The flames flicker. It rises, it doesn't stop burning. It destroys, it purges the land filled with beauty and fills it with death instead.
Father, how can we abandon our beloved town? Do you even feel remorse?! If you can't protect it, I will!
The Knight of Flowers, a legendary figure that had been forgotten over time. It is a tale of a young man named "Dendron" who protected his hometown from the ■■■■■■ that wanted to purge his abode using their flames of destruction. With his magic, and the ability to produce life out of nothing, he eliminated his enemies and drove them away. Soon, the hometown that he had protected became a kingdom.
A kingdom that fell onto the hands of the ■■■■■■. He became a knight and died protecting his kingdom until the very end. In his last moments, he created a giant tree and surrounded it with his favorite kinds of flowers. He got buried near it, and the roots took his body and made it part of the ecosystem.
Then, the kingdom sank and its location remained unknown.
<•••••••••••••••••••••••••>
Huh?
Cliff felt the rogue's lifeless hands fall off his shoulders as he stared at his lifeless body being held up by the burning Knight of Flowers. Then, the lifeless body of Riyu was thrown to the ground without any care.
"T…T..T-th…eat…e-eli…mi…na..ted…"
It spoke. The knight made out of nothing but wood spoke. Cliff froze, his entire body frozen with fear, shock, and grief. It reached out to Cliff next, its burning left hand attempting to clutch his neck and snuff his flame just as it did to the [ Rogue ].
"RIYU!!! NO!!!!"
In an instant, the warrior jumped forward and performed a [ Downward Strike ] with his axe, aiming for the knight's helmet. However, the axe halted its movement. Its burning left palm stopped the axe from cutting him down, and his entire body suddenly started blooming with flowers that extinguished the flames that kept burning him previously.
The knight slowly looked at the warrior. He was filled with rage, anger, and wrath. Just like the ■■■■■■ that destroyed his kingdom. With a single punch, the axe broke.
"I-impossible…!"
However, that did not stop the warrior. He made the remaining handle of his axe to use it like a bo staff, a warrior like him has the skill to [ Adapt ] to any type of weapon as long as it is a melee weapon.
Enrid thrust his makeshift staff to the knight's head with such force it could fracture somebody's jaw. It did hit the knight's head, but it didn't even move, or flinch. It stayed completely still before completely demolishing the warrior by pulling him using the staff and punching him down to the ground, efficiently knocking him out and shattering his skull.
"GAH–!"
"T-....two….d-d-do…wn…"
After dealing with the nuisance, he returned his attention to the one who burned his garden.
He was nowhere to be found, including the mage who had hit the Knights of Flower with a bunch of ice toothpicks. It looked around everywhere and started to walk to search for them.
"...I-"
"...Shh."
The two of them looked at each other, with Cliff staying completely silent while Esther was fuming with anger, gripping her staff with wrath.
…Riyu, Enrid…
I will avenge you.
Her eyes brimming with determination and anger, she breathes deeply before exhaling a cold smoke. Her entire body became cold, she was spreading her mana throughout her entire body. Rime completely forms around her staff as she steps out of the rock they are hiding at.
Cliff looked at her, he could see her mana spreading through her veins. He tried to stop her but…
"Run, Cliff. This is no longer your issue."
"But–!"
"I SAID RUN! DO NOT COME BACK!"
You were the first person who befriended and accepted us for who we are. I cannot let you die here, my friend. I'm sure that the knuckleheads would agree with me.
Cliff hesitated, yet heeded her order. He ran.
The knight of flowers tried to catch up to him but was stopped by crashing into multiple blocks of ice that had spikes on them. Esther released those walls out of the ground, she used the air and combined it with her mana.
"Focus on me, you flower-bitch."
Mage-classed adventurers have a common special technique they can tap into as soon as they reach the advanced level of their class. Each mages have their affinity, either based on their training, bloodline lineage, or talent.
[ Affinity Bond ] is a technique where the mages can combine themselves with their magical affinity control that affinity and cast spells without the requirement of chants.
"Form, Glacier."
However, its effects are enhanced with the accompaniment of chants.
The shards of ice that were formed after the knight crashed into those walls of ice suddenly spun around like a storm, each shard was razor-sharp and had a freezing effect. It tried to rush towards her but the frozen tempest kept stopping it from moving. The shards kept slicing through its wooden body, eventually carving it like butter. It is taking damage now after being hit with everything.
However, it did not stop no matter how sharp or how windy it was. The tempest continued to pull him back, yet with every step, he slowly got closer.
Tsk…! A minute and a half, it's not enough to bring this fucker down…!
Eventually, it'll reach her and snuff her flames out just like everybody else and go after the kid. Her goal right now is to avenge his friends and protect that kid.
"Igh…! Fall, Avalanche!"
Swirling snow appeared above the storm tempest and gathered all of the ice shards to the top, creating three gigantic icicles. She swiped her staff down, and the icicles fell towards the Knight of Flowers.
Each minute, her mana quickly gets depleted due to the amount of mana each of her spells consumes. She must end this quickly, before she dies and all of everyone's effort becomes for naught.
BZZZZZZ!!!
"ACKKK…!!!!"
After unleashing that spell, she completely depleted her mana and reached the state of [ Mana Exhaustion ]. Suddenly, she started vomiting blood out of her mouth. She tried to cover her mouth but it overflowed through the gaps.
Suddenly, the giant icicles that she used to impale the knight were sliced roughly into shards. The shards turned into snow, and it fell on top of the knight who held his sword as if he was just finishing cutting something.
"I see… So, this is how I'll… bluergh…!"
Esther couldn't even finish her sentence, she vomited and looked at her allies who were down on the ground. It took a second before she finally realized.
Ah… At least I'll die with them… I'm sorry, I really am… wait for me in hell, you two.
She closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
"HEY!!!!! YOU FUCKFACE!!!!!!"
Suddenly, an intense scream reverberated throughout the entire cave. The knight was just about to snuff the mage's life out using its sword when somebody screamed from the direction where the giant tree was located.
The Knight of Flowers looked behind.
"...A…u…g…h…!"
The tree is burning, while the archer is seen standing at the rubble that revealed the giant tree's location earlier.
"COME AT ME! I AM YOUR ENEMY!"
That idiot–! Augh… How did he...?
The arrows that were burning earlier? He used his final club and dipped it into the untouched part of the oil puddle. Thanks to the remaining embers of the burning arrows, he lit it up. Making the process of burning the tree easier.
"NOW, FOLLOW ME TO YOUR GRAVE!"