Seemingly appalled by the reckless behaviour exhibited by the driver of such a fine automobile, the Elven male could not help but feel a tinge of frustration fill his mind and, deciding he'd had enough, hurriedly flew down, landing a distance away in front of the automobile.

He looked coldly at the magical vehicle, sighed and slightly shifted his right foot; then, like a disease, a trail of ice and frost suddenly sprung forth from underneath his leg and raced to meet the vehicle.

Upon contact, it froze its two front orbs of light, or I suppose it's more accurate to say the icy sorcery encased the orbs of light, causing them to flicker off and on, seemingly losing energy rapidly, and for a moment, it looked as if the car would either stop entirely or flip over in the air before collapsing.

However, to his surprise, a luminescent glow of blue arcane energy surged through the car; then, without a word or warning, the ice quickly shattered, and the vehicles' speed increased two-fold and barrelled toward the young elf at near imperceptible velocities, attempting to run him over.

In a heartbeat, he leapt mere inches from the automobile, twisting in midair, as his flames propelled him upward just as the vehicle tore past.

With his flames, he rocketed himself forward with explosive speed, quickly catching up to the vehicle as the chase continued throughout the city.

After what felt like hours, although only close to 30 minutes of relentless chasing, the drivers of the automobile finally decided they were fed up with this little game of cat and mouse. Robber One spoke:

"For Spire's sake, he just won't let up. I was hoping things wouldn't come to this, but at this point, we're not left with much of a choice."

Sighing he then loudly declared:

"Dragon Of Apricity! Let's test your metal then, why don't we!? Are you a hero or a fraud!?"

Without looking back, they tossed what appeared to be a small amulet, which gleamed with a pale orange light that nearly blinded him from its sheer intensity.

Taking form, the light materialized into a giant gaping maw filled with rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth that took up most of his vision, snapping furiously in the young elf's direction, threatening to devour him whole.

Using his flames, he successfully propelled himself to the side in one burst of motion as the creature fell to the wayside.

The creature was large, about as tall as a house; it squirmed on the ground, then screamed a deafening roar that bellowed with misplaced anger and resentment, striking fear into the hearts of man, woman and child as its manic eyes burned with seething fury.

Its thick, tough purple-hued carapace plates, each ridged and textured, offered a natural armour that gleamed with a dull sheen and shimmered under the light of Sól.

The creature had foxing horns protruding along its sides, especially concentrated near its head and tail.

Its back was a mess of bone-like spines that spammed from head to tail and Its eyes were abominable.

All in all, the creature appeared to be quite a menace to look at, but for all its horror, the young elf knew it was nothing but a distraction to keep him occupied as the thieves made their getaway; his heart wavered.

The worm loomed behind him, its roar sending ripples of terror through the streets, while the vehicle tore through the city like a bullet.

The question now was: Could he abandon his pursuit of the criminals for the sake of these middle-class citizens and small business owners, or did their lives hold less value than the burdens of duty?

Knowing about the creature as he had read about it once in a book during his younger years he understood the risk it posed to the city and its citizens.

He sighed, deeply analysing the situation and took a closer look at the worm, noting its much smaller size relative to the ones depicted in the books leading him to deduce that the worm was likely a juvenile and thus less of a threat than the crazed criminals, who may have had even more of the foul creatures on hand.

Dejectedly, the young elf gritted his teeth and forced his gaze away from the creature and the panicked citizens, of whom some were running away while others stood still, frozen in fear hoping for a miracle to save them.

The streets were a mess of motion as panic quickly overtook the masses. Despite this, however, the young elf readied to give chase to the criminals as he grimaced, disgusted by the severity of his decision.

Launching himself into the air, he couldn't help but look back one last time, trying to weigh the grim nature of his choice, a decision that to many of the city officials would be for the greater good of Atharys as a whole, though at the expense of possible thousands of innocent lives.

Lives that trusted Astrals to serve and protect them as they would any civilian regardless of class or power but rather simply because they were a citizen of great Leydrithia.

Reflecting on that thought for a moment, his face contorted into an ugly grimace that seemed all too alien to the otherwise model-esque features of his face.

But he could not help it, he knew the dirty truth of it all, the inner workings of his organisation.

The lies, the cover-ups, the propaganda, all of it. As such, he knew claims of Astrals being selfless heroes were unfounded or, at least in his mind, they were nothing but fantasy, for one does not fight monsters and remain wholly human.

So he knew that even if he left, he would be fine. His reputation might receive a slight decline, but he'd live, praised for catching the robbers as the bodies of innocents loitered the streets, forgotten.

The thought haunted him, causing his brows to knit, then the jets from his hands ceased, and he landed on his feet as they slid on the ground a few meters, displacing dust around him on the polished stone road before finally stopping, hunched over.

He turned his back and set his sights on the worn as the vehicle made its getaway behind him.

However, in the wake of their hopes of escape, a wall suddenly erected along their path with a speed and fervour that left them little wiggle room. Their hopes dimmed.

Survived only by the fact that this was no normal vehicle, it was a wonder of the Arcane and Science, made to thrive in a multitude of terrains and situations.

The driver of the vehicle looked back at the young noble for a moment as their eyelids slightly curved upward, reflective pearls of jade visible from the round eye holes of the porcelain, gold-threaded mask of a flowing intricate patterned design.

Their face beneath the mask was telling as they seemed to delight in his desperation to manage both capturing them and saving all the people from the Crownfissure worm, but to them what was even more delightful was knowing what his choice had been.

He would protect the people at the expense of their escape if unavoidable.