02: I Will Not Bend My Knees!

Darius was utterly shocked as he bore witness to the carnage that unfolded before his eyes. Resentment soon lingered within, Darius wanted to help them, but Darius knew he was powerless against those pirates, especially the brawny captain who was Rank 1 Mage.

His whole body was trembling in fear, the adrenaline rush almost made him insane. However, Darius has grown up, not fully matured yet he could assess the situation rationally.

A common human like him against Rank 1 Mage was akin to an ant fighting an elephant. The sword in his hand was nothing but a toothpick for the brawny Rank 1 Mage.

Darius had another plan to stop the culling, Darius emerged from his hiding spot, diverting the pirates' attention.

"I know the girl's whereabouts!" He shouted aloud.

"Darius! Don't!" exclaimed aunty Esther. Frightened.

Darius stared at the aunty as if to tell her to hush her mouth, her plea would do nothing amidst this crisis.

He might be overpowered and outnumbered, but not outsmarted.

"Finally! Someone with functional brains. Where is she?"

"In your mother's ass!"

"You, little!"

"Isvellda!"

The brawny captain shot a bolt of ice spell toward the young man, a sadistic smile plastered on his face.

Darius held his sword high to defend himself from the incoming attack. He grimaced in pain, the stinging cold crept into his bone and almost froze his blood, even.

However, he was shocked to the core when the simple longsword was able to deflect the ice bolts. No, the sword has nullified the spell.

Darius himself was no less surprised upon finding out his father's sword was able to do it.

"Anti-Mage sword?! Impossible!" The brawny pirate's captain said.

Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Darius ran in the opposite direction of Maria's hideouts. Darius ran as fast as he could toward the forest, the habitat of the Snow Wolves.

"Catch me if you can!"

"After him! Fetch his head for me!"

Dozens of pirates soon swarmed him from every direction but Darius' feet were faster and far more agile compared to the pirates who rarely walk on land.

Arrows and bolts of magic pursued behind him like a swarm of hungry locusts. The pirates relentlessly chase after him through the thick snow on the forest floor.

Some of the magic bolts and arrows pierced his back, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He didn't feel any pain during this hot pursuit due to the adrenaline.

Before long, Darius lured them into his hunting ground where he had installed all sorts of animal traps the other day. Of course, these traps were also deadly for humans since they were designed to trap Snow Wolves.

Darius, meanwhile, climbed a tree that had been rigged with his trap. He concealed his presence by holding his breath while waiting for the perfect opportunity to cut the rope.

"Argh! Damn it! Find him! Don't let him get away!"

"Aye, captain!"

"Captain! I found his trail!" Shouted one of the crew.

As the pirates looked up, they found the young man grinning atop the branch.

"Die, you bastards!"

Darius pulled the knot, releasing the spiky trap that he made from wood. It was primitively simple but very effective. Dozens of the crews were crushed by walls of wooden spikes, their blood rivered down, painting the once-white snow in red.

"It's not over yet!" Exclaimed the pirate captain.

When the cloud of snow had subsided, an ice lance soared upward and darted blindingly fast toward him. Darius couldn't evade in time and it pierced his shoulder.

"Argh!"

Notwithstanding his battered body, Darius opted to taunt them even more. "Is that all you got! Huh! You should be ashamed as a mage to fall into such a petty trick!" Darius jumped down from the tree after he said that.

Having enough being played by a brat, the Frost Pirate's captain makes another Ice Lance. This time was smaller and sharp yet it was as dense as a casted iron.

When the Arcane Energy had reached its critical, a sadistic smile plastered on the captain's face. "Let's see if you can run from this!"

"Svellro!"

Bang!

Kaboom!

A massive explosion suddenly happened in front of Darius and blasted him away for a couple dozens of meters.

He didn't feel anything at first, however, when he felt the warmth on his front, Darius realized there was a sizable gaping hole in his chest.

"Urgh!" He vomited a mouthful of blood, it was dark due to the oxidation. "I think this is the end for me, huh? Maria, I am so sorry."

Darius' body finally gave up from both exhaustion and blood loss. His shoulder slumped, resting his back against a tree. Though he knew he was dying the second his lungs get flooded by his own blood, Darius was grateful his sense of pain was already numbed due to the hypothermia.

"Hahaha!" A maniacal laughter resounded. Before he knew it, he found the captain had already looming above him.

"No, no… You ain't dying yet. Where's the girl?" Said the brawny man, stepping on Darius' chest.

"I've told you… She's in your mother's ass."

"You little shit!"

A boot's sole landed on his head, promptly knocking him out of cold. Darius could hear the sharp ringing voice inside his head.

"Search the forest! She must be around this area."

"Yes, captain!"

Thus, the pirates left Darius dying in the cold.

Darius resented himself for being weak. "I should have trained my sword skill more. If only I could make a spark of magic…"

As if his prayer was heard by the higher being, a pillar of dark, ominous light descended down from the sky.

The passage of time seemed to stop entirely.

"Is this my… death?" Darius muttered inwardly.

Before long, an old man stepped out from the dark light barrier, his attire was black and his long white hair cascaded down by his shoulder. He might look old, but still has the youthful charisma around him.

Darius thought everything was just an illusion before he crossed to the afterlife.

"Oh dear," The old man flinched upon seeing the battered young man before him. "What happened to you?"

"Are you blind? Just get it done already, claim my soul and take it to the underworld!"

"Underworld? Boy, you must have mistaken me for Grim Reaper, did ya?"

Darius was silent when he thought the death itself was joking with him.

"Oh, shoot! I forgot to deactivate my Time Domain, I am sorry!"

After the old man pressed a button on his bracelet, the passage of time returned to normal. It made Darius begin to question the old man's true nature.

"W-who are you, old man."

"Me? I am just Nobody."

Darius' sight darkened, as if being inside a dark tunnel that gradually narrowed.