Oizys struggled to rise, his injured arms and legs making the effort unsteady.

After a determined struggle, he eventually managed to stand, but in doing so, he expelled an entire cup of blood, staining the grass a vivid scarlet.

"Argh!"

SPLATTER

As he gazed upon his home, he realized the entire building was engulfed in flames, and every individual within was pleading for mercy.

None of the figures were familiar to him; all he could distinguish were humanoid shapes frantically scrambling to break free from the chaos.

"HAAAA!"

"HELP!"

"PLEAASSSEEE!!"

"GODS!"

The young boy, feeling utterly helpless, attempted to cry out for his parents.

However, when he tried to part his lips, no sound emerged.

He couldn't speak...

A relentless cascade of tears streamed down his face, mirroring the torrent of emotions welling within him.

His heart ached as he stood witness to the disturbing scene before him – each of his beloved relatives, trapped in distress, crying out for aid that seemed out of reach.

The weight of his feelings consumed him, leaving him gasping for breath, the turmoil of emotions causing his blood to constrict his throat.

His vision, once clear, was now blurred and distorted by the sheer intensity of his sorrow, mixed with the tracks of tears that raced down his cheeks.

The mixture of pain and helplessness painted a vivid painting, etching a memory that would forever remain etched in his mind.

He clutched his chest as he breathed heavily and sobbed even more, when he tried to look towards the house, he noticed two familiar figures limping out.

The weeping boy managed a weak smile as he saw his parents limping out of the burning house.

Eurodos was walking at a slow pace with his wife in his arms.

His previously beautiful long black hair had turned to scorched uneven patches, and his clothing was burnt off revealing burning bandages that he wore underneath.

The flames seemed to only have a cosmetic effect on the middle-aged man, all the damage he had sustained seemed to be from a previous incident.

Pan on the other hand was in much worse condition, her hair was all gone leaving behind burnt skin tissue and the pores in her body oozing pus and blood.

It was clear that she couldn't last long without immediate medical attention.

Oizys inaudibly screamed unintelligently as he ran toward his almost unrecognizable parents.

"See what happens, when you work sloppily." A cold distorted voice spoke, drowning out all the screams coming from the house.

An abrupt chill enveloped the atmosphere, accompanied by a sense that time had come to a standstill.

CLICK

Following the soft clicking sound of a cold blade being unsheathed a sharp whistle permeated the ears of everyone present.

SHING

A graceful sword arch was drawn in the air heading towards the direction of the staggering journalists.

In a mere instant, Eurodos vanished from view only to reappear right beside his son, defying the appearance of imminent collapse he had previously exhibited.

WHOOSH

"Interesting..." The taller assassin sheathed their blade as they watched Eurodos easily evade their attack.

"Ozzy...Take your mother and run as far as you can. Code Red." Eurodos ignored the assassin as he turned to look at his son who simply looked confused as to what had just happened.

The boy still had a dark expression on his face as he listened to the words of his father.

Despite his desire to react, an inexplicable barrier prevented him from stringing together any coherent words in response.

After listening to her husband's words, Pan coughed out a pool of blood as she laboured to get up on her own.

Eventually, with her husband's aid, she managed to stand up.

"Eurodos...Don't die."

Eurodos' expression didn't change from his usual cheerfulness as he smiled at his wife.

"Don't worry, honey."

Oizys knew that it was highly unlikely that his father was going to survive in his current condition, but he still tried to stay hopeful.

Eurodos turned to his son and embraced him tenderly.

With a warm parting gesture of a gentle kiss on the forehead, he shared some final parting words with his son.

"Oizys, protect your mother. Okay?"

"I love you..."

As his wife and son fled into the forest Eurodos turned his attention back to the two assassins in front of him.

"So...Which one of you dies first?" Once he spoke those words, Eurodos went through a complete transformation.

His customary calm smile and cheerful demeanour shifted abruptly into an aura of cold-heartedness and malice.

"Hahaha! What a bluff...Intel said ya were an intermediate knight at best. Just because you managed to dodge an attack by mere luck, it doesn't mean you have a chance." The shorter mage assassin spat as they looked at Eurodos.

It was clear from the words of the mage assassin that they indeed knew nothing about actual combat, as the feat Eurodos demonstrated was far above the capability of any mere knight.

