Attack On Shura

What is happening?

Why is this happening?

How is this happening?

In a matter of 3 seconds, 3 very important questions went through Jude's head, none of which Jude had the answer to.

"Where are sister and the others?" Jude inquired, turning to face Yuri, who stood behind him with a fearful expression on his face.

"I-I don't know, none of them returned after you came back."

"I see," after contemplating for a couple of minutes, Jude issued his order, "Come let's go, it's safer with me than staying cooped up inside by yourself."

"Where are you going?"

"The lord's mansion, that's the safest place for them to be."

Fortunately, the damage was not as severe as Jude had initially expected, as the town guards were doing a good job fighting back against the monsters and keeping the damage to a minimum, but this didn't make Jude feel any better, as he felt something was off about the situation.

From what Jude could tell, the monsters attacking the town weren't very powerful, as even the ordinary civilians were able to fight back. The only problems were why the monsters randomly started attacking the town and also,

"How did the monster get into town without anyone noticing?"

*****

After leaving the orphanage, Yuri ran after Jude before asking, with a worried look on his face, "D-Do you think they are safe?"

Hearing Yuri's question, Jude continued running without looking back, "For now they should be, I hope."

Although not completely sure, Jude wasn't too worried as the danger level hasn't reached a point where their lives would be endangered, especially considering how smart and strong they are for their age, they should be fine at least for now.

Jude and Yuri dashed past a swarm of civilians before arriving at a small plaza area near the park Liam and Lilly frequented.

KAAAAGH-!!

"Yuri, get back"

"Wolves? How did they get all the way here?"

Jude unsheathed his dagger as he stared at the two grey wolves that had appeared just as they had arrived at the plaza. With emotionless eyes and a limping body, the wolves stood in front of Jude blocking his path.

GIYAAAH-

Bang!!

As if possessed without a moment's hesitation, the wolf standing at the front dashed straight at Jude, but before it could cause any real harm, Jude kicked it with his foot before stabbing right into the heart with his knife while it was down on the ground.

GAAAGH!!-

Not long after, the second wolf attacked Jude in the same fashion, to which Jude responded in the same way by kicking the wolf down and stabbing it straight in the heart.

Weak and slow, limping as if it was already dead, were the things Jude noticed when fighting the two wolves. Although grey wolves weren't particularly fast or strong as they were low-level beasts, their behavior made it seem like they were mummies with no real emotion behind their actions.

"I think they are being controlled," Yuri said as he stood behind Jude. "I read in a book once that most mind-controlling magic would usually take away the victim's emotions and self-will."

An emotionless puppet with the sole purpose of serving its master,

"If we consider that they are being controlled, then that means that all of this is organized by someone, but by whom and for what reason?" Yuri contemplated as he stared down at the two dead wolves.

"Whatever the case, we have more important things to worry about."

With cold eyes and an emotionless voice, Jude walked on without looking back.

*****

"JUDE!"

As the two of them neared the lords' mansion, Jude heard a voice calling him from the side.

"Julius?"

"Thank God you're here. We were going to look for you."

Looking to where the voice came from, Jude found Julius with a ragged breath as he approached his side. Looking behind him, Jude noticed someone else was with him as well.

"Sera is also here," Jude said as he breathed a sigh of relief while looking at the petite figure standing next to Julius.

With Sera confirmed to be safe, that was one less person for Jude to worry about.

"Do you know where the twins and Sister Teresia are?"

"No, I haven't seen them." Shaking her head, Sera said with a sad expression on her face.

"I see"

Just as Jude was about to ask a few more questions about the current situation, he felt the back of his neck itch, and without hesitation, almost on instinct, he tilted his head to the side as he turned his body around to look behind him.

"Woah, you got some real moves there, kiddo."

Not even a second after tilting his head, Jude felt the wind caress his neck before a man in a dark, pitch-black cloak appeared before him.

"I thought I was being pretty quiet. I'm surprised you were able to dodge it."

"Are you the one who caused this mess?" Jude asked with a voice so cold that the other three people standing behind him thought for a second that it was another person who was speaking.

"Haha, if you're talking about the monsters, that was my colleague's handy work. Not bad, don't you think?"

"More than one person is involved, I see." Without taking his eyes away from the cloaked figure standing in front of him, Jude continued to probe, "Why are you attacking this town?"

"Why? It's because you people are needed to fulfill our goal."

"Goal? What does your goal have to do with attacking us? " This time it was Julius who asked this question.

"Heh, dead or alive, you guys play a massive role in fulfilling our goal, as sacrifices that is."

Boom-

Suddenly, feeling killing intent emanating from the cloaked figure, Jude and Julius quickly grabbed their weapons as they stood with their guard up.

"Yuri and Sera, stand back"

"Hmm, you kids are going to fight. Alright, show me what you're capable of. "

And with the drop of a heartbeat, the clocked figure dashed at the two kids who dared to stand against him with the intent to kill.