Awwww!
Nerio screamed as he sent two sword streaks toward Erminio's head. Without waiting for them to strike, he took a few steps forward, quickly shortening the distance in a second, and thrust his sword to put a hole in his enemy's heart.
However, Erminio didn't falter. He swung the sword in a cross from left to right, deflecting the two sword strikes and directly colliding with the sword that was about to pierce his heart.
Cling!
The two swords collided, and the impact staggered both of them a few steps back. Nerio quickly steadied himself and readied the next attack. Meanwhile, Erminio gripped the sword handle with both hands and lifted the sword above his head as the tip pointed toward the sky.
Hummm!
With a deep grunt, Erminio brought down the sword. The slash released a dark green sword energy in the shape of a crescent moon as it moved forward with ferocious speed. Nerio, who had already prepared himself, quickly sheathed his sword, and when the crescent moon was almost upon him, he leaned forward, placed his right hand on the sword, and unsheathed it in a horizontal slash.
An overwhelming energy was released from the sword as lightning suddenly cracked along its path. When the two sword energies clashed, a deafening boom echoed as debris flew everywhere. When the debris and dust settled, a large crater had formed at the meeting point of the two sword energies. The two men stood opposite the crater, their eyes locked.
Jasper, who had moved away from the corner of the street, looked at the fight with a pale face. These two were elites among elites; every clash of their swords could sever a normal person in half. An unawakened individual couldn't even fathom how strong these awakened fighters were. However, the biggest shock for Jasper was Mr. Erminio.
He had never known that Erminio could fight this well and possess such expert sword skills. Jasper already knew that his skills were special in forging weapons. The pickaxe that had broken from his powerful swing had been bought from Erminio's forging house. Though it was only medium quality, it was as good as the pickaxes from other forging houses.
Yet now he stood toe to toe with a powerful swordsman like Nerio Bernardi, the Guild Master of the Sky Victories Guild. It was more than a shock to him. At the same time, this situation placed Jasper in a difficult position. If these people connected him to the underground blacksmith who had been providing White Crystals, his family would certainly be dragged into danger.
Different thoughts ran through his mind about what he should do now. Seeing the fight unfold, it was clear that Mr. Erminio would not go down easily. If he were to defeat Nerio Bernardi, or worse kill him in battle, that would definitely place Jasper and his family in a dangerous situation.
"I need to leave this town for now."
He couldn't take any chances anymore. Thinking things would return to normal was impossible after someone had casually ordered him to be hanged in public just to make an example for others. But he only had one and a half gold coins. Where could he even go with that kind of money?
"It doesn't matter. I'll walk to the next town and sleep on the street. As long as my family stays safe."
With that thought, Jasper left the battle scene and took long strides toward his house.
—————
Within a short time, he reached his house. However, he felt something was wrong when he was ten feet away from the door. His nose detected a strange smell, and it was far too familiar to him. He quickly sniffed his clothes and realized he carried the same smell. He walked to the door and knocked.
After a few seconds of waiting, the door opened. Jasper stood there expecting his little sister's smiling face. Instead, a different figure opened the door. The moment he saw that familiar face, he immediately understood where the odor had come from.
The Bernardi gang.
"What are you doing in my house?" Jasper screamed at the leader of the gang.
"Where is my family?" Jasper demanded as he walked into the house.
"Mother!"
"Irene!"
He called out loudly as his heart began to pound rapidly. Before his heart could burst from the frantic beating, he noticed his mother and Irene sitting at the wooden table in the hall. Three more familiar figures stood in different corners of the room.
"Mother, are you okay?" Jasper asked as his eyes pierced toward the men inside his house.
"Brother, these people suddenly entered the house even after I told them you were not here," Irene said in a frightened tone.
Jasper could hear the fear in his sister's voice and imagine how shocked she must have been when she opened the door expecting him, only to see these men storm into the house.
"It's okay, dear. I'm here. Don't worry." Jasper patted her head.
Jasper's face turned stern. He had feared something like this might happen when those people went to Mr. Erminio's forging house, but he never expected them to arrive so soon searching for his family.
"What do you want? Didn't I give all the answers to you?" Jasper asked the leader of the gang in a stern tone.
In response, the man only gave a small, nonchalant smile. "Do you really think you can continue living here after getting involved with the Bernardi Family?"
The others giggled after hearing his words.
"What does that mean? Your master already accepted my apology and let me go," Jasper reasoned with them.
"Hahahah."
"Accepted your apology?"
"Hahahah."
Jasper could see them mocking his predicament. Had those bastards pretended to spare him earlier only to send these men here to kill him and his family?
"Kid, you are so naive. It was obvious that was the reason you were going to die," the leader said in a satirical tone.
Jasper's heart burned with rage. How could these people talk so casually about killing someone? For a moment the anger surged through his mind, but he forced himself to calm down. Killing these men would place his family in even greater danger. The government would search for the murderer and hang them in public.
"You can't kill us. That's against the law. The government will put you in underground prison and hang you in public," Jasper said, hoping to negotiate and leave the town. He didn't want people chasing his family afterward. That would certainly happen if he killed them. Even beating them and fleeing to another town would cause people to pursue them.
"Haha, kid, that's why I called you naive. You won't live long with that attitude," the leader said as he began walking toward them.
"I'll give you this house. Take it for free and let us leave the town. We will never return. You can say we died and were buried under this house. Your employer will believe the story, the government won't suspect you of murder, and you can keep the house," Jasper negotiated.
"Kid, stop talking. In the next life, try being born with a spine," the leader said as he drew the knife fastened at his hip.
"Wait, we can talk. What do you want? Ask me anything. I will give you one million gold coins if you spare us." Even though Jasper knew negotiating probably wouldn't work, he was willing to try anything to avoid future problems.
The leader halted his steps and stood in front of Jasper while Jasper shielded his family behind his back. "I will give you one million gold coins if you spare us," Jasper repeated.
In the next second, the man thrust his knife toward Jasper's heart with a faint smile on his face. Watching the blade approach, Jasper felt how casually these people took a life. They had done such things for so long that not a single ounce of sympathy or morality remained on their faces.
Jasper understood that whatever he did in this situation would place him in danger. If he defeated them and fled, more enemies would follow. If he killed them and fled, both the Bernardi Family and the government would hunt him down. Negotiation was impossible. These people had no hesitation about killing and escaping the law.
If the government came after him, he would find a way to escape.
But if the Bernardi Family continued sending people…
He would kill them all.
He had finally reached the edge where he could neither run nor reason with the situation.
Either he killed…
or he would be killed.
Squelch!
The leader suddenly staggered back with wide eyes, unable to understand what had just happened. A moment earlier he had been thrusting his knife toward Jasper's heart.
In the next second, that same sword had pierced his own heart.
With disbelief in his eyes, the leader collapsed to the ground. Silence filled the room. The other three men's expressions changed as they stared blankly at their leader's body while blood slowly pooled across the floor.