The market is busy and the sun complete rise above. Warm light touched the stalls, making the colors of fruits and vegetables look even more brighter. Shopkeepers greeted customers, waving their hands and calling out prices. People moved from one stall to another, laughing and sharing small jokes in the morning air.

  Children ran around holding tiny cloth bags in their hands, helping there parents. A baker pulled out fresh bread from a small oven, and the smell spread through the market.

  Through the market, a horse-cart slowly passed.

  The brown horse walked, its steps steady and quiet. The cart’s wooden wheels made a soft creaking sound. People moved aside giving space for the horse cart moved through the market, talking to each other.

  The light illuminated everything inside the horse cart in a soft golden glow. The wooden floor shook gently with each step of the horse.

  A twelve year old boy sat near the back, holding a rugged small bag close to his chest. He did not speak to anyone, but his gaze shifted from one person to the next, taking in everything around him.

  Across from him sat a couple holding hands tightly. The woman rested her hand over her stomach, and her husband kept brushing a stray hair from her face, smiling.

  Next to them rode a family of three. Their little daughter played with a small wooden toy, tapping it gently against her father’s arm. Every time she laughed, her parents laughed too.

  Their hands stayed linked, and the others in the cart offered gentle congratulations. The bride’s cheeks turned pink whenever someone teased her, while the groom simply looked at her.

  At the far end sat an elderly couple, leaning against each other.

  The boy listened and watched as the cart rolled through the market outside.

  Inside the cart, the couples continued talking. The pregnant woman received the most attention. Almost everyone leaned forward soft smiles, gentle nods, and little jokes. She held her belly with one hand and kept nodding, her husband answering most of the questions on her behalf .

  “Where you two are heading ?” older women asked.

  “To the capital,” the husband replied, smiling. “I just found a new job there. More stable than others one A fresh start from ous.”

  Everyone reacted full of surprised voices, happy nods, and small words of encouragement.

  “That’s wonderful,” said the newly married bride, her eyes shining.

  “The capital is full of chances,” man with the daughter said .

  “You’ll raise the child in a good place,” someone else said.

  One by one, they began sharing their own reasons for traveling there. Searching for jobs, to meet relatives, and others simply wanted a new life in a busier place. The cart filled with stories and plans.

  Through all of this, the boy sat quietly in his corner. He didn’t join the conversation, but he listened carefully, his eyes drifting from face to face. He hugged his small bag a little tighter.

  Outside, the horse cart moved past the last line of market stalls. The shouts and chaos of the Market faded. The smell of fresh bread slowly disappeared behind them.

  Ahead of them the road leading toward the wilderness trees, long grass, and a wide open sky.

  The cart rolled farther into the open land. For a while, everyone stayed in their own thoughts, watching the passing trees and the pale sky.

  Then the newly married man glanced outside.

  His smile slowly disappeared. The sky, which had been bright just moments ago, was now dimming into deep shades of purple and grey. The sun was sinking faster than anyone expected, and the shadows around the road stretched longer and longer.

  “We… still haven’t reached?” he whispered, his voice louder than he intended.

  Everyone turned to look at him.

  “What do you mean?” the woman with the little girl asked.

  “We should have arrived at the resting point by now,” he said, his face tightening. “Night is falling… and we’re still far from the next village.”

  A heavy silence filled the cart.

  The pregnant woman gripped her husband’s arm. The little girl hid behind her mother. Even the elderly couple looked worried.

  The father of the little girl swallowed . “What if… they come out?” he said quietly.

  The boy sat very still in his corner, watching every face change. The horse cart kept moving.

  The road was quiet as the cart rolled deeper into the darkening wilderness. Everyone sat stiffly, listening to the wind move through the trees. Even the horses begun to step slower, its ears twitching at every small sound.

  Then, without warning, something slammed into the side of the horse cart.

  The impact threw everyone off balance. The wooden frame shook violently, rattling. The horse screamed and reared, but whatever had attacked them moved too fast to see. In the fading light,

  Before anyone could make sense of it, a second hit came harder.