"Go after Oizys and Pan, I'll deal with Eurodos." The taller assassin commanded in the same distorted voice, but this time it sounded slightly uneasy.

"Why? We can kill this guy in one hit then we can track down the others. It'll barely take five seconds." The shorter assassin whined as they looked at the taller one.

"Intel was wrong, Eurodos Hermes seems to be at least a Tier 3 Magic knight in his current state."

'And that's him injured... I wonder, who are you, Eurodos Hermes?' The taller assassin immediately took a defensive stance as they cautiously placed their hand on the hilt of their blade.

"Hahaha, you can't be serious... That'd make him vice commander level. If he was half as powerful, I'd at least be able to feel it." The shorter assassin boasted before their right hand set ablaze with a bright red flame.

FWSHHHH

"What you should fear is the fact that you can't feel it," they said coldly.

"Oh please!" The mage assassin then pointed their open palm at Eurodos and immediately released the blaze magic as a large fireball, the size of a basketball.

'A simple fireball should be sufficient.'

"Blaze magic: Flame Grenade!"

'This'll be a good learning opportunity for you, never underestimate your opponent.' The taller assassin looked at their comrade calculatingly, trying to evaluate their protégé.

WHOOSH

Eurodos disappeared from where he stood and all that remained was a spark of pale lighting, when he reappeared he was behind the assassin where he proceeded to sweep their legs.

Unaware of the impending danger, the oblivious short assassin fell to the ground, before they could do anything about it Eurodos used his right hand to slam their face into the ground forcing the assassin to consume a bunch of dirt and spew blood.

SLAM

SPLURT

"ARGH!"

A bunch of blood leaked out of the assassin's hood, they were unconscious...defeated in an instant.

"Tell me something... I found something odd. You let me fight your companion, knowing I'd beat him. Why is that?" Eurodos looked away from the unconscious assassin deeming them no longer a threat.

As he looked at his next opponent he tried to control his breathing, under normal circumstances he wouldn't be anywhere near tired but recent events caused both his rate of recovery and energy reserve to greatly diminish.

"I had a suspicion, but that just confirmed it... Are you the Thunder Oni, Percy?"

The taller assassin drew their blade and directed it towards Eurodos. However, there was a distinct shift in their stance this time – a heightened seriousness mixed with an unexpected hint of fear.

"Is my fighting style that obvious?" Eurodos' words may have sounded polite, but the truth of the matter was he was fuming.

'I'm at a huge disadvantage, my mana core is injured, I don't have a weapon, I can't use aura, my body is nowhere near peak condition and I can't use powerful spells as that'll give away my location...that'll be tough.'

The only reason Eurodos bothered exchanging words with the assassin was because he was buying time. Had he been at full strength, he could've killed the assassin before they could blink.

"The masked revolutionary Percy... a General of the Wakoku Nation, known for his unique magic affinity: a strange white lightning called Storm Magic, his battle IQ, and most importantly speed. Anyone important has studied your fighting style and abilities, I'd be a failure if I didn't." The assassin spoke in the same indifferent tone not letting their eyes off of 'Percy'.

"Your partner didn't seem as bright..." Eurodos/Percy looked at the assassin confusedly.

"Well he's a newbie, forgive him. I'm just lucky I found you straight after your battle with Emperor Jupiter, with your death the Wakoku Nation will be way weaker."

'Usually, I wouldn't be able to touch the likes of Percy, but now that he's weakened I can kill him here and now.'

"Now that you know who I am... You have to be disposed of."

"Don't act like you were going to let me live."

"Of course not...You killed my family." Percy's killing intent exploded causing multiple branches to snap and the grass to dance.

"I wasn't planning on escaping anyway. Well just answer this one question before one of us dies."

"What?" Percy was getting extremely impatient and his mana was reflecting that, his lightning danced wildly around his body.

KRRK KRRK KRRK 

"Why choose the name Percy?" The magic knight assassin asked curiously.

In an instant, Eurodos vanished from his original position, reemerging directly in front of the assassin.

His hand was now enveloped in an eerie white lightning, emanating an otherworldly aura.

KRRK KRRK KRRK 

Using his open hand Eurodos jabbed at the assassin's torso, intending to stab him with his weaponized bare hand.

"I stole Jupiter's Lightning..."