Give me your weapon.
Fast,” I ordered the woman.
She complied without thinking, handing me her magic musket.
I resumed my march.
Lucas had already reached the mouth of the dark alley.
The plan was working.
But as we neared our goal, panic took hold of the parents once more.
The leader took several steps forward, his face tense.
“Alright, you’re there!
You’re out of range!
Release the children now!”
I stopped at the edge of the alley’s shadows, a mirthless smile on my lips.
“Sorry…
but that’s not going to happen.”
With a nod, I gave Lucas the signal.
In a swift, precise movement, he knocked two of the children unconscious to silence them and ordered the other two to hold onto him.
I had known his speed and agility ever since our fight at the church.
He heaved the kids onto his shoulders and, with a massive bound, leaped onto the roof of a low house, then another, vanishing into the heights.
As for me, I scooped the remaining children into my arms and bolted at a breakneck pace into the maze of the lower town’s streets.
Behind us, a collective roar of rage tore through the harbor:
“YOU DAMNED MONSTERS!”
I knew damn well the parents weren’t going to let us walk away once we reached the alley.
That was why I had asked Lucas to trigger a chaotic scene—to paralyze them with shock.
Knocking the kids out served no other purpose than breaking the adults’ reaction time.
Besides, splitting up was a mathematical necessity: Lucas over the rooftops, me on the ground, with our slum hideout as our sole rendezvous point.
It would probably take me all night to shake off any pursuers, but the slums would offer perfect cover once night fell completely.
As I ran, I paced myself to avoid drawing the attention of patrols.
The Royal Guard…
A question crossed my mind: why hadn’t the parents alerted the authorities?
If the Guard had been stationed at the harbor instead of them, Lucas and I would likely be behind bars already—or dead.
But now wasn’t the time for theories.
I traversed the Malbour districts, stringing together geometric detours to break any lines of pursuit.
Just as I was about to branch off toward the main artery of the Gallé district, believing I had succeeded and thrown everyone off, a massive figure suddenly loomed before me, blocking my path.
It was the leader of the parents’ militia.
My blood ran cold.
How could he have anticipated my route despite all my detours?
“You Eresboros dog!” he bellowed, his eyes bloodshot.
“How dare you lie to us?!”
That was the second time he had explicitly named our organization. New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
Crime syndicates were supposed to operate in total secrecy, unlike the Assassin’s League which worked in tandem with the State.
For a mere civilian to know the name Eresboros pointed to a major anomaly.
The man didn’t wait for me to finish my line of thought.
Drawing a longsword from its scabbard, he lunged at me.
I immediately dropped the children, who had passed out from terror and exhaustion during the run.
The man was formidable.
His blade sliced through the air with heavy, whistling strikes.
I pivoted, ducked, and dodged as best I could, but his skill was far from that of a simple commoner.
He dealt a slashing blow, followed by a thrust, forcing me backward step by step.
Suddenly, he feinted and came to a dead stop, a ferocious grin spreading across his face.
“Hmm, you’re fast and agile,” he admitted.
“You dodge well…
but it’s over.”
The moment those words left his lips, space distorted around us.
A crushing, heavy pressure weighed down on my shoulders—it was the exact same oppressive, mystical aura as Déva Callis’.
The man’s arm began to throb, his muscles swelling unnaturally until bone spikes burst through his flesh.
Magical flames erupted from the wounds, spreading along his sword, which instantly ignited into a blazing inferno.
He began to chant in a raspy voice:
“Ros mar yris, third arcane, blaze!”
The heat became unbearable, burning up the air in the alley.
He raised his flaming guard:
“Go to hell, demon.”
A massive pillar of fire surged from his blade.
Stricken with panic, I tried to dive toward the unconscious children to use them as shields, but the man had descended into an unstoppable, destructive frenzy.
Blinded by his own magic, his eyes rolled back, he was beyond reason.
At the exact moment the wave of fire crashed down upon the alley to reduce everything to ash, I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact.
Suddenly, a hand yanked hard on my collar.
In a flash of speed, Lucas appeared in front of me.
He hurled me backward while intercepting the brunt of the explosion.
“Grab the kids!” he yelled at me, his voice strained from the effort.
I grabbed two of the children—one of whom already bore burn marks—while Lucas hoisted the others.
We plunged into the dark arteries of the city, finally leaving behind the flares of fire and the screeches of the madman.
Calm returned only when we reached the safety of the slums.
In the shadows of our hideout, the children Lucas had brought back remained huddled in a deathly silence.
Mine were beginning to come around, their eyes haunted.
Little Marie had a superficial burn marking the left side of her face.
I was injured myself.
Lucas immediately offered to go find medical supplies.
As I watched him turn around, I stifled a gasp: his entire back was a single, massive, charred wound.
He had absorbed the worst of the fire arcane just to protect me, standing upright through sheer force of will alone.
I held him back by the shoulder and went to old Cassam’s myself to fetch bandages and soothing salve.
Back in the hideout, I tended to Lucas’s back and little Marie’s face.
A heavy silence settled over us.
The children didn’t even cry anymore.
They had just understood the grim reality of the lower districts: the demons had won, and they were going to be sold.
A few hours later, Mélo made her entrance to collect the cargo.
She informed us with a detached tone that we could take our leave, as the organization’s subcontractors were taking over for the deportation.
As the men in black loaded them away, little Marie turned back toward us.
Her bright eyes, once filled with tears, had turned pitch-black with hatred.
“I swear I’ll kill you all…
you filthy demons.”
The mission was officially over.
We set off on the path to the Third Space to rejoin the suspended castle.
And as the Archefflea rose into the clouds, my mind went into overdrive.
What was the true identity of that father, capable of manipulating Fantasia at such a high level?
What was that combat technique and that third arcane?
And above all…
how had Lucas managed to tap into such speed and drag me out of that inferno?
So many questions that would have to wait until our confrontation with the leaders of Eresboros.