Chapter 33:
Burning Streets
The Conqueror
Chapter 33 – The Burning Streets
The air trembled with the clash of steel and the roar of mana.
Every blow between Eldran and Ming, every strike exchanged between admirals and guild members, carved scars into the heart of the village.
The villagers had thought the chaos was confined to the guild grounds. They were wrong.
While the strongest warriors clashed, the enemy's army had already breached the village entrance.
Their formation moved like a living machine—shields locking in front, spears bristling behind, mages raising their staffs in the backlines.
The thunder of boots against cobblestone rumbled through the alleys, yet was drowned beneath the greater noise of titans in combat.
No one noticed when the first fireball arced through the air.
Boom!
A wooden storefront exploded in a ball of fire.
The small bakery that had stood for three generations erupted into an inferno. Bread racks, flour sacks—everything caught in a flash, the flames racing outward into the alley.
The fire leapt to a row of cloth stalls, and soon the entire market square burned.
"Run! Run!" villagers screamed, clutching children as they stumbled through smoke.
But some were too slow. Roofs collapsed on top of shopkeepers frozen in shock. Stalls toppled. Screams were swallowed by fire.
And still… the guild elites fought on, blind to what was happening only streets away.
---
On the far side of the burning square, Eldran stood firm, trident gleaming with swirling blue mana.
Ming's laughter rang out, sharp and mocking, as he spun his chained sickles with savage joy.
"Still the same old trident tricks, Eldran! Did hiding as a cook make you forget how powerless you are?"
The chained sickles lashed through the air, sparks flying each time they clashed with Eldran's weapon.
Every impact unleashed a shockwave, scattering burning embers across rooftops.
Eldran's eyes narrowed. Something wasn't right.
Ming's movements were too sharp, too wild. His strength surged unnaturally, each strike heavier than the last.
"You're forcing power that isn't yours," Eldran muttered, holding his ground against a flurry of spinning blades.
Ming smirked, veins bulging, a faint black mist coiling around his arms.
"What does it matter? Power is power—if it crushes you, it's mine!"
Their weapons collided again, mana against mana, the shockwave shaking stone walls and rattling burning beams. But Eldran's instincts screamed.
Ming wasn't fighting alone—someone else was feeding him strength.
---
High above the rooftops, Lucas's sword gleamed silver as it clashed against Admiral Chang's crimson blade.
Their movements blurred, streaks of light slicing through the smoke-choked sky.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks fell like fiery rain, setting thatched roofs ablaze below. A watchtower cracked and splintered beneath their storm of strikes, collapsing into the street.
Lucas grit his teeth. "If this continues, the whole village will burn!"
Chang sneered. "Then let it burn. Weak places deserve to vanish."
Their blades locked. The force hurled both of them down onto a roof. Tiles shattered beneath their boots.
Flames licked the edges of their cloaks. Neither gave ground.
---
In the narrow alleys, Hiroshi clashed with Admiral Chris.
The admiral's spear thrust with terrifying speed, each strike aimed for Hiroshi's chest or throat.
Clang! Hiroshi deflected one strike, but the impact threw him back into a fruit cart. Apples spilled across the street, rolling into the fire.
Chris twirled his spear, smirking. "You fight with spirit, Man—but spirit won't save you."
Hiroshi's grip tightened. His eyes burned with determination. "Then I'll fight with more than spirit."
Mana surged through his blade, lightning crackling along its edge.
He slashed, releasing a glowing arc that split the smoke-filled street.
Chris darted aside, smirk unbroken, as the arc sliced a wooden signpost clean in half. Oil barrels down the road burst into flame.
Behind them, soldiers slipped deeper into the village, unnoticed.
---
The ground shook as Zoe's warhammer slammed into the cobblestones.
BOOM! Shards of stone burst like shrapnel.
Thomas roared and lunged, veins bulging.
He caught the warhammer's shaft mid-swing and shoved it aside, then drove a fist into Zoe's chest with bone-cracking force.
The admiral staggered, but only grinned. "Good! You hit harder than you look."
Thomas cracked his knuckles. "Then let me show you harder."
He uppercut Zoe clean off the ground, caught his leg mid-fall, and spun him like a ragdoll.
With a roar, Thomas hurled him into a burning house. The structure collapsed in flames.
But from the wreckage, Zoe emerged laughing, hammer still in hand, smoke curling from his armor.
Their battle raged on, tearing houses apart, blind to the army flowing past them.
---
At the southern square, Sofia fired arrow after mana-charged arrow into the advancing soldiers.