  Something tore through the harness with a sharp ripping sound. The thick leather snapped. And The horse yanked forward, freeing from the cart in a single pull. Its cry echoed into the darkness as it disappeared from sight.

  The cart rattled wildly as it rolled downhill, but the driver still clinging to the front seat tried desperately to regain control. His breath came in sharp gasps, eyes scanning the darkness.

  A shadow moved.

  It appeared beside him as if it had standing there for to long.

  Before the driver could shout, the figure struck.

  A quick, and precise motion. He let out a cry, clutching his arm as blood sprayed across the edge of the cart. His hand had been taken clean off, dropping somewhere into the dark below.

  People screamed, begging him to jump back inside. But the driver was frozen, his face pale, his body shaking uncontrollably.

  The shadow didn’t stop.

  With the same cold speed, it struck again. The driver’s cry was cut short his head was taken in a single movement. His body slumped forward and fell off the cart, disappearing under the darkness of the road.

  For a moment, everything went completely silent inside the cart. No one move and said anything. Only the rattling wheels and the rushing wind filled the dark air.

  Then the shadow strike again .

  A sudden heavy impact struck the back of the cart, hard enough to make the whole structure bounce. People screamed and clung to the wooden sides as the cart swerved dangerously. Before anyone could understand what was happening, another strike landedthis one sharp and slicing.

  The top cover tore open. The fabric ripped apart, flying off into the darkness. Cold night air burst inside. The wind roared through the open roof, whipping hair and clothes as everyone ducked instinctively.

  The newly married bride covered her head, trembling. The elderly woman clutched her husband’s arm. The little girl cried into her mother’s chest.

  The boy sat small and still, gripping the bench as the cold air hit his face.

  Above them, through the torn opening, only darkness hovered.

  The passengers huddled together, trembling as the wind whipped through the torn roof. Their eyes widened, their breaths shook.

  Outside, something huge tore through the darkness.

  The ground shook. Dirt flew up in heavy bursts. Tree branches snapped and scattered.

  The shadow rushed toward them, its movements blurring. Every time it touched the earth, the soil exploded upward. Every time it slid through the trees, trunks bent and cracked under its weight. The passengers screamed, pressing against each other as the shape grew clearer by the second.

  The shadow grew larger… closer… until it finally stopped right in front of the fallen cart.

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  For a heartbeat, everything froze.

  Then, with a sudden burst of power, the shadow struck the cart again—this time hurling it backward. The world spun, the wood shrieked, and the whole structure slammed into the ground with a crushing thud.

  Everyone screamed as they were thrown around, then buried beneath broken planks, scattered bags, and the weight of the overturned horse-cart. No one could move.

  One of the male passengers pushed himself up through the mess, his arms trembling. He activated the small spark of muscle-power magic he knew—his muscles tightening, veins burning.

  He pushed again. The wooden frame groaned. And slowly… it lifted.

  Just enough.

  “Go! Crawl out!” he yelled, his voice shaking.

  The passengers scrambled, dragging them through the narrow gap he had created. The pregnant wife, the newlyweds, the elderly couple one by one they slipped out into the cold night.

  They didn’t notice the boy still inside.

  He sat quietly in the dark corner, pressed against the broken boards. His eyes were steady. Outside, the rescued passengers collapsed to the ground, gasping, trembling.

  The pregnant wife sat on the ground, shaking, trying to steady her breathing. Her husband rushed toward her, his footsteps uneven. He reached out, bending down toward her.

  But before his hands could touch her shoulders, his whole body jerked. For a second, he just froze in place, eyes wide. Then a sharp, choked breath escaped his mouth and blood spilled from his lips. She stared at him until she saw the dark shape of a knife lodged deep in his back. He tried to take one more step toward her. But couldn’t.

  His knees buckled, and he collapsed forward, falling right into her arms. She caught him, trembling, holding him as tightly as she could. “No… please, no,” she whispered, her voice breaking as he went limp against her.

  The first of the robed figures surged forward, moving with a fast and silent speed toward the elderly man. The attacker’s blade drove straight and true, piercing the old man’s heart. He crumpled to the earth without a sound, his life extinguished before he hit the leaves.

