When Leo stumbled out of the alley beside the church, he saw flames surging into the sky over the southern part of the city. Far from subsiding, the fire there had grown even fiercer.
Fire was something best prevented. Once it reached a certain intensity, people could do little but stand by helplessly and watch.
At the same time, flames appeared in the western part of the city as well.
Someone had to be setting the fires deliberately. Otherwise, their timing could not possibly have been so coincidental, nor could they have spread so fiercely in such a short time.
Leo reached the church's rear entrance, which was also its northern gate. When he saw that the tall, heavy gate had not been opened, he settled into the shadows and waited.
Quite a few people who had attended the festival and still had not had their fill of the revelry were wandering along the street outside the northern gate.
Wine bottles swung from their hands. The alcohol had left them completely unaware of just how extraordinary this night was.
Holy Archmage Hilquins was dead.
The existing order had vanished, and chaos was about to descend.
Before long, the church's northern gate slowly swung open, and Koliver Enwey emerged.
All his former caution was gone. Koliver's steps were now relaxed and unrestrained as he strode away with his back to the church.
Leo hurried after him, but after only two or three quick steps, he abruptly slowed down.
Four black-robed men had also spotted Koliver Enwey. They closed in around him, then fell in behind him with practiced coordination.
Acolytes were the Church of Radiant Prayer's junior clergy, but even they possessed considerable influence. Their position gave them plenty of opportunities to win people over.
The five men ignored the chaotic crowd and headed straight toward the northern part of the city, leaving Leo no immediate chance to make a move.
And the northern part of the city was where Leo now lived...
His mother and younger sister were both home tonight. Toronia Square could not hold everyone in the city, so they had not gone out.
Leo suddenly felt unbearably hot as anxiety rose within him.
Earlier that day, he had already asked Instructor Willy about the main characteristics of Soul Mages.
A Soul Mage's greatest ability was the power to sense and briefly alter the vibrations of the Soul String.
For ordinary people, this meant that after receiving the blessing of a Soul Mage, whether an E-grade acolyte, a C-grade priest, or even a B-grade bishop, they could find relief from extreme emotions such as anxiety, depression, and anguish.
Many people's faith in the Church of Radiant Prayer was quite genuine because the church truly did offer them emotional solace.
Against mages, Soul Spells could probe the vibrational strength of another mage's Soul String and briefly rob them of the ability to cast spells.
Those, of course, were the abilities of Order Soul Mages, known as Pure White Believers.
Fallen Soul Mages such as the Disciples of Desire were also said to be capable of magnifying people's negative emotions, even driving them outright insane.
Koliver was an acolyte of the Church of Radiant Prayer, so he must previously have been an E-grade mage. Otherwise, a higher-grade Soul Mage would have discovered him long ago.
He had acquired Form Magic through an Intimidation Scroll. That must have happened recently as well, or he would have been exposed long before now.
Like Leo, Koliver was probably a novice who had only just become a D-grade mage and lacked combat experience.
He relied far more heavily on the firearms that had never before appeared on the Audrian Continent. The West Empire Kozmo had mentioned must have provided him with considerable support.
Those four subordinates might well have been recruited by Koliver too. All of them were probably serving the West Empire.
For now, Leo could only follow them and wait for an opportunity to act.
If Koliver Enwey had been alone, following him would actually have been more troublesome. Everyone on the streets tonight was dressed in the black clothing required for the festival, making individuals difficult to distinguish.
But with all five of them together, the target was far more conspicuous.
After reaching the northern district, the five entered an alley.
Two wooden handcarts had already been prepared inside, and the men pushed them out.
The four men other than Koliver split into pairs. Each pair took one handcart and headed toward the most densely packed houses.
Most of the houses here had walls built from blocks of stone, but their roofs were wooden. With the construction techniques of this era, it was difficult for stone to span the necessary distances.
In each pair, one man used flint to light a torch, while the other used the flame to ignite incendiaries and throw them onto the rooftops.
Blossoms of flame sprang up across the roofs.
It would not be long before the entire area became a sea of fire.
At last, illuminated by the flames, the residents realized that something was wrong.
People ran from their homes shouting. Police Bureau patrol officers blew their police whistles, while other officers called for someone to bring the water carts.
Acolyte Koliver played the role of distraction perfectly. He would appear, offer people a few words of comfort, then point them in the wrong direction.
No one would believe that an acolyte was committing arson.
Roused by the fire, people rushed through the streets in a panic, desperate to do something before it engulfed them.
But most of the buildings here stood two or three stories tall. All they could do was carry ladders to the outer walls and splash water onto the sloping roofs.
Amid the mounting chaos, Koliver and his men vanished. There was no telling where the two handcarts had gone to commit their next crime.
Leo grew even more frantic.
He had no thought to spare for chasing down the arsonists now. He raced toward home, wanting to find his mother and younger sister first.
When Leo finally stumbled up to the apartment building where they lived, he froze.
The three-story building was already on fire!
Someone stood not far from the front door with his back to Leo.
It was Koliver Enwey!
The firelight illuminated Leo's face, revealing his panic. Koliver really had come here deliberately and set fire to the apartment building where Leo's family lived.
Leo had known that Koliver would not let him off so easily.
The flames also illuminated Koliver's loose hair. It caught and scattered the firelight, forming a halo around his head.
The building had three stories. Leo's mother and younger sister rented an apartment on the second floor, another family of tenants occupied the first, and the landlord lived on the top floor.
Now the blaze had set both the roof and the third floor alight.
The entrance on the first floor consisted of a pair of double doors that opened outward. Each door had a wrought-iron handle.
Those two ornate handles had once been the landlord's pride, but now they had been tied together from the outside with a rope.
To Leo's relief, someone behind the doors was ramming and pounding against them.
That proved the people inside had not yet suffocated.
Most people who died in fires succumbed to suffocation or toxic smoke. As long as they could still move, there was hope.
Koliver turned around, smugness filling his voice.
“Leo East. I didn't expect you to get here so quickly...
“You killed my brother. I kill your sister.
“Fair. Very fair...
“Of course, there's been a small complication. Now your mother and neighbors will burn to death too.
“It couldn't be helped. Things never quite develop the way we expect.
“Just like my younger brother. He was too impatient. He didn't wait for the final light...”
Comments