Nekros's favorite son

Marcus didn't get anymore time to observe his father as more shadows coalesced around him and lifted he and his father onto the giant crow. Instantly after that, the duo set off in the direction of their home.

It couldn't have been more than a few minutes since they had left from their original location but Marcus could already start to recognize the familiar landmarks that resided near his home.

Then he saw it, his home, or what was left of it. Ash and rubble lie scattered all around the place his home had originally been.

The trees in the surroundings were lit ablaze and smoke continuously rose into the air.

The sky seemed to be painted a dark shade of crimson and the surrounding forest took on a devilish and ominous aura.

Marcus and his father scanned the area for his sister and mother. They were less concerned with the destruction of their home and more so with the well-being of their family.

Suddenly, they both heard the sound of steel clashing against steel.

Liam was the first to react and the crow they were riding followed suit and darted in the direction his father assumed a battle was taking place.

He and his son arrived to the scene of his wife donning full white and gold armor that would have looked resplendent had it not been covered in blood and gore. She was trapped in an encirclement by several menacing looking men and women. All around Marcus's mother were also bodies pierced through from what Marcus guessed to be some pole arm weapon or some type of sword.

His guess wasn't too far off the mark as he witnessed his mother pierce a burly man that lunged at her through the chest with her rapier. The burly-sized man had armor of his own as well, but it seemed to have been no different from piercing a sheet of paper with his mother's white rapier.

It didn't take long for Marcus's father to assess the situation as he flew beside his wife with Marcus in tow.

"Mom!"

Hearing her son's voice, Belladonna looked up and saw the two individuals approaching her.

Another individual, this time a provocatively dressed woman wearing armor only barely covering her assets, lunged at his mother from behind with two daggers in either hand.

To this, Liam reacted quickly and a black scythe, slightly taller than himself manifested beside him.

He swung the scythe in the direction between his wife and her attacker. Then, some type of black energy left the scythe in the direction Marcus's father had swung.

The woman was slightly too late to react and as a result lost her left arm in the process.

"AHHHHHHH!!!"

The woman who lost an arm took several steps back and clutched what remained of her arm with the only arm she had left.

She glared at Marcus's father menacingly until she noticed the man's eyes were now trained on her.

She and her fellow attackers started to tremble and took several more steps back. They recognized that armor. It was the armor of a certain man but said man disappeared years ago, thought to be dead. That man went by the moniker of 'Nekros's favorite son'.

"This..."

"No one said he'd be here! What is this?!"

"The intel only mentioned us having to deal with 'Bloody Mary'."

"What's that man doing here? I thought he was dead."

Several of the men and women that surrounded his mother went into a panic as they threw out assumptions trying to make sense of the situation.

Marcus was only worried about his mother. She was covered in blood and he wasn't sure whether or not it was hers or not.

Meanwhile, his father still hadn't said a word and was just standing there, waiting.

Suddenly, the woman who's arm was cut off by Liam started shouting.

"Shut up you fools," the provocatively dressed woman said. "We've clearly been used, and it seems that man is this bitch's husband and the boy is his kids."

Marcus's mother frowned at the woman, not because of what she'd said about her but because she'd figured out her and her husband's relationship.

This wasn't hard to figure out from an outside perspective but these men and women had no idea about Liam's parents relationship prior to this. As far as they knew, Liam was dead and his mother had gone missing a long time ago.

Liam, however, was unconcerned with these people's conjectures. The only thing he saw were threats that needed to be dealt with.

*Sigh*

Marcus's father caught the attention of everyone on the battlefield from only exhaling a breath.

"All of you are going to die today."

Liam's father only made this singular statement before the surrounding landscape turned black and grey. This scenario was very similar to what happened earlier when he was alone with his son.

The trees, grass, and everyone present turned grey. Everything else was dyed pitch-black.

The battlefield was engulfed in silence and the only thing Marcus could hear was the pounding of his own heart. Then his father spoke.

"Purgatory."

With that single word black flames manifested within the space his father seemed to have created.

No one, aside from his parents and himself were allowed to move and everyone outside this exception was set ablaze by the unholy dark colored flames.

Screams of pain and agony rang out.

"AHHHH"

"ARRRGGGHH"

"NOOOOO"

All of the men and women surrounding Marcus's mother were engulfed in black flames. There screams rang out for only a few moments before they were incinerated. Not even their ashes remained, only black scorch marks remained as evidence that they ever existed.

Marcus eyes were as wide as saucers, staring at the scorch marks that once were fellow humans. He knew these people tried to kill his mother and he hated them for it but was this truly the only way to solve this.

"Marcus."

Liam called his son's name and stared at him with those emotionless eyes.

"Do not look away son," ordered Liam. "This is the world we live in and as such you must kill or be killed."

Marcus didn't understand what his father meant today but one day he'd recall his father's word and they would save him when he most needed it.

His mother only looked sadly at Marcus but she did not refute her husband's words. She knew he was right.

Marcus and his father descended beside his mother and he rushed to hug her. He didn't care about the blood that was smeared across his mother and neither did she. They were both only happy that the other was safe.

Liam still hadn't let his guard down and decided to ask the most pressing questions.

"Bell are you okay?"

Belladonna nodded her head. It seemed most of the blood on her armor wasn't her own.

Liam nodded to his wife's response, satisfied. Determining his wife was safe, he decided to inquire about his daughter. He hadn't seen her with her mother so he presumed his wife had told her to hide.

"Bell?"

Belladonna already knew what her husband wanted to ask.

"She's safe. I hid her before they arrived."

Liam's stoic and cold expression finally let up and was instead replaced by a smile.

"Good job Bell."

Those were the only words she needed to here from her husband as a warm feeling took place in her heart.

Liam's expression went back to his cold appearance but inside he was happy his family was safe. Now he just needed to get to his daughter so that he could reunite his family and protect them.