  Beside him, the second robed figure descended upon the elderly woman. With a calculated strike, he slashed across her hand, severing flesh and bone. Her scream tore through the canopy, mingling with the hot spray of blood staining the forest floor. A single, crushing blow to her head plunged the woods back into silence.

  The robed figures turned in unison, their attention shifting to the young couple and the trembling girl clinging to her mother’s leg. The young father thrust his hands forward, channeling his energy until the air around him warped with heat. A sphere of roaring fire materialized in his palms, lighting up the dark clearing, and with a shout, he hurled it at the leading assassin.

  The robed figure did not flinch. With a simple motion, he swatted the projectile aside, sending the flames scattering harmlessly into the brush. In the same fluid movement, the attacker raised his blade and sliced through the empty air between them. A wave of invisible force, sharp as a razor, surged forward across the gap. It struck the young man’s outstretched arm, severing his hand cleanly at the wrist.

  For a heartbeat, there was no sound, only the dull thud of the severed hand hitting the dirt. Then, the blood began to ooze, turning into a spurting rhythm that soaked the forest floor. The young man stumbled back, his face drained of color, clutching the bleeding stump.

  He took another step back, his boots dragging through the dirt. With a guttural roar that shook the trees, he channeled every ounce of his remaining essence, the air screaming as he compressed raw mana into existence around him.

  Nine distinct spheres of fire materialized in a hovering arc. With a flick of his mind, the spells engaged, locking onto the heat signatures of the robed figures. They launched forward in a blinding volley, trailing blazing wakes that turned the night into day.

  The nine spheres screamed across the clearing, splitting apart so that two locked onto each of the four robed figures. The assassins scattered, blurring into the tree line to evade the heat. They zig-zagged violently through the ancient timber, diving under roots and banking off trunks, but the fireballs were relentless, mirroring every erratic turn to stay on their heels.

  One of the robed figures suddenly halted his evasion. He tilted his sword with precise timing, catching one of the chasing spheres and sliding it harmlessly upward. It rocketed into the night sky and detonated, spreading a blinding white light across the jungle. In that sudden, harsh glare, the extended family turned and fled into the deep woods, abandoning the vulnerable couple to save themselves.

  The lead figure halted, his gaze piercing the darkness where the family had vanished. He barked a command to his squad.

  A pulsating purple light erupted from all four shadow figures, bathing the forest in a violet glow. With terrifying speed and precision, the assassins deflected the incoming magic, swatting the high-explosive spheres aside.

  The air crackled around them. The four glowing predators fanned out. They moved with renewed purpose, scanning the brush and shadows, beginning a search to hunt down the family that had managed to run away.

  The glowing figures surged into the deep woods. They swept past the bleeding man and the trembling woman without a second glance.

  The fleeing family ran until their lungs burned, tearing through vines and stumbling over roots. After a long sprint, their escape was abruptly cut short. The four robed figures materialized from the shadows, cutting off their path. The family skidded to a halt, trapped, as the assassins stepped forward, their violet auras pulsing in the gloom.

  The nearest shadow figure blurred into motion. Utilizing a quick step, the assassin vanished from the front and materialized instantly behind him. The movement was so fast it barely disturbed the air. With a fluent, practiced strike, the figure drove his blade deep, piercing straight through the man’s gut. He ripped the steel out with a sickening slide and delivered a brutal kick to the man's back, sending him crashing helplessly onto the forest floor.

  The woman screamed and lunged forward to help him. She was instantly intercepted by the shadow figures. They harassed her, using the hilts of their swords and waves of dark energy to shove her back, blocking her path.

  One of the glowing figures paused, his gaze scanning the trembling captives. A silent command passed between them. Two of the assassins immediately peeled off from the group, turning back toward the dense woods.

  The two assassins reached the exact place where they had attacked the horse cart. The pregnant wife was still on the ground, desperately holding her bleeding husband. The figures ignored them. They scanned the area.

  One of the attackers stood still and activated his vision power, zooming in meters ahead until his gaze locked onto the overturned horse cart. A faint, pulsing light in his enhanced vision betrayed a life sign hidden within.

