37 37. Conflict With Astra Part 5

All of the strength and courage Lily had mustered to fight the fearsome child sex offender.

"I'm surprised to see that you didn't faint nor go crazy," said Newt, cackling.

Annoyed at Newt's personality, Lily said: "I had my eyes closed—" She fell on the ground. Seeing the dwarf girl lose consciousness, Newt right away ran to her side.

Scanning her if she has any injury, Newt's hand stumbled upon a swollen bruise on her right flank.

"She must have been hit at that time," thought Newt. That time when Big Guy all of a sudden became light and, he appeared behind Lily.

Newt, too, had a feeling that the time limit was nearing its end as he placed Lily's arm around him and began towards the step, dragging the unconscious girl.

"I only have a minute left. Good thing I dealt with the knocked-out men."

Instead of dragging Lily with one arm wrapped on him, he gave her a piggy ride and continued forward to where Fritz might be.

"I have high hopes that Big Guy would be able to bring you kids with him. But, it seems that he's–oh, dead."

The ringleader of tonight's activity, Silverwar, stepped in on Newt's way to do the job of abducting the kids, which Big Guy and the others failed to do so. Wearing a cloak and a mask to conceal his identity, Silverwar brought out his weapon. A mage's staff with a magic ore entrenched on it. Also, he was wearing a ring on his right hand that can boost his magic power.

"Well, they were just a bunch of peasants."

Having been struck by a bad feeling, Newt lay Lily on the ground and checked how many seconds he has left.

"About half a minute," he muttered under his breath. "Alright, let's do this!" He was worried that half a minute was not enough to finish off the man in front of them.

"That's the spirit, kid!" The mask was a customed one. It can alter the wearer's voice. "I shouldn't have really underestimated you brats!"

Silverwar began his chanting under his breath. Newt, on the other hand, steeled himself for the impending battle.

<Coercing Flame>

In a swift stride, Newt, in a few steps, reached Silverwar with his Holy Sword on his hand. However, the masked man knew that he was agile and would do what a simple-minded kid would do.

Fist of flames stayed afloat and still. "I knew you'd gone straight to me." Behind that mask, Silverwar was wearing met the fury on Newt's ocean-blue eyes. The latter thrust with the weapon in his hand, ready to swing toward Silverwar's neck, swerved as he cast the fist of flames.

"A feint?!" Turning as quickly as he could, Newt, about to swing, shoots what was left of the flames. "Plan is made for the sole purpose of failing."

Thrusting toward the flames, Newt forced his way through by cutting down the fire.

"W-what?! He's neutralizing my magic! This is bad!" Only ten seconds left before Newt go limp. "Fuck! I didn't want to use this!"

Silverwar extended his right arm forward. The ring he was wearing gleamed blindingly. It nearly flashes Newt's eyes if it weren't for his quick reflex. He closed his eyes and, when he senses that the light was gone, he opened his eyes. Double on its size, nothing compared to what it was earlier, countless flame magic shot to Newt's direction. There was a wide triumphant grin on Silverwar's face.

"I hope you don't die!"

"He's too far! When did he?! Damn, I need to block it!"

He had put all of his weight on his last thrust. He won't be able to dodge. He'll die if he doesn't properly block the flames. Despite the danger he was in, Newt still decided to cover most of his face!

One flame connected. "Argh! I hit my limit. I can't move my arm."

After falling on multiple flames, his body lost all its strength. Eventually, he abruptly falls over, still conscious, grazing his bare skin, flat on his stomach. It turns out that he, reaching his limit, saved him from death.

"Huh? Nice dodge! Now, I don't have to worry about you dying on me!" Tying both arms and feet of Lily and Newt, Silverwar called out for his reserved men.

"Bring this two," he commanded. "What about that other kid?" He meant Fritz.

One cloaked man stepped closer to Silverwar. "S-sir, the kid had killed four of our men and is currently with that meddlesome knight."

"Is that so? Then, we can't do anything about it." Clenching his fist upon the loss of a valuable 'thing,' Silverwar moved along with the other cloaked men.

Hearing all the ruckus and the explosion of magic caused by the battling cloaked men and Fritz, an off-duty knight, came all his way five blocks to have a look at what's going on.

He didn't envisage such a sight. He bears witness to what this weird kid had done to a bunch of troublemakers, no, more like an abductor.

"K-kid, did you do all this?" What lay in front of him were the battered, torn-off bodies of the cloaked men. He had seen and been in a bloodbath but, still, he couldn't help himself but throw up a little.

Fritz wasn't in good condition. His left eye was almost burned. So he had it closed. Tattered clothes, bleeding arm, down on one knee, burn traces all over his body, Fritz passed out in that position.

"Oh, no, he's out cold."

While he was unconscious, the man carried him to his house.

[You have one new mission!]

[Save Your Companions!]

[Difficulty: Platinum]

[Rewards: ???]

[Failure: Death]

[Time Limit: Three Days]

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