Massacre

"You will never be able to..." Iramal moved closer to his family and a visible barrier formed between him and the three commanders. "Get to me or anyone from my family first."

"What do I do?" Khaitan clicked his tongue all of a sudden, his brows raising in worry. "I already got to your son and I am sure by now, he must have reached hell safely."

His words of ridicule served to ignite Iramal's fury and he glared hard at the man who had killed his son before he could stop him.

Khaitan just shrugged his shoulders and smiled faintly, surprising Yihan and Ophir. They had never seen Khaitan so carefree and at ease before and they could not make out what had changed in him.

"Why are you two looking at me that way?" Khaitan did not question Yihan and Ophir in the capacity of a fellow commander. He questioned them in the capacity of a leader who had trained them to reach the position they were in today. "I am just having some amusement here. It has been a long time since I felt this relaxed."

"Well, I cannot deny, Commander Khaitan, I am having some amusement here too." Yihan's smile widened and he padded towards as he dragged his blood coated halberd on the ground, leaving a trail of the thick liquid behind him. "I never imagined that the royal family would face such a disaster ever."

"Is it not their fault, Commander Yihan? Would they have ended in such a perilous situation if they had not ill-treated their subjects?"

Iramal was glaring at him with hatred and anger and he signaled secretly to his family, which neither of the three men noticed.

"And now, it is time for retribution." With that, Ophir lifted his saber and struck the barrier hard. But it was too strong for him and his saber rebounded with power.

Iramal smiled in relief at Ophir's failure.

Ophir tried again but in vain. He could not break the barrier whatsoever and it was then that the three men realized that Iramal had used most of his strength to create the barrier.

"Commander Khaitan and Commander Yihan, I need your help." Ophir did not give up and gave Iramal a challenging look.

"Of course."

The three struck the barrier at once, Ophir with his saber, Khaitan with his spear and Yihan with his halberd. At first, nothing happened. However, on the second strike, the barrier shook and on the third, a visible crack appeared in it.

Iramal's smile vanished and he bellowed, "Manir, now."

Right at this moment, a violent surge of viciousness filled the room and the temperature dropped suddenly. The three men felt a mild sensation of pain in their chests. Yet, they did not give up and struck the barrier again until it shattered and vanished altogether.

Iramal spat a mouthful of blood and he dropped to his knees. He was depleted of his energy and he was bleeding from everywhere, his face sickly white.

Ophir rushed towards the man who was torturing them using all his might and chopped his head off, the blood splattering on Iramal's face.

"Manir." Iramal shouted in despair, seeing his beloved brother now lying headless and in his blind rage, he twirled his fingers, compressing the air in the throne.

"If I am going to die, I will not allow anyone of you to survive too." He hollered and soon, it became suffocating even for the royal family. The air was being sucked out of their lungs and some of the weaker members dropped dead immediately.

However, there was not much effect on the three commanders. Other than an occasional cough, they suffered nothing much to Iramal's anguish.

"We wanted to prolong your death, Iramal. But I presume, hell is anxiously waiting for you." Khaitan mocked and lifted his spear. "Let us not drag his death and end this rebellion right away." He ordered and the two young commanders attacked the royal family right away.

None was spared, not even children who were yet to show their potential. In front of the three formidable commanders, their powers did not work at all and finally, only Iramal was left standing.

He had tried, hard, using his powers as well as forcing his family to give their best. But the three men stood strong as a mountain and all his attacks were rendered futile. The throne room was piled with dead bodies, all of which belonged to the royal family and Iramal kneeled in the middle, staring at the disaster he and his family had invited themselves.

Yihan, Khaitan and Ophir surrounded Iramal and closed in on him, making it difficult for the man to escape. Since he was still a peak stage level eight cultivator, he was yet to gain the power of apparition that only the peak stage level nine cultivators had.

"Say your last words, Iramal. Otherwise, we can finish this right away." Ophir mocked, his lips arching up on one side into a smirk.

"As I said before, do you think I will accept my demise just like that?" His eyes were awfully red and Khaitan frowned when he saw the myriad of emotions on his face. It was too vivid and impossibly terrifying.

"If I am dying," Iramal had come to peace with the predicament he was in. He was going to die, there was no uncertainty about it. As to why his suppression was not working on the three men, he could not comprehend it even now. But that did not matter to him anymore. His family was gone and he would be gone too, soon.

"I will take you three with me."

Iramal held the yellow talisman in front of him, reveling in the looks of mortification on the three men's faces. This was a treasure, one which he had obtained with great difficulty.

"Goodbye, for now, commanders. Let us meet in hell soon."

Iramal was already bleeding. So, he just wiped his blood on the talisman and the yellow paper erupted into flames right away.

"It is the Charm of Deaths. Run." Khaitan yelled, his face paling in fright when he recognized the talisman that was known for its mass destruction. "We need to get out of the palace before the talisman turns into ash completely."

"I hope you do not," Iramal said, smiling faintly while the three men took to their feet immediately.

But it was too late. The talisman had turned into ash before they could even leave the room and the moment it did so, the three men collapsed to the ground immediately, blood gushing out of their mouths.