Loss.

Lance was ruthless in his attacks against the imperial infantrymen.

He broke arms, legs and skulls.

Their screams filled the air—mixing with the sounds of gunfire and conflicting orders.

Lance lost himself in the fight, only pausing when his hairs stood on edge.

He instinctively scanned his surroundings.

He locked eyes with a squad of imperial mages rushing him and his comrades.

Their hands were engulfed in world energy—crackling in their hands as it swirled violently.

"Shit."

Lance pushed away the soldier he was fighting—rushing the mages, he hoped to stop them from casting their spells.

The mages stopped in their tracks and formed a line.

Standing shoulder to shoulder—the mages fired off their charged world energy.

Seven white orbs of violent energy soared toward Lance at a blinding speed.

Lance dropped to his knees and slid underneath them.

The orbs passed over him—Crackling and popping in the air.

He quickly rose as the orbs of world energy crashed behind him.

The bodies of imperial soldiers flying overhead in the resulting explosion.

The mages quickly prepared another round of spells—this time with smaller orbs.

But they were too late.

Reaching their line—Lance grabbed the closest mage by the side of her head.

He pressed his revolver to her chin and fired, blowing out her brains.

The blood splattered everywhere.

The mages were shocked—quickly overtaken with anger and rage.

"Damn you assassins!"

One yelled, clasping his hands together.

A vortex of world energy formed around his hands.

Lance kicked the mage's knee, forcing him to buckle and lose his balance.

He then grabbed the back of the mage's head and threw him. 

As the mage crashed into his comrades, Lance pointed his revolver and fired three shots.

The bodies of three mages fell—all with holes in their heads. 

Two more mages rushed Lance.

One grabbed his arm while the other rubbed their hands together, creating electric sparks and arcs.

Lance narrowed his eyes as he tried to break from the mage's grasp.

The mage held onto Lance, refusing to let go. 

Lance aimed his revolver towards her—but he was too late. 

The mage who charged his hands—thrusted them towards Lance.

The impact sent him and the mage holding him flying.

The arc of energy crackled and danced as they crashed into the ground.

Pain seared through his limbs as air was knocked from his lungs.

"Are you alright my lord!"

Sophia shouted, neglecting to reloading her weapons. 

Lance swirled around, opening his mouth to speak.

"Ye– gyah!"

The mage beside him locked him in a chokehold.

Her grip was firm around his neck—making it hard to breathe.

Lance reached for her hands to pry her off, but her grip tightened.

Narrowing his eyes and growing desperate for air—Lance reached back and punched the mage

She tanked the first punch.

Was weakened at the second

And finally released her grip on the third.

Lance pulled away from the mage and caught his breath—breathing heavily he grabbed at his chest to retrieved a knife. 

He turned to face the mage—she held her face and groaned in pain. 

Narrowing his eyes, Lance kicked her in the gut and forced her to the ground. 

She collapsed to the ground crying in agony.

"It hurts." She cried in anguish, "It hurts!"

Lance gritted his teeth—placing his foot on the her neck. 

As he did so—He was greeted with that face of a frightened young girl.

Her nose was broken and bloodied, her eyes welled with tears as she shook uncontrollably.

She stared at Lance with fear and despair.

Lance sighed as he closed his eyes—kicking her aside. 

"Lord Lance!" Sophia shouted. "We need to retreat!"

"How?!"

Camilla shouted as she fought off a mage,

"We're surrounded!"

Suddenly another wave of imperial soldiers flooded the complex, "form ranks!"

An officer shouted—pointing towards the pathfinders' position.

"We got more trouble!"

Another pathfinder called out.

"We can't stay here!" Another called out.

"Clock is ticking lads!"

Lance was overwhelmed with the deteriorating situation.

If he ran, they'd just be turning their backs on their enemy, making them easy targets.

But if they stayed, they'd all die.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Lance hissed, smacking the sides of his head as he prayed for an answer.

"I'll hold them off!" Sophia shouted, "You need to get out of here, NOW!"

Lance looked up with disbelief.

"What?!" Lance shouted, "No, I'm not leaving you!"

"Lance, you don't have many options!"

Sophia shouted, her revolvers spitting lead at an unprecedented speed.

The pathfinder she stood over took care of his fair share of imperials too.

"I'm okay with going out with a bang, Lance!"

He shouted, sniping a mage with a headshot.

"But you can't die here!"

"Lance, we need to go!" Camilla shouted—already began backing up, firing off her rifle.

Camilla's urgent voice broke through the chaos of battle.

Snapping Lance out of his haze of thoughts. 

His heart sank at the thought of leaving behind Sophia and his comrade.

"Alright."

Lance said with a pained expression, "fall back, fall back!"

With Lance's orders, the remaining pathfinder's began their retreat. 

They weaved through the chaos of the factory, navigating with urgency—hoping to outrun the impending explosion.

As they narrowly escaped the blast radius, the first charge went off.

The explosion rocked the ground beneath them.

Lance turned to see the carnage—a large mushroom cloud of orange and black rose to the sky.

A series of explosions followed.

Flames and fire crawled toward the sky as debris scattered across the city. 

Lance and the others continued running—the heat of the explosion warming the back of their necks. 

The mission had been a costly success. 

— — —

Elise stood with puffy eyes.

"So you left her to die?"

Her voice cracked.

Lance nodded solemnly.

"I'm sorry Elise, I wish there was something I could have done, but at the moment, I… I panicked."

Lance lowered his head—dropping to his knees. 

Elise watched with a broken expression.

Lance prostrated himself before her, placing his head in the dirt.

"Please forgive me, Elise. I can't go through life knowing I failed both of you."

Elise frowned as she closed her eyes. 

To see Lance bow before her—the man who had given her everything.

He promised and delivered them so much—barely asked for anything in return.

Elise knew deep down that her sister's death wasn't his fault.

She knew that if were up to him, Sophia wouldn't have been anywhere near the frontline.

It was the empire and commander Napoleon who killed Sophia.

It was the war that killed her sister.

Elise sighed deeply.

"Please don't do that, my lord."

She said softly, "A man of your stature shouldn't lower yourself before me."

"It's what I must do to repent Elise," Lance replied.

"I never want you or anyone else in my family to think I find you disposable, it was you who helped me build what I have."

Lance wept up as he continued.

"Elise… you are as much as my family as my wives, my children, you are my daughter!"

Elise heart ached at Lance's emotional and impactful speech.

She knew the bond they shared was mutual, she knew Lance loved and cared for her.

So why…

Why did he lower himself before her?

This was too much.

Elise took a step back from Lance.

Overwhelmed by the death of her sister and Lance lowering himself before her.

Wrapping her arms around herself—she wept controllably.

Lance looked up.

Then, sprung up from the ground and approached her.

He placed a hand on her back—comforting her.

"It's okay Elise." He said softly, "It's okay."

"She's gone, Lance!"

Eli's cried out, looking up at him with tears pouring from her eyes.

"My sister is gone…"

Lance continued to soothe Elise.

As Elise cried in his arms Lance felt a presence watching from a distance.

Looking towards his mansion—he spotted Alexander through his room window.