Chapter 59: Knocked out

Sophia was stunned when she heard that. She looked at him in confusion, and then her expression hardened.

"Take them down? Have you lost your mind?"

"Sophia..."

"There is no way we can take on a bone dragon and whatever that eye in the sky is," she said. "And look at those monsters out there. They are attacking whatever they want, whenever they want. They would barely give their attention to you."

"I understand," Leon said. "I do."

"Then why?"

"Because I have a feeling they will follow me." He looked toward the door. "If I lead them away and fight, maybe I can land an attack big enough to secure the battle. I feel like I have to do something here."

Sophia stared at him. She wanted to say more, but he had already turned his face away.

Leon told himself he was doing this to ensure the safety of everyone in the room, but that was not the case, and deep down he knew it. Ever since he spoke to Dio Larek, a heavy feeling had been sitting in his chest. Guilt. It felt like parts of all this were somehow his fault, and now he wanted to atone for it in his own way.

He turned and walked toward the door, ready for his plan to take effect.

Sophia walked behind him.

She did not say anything. She raised her hand and hit the back of his head, hard enough to knock him out cold.

THUD.

Leon’s body went limp and she caught him before he hit the floor. She pulled him up and rested him against her shoulder.

"I am not okay with you throwing your life away for whatever reason," she said quietly, even though he could not hear. "What you want to do is noble, I get it, but it is suicide, Leon."

She turned to the people in the room. They were all looking at her with fear in their eyes.

"You are on your own from here," she said. "Stay hidden and stay quiet."

She did not wait for a response. She stepped out of the building with Leon on her shoulder and headed toward the chapel of light.

When she got there, there was nothing to see. The chapel had been burned down, nothing but smoking ruins and ash. She stood there for a second, frowned, and then turned around.

"Second base," she muttered, and rushed in that direction.

At that same moment, a massive blast ripped out from the manor at the center of the city. It rose into the sky and slammed into the flying eye with massive force, pushing it back. The eye squirmed in the air.

A mage stood at the very top of the manor with a staff in her hand. She was the one casting the spell, her eyes fixed on the sky.

At the same time, another figure shot up into the air on the back of a wyvern. He was a man in simple black suit-like clothing, a battle axe in his hand, and he flew straight toward the undead dragon.

Sophia looked over while she ran and saw what was happening. She slowed down for a moment.

’The city is making a large move to stop the attack.’

That meant Leon did not need to harm himself. She let out a long sigh of relief and looked at the unconscious kid on her shoulder.

"With those two, everything should be settled," she said, and kept running.

She arrived at a small antique shop, where the rest of them were waiting. When Mark saw Leon on her shoulder, he stood up fast.

"What happened to him?"

Sophia set Leon down on a chair and explained everything, from the dragon’s flames to the plan he had wanted to go through with.

"He tried to do what?" Mark said, rubbing his forehead. "That is crazy."

"It really is," Roger agreed. "Even for him."

"What was he thinking?" Kira added, shaking her head as she looked at the boy.

Roger let out a small sigh. "Anyway, now that the city is attacking, we should be safe for the time being."

He had barely finished the sentence when a blast of fire slammed into the building.

BOOM!

The explosion tore through the walls and shredded everything to bits.

The fireball from the bone dragon tore the antique shop apart.

Wood and stone crashed down in every direction, and for a few seconds everything was dust and ringing silence. Then the rubble shifted. Mark pushed a beam off himself and crawled out, coughing. Roger and Mari followed, dragging themselves from under what was left of the roof.

Sophia was already moving. She had thrown her body over Leon at the last second, and now she held him close, one arm wrapped around his head as she shielded him from the falling debris.

"Urghh..." Leon groaned in her arms. His eyes fluttered, and he started to wake up.

"Stay down," she said quietly.

"Hey!" Mark’s voice was tight. "Everyone, look."

They all turned.

Undead skeletons stood in a wide circle around the ruins, more than twenty of them, rusted blades in their hands, their jaws clicking. Behind them stood a few liches in tattered robes, purple energy already gathering at the tips of their staffs.

"Shit," Roger muttered, and drew his sword.

Leon pushed himself up a little. His head was spinning, but he was almost fully awake now, and he saw all of it.

"Sophia, what..."

She did not let him finish. She snatched him up and threw him over her shoulder, then gripped her scythe with her free hand.

"I’ll clear a path," she said. "Stay close to me!"

She stepped forward and swung. Darkness spread along the blade, and a wide slash ripped across the ground. It cleaved through the skeletons in front of her, bones scattering in every direction, and a path opened up.

"Go!"

They dashed through the gap, Sophia in front, the others right behind.

But the eye in the sky had recovered from the mage’s attack. Its red pupil turned toward them, and a blast tore out of it.

BOOM!

It slammed into the ground right where they were running. The explosion flattened the houses around them, and everything nearby was destroyed.