  He leaped onto the roof of the carriage, unsheathed his sword, and drove it straight down through the wood. As the steel pierced the interior darkness, magical eyes along the metal opened, swiveling in the gloom until they spotted the twelve-year-old boy curled up in the corner. The assassin ripped the sword back out.

  He gripped his sword with both hands, muscles coiled to strike. Suddenly, the world turned white. The flash was intense, absolute.

  A lance of light plummeted from above. The light slammed into the steel, shattering the weapon into dust. It didn't stop there the beam tore through his defense, obliterating his right hand completely and piercing his body before exiting out his back. The residual force slammed into the tree line behind him, vaporizing the timber and leaving a smoking trench.

  The maimed attacker stumbled back from the horse cart, clutching the smoking ruin of his shoulder where his arm used to be. He screamed into the night.

  Beside him, a crimson lance of concentrated light hissed through the darkness silent, surgical, and final drilling straight through his partner's skull. He stood frozen for a heartbeat, blood weeping from the open wound. As his knees gave way and he crumbled to the earth, his fading vision drifted upward.

  Hovering in the sky were seven figures. They were clad in heavy, gleaming plate armor, the great Red Cross burning on their chests. The Knight Templars had descended.

  On the ground, the pregnant wife gasped, the sound tearing from her throat as she squeezed her bleeding husband’s shoulder. She looked up at the steel angels floating above, tears streaming down her face. The Hammer of God had arrived.

  Ignoring the missing limb, the attacker locked his gaze on one of the floating knights, channeling his remaining power into his left hand to strike. The Knight Templar vanished from the sky in a blur, leaving the attack to hit nothing but air.

  The Knight was standing right beside him on the ground. The Knight’s sword flashed in a silver arc, severing his remaining hand cleanly at the wrist.

  He slammed his left palm against the assassin’s chest, channeling a surge of high, unstable energy directly into his core. A beam of raw blue electricity erupted from the attacker’s back, shattering the ground beneath them in an explosion of dirt and light. The discharge created a violent shockwave of wind and static that lifted the man off his feet and launched his charred body far into the darkness.

  Three of the Knights descended with heavy, metallic thuds, instantly forming a perimeter of steel around the victims. They knelt to tend to the pregnant woman, her dying husband, and the trembling boy who finally crawled out from the wreckage.

  Above them, the remaining four Templars turned their helms toward the deep woods.

  One of the hovering Templars clasped his hands together. The air shivered as a spear composed of roaring blue flames materialized in his grip, crackling with fire. With a motion like a whip crack, he hurled it at the shadows. The projectile screamed through the air, turning the night azure. The approaching assassins broke formation instantly, twisting their bodies, dodging the spear as it scorched the edges of their cloaks and incinerated the air between them.

  The spear slammed into the earth behind the dodging assassins. In a blur of motion, the Templar Leader used a quick step, teleporting instantly from the sky to the weapon's shaft. He materialized inches from the Assassin Leader’s face.

  "You should have stayed quiet," he said.

  The Knight torqued his entire body, whipping the burning spear around in a devastating, horizontal slash. The assassin threw up his strongest shield magic. The heavy spear shattered the barrier like brittle glass and carved through his chest, slicing him open. The kinetic impact lifted him off his feet and blasted his bleeding body backward through the trees at breakneck speed.

  The last remaining attacker looked around to see four Knight Templars boxing him in from every cardinal direction, their armor gleaming. He threw down his weapon and fell to his knees, pressing his forehead to the dirt. The Knights paused, their blades hovering inches from his neck; they stayed their hands.

  Meanwhile, near the wreckage, Knights worked to secure the bodies of the fallen passengers. They gently lifted the twelve-year-old boy from the debris. He was unconscious, and he lost both of his legs.

  Nearby, a medic Knight knelt beside the pregnant woman. He checked the young father’s pulse, then looked up at her. He shook his head slowly. The team relayed the situation to the Templar Leader. The order was given immediately. They escorted the survivors, the dead, and their prisoner directly to the sanctuary of the Capital Church.