The Sunken Ships

*Slam!*

A preteen girl with a bob-styled black hair was sent flying across the room of one of the flats. Her back crashed against the wall next to the kitchen, causing her to cough up a mix of saliva and blood. Her spine hurt like hell, and she was sure a couple of her ribs were broken from the spartan kick by that redhead girl.

Lisa stole a peek at her Status Window. That kick and her hitting the wall had shaved her Health by almost twenty points, which was about a third of her total Health. If she had never enjoyed any boost from Magnus, the kick alone would've killed her on the spot.

Gritting her teeth and trying to bear with the pain, she propped her body by pressing a fist against the floor. Slowly, she rose to her feet. She didn't have that much Health left, but she couldn't just stay down. She needed to get to her mother and sister, who, along with Mrs. Liu, were trapped in the flat across the one she was in.

The redhead's minions were all surrounding them, while Officer Hernandez stood unwavering between the two groups, trying to shield the women from the pack of four predators. The man still didn't fully understand what was going on, and why those people were targeting seemingly defenseless women and kids. However, he didn't care. He had promised to protect them, and so he did. He had his gun raised, pointed at the young man standing as the leader of the group while the redhead was away. He also happened to be the one who had knocked on the front door.

The doors of both flats were open, and Lisa could hear Officer Hernandez shouting. "Stand back, young man!"

The guy didn't listen. He stepped forward while raising a hand.

*Bang!*

Officer Hernandez fired a warning shot, creating a hole on the floor next to the guy's left foot. "Freeze! One more step and the next shot will be the real deal!"

Meanwhile, Mrs. Wang and Luna were visibly trembling after seeing Lisa being hurled into another room. Lisa herself was staring daggers at the redhead.

At first, when the group of hostiles had been welcomed into the apartment, they acted calm and casual. Mei even dropped her guard a bit and reluctantly allowed them to enter one of the flats when they requested to sit down and talk. However, as if on cue, the redhead gave a signal and the situation got out of control real quick.

Lisa had been the person who first noticed the signal. She rushed forward, past Officer Hernandez and shouted for the others to run. Long story short, the redhead acted quickly and grabbed her before she could have a chance to cast [Gale].

Playing a hero was a stupid move when one didn't have the skill and experience to back it up.

"Are you…" Lisa said in a croaky voice after she regained her footing, "…a Protagonist?" Her question was soon followed by a couple of painful coughs.

The redhead scoffed. Her lips formed a mocking curl. "Of course. The gods recognize my value, so I have been chosen." It seemed the redhead thought it was an honor to be selected as a Protagonist. What a dumbass.

Or maybe she hadn't found out about the price of being a Protagonist, yet. Honestly, right now Lisa couldn't care less. With a fierce look on her eyes, she prepared to cast [Gale]. She wished she had an actual offense skill, since [Gale] was not one. However, she had to make do with what she had.

A strong gust of wind blew from her raised hand, aimed at an angle away from the other flat. She didn't want her skill to risk hurting her family, after all. This time, it was the redhead who got sent flying across the room. And it was her turn to cough up blood. Seeing her in that state gave Lisa a bit of satisfaction, causing her to smile. It was like a payback after the pain the redhead had caused her.

However, she soon dropped the smile after noticing the redhead's minions getting ready to attack Officer Hernandez. Lisa ignored the groaning redhead and rushed to the other flat. She hadn't quite reached there yet when the young man at the front raised his fist. The floor cracked open before a small, sharpened fragment of earth flew up through it. Lisa had seen this skill casted by Summer before; it was [Earth Bullet].

"Luna!" Lisa shouted before placing her palm on the floor. She sent her wind mana into the ground and let it flow toward the point in front of Officer Hernandez. At the same time, Luna did the same thing, but using her water mana, intending to mix it with her sister's mana.

The earth fragment shot out toward the stunned officer. But just as it was about to pierce his forehead, an ice wall rose before him. The earth bullet then got embedded halfway through the thickness of the ice.

Seeing his attack fail, the guy clicked his tongue. He nodded at his three friends, who immediately prepared to cast the same skill.

Seeing that, Lisa glanced at the redhead who was slowly getting up.

She saw the questioning look on the small girl's face and smirked. "I may be a Protagonist, but I'm also the leader of my Team. And a leader is nothing without a powerful army having her back. So of course, I taught them a skill or two. The god who chose me was also generous enough to empower them through me."

That explained why everyone on her Team seemed to have learned the same magic spell.

However, before the four people had a chance to finish their casting, Officer Hernandez was quick enough to fire two rounds at the guy on the front.

*Bang! Bang!*

The guy let out a brief agonal breathing before dropping dead then and there.

Seeing her second-in-command being killed, the redhead screamed, "No!" She turned toward Lisa, sending her a death glare before stomping one foot on the floor.

An alarm sounded in Lisa's head, yelling for her to step to the side. And she did, escaping possible death by a hair's breadth. From the ground right at the spot where she had previously stood, a pillar of earth as tall as Lisa's body burst up. It had a pointed top, capable of piercing her body from the bottom all the way up to her skull. Realizing she had been about to meet a gruesome end, Lisa shuddered.

Meanwhile, the three people who watched their friend die was enraged. One of them didn't even hesitate as he aimed another [Earth Bullet] at Officer Hernandez. But before the bullet was able to hit the officer's chest, Mei pulled him to the side, while Mrs. Wang stepped forward and casted [Line of Fire].

