Jess

It was safe to say that this 'Jess' guy was overly prepared in terms of security. In fact, on the trip up stairs to his room, there were lots of henchmen around every corner.

Now, they stood in the presence of Jess, a man wearing a luxurious black suit and had long orange hair.

"Yes. It is unfortunate that my men did end up killing each other. I would like to apologize to the both of you. You see, I had told my men to eliminate any visitors that would come tonight. I had been expecting a certain enemy to show up, but it seems they never did."

"An enemy? What's going on?" Stella asked.

Jess nodded, "Unfortunately, Faust and I are no longer friends. I sensed something off about his actions considering a certain investment. When I sent a letter bringing it up, he never replied back. I do have connections, so I was able to find out that he had hired an assassin hired to take me out."

Louis only listened, instead of bringing anything to the conversation.

Stella stood determined and clenched her fist.

"Please. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help."

Jess waved his hand, easing down her tone as he gently smiled.

"It's' quite alright. You see, this threat had already made its appearance. And let me tell you, the threat isn't as great as I thought it would be."

"Wait really? Then, Why have your henchmen stay on guard like that?" Stella asked.

Jess clapped his hands together.

"Isn't it obvious ?"

Stella couldn't piece together what he was hinting at.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Jess sat back on his seat, facepalming while shaking his head.

"And you still play innocent. By the time of your sudden arrival, it's apparent that you were the assassin sent. It's a shame a good friend like you would turn on me."

"Wait, that not- '' Stella's attempt to explain was interrupted.

"I will not listen further. It is decided. You will be eliminated. You and your friend."

Jess gave a deep nod to the henchmen standing around, a nod giving them permission to end Louis's and Stella's lives.

A bad turn of events, caused by bad timing and a misunderstanding. All this happening before Louis had a chance to get any information. It was as if coming here was pointless. But, he knew dwelling on it would be pointless. Time was ticking and the henchmen pulled out their blades, getting ready to begin attacking.

"I guess we should just run." said Louis.

"There's no escaping this many of them." Stella replied. Her expression showed regret and sadness as she knew their fates were sealed. They had already been surrounded by no less than 20 henchmen.

Jess gave one last look to them before waving goodbye , "Very well, men, do as you must the second I leave the room. I'd rather not witness a gory scene."

He exited, making sure to close the door behind. Now, it is only Louis, Stella and each of the hostile henchmen.

Louis saw Stella's manor of lost hope and made an effort to ease her worry. He touched her shoulder and looked her in the eyes.

"Hey put some trust in me. Just stay down and close your eyes tightly."

"But why?" Stella asked.

"Ask questions later. Just listen."

"If you say so."

Stella kneeled down, closing her eyes and covering her ears.

Placing his hand in his pocket, Louis shot a stare at the many henchmen around.

"I'll give you guy's one chance. Disobey your master's orders and let us go."

"You're not in any position to demand anything." A henchman snarled.

"I tried to be nice."

Louis had his hand in his pocket for a reason. He was holding onto an Ice rune that would allow him to cast a certain deadly spell. But, it would be awfully loud, it was a good thing that Stella covered her ears by instincts, due to past trauma and PTSD. There were specific sounds she'd rather not hear. Her trauma was the sole reason Louis told her to close her eyes. He didn't want her to see the scene that was about to unfold.

In an instant, the henchmen rushed towards them. Louis pulled out his rune and shouted a spell, but Stella's ears couldn't make out the words as her hearing was muffled.

Shortly after, she could make out loud beaming and crackling sounds. She was eager to see what happened as her body sensed severe coldness around. When she tried to get up and open her eyes, Louis covered them with his palm.

"Keep them shut. Don't worry about walking, I'll carry you until we're outside."

Louis lifted her before opening one of the window's. His heel started to glow blue before he took a powerful leap into the night air, over the yard and gate, landing in the forest.

Stella was put back to her feet and she opened her eyes. She was surprised that he somehow managed to get them out of that situation, but how? Even if she had time to ask, Louis would not tell her about the gory scene caused by countless ice spikes. Louis tightly pulled Stella's hand, guiding her as they started sprinting away from the mansion's area.

The situation, the cold breeze and knowing that there was death, it all reminded Stella of a certain time from her past.

Memory… At the time, she was hiding behind a bush, covering her ears and sobbing. She didn't want to hear it, but the sounds were too loud. The screams and shouts of people behind slaughtered. The loud sound of sword clashing, the cries of others and the sound of flesh being ripped apart by blades.

They cried and cried, but nothing stopped. She needed to run away, so she stuck her head out of cover to find an opportunity to run. That's when her eyes met the scene of despair and death.

Her friends, her family and other people in the same area, they were all lying lifeless one the ground. Their bodies were leaking with dark blood that slowly formed into puddles on the dirt. But sadly, this wasn't the last of the deaths. Servants of a rivaling kingdom were attacking the town, slaughtering those unlucky enough to be there.

Stella's face twisted into horror. Steadily taking steps back, she tripped.

A Servant noticed her and came over to her as she tried to crawl away.

As the Servant lifted his dagger, a sudden precise slash cut him apart.

His limbs limply fell on the dirt and a Royal Knight grabbed ahold of Stella's hand and guided her way from the scene of destruction and gore.

Her mind was barely functioning and she wasn't able to think straight. Even if help had arrived and saved her, it didn't reverse what she lived through.

That same knight made sure to comfort her and do his best to see that she mentally healed, even if scars remained.

Current time… As they ran, Louis looked back at the mob of henchmen that were tailing them.

"Damn! They're pretty persistent. How did they even track us?"

"Maybe they had a sensing barrier in the forest?" Stella asked.

"Yeah, that's probably it. You just keep running, I'll deal with this."

Stella continued to run,but Louis stopped to face the opponents.

'I'm almost out of mana. I guess this has to be a blood sacrifice.'

He brought his arm to his mouth, before biting into it, causing blood to squirt out. He then lifted his palm, holding it out at the mob.

"Now. Call of the sky, hear my word and grant rapid lighting."

The sky above began to flash a dark purple light, followed by constant booming.

Powerful sizzling lighting repeatedly struck the ground, blasting the crowd of henchmen further apart with each second.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Finally, only the silence and sizzle filled the air, as the many foes had been burnt to a crisp.

Aside from becoming extremely pale and weak, Louis was fine. After all, he was able to still stand.

"Come on...too easy."

Slowly, Stella's voice spoke, giving the sound that she was slightly terrified.

"Umm...Louis?"

Louis didn't turn around, to avoid showing the weakness in his face, so he only waved his hand.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"It's not about you, there's another issue."

A familiar man's voice butted in, "Yeah, you guys definitely ran into an issue."

That voice. It was that of Jess's S-ranked bodyguard, Joel.

Louis sighed, 'No. Don't tell me.'

His body slowly turned, until he was able to see their situation.

Aside from Joel, there were two other's, both women who had restrained Stella.

"Of course. It just had to be you, showing up just before we could get away." said Louis, disappointed by the unlucky train of events.

"Yeah and it seems I caught you at a good time for me. You're already weakened from that spell you casted. I gotta say, I'd probably have a hard time against you if you were at your best."

After all, Joel did get a chance to see how Louis handled the henchmen at the gate.

"Yeah...why did my luck choose to be bad now out of all times?"

Joel pulled out a small but sharp knife before twirling it around.

"Your situation is so unfortunate, I almost pity you. Those two behind me are S-rank just like me." he hinted at both of the women by his side.

This was one of those rare moments that luck was all against Louis.