Corpse explosion

Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!

No sooner had they killed those individuals who were rallying towards her, she and her compatriots became extremely startled as several small scaled explosions took place around her simultaneously. 

"What?!"

"Who?!"

It was unlike any other explosion she had experienced before. 

Yet to escape from this unforeseen predicament, she immediately deployed her magic barrier to minimize the damage and to increase her chances of survival.

"Ahhhh!!"

Several agonizing cries echoed as many who got caught in these series of explosions lost their limbs and got injured.

The explosions although not powerful enough to kill someone was still powerful enough to decapitate or injure anyone who were caught in it.

But yet so many of those black-hooded individuals were losing their lives while retreating. 

A single explosion wasn't enough to kill a person. But multiple explosions were still enough to tear a person apart into tiny pieces. It was like dying a slow death where you would lose limbs and accumulate injuries at certain intervals. 

Layers of thick red miasma mixed with dust clouds rose up as those explosions took place. While at the same time, at certain intervals small pebbles, wood pieces and the body parts of people would get sent flying. 

Sound of multiple explosions echoed across the landscape, shaking the earth and causing the bodies of those hideously dressed individuals and several corpses lying on the ground to rattle and bounce. 

Right now, the air around the vicinity where the explosions were taking place was thick with the stench of blood and earthy smell of dust. While at the same time cries of pain and agony could be heard amidst the sounds of explosions. 

It was a chaotic scene of destruction and death with miasma and debris filling the air.

Navigating her way through this chaotic scene, Seraphina steadily retreated with a rather bitter and panicked face. But escaping this scene was easier said than done.

Not only was she required to dodge those explosions but she also needed to avoid those small pebbles, limbs and weapons that would occasionally fly towards her. 

Letting her guard down for a single second meant death in her current scenario. 

Making use of those smoke screen and the chaotic scene Lucius who had been patiently waiting for this moment to happen, sneakily escaped the scene via the route he had left open previously for his escape while setting up this trap.

Corpse explosion was the name of the technique he had performed to orchestrate this chaotic situation. It was a technique which he had learned by chance while studying the magic performed by the demons.

Because of its cruelty and because of its unorthodox method of using bodies of living entity, it was considered an evil technique in the world where he had come from.

Magic and blessings to the people of that world was like a sacred blessing bestowed upon by the god and such vile methods of using bodies were regarded as degenerate and evil. 

And usually those who performed such techniques were ostracized and hunted by the empire. 

Lucius could have detonated those traps right after their arrival. But that would alert his enemies and allow them time to escape and probably counterattack— which would have minimized its effectiveness and reduced his chances of survival.

But he waited for an opportunity to catch his opponents off-guard so that he could do more damage and escape safely. Also, he wasn't sure if they'd have reinforcements or not. 

Like if he had killed the initial party and by chance more reinforcements would come, then at that moment he would have lost his life without being able to put a fight. And also, he needed information. Thus, he waited until now to activate his traps.

Well right now, he could have also fought them and killed them given their distressful situation. If possible, he didn't want to spare any of them as well since they possessed a threat to him.

But there was rather huge problem pressing him— this technique was heavy on mana and required a lot of mana to perform. Thus, having performed this technique, currently he was running low on mana. 

And the situation was rather uncertain as well. 

Thus, he wasn't willing to take a gamble when he could preserve his life. 

Making use of the smoke screen and the chaos, Lucius escaped the scene undetected. 

Meanwhile Seraphina who currently despite her vigilance was in a somewhat tattered and injured state. Sustaining multiple injuries during her escape, she wasn't fortunate enough to escape this chaotic situation unscathed. 

If not for her magic barrier which absorbed most of the damage, her condition wouldn't be any better than her allies. 

As she finally escaped the perimeter of explosions, while tightly pressing her left stomach with her right arm from where blood was gushing out from the injuries she had sustained, she limped her way towards a nearby tree. 

Finally, as she reached the tree, she collapsed and leaned her body against the tree. 

With her pretty face and her petite body smeared in blood and dirt, she furiously looked at the chaotic scene which right now was rather silent as compared to before. 

 Her vision was still limited; given the red miasma and dust particles floating in the air. Multiple cracks and craters had been formed on the ground while the ground was painted in crimson by blood and splattered organs of her allies and the corpses were scattered everywhere.

Some of her allies were fortunate enough to escape this predicament with their lives were limping and crawling their way out of this chaotic field in front of her. 

Almost none of her allies had escaped this predicament unscathed. Given her state, one could even argue that she was the most fortunate one out of all her allies. 

Even those two individuals who previously had betrayed those individuals who were fighting against Seraphina weren't in any better condition as well. 

Leonard the blond-haired individual who previously had sliced the arm of one of the black-hooded individuals currently was gasping for his breathe while at the same time moaning in pain. 

Just like how he had taken off the arm of other person, currently he himself was missing a limb of his own. 

"Who? Who was it?"