A blinding white light took hold of the open field. The veil of night was lit up by a miniature sun inside the mining camp. Its light shone through the wall and became the center of attention in the midst of night.
The miners covered their eyes. Some turned their heads away. A few got their eyes blinded temporarily.
Alex tried to fight through the light but was unable to see what was going on with Pax.
Ashe blinked her long eyelash a few times, observing the event while holding her breath.
They couldn’t see anything at all. But they could all feel the heat.
In the split second before the explosion, Nadia saw tiny droplets of water fall on the ground. They sizzled and corroded the dirt. She had never witnessed such a contradicting element. Water that had the ability to burn like fire. And then, a deafening bang. The black powder was ignited by the acid and set aflame the coat of slagpaste on Pax’s body.
The sulfur burned with intensity. The charcoal added more fuel to the heat. The saltpetre was the culprit of everything.
That was one of the most dangerous weapons Alex had ever seen. He didn’t know what it was.
It was a unique magical flame. A bright blue fire that was different from the usual yellow shade that Alex was so familiar with. The heat was unbearable and the deafening explosion was terrifying.
When the light faded, Pax was again revealed under the naked eyes.
He wasn’t dead yet. The magic flowed in his blood made sure he could survive.
But he was in excruciating pain.
Pax scraped his hands on his shoulders and arms, trying to get rid of the flame. But it stuck like glue. He even ripped his skin out but the Phosphorus already went under his flesh.
All attempts were pointless and the blue flame burned with intensity.
The slagpaste made sure the flame became extra stick. Tiny particles of Phosphorus slid into his tissues. Pax was burned from outside to the inside.
It was the most agonizing feeling Pax had ever experienced. The torture of the witch wasn’t comparable. Follow current novels on novel⁂fire.net
He roared like a wild beast and panicked. His face had the most amount of blue flame and it was the most painful spot of all.
His tiny head was covered in a cloud of black smoke and was barely recognized anymore. Pieces of flesh dropped off bits by bits, revealing the pink bones inside.
Even then, Pax wasn’t dead. But he couldn’t get rid of the flame either.
The only way to save himself was to submerge in a body of deep water.
The nearest branch of the river was at least fifteen minutes away. Pax would never be able to get there.
Siderius watched everything with a cold expression. He didn’t celebrate and his mind stayed focused. Only when an enemy was sliced into pieces that he would allow himself to lower his guard.
Siderius slotted in another projectile into the pouch of the sling. This one was a normal Explosive Projectile.
With the damage Pax had received, Siderius doubted that he would allow Siderius to strike him again with the same tactic. So he needed to be extra careful with his ammo.
Siderius spun the sling.
Pax immediately ducked behind a pile of mined rocks. Siderius’ first attack had left a traumatic dent in his psyche. Even seeing the sling made his body shivered.
Pax’s defensive behavior only brought more advantage to Siderius. The longer he hid, the more damage the servant would receive.
Behind the pile of rocks, Pax was barely keeping himself together. He writhed and squirmed like a drowning fish on land.
Nadia gulped. Sweat covered her entire face. She helped Alex slowly move out of the way of the two monsters.
Even the traitor had gone completely fearful.
"I messed up, Nadia." Alex sighed a heavy breath.
"Shut the hell up. Don’t bring any attention to us right now!" Nadia whispered. She used more power to drag Alex out of sight.
The other miners had already scattered away, leaving an open arena for the two to play, the witch servant and the witch hunter.
Ashe observed the entire thing with sparkles in her eyes. That power. The power that her master had just exhibited was what she after.
She must have that power. To get everything she had lost back.
The elderly miner was still beside Ashe.
Ashe couldn’t think of a suitable title to tell her. She obviously couldn’t say Lord Watcher of Xander. That would expose Siderius’ organization.
Alchemist was a pathway to an equivalent power similar to witch. But no one even heard of it before. Ashe thought that Sidedius wouldn’t want people to know about it either.
There was only one thing she felt she could say.
"He was simply an actor of a circus. But he was framed for the murder of his own mother."
"Tick. Tick. Tick." Siderius said. "Your time is running out!"
The Phosphorus fire burned even more. It didn’t seem to be stopping any time soon.
For the people of this world, this kind of ethereal flame was no different than magic. Even Pax, a man well-versed and familiar with magic, also thought that this was a magical fire.
"What kind of spell is this?!" Pax groaned.
His legs grew weak and his heart gave up. His skin healed themselves after and after but it couldn’t stop the flame.
If he stayed still, he would die.
In the midst of mind-numbing pain, Pax stood up and tried to attack Siderius.
His fate sealed the moment he exposed his head.
Siderius’ eyes lost most of their shortsightedness. They were still worse than a 20/20 pair of eyes. But they were enough for Siderius to spot the tiniest part of Pax’s head starting to rise up.
He swung the sling immediately. The projectile yeeted through the air.
It landed perfectly on Pax’s head and exploded to a thousand bits.
Because the explosive clay ball had only two compartments, Sidedius was able to fit more black powder and vitriol oil into a single projectile.
Therefore, its fire was less intense than the Phosphorus clay ball, but its explosive power was much more.
The shrapnels, formed from pieces of broken clay, spread to all directions and dissected Pax’s skull into countless pieces.