An unforgivable act

SWOOSH!

A quiet, almost imperceptible 'swoosh' suddenly cut through the tense air.

Stefam, who was crouched on the ground with a defeated expression, braced himself for the slash that would end his life, but the blow never came.

Instead, Stefam suddenly felt a warm, thick liquid splash on his face, accompanied by a suppressed, pained grunt. The unexpected warmth snapped him back into consciousness. He blinked in confusion, wondering why he was unharmed at the moment. Not willing to get caught by surprise again, he instinctively darted away from his position without pausing to analyze the situation. First safety, then analysis, he reminded himself.

After he had put some distance between himself and the position of dagger wielding man, Stefam's path took him outside the misty area where he watched on with a tense expression as he waited for the mist to clear.

Stefam then noticed a figure rush out of the fog hurriedly. Upon inspection, he recognized the huge red haired man, but a lot was off about him compared to earlier. The man's face was etched in fear, as if he had just seen a ghost, his uniform torn across the chest, revealing a bloody gash. Blood poured from the wound, soaking into his crimson uniform.

The red haired man swung his head towards Stefam. When their eyes met, his expression of fear morphed into one of shock and confusion.

'What! He's here, then who-' His thoughts trailed off as the mist continued to clear.

In the midst of the thinning mist, both Stefam and the red haired man noticed another towering figure. Their shared confusion lasted only a second before the fog fully lifted, revealing the new presence.

"Master Song." Stefam sighed, with an expression of relief and delight.

"Song!" Echoed the red haired man, his tone laden with fear as he stared warily at Song.

As the last wisps of the mist evaporated, Deswill Song stood in full. Little tendrils of the mists still rose off his imposing form, adding to the chill of his presence. He dropped something in his hand, drawing the attention of Stefam and the red haired man.

Only then did they notice that all the time Song stood there, he was holding the headless body of the ice mage. Nearby the dagger wielding man lay on the ground, also decapitated, with his right hand a distance away from his body, cleanly severed.

The sight sent a shiver up the spine of the red haired man, his hairs standing on end as he unconsciously took a step back, overwhelmed by Song's presence and the ease at which he tipped the scale of the situation.

***

Immediately Ludwig Ordered, Song and Gohnn directed their focus on the remaining Tholarian forces while he dealt with Lingaard. Both men immediately moved to intercept the Tholarians.

"Gohnn, get reinforcements here now, I'll do my best to hold them off as much as possible," Song ordered.

"Alright," Gohnn responded without hesitation. He didn't even voice concern or oppose Song's order, despite knowing he was about to face over a hundred Tholarians. Afterall, this was Master Deswill song in question, if anyone could do it, he could. Gohnn then changed his direction, leaving the Tholarians to Song.

A cold sneer appeared on the Tholarians' faces as they saw Song approach them alone. They might have broken off and separated, but there was still a good amount of men charging towards him.

Not all the Tholarian soldiers had charged into the Haven, the majority of them dispersed into the streets of Yaran and did something completely heinous.

They began to slaughter the helpless civilians in the streets of Yaran, breaking into the homes of some of them and slaughtering more people. They set off different explosions causing the residential and commercial buildings in various areas to crumble in dust and flames.

When Song saw this, his eyes turned bloodshot. He gritted his teeth ferociously, thick veins throbbing on his forehead. His focus shifted from the rapidly approaching soldiers in his front to those behind, committing atrocities.

Tholaria's actions were an absolute violation of human rights and the international laws guiding modern warfare and basic humanity. What they were doing at the moment was considered a war crime and was unjustifiable.

There were ways war was supposed to be handled and play out. Both warring nations were only meant to direct attacks at military targets with the harm caused to civilians being proportional to the military advantage anticipated. The abuse of power by attacking civilians indiscriminately was strongly condemned, with strict regulations put in place by a joint agreement between the majority of the nations in the world, part of the International Alliance (IA). Tholaria had just broken this ironclad rule, possibly forfeiting their place in the international community and the alliance.

This was the one of the general consequences meant to be meted out to violators of this rule, but Song felt that wouldn't be enough. Even if they were to go against the IA, they would definitely retaliate and Tholaria will deeply regret their actions.

The soldiers rushing at Song had enraged expressions when they saw Song's focus wasn't on them. The first set of men had finally reached him. One of them roared while slashing his sword at Song. "Don't f*cking ignore us, old man. Don't worry you'll join them soon.' He roared with a maddened grin.

Hearing his words, Song's twisted face relaxed. He raised his expressionless face towards the soldier that just spoke. The soldier flinched, seeing Song's expression that was devoid of any emotion, but only for a second.

Before he could regain his bearings, he realized he couldn't feel the arm he was swinging down just now. He then glanced at the arm and noticed there wasn't an arm there anymore.

'What? When-' His thoughts were cut off as his point of view changed. He saw Song's head twisting oddly while it seemed to get farther away. This only lasted a second before complete darkness engulfed his vision as his headless body fell lifelessly to the ground like a puppet that had its strings cut.