Each shot pierced armor and dropped men in heaps. Her bow gleamed as it split back into twin swords,
slashing through soldiers who closed in.
But no matter how many she struck down, more poured through the breach. Villagers screamed as they were cut down or trapped in fire.
Sofia's breath caught. If I keep fighting head-on, the people will die.
She sprinted toward a collapsing house, cutting through flaming beams and dragging a group of children to safety.
Then she froze. Some of the soldiers she fought moved unnaturally—stiff, jerking, eyes glazed like lifeless dolls.
Even when she struck them down, their bodies twitched before falling still.
Her eyes narrowed. "These soldiers… they're being controlled."
---
From a shattered balcony above the chaos, Shinra gripped the railing. He wanted to leap in, to fight beside them.
But his father's shadow—the weight of his legacy—chained him.
Still, even if he could not act, he could see.
And what he saw chilled him.
The admirals weren't here to win quickly. They were here to stall.
Lucas, Hiroshi, Thomas, Sofia—each one dragged into personal duels, their focus shattered, their strength scattered.
Meanwhile, the army swept through the streets unchecked, burning, killing, capturing.
"This isn't a battle," Shinra whispered. His voice trembled. "It's a distraction."
Then he felt it—a disturbance in the flow of mana. Not from Ming. Not from the admirals. Something else.
An unseen force stretched over the battlefield like an invisible net, pressing down on everyone, suffocating them, tilting the fight toward chaos.
Even in his ghostly form, Shinra's chest tightened.
Eldran felt it too. He deflected another flurry of sickle strikes, his voice low and grim. "This isn't your strength, Ming. Someone else is here."
Ming only laughed, face twisted with strain, veins bulging as the black mist pulsed stronger.
"Call it whatever you want! If it crushes you, it's mine!"
Their weapons clashed once more, shockwaves tearing burning timbers from the square.
But Eldran's instincts sharpened. This wasn't just Ming's fight. This entire battle… was being orchestrated.
---
Smoke choked the skies.Flames devoured homes.The village screamed.
And yet, amidst the chaos, an even darker presence pressed closer.
Eldran's eyes narrowed, sweat dripping down his temple. "Someone else is pulling the strings…"
Shinra's heart pounded, his ghostly hands trembling as the truth took shape.
The real enemy hasn't even stepped onto the stage.
To be continued…
The air trembled with the clash of steel and the roar of mana.
Every blow between Eldran and Ming, every strike exchanged between admirals and guild members, carved scars into the heart of the village.
The villagers had thought the chaos was confined to the guild grounds. They were wrong.
While the strongest warriors clashed, the enemy's army had already breached the village entrance.
Their formation moved like a living machine—shields locking in front, spears bristling behind, mages raising their staffs in the backlines.
The thunder of boots against cobblestone rumbled through the alleys, yet was drowned beneath the greater noise of titans in combat.
No one noticed when the first fireball arced through the air.
Boom!
A wooden storefront exploded in a ball of fire.
The small bakery that had stood for three generations erupted into an inferno. Bread racks, flour sacks—everything caught in a flash, the flames racing outward into the alley.
The fire leapt to a row of cloth stalls, and soon the entire market square burned.
"Run! Run!" villagers screamed, clutching children as they stumbled through smoke.
But some were too slow. Roofs collapsed on top of shopkeepers frozen in shock. Stalls toppled. Screams were swallowed by fire.
And still… the guild elites fought on, blind to what was happening only streets away.
---
On the far side of the burning square, Eldran stood firm, trident gleaming with swirling blue mana.
Ming's laughter rang out, sharp and mocking, as he spun his chained sickles with savage joy.
"Still the same old trident tricks, Eldran! Did hiding as a cook make you forget how powerless you are?"
The chained sickles lashed through the air, sparks flying each time they clashed with Eldran's weapon.
Every impact unleashed a shockwave, scattering burning embers across rooftops.
Eldran's eyes narrowed. Something wasn't right.
Ming's movements were too sharp, too wild. His strength surged unnaturally, each strike heavier than the last.
"You're forcing power that isn't yours," Eldran muttered, holding his ground against a flurry of spinning blades.
Ming smirked, veins bulging, a faint black mist coiling around his arms.
"What does it matter? Power is power—if it crushes you, it's mine!"
Their weapons collided again, mana against mana, the shockwave shaking stone walls and rattling burning beams. But Eldran's instincts screamed.
Ming wasn't fighting alone—someone else was feeding him strength.
---
High above the rooftops, Lucas's sword gleamed silver as it clashed against Admiral Chang's crimson blade.
