Red Palace III

Yuri breathed heavily while walking past some rubble on the ground. There was some blood running past the right side of his face.

He was slowly getting tired. Using mana without a catalyst was too demanding. Or it may be the fact that he was too young and his body still couldn't handle the continuous strain.

Or maybe even the fact that he used mana like this was too much. He had to admit that mana existing in this world was a major surprise to him.

And even after training and studying it to some extent he was still not sure about its capabilities.

The only thing he knew currently, and what was a blessing, was that he still didn't feel any pain yet.

Mana acted like a drug. And the amount of mana flowing inside his body was still strong enough to numb those pain sensors while sharpening his other senses at the same time.

It was like a rush of adrenaline one could always use at any given time. But even that would run out at some point.

Looking around he could see that the palace was only in pieces by now. It was only by sheer luck that this whole building didn't collapse on them already.

Though one of the falling rubble from the ceiling did hit his head when his defensive shell broke after losing concentration for a split second.

That was one of the negative aspects without a catalyst. Even the smallest distraction could backfire on any spell that was weaved.

And he focused most of his defensive shell on the backside where his sister was anyway.

So he didn't care to get hurt lightly. He was walking like a reaper through the hallways anyway and shot one explosive round after the other. It satisfied him and lessened his anger to get rid of all the intruders that came across his path.

Hundreds of enemies already died by his hands and when ammunition was getting sparse he would pick up new supplies from the corpses.

At some point the palace became only a burning eerie graveyard smeared with blood and the smell of gunpowder wafting through it.

And when he finally came outside the building, only more corpses were greeting him on the dirt.

They were not killed by him but by a familiar face. A face that let Yuri sigh out in relief.

"Young lord!" It was the driver of the car that was called Maxim.

"We...need to get to the port...now..." Even talking became hard for Yuri but he still gave his order.

The man only nodded at him and helped him get over to one of the still-functioning vehicles. It was an enemy military car. Lightly armored.

With it they drove off. And by the looks of it, it was not one second too late.

Looking back Yuri could see mechanized cars approach the palace and more soldiers jumping out of transports and storming the already nearly destroyed remains of the palace.

"Looks like they saw us...", said Maxim while looking into the back mirror and accelerated the jeep.

Yuri could see a mechanized car following them through his peripheral vision after he turned his head to the right.

Normally they could just outrun them with the larger speed this vehicle had compared to the heavier pursuer. But the current street was straight and they already started firing at them.

"Damn pesky...Who in their right mind sends so many soldiers with armored support after a small family..."

Yuri was pissed and leaned over the backseat of the vehicle and aimed. The jeep had no roof so it was not necessary to climb out of any windows to shoot.

Unlocking the bullet chamber of his rifle he saw that there was no ammo left inside. Searching his pockets made him frown. There was only a very single bullet left.

Grumbling somewhat he inserted it and slid the bolt into locking position.

"Come on, don't blow up in my face here...", mumbled Yuri before he channeled a lot of Mana into his rifle. It was the only way to do enough damage with this last round.

But these rifles were not meant for excessive mana use. He already did destroy a few rifles in the palace with this.

When the darkish blue mana coiled around the gun and inserted itself into the bullet long enough Yuri concentrated his gaze unto that armored car behind them and shot true after the iron sight was perfectly aligned with the target.

The bullet fired out of the rifle and didn't blow up in his face.

It simply traveled its path and penetrated a few inches into the pursuing armored car and then exploded.

The upper entrance of it burst open in flames and it drove straight into a wall after the driver seemed to have died inside.

Whatever it was, it was a success.

"Well done, young lord.", smirked Maxim after seeing him finish of their guests.

Yuri only looked at the destroyed rifle in his grasp now and frowned. Then he tossed it out of the car since it was not usable any longer.

After he sat back into his seat a feat of coughing overcame him and he could see blood on his right palm.

"Looks like I am at my limit..." Yuri's eye color dimmed down back to his original deep blue. And with that all the pain started to flood his system making him grimace.

"Big Brother!?" A sweet voice sounded from his left side on the seat right beside him. It was where he put his sister on.

"Hey there, little angel. Didn't I tell you to keep your eyes shut no matter what?" Yuri smiled now at his little sister and saw her teary eyes looking at him worriedly.

He caressed one of her small cheeks gently with his left hand.

"Don't worry. I am fine. Just a little bit tired."

Not believing him, she grabbed his hand and hugged it. Then she came closer to him and snuggling to his side.

That sight let Yuri smile softly.

"You can rest, young lord. I already informed the mother base and they sent reinforcement that will be here soon. They will escort you and young miss until you are safe."

"Thanks for doing that in advance. I appreciate it."

"The boss also asked if you require more help just say the word."

Yuri thought about it for a moment.

"Send my two adjutants over. I will use them as our bodyguards for the time."

Maxim nodded.

"Got it. I will report that to mother base."

Breathing in and out deeply Yuri´s eyes became heavy and he slowly let himself rock into sleep. The streets were not that well build out so it happened fast.