Chapter 24: The Moment of Truth

The guards from the royal family finally showed up. They were in high number, wearing plate armor with all kinds of weapons attached to their backs. It was like a small army coming to get Arthur.

"We need to get out of here. Move, move!" Wisa screamed as she took the wheel.

Arthur quickly cut the ropes that held the ship to the port. Wisa knew how to drive that thing, so the rest of them focused on the sails. They weren't the best sailors, but there wasn't an option.

"Look, a ship is leaving the port. Stop it!" yelled the guards from inside the city.

The only ship leaving in that period was Arthur's. It was the most suspect, and they were almost sure he was inside of it. So, they quickly ran towards it, pushing any civilian aside to open the path.

But, it was too late. Even running as fast as possible, the ship was already entering the open sea.

"We can't let this happen. Listen up. Each officer will form a team and confiscate a ship for us to use. We will chase them until this world ends."

There was no time to lose, or else Arthur could escape their grasp. After the palace scandal, the guards would do anything it took to get Arthur. He was a wanted man that had to pay with his life.

Arthur was relieved for a moment once they marched into the sea. But as he looked back, he saw the guards entering inside other ships and chasing them.

"Damn it. These bastards sure want to get me."

"Of course, dumbass. You just killed the king."

"Yeah, there's that."

Six ships were chasing after them. For the guards to be able to fill six ships proved how many forces they sent to catch Arthur. It was no joke.

But, as Arthur left first from the port, it bought him some distance. A distance that was hard to overcome without other means.

They chased each other until the city was no longer visible, and then, the mages from the royal family decided to act. The mages cast spells to improve the ship's speed, and with that, they got closer and closer to Arthur.

He couldn't do anything to stop it. The enemy had more mages, so it was impossible to contest using the same means.

"Damn it. The mages are casting wind spells behind their ships to get faster. What should we do?" said Arthur.

"I, I don't know. We have to sink the enemy ships," Myria yelled from the other part of the ship.

"How are we supposed to do that?"

Arthur couldn't figure out how he could sink the enemy ships. Wisa, who was driving the ship, said, "Arthur, come here and take the wheel. I'll sink these bastards."

"Okay. Sink all of the ships, my favorite teacher."

As they went straight, and the weather was nice, Arthur managed to drive the ship without problems. Wisa was a mage with fire as her main attribute. And the fire was the best to sink ships.

She left the wheel and faced the direction of their enemies. The first ship to sink was the closest to them, so she did. Wisa was not using the sword this time but focusing all her attention on the drawing of magical symbols.

Strange runic words painted in red formed in mid-air. Wisa was not like the other students who were starting on their magical journey. She was an adept mage and her spells were on a different level.

It took her thirty seconds to prepare the spell. Arthur saw Wisa fight once, and she did it in an instant.

"The spell she's casting is powerful. Can it sink a ship?"

Well, Arthur soon found out that it couldn't only sink a ship, but four of them.

The small symbols she drew formed four big circles in the sky. A huge amount of mana in each one of them, and loud noises came from each one of the circles.

Then, four giant meteors flew from the circles, each one aiming at a different ship.

"Damn it, what is this. Who's with Arthur to be able to cast such a powerful spell?" one of the mages from the royal family said.

They couldn't contest such a powerful spell. The only thing they could do was to wait until it hit the ships. The meteors flew slowly, and as they got closer to the ship, it was possible to see the meteors' true size.

Huge, they were huge. The meteors were bigger than the ships themselves.

A loud sound. The ships were no more after facing the meteors. It sank, and everyone inside of it did too.

"Wow. When did you become so strong, Wisa?"

"I've always been, idiot."

Wisa sat after casting the spell. It took her a lot of mana to do so. She needed some time to rest before fighting again. But, Wisa managed to sink four ships at once. Now, only two were chasing them, and the rest of the group would have to find a way to destroy them.

"Myria, seeing you're also a teacher, can you destroy the last two ships for us?" said Arthur in a mocking tone.

"It is not like that, brat. I'm an alchemist, not a combat mage like Wisa."

"Yeah, sure. That's the reason."

~~~~

The other two ships slowed down after witnessing Wisa's attack but never left. They did not have mages capable enough to destroy Arthur's ship, so all they could do was watch.

But, the peaceful time wouldn't last long. A white-bearded man showed up flying above the sea. Once Wisa saw it, she was terrified.

"Damn it. Why are we so unlucky?"

"What do you mean?"

Arthur could not understand what made her think that way. Their enemies were far, and couldn't do anything to them in a short time.

"The bastard that showed up flying just now. He's strong, like, STRONG. You saw how strong I am, right? To be able to fly one has to be at least three tiers above me. That man is one of the strongest in the kingdom."

"What!?"

Arthur did not know any of that. How would they face someone like that? They could only pray for a miracle to happen.

Meanwhile, inside the enemy ship, a white-bearded man was angry.

"How you idiots lost four ships? Damn it. I was angry already for leaving my comfy home to chase some lowly criminal, and now this? Damn, you are pathetic."

"I'm sorry, sir. We got caught in a meteor spell and lost four of our ships. It won't happen again."

"A meteor spell? Hmm, that is interesting. Anyway, let's finish this. I need to go back and rest my old body."

The man drew some magical symbols, just like Wisa. They were almost the same.

After two whole minutes, a gigantic circle formed above the sky. Wisa recognized what it was, and accepted her fate.

"We are all dead. That man is casting a meteor at us, at least two tiers stronger than mine. We can't survive this."

Aria, Hily, and even Jane had tears streaming down their faces. They were too young to die. The world had so many things for them to explore, and now everything would end, just like that?

Arthur felt the same way, but he had a crazy plan in mind. Their death was almost certain, so screw the reason.

He would do anything to give them a slight chance of survival.

"Wisa. Can you throw me with enough force to reach the meteor?"

"What? It is suicide. Are you trying to die before us?" Wisa could not understand what Arthur wanted to do.

Well, Arthur himself had no idea if it would work. But it was better than waiting for death.

"All right, I can do it." Wisa agreed to it in the end.

They all stared at the sky, and a gigantic meteor formed. It was impossible to dodge it. Wisa stared at Arthur seriously, and then she grabbed him.

Wisa exerted all of her strength to throw Arthur directly at the meteor. The man who cast it saw that and laughed.

"What is this? Are they trying to kill themselves? In the face of death, humans always try futile attempts to survive."

Arthur flew like a cannonball. He had a crazy plan in mind, and he hoped it worked.

"Come on, system. Please, show me how overpowered you're. I'm counting on it."

As he was getting closer to the meteor, his clothes started to burn, and his skin hurt like hell. The temperature was too high for normal humans to survive.

"LET'S FUCKING GO, BABY."

When facing death, Arthur turned out to be a crazy man, just like Nefion.

Arthur came in touch with the meteor. The skin of his hands wanted to melt, but they didn't. He tried his best to focus on his absorption spell, and absorb the meteor. Yes, that was his plan.

He didn't have any clothing anymore, and the pain was almost taking his consciousness away. But somehow, it worked.

The huge meteor started to shrink, and enter Arthur's body. He was almost dying due to the pain, but it worked.

"Arthur is crazy. To think he would try this, hahaha!" Wisa could not hold her laugh.

Arthur absorb the meteor, which shocked everyone present, especially the man who cast it. But, that wasn't the end. As Arthur was falling down, he threw the spell he absorbed toward his enemies.

A huge circle formed above the sky near Arthur, and a meteor formed, shooting directly towards the two ships.

"Eat this, mother fucker!"