Tear A Path 302 Don't Know

Both Zhao Wei and Panda quirked their heads at him, looking at him weirdly. "Ahem, uh... what exactly do you think I'll get away with?"

"Do I need to spell it out for you!? why don't you just get it over with!"

"Yeah actually... you really do..., what am I supposed to get over with?"

This time it was Bartram's and Moto-Tsune's turn to look at him weirdly.

"Uh... kill us?" why did he seem so unsure with his answer now? "Right?" Getting more confused, Bartram turned to Moto-Tsune to rea.s.sure himself.

At first, the j.a.panese man nodded as if he was sure. But then his brows squinted and looked down, when he looked back up, he simply shrugged.

Aren't you the head of the army? How can you not be sure!? Bartram's eyes glared.

Aren't you taking over my army? Why don't you figure it out, Moto-tsune pouted his lips and turned his face away.

"And why would you think that?" Zhao Wei interrupted their.

"Aren't you a hidden expert from their side who is trying to wipe out the enemy command?" Moto-Tsune asked, also curious.

"What he said." Bartram chimed.

Why're you acting like you're on my side!?

"But I warn you, even if you win, there're tons of us back at Central ready to move out, you may kill us but many will take our place." Moto-Tsune added, huffing his chest, feeling like quite the patriot.

But then a moment of silence befell them cutting a moment short.

"Don't you think it's a little rude to think a person you just met is straight up ready to kill you?" Finally Zhao Wei replied.

"But..."

"Your men attacked me first, I came in quite literally just wanting to talk, they're the ones who decided to have a go at me." Zhao Wei continued after short pause. "Besides, I've even shown them the kindness of not killing any of them, which I tell you is extremely difficult for me right now..."

Sure enough as they looked at the men, a lot of them were injured and groaning on the ground. But on closer inspection, none of them had been killed.

"...the injuries.. are a little unavoidable..." Zhao Wei added softly, feeling a little guilty despite his justified actions.

"So what did you come here for?" Moto-tsune asked.

"To talk really..." Zhao Wei replied taking letting go of his grasp on Bartram's neck. Not like he needed to have a grip on the man, he just needed them a reason to give him a chance to talk, fear of death was often a pretty good one. "You'd know that a few minutes ago if your men didn't try kill me."

"Right... And what was it you wanted to talk about?" Moto-Tsune feeling Panda retreat her horn from his throat continued rubbing it, as if to make sure it was still there.

"For starters I guess... Stop this war."

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Jacob ran as fast as he could to the rear of the army, just as several fireb.a.l.l.s flew into the sky, arching as it reached the peak of it's height and coming back down like meteors at the opponent army.

Landing in the enemy's ranks, the scene of those things exploding like a pent up frag grenade that shredded all nearby didn't happen. Replaced by a nausea inducing spectacle of humans suffering.

As those b.a.l.l.s of pure ignited magic touched the ground, it melted into it. Almost as if they were water balloons that were thrown down, bursting apart, the fire washed into the army like a flood.

They did not die, it did not instantly incinerate them from skin down to the bones and turn them directly into ash, no. They cooked, their skins turning crispy, their fats bubbling under the surface like a nice vat of frying oil right on their bodies. Little patches of flesh melted into juicy little pieces that mixed with their innards, which on their own was coming along nicely, like the stuffing of thanks giving dinner.

While the display revived the efforts of his own people, reveling in the immolation, Jacob stumbled forward. Fast fleeting feet now almost sinking into the ground with each step, the deafening screams of men, just steps away from him seemed to go quiet.

1/3?

1/4?

At the very least not more than half of the mage's spells had been delivered into the enemy's hands.

Either they quit mid way and decided to run, or they were never able to finish their spells.

In his vision he saw one of the enemy's vehicle crash not too far off, but far too close to where he hoped it'd be. Number 2 then... Checking the wreckage he saw Travis dragging himself out of it, his body was soaked in blood, not sure if it was his or the enemy's.

A dash had covered the distance between them, Jacob holding Travis's arms, a look of elation and expectation sprang on his face. Maybe it was stopped in time and the mages were told to hold their spells and move away.

"Oh G.o.d thank you!" Jacob smiled ecstatically, revealing itself through his war coated countenance.

Travis watched him, with mouth wide open, somehow unable to answer.

His face turned almost instantly, though changing very little gave the world a completely different color. The lips that were parted and showed his teeth simply closed into a slit, still curved upwards.

"Where are the they?" he looked left and right trying to spot them, when he couldn't he turned his expectant to the one who made him a promise. "I'm sure you kept them safe right?"

There was this elation still in his voice, as if he believed the lie he was telling himself, but it died down to a whisper. He didn't want the answer, not for the illusion to break, not for Travis to tell him the truth.

"I don't know..." Travis tried to say, "By the time I arrived..."

"If you don't know it's fine, probably nothing happened then right?." Jacob patted his shoulders and instantly changed his direction, looking for the mages.

Travis watched wide eyed, he'd been in that exact position. He only prayed the boy didn't find what he found.