Death?

The barrier trembled as once again, armored horses condensed from water crashed upon the Orion who had been pretty much on the edge after such follow of such rapid attacks. 

Mitugh was getting bolder and bolder with his attacks as now even his most basic magic attacks were costing much mana to him, and similarly, they were so destructive that they were able to demolish this subway station completely. 

He was still impressed by the durability of the cloak that it was still holding against it. But not for long smiled Mitugh as he swirled his trident and tossed it towards Orion.

The trident slowly swirled in the air gathering water around it as it was gaining speed and momentum. The overflowing weapon struck the cloak right in the middle with full power.

'CLINK…Crack…'

The resulting explosion was ear-shattering but the small sound of something breaking like glass still made its way to the ears of both Orion and Mitugh.

A smile formed on the face of Mitugh as he waited for the dust to settle. He grabbed in the air and with a swipe, his trident came back to his hand. He walked to the place where Orion was standing and clapped his hand to blow the dust cover.

The translucent cloak which was surrounding Orion was now completely visible with cracks present all over its area. Orion was uncomfortable about it suddenly. 

"Seriously, for how long do you think it could hold? It was meant to be shattered, kid.

Now, now let us see if he has anything more to surprise me. "

With that, he flicked to the barrier with his finger. The cloak began to tremble and soon it shattered and dispersed into the air. The unseen protection which unknowingly Orion had been enjoying since his childhood was now truly gone. 

As soon as it broke, Orion felt his senses opening up to magic more. Earlier he could only feel some static type of numbness in presence of overwhelming energy but now as his cloak disappeared he could easily feel magic less than half in his ink, a large amount swirling through Trident of Mitugh.

It was like a fresh breath of air in the natural greenery after constant days of rain. It all felt new and strange to him but looks like his cloak not only protects him from magic but also stops him from feeling it too. 

The smell of magic was phenomenal from every prospect. He for the first time felt all these conjurers and mages feel every time. 

As he was reveling in the new sensation, he was shocked when Mitugh appeared suddenly close to him. He wanted to say something but before he could utter a word. 

He felt a strong punch into his stomach which folded him down. His eyes watered as he was tossed away due to the force behind that punch. He collided with the wall violently and fell to the floor.

He coughed out a mouthful of blood as the punch had given him much serious injury that he could tolerate. He looked up from his disheveled state to see Mitugh walking towards him, while casually patting his coat to remove dirt from it.

"Ah, sorry. But I was feeling bad for many minutes I was not able to hit you when you were inside that cloak.

But as...."

He seemed to say something but Orion felt his brain getting dizzy and his concentration failing. Probably hitting the wall with his head was not a good outcome.

He tried to focus on his words but found his eyes closing down, eyelids getting heavy, and eventually shutting down. He never expected he would lose his consciousness in such a bizarre manner. Maybe dying while being passed out is better.

********************

Ai ran over to the street where police and fire vehicles were already blocking the road. She hoped that nothing bad should have occurred to Orion without her. 

Walking a few more distances, she reached as far as the police allowed pedestrians to stand and watch. The firefighters had already taken control of the fire in the shop. The cause was still unclear.

But the surprising thing was fire didn't spread to side shops at all. Mysteriously it remained confined to only one shop, but it was so intense that it managed to burn everything to the unrecognizable mess. 

"Are there any casualties? " 

Ai asked the locals who were crowded there.

The old woman pressed her hands in worry, 

"When we first observed fire it was already too late. But we still managed to see a few skeletal-like figures burning vaguely inside."

She soon began to tremble in fear and terror. Obviously, she was traumatized by the site.

Ai took her hands in her own and rubbed them to calm her down. After some assurance, she stabled and looked at Ai kindly, 

"Thank you, child. That was just a horrible way of dying. So we informed the police and fire control.

The strange thing is we live just next door, how did we detect fire so late?" 

'Magic'

Thought Ai as she sympathizes with the old lady. She was now feeling bad about it. 

'Please, God! At least Don't let Orion be one of those who were charred there. 

If he dies, there goes my chance at MoJ?"

Suddenly, she criticized herself for her selfish thoughts. Does she have no shame thinking of him as the only task to be fulfilled, not as a friend?

She was right now reviewing her morals deciding if she was more sad about the death of her new friend or just because she failed her task from MoJ.

Suddenly, her phone rang bringing her back from her stupor. It was from Mr.Tachibana.

"Hello?"

"Akiva are you with Orion, right now?" There was panic and little anxiety in his voice.

She bit her lip and then started to explain, 

"Mr.Tachibana, actually I…"

"This is an emergency. Don't follow or engage. Wait! For a few minutes, I am coming to back you up.

I just got info that Oceanus had taken a bounty for Orion. Just stall time. "

The phone clicked as the call ended. She was shocked to hear the name 'Oceanus'. It was not an average name in the eastern world. 

Mitugh Aka The Oceanus, he is one of the toughest Conjurer. With Major God-like Neptune, the Roman God of the sea at his back he is a top-notch bounty hunter.

She was soon beginning to feel that maybe she was still underestimating the number of people who wanted to kill him.

What would she say to Mr.Tachibana that she doesn't know if Orion is dead already?

Then, the idea cracked in her head as she hurriedly fished out her phone. She called out a number she had stored as an uncle in her contacts.

"Hello! Uncle"

"Miss are you alright? "

"Uncle, I don't have time, just can you please check on the bounty forum to see if Oceanus has completed his assignment. " 

"Ok wait a minute..."

After a few minutes, he answered back.

"No, he hasn't updated yet. "

Ai felt a tiny shred of hope rising in her heart.

"Ok thanks, uncle. I will hang up now."

"Miss but…."

He sighed as he heard the end tune of the call on his phone. He adored her niece very much that's why he was probably most closest to her in the clan. 

************ 

It was the smell that hit first to Orion, the familiar twinge of iron draped in blood. He at once understood he was again lucid dreaming.

He opened his eyes to see the expected dark clouds overhead, broken weapons, skeletal and stiff cadavers lying randomly in the enormous barren region. Excited Squeaks of Vultures and Ravens flying overhead stinging his mind. 

He looked up to see his hands familiarly bound by the chains as he was kneeling on this ancient ritual place. 

The clanking sound is heard as he felt someone walking to him step by step, 

'Clank'

'Clank'

'Clank'

He was awfully familiar with the repetition thus he was a little surprised to see instead of a blurry figure, the armored man in complete clarity. 

'Yeah, right! Now he will speak some gibberish and then place a hand on my shoulder' thought Orion. As he waited for the scene to play out. 

The armored man stopped just before him but instead of standard routine, he unsheathed his sword and aimed at him. 

Suddenly the usual weird dream turned into a nightmare, he tried to speak but before he could even utter the word.

The sword slashed and then everything went black.