Their movements blurred, streaks of light slicing through the smoke-choked sky.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks fell like fiery rain, setting thatched roofs ablaze below. A watchtower cracked and splintered beneath their storm of strikes, collapsing into the street.
Lucas grit his teeth. "If this continues, the whole village will burn!"
Chang sneered. "Then let it burn. Weak places deserve to vanish."
Their blades locked. The force hurled both of them down onto a roof. Tiles shattered beneath their boots.
Flames licked the edges of their cloaks. Neither gave ground.
---
In the narrow alleys, Hiroshi clashed with Admiral Chris.
The admiral's spear thrust with terrifying speed, each strike aimed for Hiroshi's chest or throat.
Clang! Hiroshi deflected one strike, but the impact threw him back into a fruit cart. Apples spilled across the street, rolling into the fire.
Chris twirled his spear, smirking. "You fight with spirit, Man—but spirit won't save you."
Hiroshi's grip tightened. His eyes burned with determination. "Then I'll fight with more than spirit."
Mana surged through his blade, lightning crackling along its edge.
He slashed, releasing a glowing arc that split the smoke-filled street.
Chris darted aside, smirk unbroken, as the arc sliced a wooden signpost clean in half. Oil barrels down the road burst into flame.
Behind them, soldiers slipped deeper into the village, unnoticed.
---
The ground shook as Zoe's warhammer slammed into the cobblestones.
BOOM! Shards of stone burst like shrapnel.
Thomas roared and lunged, veins bulging.
He caught the warhammer's shaft mid-swing and shoved it aside, then drove a fist into Zoe's chest with bone-cracking force.
The admiral staggered, but only grinned. "Good! You hit harder than you look."
Thomas cracked his knuckles. "Then let me show you harder."
He uppercut Zoe clean off the ground, caught his leg mid-fall, and spun him like a ragdoll.
With a roar, Thomas hurled him into a burning house. The structure collapsed in flames.
But from the wreckage, Zoe emerged laughing, hammer still in hand, smoke curling from his armor.
Their battle raged on, tearing houses apart, blind to the army flowing past them.
---
At the southern square, Sofia fired arrow after mana-charged arrow into the advancing soldiers.
Each shot pierced armor and dropped men in heaps. Her bow gleamed as it split back into twin swords,
slashing through soldiers who closed in.
But no matter how many she struck down, more poured through the breach. Villagers screamed as they were cut down or trapped in fire.
Sofia's breath caught. If I keep fighting head-on, the people will die.
She sprinted toward a collapsing house, cutting through flaming beams and dragging a group of children to safety.
Then she froze. Some of the soldiers she fought moved unnaturally—stiff, jerking, eyes glazed like lifeless dolls.
Even when she struck them down, their bodies twitched before falling still.
Her eyes narrowed. "These soldiers… they're being controlled."
---
From a shattered balcony above the chaos, Shinra gripped the railing. He wanted to leap in, to fight beside them.
But his father's shadow—the weight of his legacy—chained him.
Still, even if he could not act, he could see.
And what he saw chilled him.
The admirals weren't here to win quickly. They were here to stall.
Lucas, Hiroshi, Thomas, Sofia—each one dragged into personal duels, their focus shattered, their strength scattered.
Meanwhile, the army swept through the streets unchecked, burning, killing, capturing.
"This isn't a battle," Shinra whispered. His voice trembled. "It's a distraction."
Then he felt it—a disturbance in the flow of mana. Not from Ming. Not from the admirals. Something else.
An unseen force stretched over the battlefield like an invisible net, pressing down on everyone, suffocating them, tilting the fight toward chaos.
Even in his ghostly form, Shinra's chest tightened.
Eldran felt it too. He deflected another flurry of sickle strikes, his voice low and grim. "This isn't your strength, Ming. Someone else is here."
Ming only laughed, face twisted with strain, veins bulging as the black mist pulsed stronger.
"Call it whatever you want! If it crushes you, it's mine!"
Their weapons clashed once more, shockwaves tearing burning timbers from the square.
But Eldran's instincts sharpened. This wasn't just Ming's fight. This entire battle… was being orchestrated.
---
Smoke choked the skies.Flames devoured homes.The village screamed.
And yet, amidst the chaos, an even darker presence pressed closer.
Eldran's eyes narrowed, sweat dripping down his temple. "Someone else is pulling the strings…"
Shinra's heart pounded, his ghostly hands trembling as the truth took shape.
The real enemy hasn't even stepped onto the stage.
To be continued…
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