Painless Death

Jax was prepared to run away and risk it, but then...

''Good kid. Since you brought me this item, I'll give you a painless death.'' The man in red armor suddenly spoke again, pulling Jax back from his thoughts.

Realizing the danger, Jax moved through instincts as he fled to the tree cave with everything he got. Only one thought surfaced in his mind, ''God tree, please help us...''

''Oh?'' Seeing Jax who fled past him, the man in red armor was a bit taken aback. He turned to follow his gaze to that little kid but after a moment, he shook his head slowly and sighed, ''That's the wrong direction, kid. If I were you, I would have run into the forest instead.''

There was a moment of pause before he went on, ''Well, it's not like it can change anything. A mere brat like you won't be able to escape from anyone among us anyway.''

As soon as he ended talking, Jax, who was busy fleeing, was about to enter the tree cave. It was at that moment when something he didn't expect happened.

Jax suddenly bumped into something really hard, pushing him back heavily to the ground. He quickly shook his head to regain his senses as he immediately directed his gaze at the thing he had just bumped into.

And there he got his eyes widened.

''What the hell is this? Another pest?'' A voice of a man suddenly sounded. But soon, that voice grew hostile as he continued, ''Why the hell did you bump into me? Are you tired of living?''

It was a bulky man with short deep brown hair. He was also clad in a bloody red metallic knight's armor, just like the first guy Jax had encountered. But unlike the first man who wielded a sword, this man had a huge double-edged ax hung on his back. And similarly, this guy also exuded a bloodthirsty aura as if he had already killed hundreds of men.

As soon as that bulky man ended speaking, he unleashed a terrifying energy that pressed Jax down to the ground. It was already hard enough for him to move, but with that heavy pressure, things became a lot more troublesome for him.

Jax wasn't a fool.

He knew right away that what the other party unleashed to subdue him completely was a kind of magic.

''Gravity...'' Jax then muttered. No matter how hard he doubted himself in disbelief, this guy was definitely using gravity magic.

This guy must be a Magic Knight!

Someone like him was able to use both elemental magic and a weapon. Such an individual was definitely rare even in the whole kingdom of Maharlika. And they possessed immense strength to the point that they could become the pillar of the whole kingdom.

But what was even more terrifying was that this guy was using gravity magic. It was one of the rarest to the point that an individual who could wield it was something unheard of in the entire history of the world. Just who on earth was this man?

''Oh? This kid is amazing. You can tell that it's gravity magic?''

Jax was in the midst of his thoughts when, suddenly, a serene voice of a woman sounded right beside him. He quickly turned to look at the source of that voice out of curiosity and surprise, and there he just found a woman who was already crouching beside him.

She was a gorgeous woman, and the way she smiled at him was also beautiful. She had long black hair and a slim body perfectly fit for a model. Just like the two men, she was also clad in bloody red metallic knight's armor.

But why could Jax feel uneasy when this woman looked at him like that? He also felt like he would suffer badly if he didn't answer this woman. Was it just his imagination?

Still, Jax chose to reply as he said with a low voice, ''It's just my guess...''

That was also true. He hadn't seen anyone in the past who could use such magic. But it wasn't that difficult to guess it now that he already experienced its might.

''Oh, is that so? Then you're nothing special,'' The woman sighed in response. She stood up and walked forward, leaving Jax behind.

The bulky man, when the woman left, also walked past Jax to leave him behind. As if he was already a dead body that they didn't have to bother with.

With that, relief flooded Jax's heart. Thank goodness, they lost interest in him. He really thought that he had survived the calamity by the grace of God.

But it was at that moment when he realized something terrifying right before his eyes.

He just noticed that an arrow made of mana was actually piercing his chest right now as it went all the way through his heart. Why was an arrow there now? When did he receive it?

Time as if passed by slowly for Jax. His senses were late to react on everything. That included the pain he should have felt already earlier before. There was an arrow piercing his heart, but there was no pain yet.

But he knew that he was dying.

His strength was leaving him, his mind was going blank. And he soon collapsed on the cold ground. But even after that, he still couldn't feel the pain he should have felt already.

What he felt was numbness.

The disappearance of his senses.

Was this the reward of the man from earlier? A painless death, was it?

Jax was on the verge of dying. That was when he heard voices talking with each other.

''You really gifted him a painless death, Cassandra. But I won't owe you one. This Agimat is still mine.''

Jax knew that it was the first guy he met who had just spoken, the guy who robbed the treasure from him. But Cassandra, was it? Was it the woman from earlier that this guy was talking to?