*Whoosh!*

A wall made of flaming fire flared up right between her group and their opponents, separating them. The heat from the fire wall forced the three people to step back a little. No matter how angry they were, they knew not to be stupid enough to stand too close to the fire lest they risk being burned to death.

"Stand back!" Mei commanded the officer. Still stunned after being rescued from near death, he obediently stepped back.

Witnessing the display of fire spells, the redhead frowned. "Who's your god?" she asked Lisa while staring at her furiously.

Lisa shrugged. "Don't got any." After giving her answer, she was about to cast [Gale] while planning to run up to land the redhead a punch.

However, the redhead was quick on her feet. She stepped to the side to avoid the wind before shooting an [Earth Bullet]. Her aim was spot on. The bullet pierced Lisa's left stomach, causing her to scream and fall on her butt. Blood began pouring out of the hole where the bullet had planted itself.

Hearing her daughter's scream, Mrs. Wang faltered. She lost concentration and accidentally cancelled her skill. Seeing the window of opportunity, one of the three people aimed an [Earth Bullet] at her. However, Mei saw through that and quickly sent a [Flamethrower] at the woman who was about to attack Mrs. Wang. The woman yelped as a fire ball hurtled toward her. The skill was still low-levelled, so she was able to move aside fast enough to evade it.

"Amy! Pull yourself together!" Mei shouted, snapping her friend out of her panic.

However, before Mrs. Wang was able to do anything, another one of the three decided it was about time to avenge his fallen brother. He didn't cast [Earth Bullet] this time. Instead, he threw caution to the wind and risked depleting his mana by casting [Earth Spike], the same skill the redhead had casted to Lisa earlier.

The floor cracked and a pillar that had a pointed top burst out of it. It was shot out not vertically, but at an angle toward Officer Hernandez who stood at the back. The officer's eyes widened in shock, unable to react fast enough. Within less than a second, he was certain he was about to meet his end.

However, the spike never arrived on its intended target. Instead, a tall woman had shielded the officer's body with her own.

Out of reflex, Mei had thrown herself in harm's way to protect the officer. The earth spike pierced through her abdomen, causing her to vomit blood. Her heart didn't immediately stop, so she was slowly dying.

"No!" Luna screamed. In a rage, she shot a water crescent at the one who had killed Mrs. Liu. However, her low-levelled [Riptide] was easily penetrated by an earth bullet coming from a woman who stood near the water crescent's target. The earth bullet hit Luna's right chest, puncturing one of her lungs. She shrieked and fell down, tears began streaming down her face.

Mrs. Wang was devastated. Her daughters had received grave wounds and Mei's death was fast approaching. Her legs shook as she walked up to her daughter, who kept calling for her mother.

"Mom, it hurts…" Luna muttered weakly. "I don't…I don't wanna die…"

Meanwhile, Lisa watched all that happening from across the hallway, where she sat on the floor by the door of the flat, her left hand pressing on the bullet wound. Through her tears, she saw as the earth spike killed Mei and an earth bullet pierced through her sister's chest. Using her last remaining energy, Lisa ignored the sharp pain in her stomach and tried to get up.

However, the redhead kicked her back down. A victorious grin bloomed on her freckled face. She was about to finish off the small girl before a loud crash sounded out from the front door. They were all on the first floor, so Lisa was able to glimpse the front door literally hurtling through the hallway before it collided against the stairs.

However, before Lisa was able to process what was happening, a blur passed through the open door of the flat and half a second later, a sharp bluish blade pierced the redhead's skull from behind all the way through her forehead. The blade was quickly yanked back, letting the redhead fall lifelessly on the floor, her eyes still wide open in shock.

Appearing from behind where the redhead previously stood was Magnus, a now-bloody axe on his hand. His face appeared to be calm, but Lisa was able to feel a suppressed anger emanating from the depth of those brown-and-blue eyes. It was like looking at an ocean that hid a storm at the bottom of it.

"Mom…a-and Luna…" Lisa stuttered.

Magnus nodded, already preparing a skill. He turned his head toward the other room and threw his axe at the woman who had shot Luna. The woman then met the same end as the redhead.

Magnus then shot a small [Riptide] at the man who stood nearest to Mrs. Wang, careful to aim it away from the woman. He targeted that specific guy because he could see the other guy already running out of mana.

Mrs. Wang watched as the water crescent separated the man's head from his body. Blood spurted from the severed head, and fortunately it wasn't close enough to stain her clothes. Realizing who had just killed the man, Mrs. Wang shouted, "Magnus! Save my daughter!"

Magnus acted quickly. Now that the threats had all been neutralized, and the remaining guy had fallen down on his knees due to both his depleted mana and his fallen comrades, Magnus was able to start tending to Lisa's injury.

He kneeled in front of Lisa and forced a reassuring smile. Ignoring the pain he also felt after meeting her eyes, he said, "I'm going to pull out the bullet now. It's gonna hurt a lot, but it'll be for just a few seconds." He neared his hands to her wound. "Ready?"

Lisa nodded firmly. She didn't want to waste time. Her sister was fighting for her life as seconds passed.

Magnus quickly plucked out the bullet, causing her to scream in pain. He soon casted [Big Spark] on the wound. In just five seconds, it was as if she had never been injured at all.

"Thank you. Now, Luna…please save her," Lisa begged after seeing her wound completely healed.

However, Magnus didn't move. Lisa was about to shout to him to get up, but she soon understood why he remained in place. His eyes spoke more than words could.

In the other room, Officer Hernandez watched solemnly as Mrs. Wang sat on the floor, wailing while holding her daughter's unbreathing body on her lap.