18 Ch 17: Awakening (II)

Outside the mansion was an unending battle. Fangs and Elder fangs were slowly fighting off a horde of monsters with similar features as the creature that Lucius locked in the mansions kitchen.

A golden flame appeared out of thin air on the palm of the marquis. He clenched the flames and turned it into a bow made of bright golden fire. The flames dissipated and revealed a yellow bow with colourful embedded on the side.

"You filthy animals had dared to attack me. For that you have forfeited your lives!" Marquis Lucas Henry Devinsworth was a man known for his cruelty. During his time as the head of the Devinsworth, he had conquered and purged the wild mountains of his domain. They were overpopulated with monsters and aether beasts that no merchants could travel through the mountains from other places of the continent. In order to completely annihilate the infestation of monsters and aether beast, the marquis had done something that was unbelievable. His magic, which was a family inherited magic, was to heal all wounds. Yet he transformed his radiant power into a destructive force. The once brilliant light turned to hot gold flames. This new profound power gave rise to the infamy of Marquis Lucas Henry Devinsworth, the 'Flames of Judgement'. He conquered the entire area by completely overwhelming his enemies with fire power. Of course, he too had to plan his method of attack since the mountains were not ideal to have large scale battles. His enemies could use the steep edges and dense forest to ambush them.

Just like from his past, the Marquis held his bow on his left hand while conjuring a ball of flame on his right. He pulled back the string and the ball of flames turned itself into a bolt of fire. "Flee if you can, however, no one has yet to escape my sight." As the marquis released his grip on the string, the bolt of flames launched itself in unimaginable speed. The target was one of the hooded figures that stood behind the tree line. His heart was impaled and burnt yet he still lived. The feeling of being burnt alive made him struggle to put out the flames.

Magic was something that bent the rules of reality. It was unique and extraordinary beyond belief. Many had not know how to use it but to those that had, they created their very own ways of magic. Similar to how the scientific community had branched itself into different researches.

Normally, magic that had healing properties could not inflict pain. However, the marquis had created his very own type of magic. His magic had the properties of healing and light, making his magic nearly impossible to inflict pain with. Yet he found a way around such problem. By training his control over light magic, he managed to condense the light particles in the air to create a laser like attack. Laser is an acronym for light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation. Of course, no one in the current era knew this. The Marquis only found his discoveries through experimentation. And with enough trial and error, the Marquis had managed to weaponized his magic. A major problem came to the Marquis mind after the first battle he had with a sentient monster horde during his time conquering the mountains. His method of attack was inefficient since it used a large part of his mana. He could certainly fire twenty to thirty arrows that could drill a hole on his enemies chest, however, it would leave his mana dry. He solved such problem with enhancements and a proper weapon. A bow enchanted with several gems designed to create a bolt of fire had fancied the Marquis. With a few theories and testing, he managed to imbue the projectile with his magic.

He used his mana to give the projectile the same speed as light and imbued the flames. Normally the fire would burn the body and soul but the body would burn out faster than the soul. His technique had improved over the years until his flames could now do what it could today.

The screams of those the were shot down by the marquis screamed in the air. Fangs made quick work on the creatures but there were far too many. He had knights stationed to protect the mansion but a breach was made at the opposite side. After ordering a selective few of fangs to eliminate the creatures who have entered the breach, he continued to fight the hooded figures. They casted magic with different elemental properties which resulted to a tornado of fire bursting out from the flames around the area.

'This really had become a bigger problem than expected. Who ever is behind all of this will pay. I just hope none of them gets harmed.' The Marquis was slightly concerned about his family. However, he had faith in the mansion's defence mechanism.

****

Lucius was running away from another creature. He had met this new creature in the hallways of the first floor. It was only partially his fault for being optimistic.

Thankfully this one was smaller. It had smaller limbs and a few extra spines on it's back. 'I'd kick you like a football if you weren't so f*cking agile!' Lucius inwardly screamed.

