Illusion of the damned

BANG!!!

Blood spattered on Cole's face. The happy face Lovette portrayed was frozen in slight horror as she fell to the ground.

Thud !

Cole was frozen in shock and some slight horror . 

' Run !! Run or you'll die you stupid fu.. ' 

Bang !!

Another bullet echoed and this time Cole fell down , a whole between his temples 

Lockley got out of his tent in hurry after hearing those shots . He was met with a sight of two corpses two metres away from the bonfire . 

Bang !! 

Another shot echoed through the night. A manner bullet tried to hit Lockley but he easily dodged by side stepping . 

" Everyone get out we're under attack " He shouted . 

Lyka jumped on his tent brandishing his sword .

" Where are the enemies " He asked excitedly. He could finally fight !! His wolf blood boiled in excitement as he scanned his surrounding with eyes full of bloodlust 

However what he saw shifted his mood.

" Lov-Lovette ? " He asked looking at the corpse of his sister. His sword fell from his hand as he looked in horror at his sister. Tears freely streamed down his face.

" Lyka , watch your surroun..... "

Bang !!!

Another shot . It whistled through the air approaching at Lyka however an earth wall erected at the last second . 

His saviour , Priscilla staggered slightly as Lockley caught her . She had eyebags under her eyes , her skin was pale and her mana greatly weakened . 

Lockley held Priscilla in one of his arms as he rushed grabbing Lyka on the other arm . 

He stopped at Mia who had gotten out oof the tent . Her eyes carried a trace of fear.

" Grab my shoulder " Lockley commanded to which Mia obeyed .

Suddenly they disappeared appearing about 500 metres away from the campsite.

Forests surrounded them and currently the only source of light was the beautiful starry sky . It was such a shame that such a beautiful night was full of sadness.

Lockley released Lyka and princess carried Priscilla who was currently heating up to a tree to lay down.

Mia approached Lyka who was motionless . She held his shoulder soothingly and suddenly he snapped back to reality.

" Th-They killed my sister . " He said in sadness as tears continuously streamed down his face .

Everything was quiet , no one spoke. Slowly Lyka's face contorted to anger . His eyes slowly turned red , killing intent oozed out of every part of his body .

" I'll kill them . " Those words were emotionless but the intent was clear.

Mia who currently held Lyka's shoulder released it and stepped back warningly with slight fear.

" Don't be rash , you will have your revenge later . Currently our top priority is to escape and ensure safety to Mia " Lockley said authoritatively .

" I don't give a fuck whether she lives or dies !! All i care is that those responsible are dead !! " He said in anger . 

This broke a part of Mia . The first boy she liked didn't care whether she lived or died .

" Look , Little wolfey wants us dead " The trio turned their head to the masculine source of voice they heard.

Suddenly five people emerged from the shadows. Four assassins with black attires and Oni masks and a dragon in human form with absurd levels of magic.

Lockley saw the glint in Lyka's eyes .

" Don't Lyka " 

Lyka didn't hear the warning or rather chose to ignore it .

He gave out an unearthly growl as he rushed at an incredible speed . Just as he was 10 metres away , he jumped but

Swish !!

Lyka's body fell two metres away from them and his head landed on the hand of one of the female assassins . 

His decapitated splattered blood in a gush staining the flowers and grass beneath it. His head also dripped blood from the neck .

" That was anticlimactic " The dragonkin said with a chuckle .

Rage permeated from Lockley's eyes . He was just a step away from trying to fight foolishly like Lyka however he stilled his breath.

' The power level of those assassins is master level . Am certain to at least kill two of them if am thoroughly careful . However the dragonkin is with them and if he helps , I'll definitely die . Although he seems passive I can't afford to experiment ... What to do ? ' He thought.

An idea crossed his mind . Running will be stupid , they'll just catch up. However if they were slowed and possibly reduced they'll be an escaping chance.

The idea in itself was foolish but there was no other option. 

" Mia , take Priscilla and run ! " Lockley ordered.

Priscilla currently had currently passed out however she was still heating due to some illness 

Mia approached Priscilla as the assassins watched in amusement. She picked her up rather easily despite the weight difference. 

She hesitated as she looked at Lockley.

Lockley gave a small smile .

" Don't worry kid , I'll definitely find you . " Mia gave a short nod before running away.

The assassins looked at each other before the male assassins jumped towards the direction of Mia however Lockley intercepted the assassin with his spear.

He swung it with full force and the assassin managed to deflect with his sword it however the force was high and he was thrown to the ground.

Lockley saw one of the female assassins was charging a bolt of lightning mana . She had a magic wand which enhanced her spell. He threw his secondary weapon , the sword , towards her and the lightning bolt was absorbed by the sword as it approached her however she fluidly caught it with her free hand.

