A mercy?

"I..."

Lance hesitated, ever since the incident with Arian trying to kill him, Escanor had gone back to being his usual understanding self. He only showed Lance respect, and he let Lance make his own decision.

This was one of the reasons he could create his little troop of fighters. However, he was questioning him right now, it was confusing. What was the reason for the sudden change?

"Be determined!!!"

As Lance was in this state, Escanor's voice resounded, shaking his very core.

"What…."

Lance looked up with his heart pounding uncontrollably, these words carried a sort of energy that riled Lance up to his very core. It was like a decree from nature itself. It made his blood rush.

"Do you think that you will be able to do anything with such an undetermined mind? You want to join the fire and ice academy where insane talents gather, and you don't even know why? What's the difference between that and courting humiliation?"

"I want an answer or else..."

Escanor spoke with authority, for the longest time, he had been lenient with Lance because he wanted Lance to have a normal life. However, the universe planned for something thoroughly different. If he didn't grow up fast, he wouldn't know how he even died.

"What do I want?"

Lance had not thought too much about it, yes, he wanted revenge for his mother. The octagon had destroyed their peace, but was that all he wanted? Did he not have any goals before the incident? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he was focusing on the wrong thing.

Yes, his revenge against the Octagon church was a must, but what would happen after that? Was his future going to revolve around revenge against the church? If not, then why was he going to the fire and ice academy? What did his heart truly desire?

"Power…."

"Hm?"

"I want power, the kind of power where I can control my fate, and the fate of those around me, I do not want to be bound. I want the freedom to do whatever i want and joining the fire and ice academy is only a means to an end!!"

This time, when Lance spoke, he did so with utmost confidence and unrestrained pride. So what, that he wanted revenge? They had attacked his mother, he had the right to seek it out, this would not stop him from seeking out what he truly yearned for, be it sex, food, or booze, if he wanted them he would actively search for them

"Hmmmm"

Escanor looked at Lance for a good few minutes and nodded his head.

"Since this is the path you've chosen, understand that you will receive no help from Me, you will face enemies from all sides, not limited to the church and i won't be there to save you."

"However I will do you one mercy for that is all I can do."

Escanor pulled out a long ice sword from his side and a massive great Sword from his back. Then the pierced both into the ground at the same time.

"Boom!!"

"What the....."

Following this, the earth around Lance began to shake slightly, causing him to stagger.

If only he could see from the sky, he would see that the very ground he was standing on had been engulfed by a massive magic circle that covered the whole grassland.

"If you manage to escape this on time, then I am content, if not? There would have been no reason for you to set off on the path of the Revenge and power, and it would be a mercy for you to meet death here."

Around Lance, a cold wind with snow specks around it picked up, it soon engulfed the entire area, changing the weather. Meanwhile, Lance was in the eye of this snow storm.

"Good luck"

Escanor and his amour then evaporated, leaving only the great Sword and long ice sword where he stood. It was like he was never here.

At the same time, several flying apparitions of creatures that looked like snakes appeared from inside the storm and began attacking Lance.

"Hiss"

"What the hell is this?"

Lance grumbled as one of them flew right into his chest, causing him to feel an intense freezing all around.

Naldir main house

The figure of Wilder could be seen outside, looking directly at the massive snow storm that had suddenly picked up on the grass field. It started all of a sudden stunning the people in the surrounding as they rushed out to look.

However, wilder was not surprised. He looked on with nonchalance as the storm became more violent.

"Senior, is big brother Lance in there??"

By the side, Asher and Ember had their eyes wide open and their fists clenched. They had come here to wait for Lance after they got the message that Escanor wanted to see him, but upon reaching they heard the most shocking news.

Apparently, close to an hour ago, Escanor, Laura and a few of the Naldir family's personal guard had disappeared from the household, causing a stir. They were currently looking for them when this storm popped out of nowhere.

"Do not bother yourself with that, it must happen, once he is through this he will come out stronger….that is if he can."

Wilder said to them with a calm tone, He didn't know exactly what Escanor was planning to do by placing Lance in there, but he could only watch. He wasn't Lance's father, After all and could not love him more than Escanor could.

At the same time,

Lance stood in the eye of this snow storm swinging a sword around fighting back the apparitions that were laying siege to him.

He was freezing, and several parts of his body had turned icy because of the touch of the apparitions. Lance felt cold and pain, but he kept pushing, there was no way he would let himself die again.