The creature was extremely tired due to capturing a servant right before chasing Lucius. This greatly hindered its speed and allowed Lucius to move faster than it. But it did not mean that Lucius could easily kill it. If Lucius ever gets too close then the creature would lunged at him.

'Geez, what i thought to be someone starting a forest fire turned to an actual attack! Why could it just been a nightmare!' Inwardly crying to himself as he finally arrived at a room that had a secret entrance to the storage room.

"How surprising for us to meet. You must have been the one causing the ruckus." A man sitting on a chair with a spear at his side rested oh his shoulder. The light of the moon on the window behind the man shined on Lucius' face preventing him from identifying the man. However, he could see the red glowing eyes on the man. After his years of existence, he knew that this was trouble.

The creature finally caught up to Lucius which made him turn around. Surprisingly it didn't attack. It only crawled and placed itself to the man's side.

"Lovely arent they? These were once corpses of aether beasts and slaves. The doctor had given them life once more and turned them into such wonderful creatures." The man spoke as if it was normal.

"Lovely is undoubtedly arguable, However, i do find then fascinating. This... 'doctor' you speak of, he has done something beyond a miracle." Since Lucius was out of option. The only thing he could do now was stall for time. But he genuinely felt amazed that necromancy or something close was possible.

"Other would usually find this repulsive or unacceptable. Yet you find it fascinating? The doctor had guessed that it would peek your interest and it seemed as it was right." The man smiled after hearing Lucius' words. He snapped his fingers and multiple monsters with similar properties walked in the room

"Hmm..." Lucius furrowed his brows at the sight of the multiple creatures. Their skins had varied from pale to vibrant and had different odors. "Necromancy has never been official acknowledged as a study of magic since it goes against the very nature of life. My knowledge of it is very limited, however, i do know that it can only allow corpses to move. Yet these creatures have a functioning body. It varies from creature to creature but it does allow them to have a functional and non-rotting body. Truly fascinating." Lucius didn't know whether he would die or not during this exact time but he would gladly enjoy his remaining time understanding the monsters that would rip him to shreds.

"It seems that the rumours about a genius in the Devinsworth was true." The man stood up from his chair and approached Lucius.

"A genius you say? It seems as you've confused me with someone else, I am but a child." Fear was an instinct that man have had, and Lucius had a few. Pain was one of them and he knew that it was coming. The only thing he could do to calm himself was to look his soon to be killer, eye to eye.

However, the man extended his hand to Lucius instead of striking him down. This confused Lucius greatly.

"Humble and talented, it would be a waste to kill you here. Why not join me? The doctor can make use of your knowledge." The man was offering Lucius a proposal. Unfortunately for him, Lucius was not interested.

"Forgive me, although tempting, researching on corpses is not the ideal life i would want to be placed in." Lucius was not interested in a life of work.

"How unfortunate... No matter, you'll be joining us whether you like it or not." The man raised his spear and thrusted it straight at Lucius' chest.

A smirk bloomed at Lucius as his body was sent flying out the room. The protective barrier around him had activated and completely negated the man's attack.

"Hunt him down!" The man roared with an angry expression. This made the creatures chase Lucius with rabid expressions.

Lucius had quickly recovered from the blow after rolling on the ground to disperse the kinetic energy. 'I forgot that i got this. Welp, cya sucker!' Lucius had a hunch.

The first thing he needed to do was to go outside. It was a simple task as he needed to find a window and jump through it. However, his companions behind him was not going to allow him to live. They were slowly shortening the distance between them and Lucius that his body excrete adrenaline in a much faster pace than normal. He was walking through a hallway when saw the bright flashed on the outside.

'Bingo' Lucius jumped towards the window but was met with a spear on his hand. The man had thrown the spear lile a javelin and managed to impale Lucius on his wrist.

Just before Lucius could scream. A knife had cut his throat from behind him. He wanted to turn his head but his neck was snapped the moment he did.