Destiny

"Sir," Mathias gulped. "But I―"

"No excuses, rookie!" the Knight scolded as he grabbed Mathias by the shoulders, forcing him to move. "Gather with the others, go!"

Mathias' dazed steps amid his confusion, also worrying about his sister's condition, were drowned out by the steps of many others who were about to exit the great hall.

"Move, idiot!" someone pushed Mathias roughly. "You lousy rookie!"

"Get out!" someone shouted. "This building won't last much longer! Hurry up!"

"Hey, hey!" Mathias tried to keep up with the other rookies. "Hey, what's going on?"

The young man in question frowned. "Where have you been?"

"No, I was just―"

"Don't you see?" said the youth. "The Demon Army has reached here. If you still want to stay inside this hall, be my guest! I don't want to die buried inside this hall!"

"Hey, did you see―" Mathias widened his eyes and stopped his steps.

Some people were annoyed by Mathias deliberately stopping in the middle of the flow of people who were trying to find safety outside the hall.

However, Mathias ignored them as his gaze was fixed on a spot in one corner of the hall, amongst the large crates and other items.

There were no words he could utter even though his mouth was half open. What he saw was even more cruel to his heart.

Mathias couldn't believe that his girlfriend, Cindy was kissing so passionately with a man when the atmosphere in the great hall was already so chaotic.

And what hurt Mathias even more was the man who was kissing Cindy. He was Ryvel, the one who had always bullied and insulted him all these years.

"Wh-What are you doing, Cindy?"

But those words would not have been heard by Cindy, nor Ryvel because they were overpowered by the sound of explosions and people's screams of fear.

And then, the two of them left the hall through another way that seemed to be reserved for the elite and nobles only.

Mathias couldn't do much as people scrambling to get out of the hall forced him to take another step. He was pushed further, and further, out of the hall.

Kaboom!

Swoosh! Thump!

Explosion after explosion greeted Mathias and the people who had just come out into the open. And more buildings were on fire.

"Warriors...!" a Knight on a horse raised the sword in his hand high. "Gather up, now! Bring out your courage and drive out the Demon Army!"

"Attack!" shouted another senior warrior.

Mages who had mastered high-level magic darted like birds and then unleashed element-based attacks, from fire to water, wind to lightning.

The Archers released arrows from their weapons, bows, or crossbows, all shots aimed at the huge monstrous creatures that devastated their land.

The Knights also took part in the resistance. With or without horses, they fought with their weapons alongside the Swordsmen.

Kaboom!

Mathias had nowhere to run or even think about his little sister. Not at all.

Like it or not, he was forced by circumstances to fight alongside the warriors and Royal Soldiers.

The children, the elderly, and the physically weak women followed a small group of soldiers who would lead them away from the battlefield.

"Keep attacking!"

Mathias ran between the quick steps of the warriors who were heading towards the center of the battlefield. Although he didn't know what to do or think, he held the spear in his hand tightly.

Crash! Crash!

Groar!                   

Mathias and the others in the group were thrown when the ground beneath their feet suddenly lifted and a Spiny Serpent emerged with a roar from its foul-smelling mouth.

"Stand up!" shouted a master archer. "Don't die before fighting! On your feet, come on!"

Mathias realized that they would all die there because of the larger enemy force, but he had no choice.

He saw a wyvern tearing into a Mage. He tightened his grip on the shaft of his spear.

With all his fear and desire to find his sister, Mathias shouted at the top of his lungs as he flung his spear at the wyvern.

Whoosh!

Stab!

Unexpectedly, the spear struck the right thigh of the wyvern's hind leg.

Naturally, this made the wyvern roar in anger. And its gaze fell on Mathias.

"Oh, no!" Mathias gulped as he moved backward.

With the spear still stuck in its thigh, the wyvern took to the air, then darted towards Mathias.

"No, no, no!" Mathias tried to run for his life. "Get away from me!"

Groar!

With no trouble at all, the wyvern caught Mathias, and Mathias screamed in pain as his right shoulder was gripped by the wyvern's sharp claws.

"Let me go!" he shouted as he pounded on the wyvern's legs.

But of course, Mathias' punches did not affect the wyvern's thick-skinned legs at all.

He continued to struggle but the winged dragon continued to carry him higher and further away from the battlefield.

"Let go of me, stupid creature!"

Whether annoyed or not, the wyvern finally snapped at Mathias' hand that was beating on its leg.

Crash!

Mathias roared in agony as the wyvern severed his right hand so easily.

And as if the torture of the human wasn't enough, the wyvern swallowed the severed hand to humiliate him. Meanwhile, blood gushed violently from the severed wound on Mathias' shoulder.

"You cursed creature!" screamed Mathias. "I swear I'll kill you, you bastard!"

Mathias' only hope of putting up more of a fight against the creature was his spear that was still stuck in the wyvern's right thigh.

So with desperation and every effort he could, Mathias tried to grab the spear back even though he was already slowly losing consciousness.

The blood that was still spurting violently from his mutilated hand, as well as the wyvern that was carrying him higher and higher making it difficult for him to breathe, all became one great pressure, as if to aggravate his torment even more.