Where Is The Boy?

"They're here!" The middle-aged-looking man voiced out with a look of fright.

"Who?" Laura asked with a concerned tone.

"The Usurpers... over fifty Flether wolves carrying a bunch of them are approaching the town as we speak!" He announced with a tone of urgency.

Laura's eyes as well as that of the kids widened slightly as they heard that. There was never quite a situation that could be called bad timing like this one.

"Stay here children and lock the door!" Laura commanded before storming out of the house with the middle-aged-looking man.

"They're back and big brother Landria is missing, how are they going to fight back?" Viktor said with a troubled expression.

The other kids were just as frightened, especially after hearing the Usurpers were approaching in such large numbers.

"We have to go and find him," Mara voiced out as she stared at Lyra.

"No, I have to go and find him. You will slow me down if any of you follow me... I have magic so I'll go," Lyra stated before opening the door and dashing out.

"Lyra!" Mara and the others yelled out but she was already gone.

She had even shut the door behind her so they couldn't catch up with her even if they tried to.

"We have to stay here and wait. If Lyra finds big brother Landria, we will be saved but till then we must make sure none of us get caught," Viktor stated.

"Let's put things behind the door," Mara suggested and proceeded to pick up one of the wooden seats before placing it behind the door.

Orion and Mira nodded in understanding as they also moved around the place and began to pick things they could place behind the door.

They wanted to make sure a situation like that of the last time did not happen again so they wouldn't put Landria in a tough spot.

-

Arriving at the town square Laura could see a large number of Flether wolves infiltrating the town from up ahead. There were one or two Usurpers on every Flether wolf.

They spread about the place as some encircled the town from every direction while some stopped at the town square.

The whole place turned chaotic as the Usurpers began trashing some of the stalls and buildings in the area.

Screams and yells could be heard from every direction as the town folks were forcefully brought out of their homes and made to kneel in the town square.

"What are you doing? Please stop!" Laura voiced out as she approached the ones who sat atop the Flether Wolves up ahead.

They seemed to be in charge of this operation as they sat there while watching their subordinates wreak havoc on the town.

"Please tell them to stop!" Laura yelled out as she ran forward.

By the side, a hunter tried to fight back when his daughter was being pulled away but he was surrounded by some of the Usurpers and beaten up. Those who tried to resist being dragged away were beaten down and left with injuries all over their bodies.

Laura moved to the side to try and help one of them that was being ganged up by three Usurpers.

"Stop!" She yelled out while trying to pull one of them away but ended up receiving a smack to the face.

Bam!

She was sent crashing towards the ground and the furious-looking Usurper turned around with an expression full of malicious intent.

As he began to move towards Laura, she crawled backward and picked up dirt before throwing it at his face.

"Argh, my eyes!" He yelled out as he turned his face and shut his eyes with a look of pain.

Laura proceeded to jump to her feet and sent a kick towards his nether regions.

The Usurper fell to his knees and she quickly reached out to grab his blade before waving it at the others who were still beating up the man.

"Let him go!" She yelled out while pointing the nine inches long blade at them.

The two Usurpers paused and slowly turned around to face her. Before Laura knew what was happening, she had already been surrounded by over five of them.

She frantically waved the blade around as she kept turning to face the direction of each enemy.

"Bring her to me!" One of the Usurpers on the Flether Wolves standing in place up ahead commanded.

"Let me go!" Laura yelled out as she tried kicking and slashing to free herself but she was overpowered in barely a few seconds.

They grabbed hold of her and took her towards the person sitting on the Flether wolf in the middle.

The man who had slanted eyes and long brown hair jumped down from the Flether wolf and landed right in front of Laura.

He reached out and grabbed her by the neck while turning her face repeatedly like he was observing her facial features.

"Long red hair... light scar on the left chin area... It is you Fabian spoke about," He said while moving his face closer to hers.

Laura recalled Fabian was the leader of the Usurpers squad that always came here to collect taxes from them.

"So tell me, where is the boy?" He proceeded to ask with a condescending tone.

---

"Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!" Lyra breathed in and out profusely as she ran through the Velves forest.

What sounded like hoofs stamping on the ground could be heard from behind her as she darted past trees as quickly as she could.

"Firestorm level two," Lyra voiced out as she suddenly spun around and stretched out while channeling her mana.

A magic circle appeared above the ground and multiple fireballs began to rain down from it.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The creature chasing after her got blasted backward as the fireballs slammed into it repeatedly. Lyra resumed running across the Velves forest looking around cautiously as she proceeded forward.

'I should be close to the border of the safe zone,' Lyra felt her heart rate increasing as she came to this realization.

However, she still didn't relent and ran across the grounds of the forest. She knew she had to find Landria or the Usurpers would wreak havoc upon the town.

After several more minutes of running, Lyra finally crossed the safe zone, arriving at a part of the Velves forest where a swamp shooting out green gases could be seen. There were lots of vines in this area and the swap extended for as far as the eyes could see.

Not knowing if any dangers were lurking beyond, Lyra decided to go around the swamp.

However, the moment she began to move towards the left, a hole was blasted through the greenish-colored muddy area in the swamp.

Fwhwhii~ Bang!

A beast landed in front of Lyra before she could take any more steps forward.

It looked like a gigantic grey-colored lizard with a bloated green belly.

The instant it landed in front of her Lyra recalled Landria's words...

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'A mage is very powerful but their strength can only be utilized with distance. Magical beasts with a little bit of intelligence will close the distance between themselves and mages so they won't be given the chance to cast their magic. Always distance yourself because mages are weaker in close quarter combats,'

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Lyra proceeded to dash towards the side as she began to conjure flames but then the tail of this creature was already sweeping towards her.