' Damn it , She's a dual user ' Lockley cursed his luck.

The hope he had was rapidly dwindling . 

As he cursed his luck , he sensed a certain danger to which he flipped side ways luckily escaping the stab of a red dagger laced with green poison.

Lockley noticing the poison unconsciously held out his arm which had been grazed .

The female wielder of the blade grinned under her mask . 

" No need to fight , in a minute you'll be dead. " She said in an emotionless tone.

Lockley felt the poison kick in and slightly staggered. This was enough time to give the male assassin an opening to hit him with his metre long hammer . Lockley used his left arm to block the incoming attack but that wasn't enough

He flew like a ragdoll bouncing on the ground until a large tree stopped his momentum. He spit a huge chunk of blood . His arm that he had used to block the hammer in a split second was mangled and hanging loosely.

He watched as the male assassin approached him with his large hammer and all he could do was watch. No there was one thing he could do.

< The god of Snakes watches you in amusement > 

' Forgive me Priscilla ' 

He looked to the sky . Precisely to where he felt the prying eye of the god .

" You wanted me to be your avatar , right ? Save my wife and my soul is yours !! " He shouted.

The male assassin hearing this laughed , a mocking laugh.

" Did I hit your head too ? " He asked.

" Stop playing with your prey and finish the job " The only assassin who hadn't attacked Lockley said. She seemed to be the head of the group.

The dragonkin who was watching in amusement slightly frowned . His keen dragon sense warned him of the human currently hanging at death's door.

< The god of snakes accepts your proposal >

Suddenly his body started twitching . 

The leader of the assassins frowned .

" Fire , retreat !! " She shouted . 

The male assassin , Fire , looked back . 

" Stop worrying Air , I can handle th..... " Suddenly his perception of the world turned 180* before his vision fell to darkness .

His body fell down unaware of how he died .

The group saw the perpetrator , Lockley , or rather what was left of him.

His skin was now covered in green scales. His legs were now fused into one becoming a large green tail. He hissed showing his forked tongue . His blue eyes had been replaced by a red bloodthirsty snake like eyes. Those very eyes signified that he had currently lost all sense of reasoning. This would be a course of celebration as brainless enemies were easy to deal with no matter how strong but the assassins knew better than to underestimate any avatar chosen by the Ouroboros through countless experience.

" Shit he's Peak Saint . Lightning and Water, we're switching to plan D. " They nodded as they retreated back to Air.

Air looked at the Prince of Dragons questioningly earning herself an amused look.

" I am here to oversee the project not to be your babysitter. This is your own problem " He announced. Air gritted her teeth and nodded at the two assassins

Lockley or what was left of him sped to Water who was currently casting a spell . She stopped her spell as she dodged the spear thrust aimed at her heart. 

She brandished her dagger and once she spotted an opening she aimed for his head.

Clank!!

Water watched in horror as her dagger failed to scratch Lockley's skin. Suddenly she was hit by the avatar's tail. The force behind it was so strong that it split Water into two. 

Lightning gritted her teeth in anger seeing her friend die . She cast [ Lightning cloak ] on herself and ran to Lockley at an incredible speed leaving a trace of yellow lightning on her path .

Once she was close , she swung the sword she had previously caught on the fight. The Snake easily dodged her swing and thrust the spear into her head. It then proceeded to throw the spear at Air who was distracted by the Dragonkin effectively penetrating her skull.

The only person left was the Dragonkin . The snake dashed forward and punched the dragonkin using a qi coated fist. He fell down with his skull caved in.

The snake looked around the battlefield in glee as it danced on the corpses of its opponents. It couldn't help but think how weak the humans and dragonkin were.

The snake then opened its mouth and started devouring the corpse of the Dragonkin.

It ate everything unaware of its enlarging stomach until

pa!!

Like a balloon that had burst due to too much air , so did its stomach. It shrieked in horror holding out its intestine as it fell down dead.

******** Reality.******

[ Illusion of the damned ]

Air's eyes glowed green under her mask as the snake stood still. Lightning then took the opportunity to coat the stolen sword with lightning and slash the monsters stomach.

It shrieked in pain and horror before falling down dead.

Air finally let go of her illusion and slightly faltered Water held her up. 

" I am alright. Let's finish the mission first " Air said.

The three flickered leaving The Prince to see the view. He looked at the fallen assassin and Avatar of Ouroboros.

There was no tears for the male assassin or anger towards the Snake , the only thing the assassins thought of was the mission.

" They are quite detached aren't they ? " The prince couldn't help but comment as he flickered away.