Cygnus walked too where he was and chuckled. He shook his head then grinned like he had already won. "Look at this, I have something for you." He dipped his hand on the gate he opened to open his arsenal.
He pulled out a gallon that contained a brown liquid and he laughed when he saw what was in his hands. He shook it several times then opened it. A strong smell of gasoline permeated the air but he was not bothered, instead he was even enjoying it.
"This right here, will give you so much pain. I especially purchased it thinking that I can use it in the future and I was right to keep it. Now I can watch in satisfaction as you burn." He poured out the gasoline on the man and let the hands change his position into a kneeling one.
He crouched down and looked at the pitiful magus. He was satisfied because the man in front of him was thoroughly drenched. He then summoned a small fire on his right pointing finger and watched it sway in the stillness.
"The gasoline on your body will make the fire ignite easily. It will also make the fire stronger and would make it easy for your skin to be burned. That way you can feel the pain even more. Shall we try it?" Cygnus grinned. He did not wait for the man to answer and instead let the flame on his palm fall into the puddle of gasoline on the ground.
The flammable liquid ignited as the edge of the fire touched it. The fire quickly ate at the man. Cygnus smiled when he saw that the magus was starting to squirm. He was sure that anytime now the magus would start screaming.
He was silently counting in his head until the magus would scream. He wanted to hear him beg for his life just as his beloved ones begged for theirs. After he would beg, he would turn a blind eye and watch as the fire would slowly kill him. He will make sure that nothing from the magus would be left.
After a full minute, there was still no scream then he remembered that the man was a mage and that he could protect himself from any external attack. After thinking for a while, he decided to take out the man's mana core. He stepped forward and in a flash his hand was already embedded on the magus's stomach where his core was.
Without any restrictions, he pulled out the mana core. He then stepped back and stared at the small crystal ball in his hand. Red mana was swirling inside the crystal and at the last minute he decided to swallow it. He frowned after that and when he reached out his hand a glass of orange juice was placed in his hands.
-
"How are things around the city? Are there any surviving lizards out there?" Cygnus asked naturally as he sat down on the chair that the butler provided for him.
"The city is still in chaos. The kingdom's soldiers and heroes took care of them all." Mr. C went to the side and stood beside the master as they both gazed at the burning man.
Cygnus sighed as he calmly drank the orange juice. He stared at his hand that still had blood on them and reached out again. Mr. C gave him a towel that he used to wipe clean the blood. "They might come and intervene if I don't make them busy."
A projected screen appeared before him. He waved his hand above it and magic circles around the capital appeared followed by his favorite monster, goblins with long death scythes in their hands. He nodded in satisfaction as he closed the projected screen.
"That should keep them away for a while, until I thoroughly enjoy this view. How about that interesting child?" He asked again after he gave the kingdom another headache that they should solve.
"I entrusted the child to Sir Astrophos," the butler answered. He secretly looked at the master and thought that there was nothing wrong with him.
He could still hear Ari's voice though warning him that the master's insanity state was already at 75% but he looked calm. It was different from the times that he went berserk, at that percentage, the master would already start destroying things but in this case he was sipping his juice like how he normally does it. His gaze then focused on the burning man, perhaps it was because the master was focused on the magus and that his insanity was solely for his enemy.
The magus was gasping for air and he could tell that he wanted to shout but his throat was already damaged. It was also the reason why he remained silent even after his core was taken out. Cygnus noticed this and with a disappointed look, he stood up and went to heal the man's vocal cords.
He went back to his chair and snapped his finger to intensify the fire. The magus could feel the burning pain as his ears started to ring. After his core was removed, the fire became intense to the point that he wanted to pass out but for some reason he did not lose consciousness. He was forced to endure.
He gritted his teeth but because he cannot use mana the pain was becoming more and more unbearable then, he finally screamed. Cygnus's grin widened as he slapped his thigh. He even closed his eyes to stay in the moment. He treated those agonizes screams into music in his ears.
On the other hand, Isaiah and Ezio who were caught up in the dome were forced to witness that gruesome scene. The pained screams that was coming from the magus were echoing in their ears. Isaiah froze on his spot while Ezio was staring at their direction with wide eyes.
After a while, Cygnus spoke with his eyes still closed. "I know that you can hear me so I'll let you listen to a story, this might trigger a memory in your mind. There was this child who was accused of colluding with the demons to stage a rebellion against the imperial family. His entire family was slaughtered at the order of the emperor. All of them were burned alive even though they pleaded and cried. The boy watched as all of this happened in front of his eyes. That was a thousand years ago. Do you want to know the boy's name?" The master's eyes opened and his gaze met the unfocused one of the magus. "It is Altair, Cygnus Altair."
A flash of recognition passed through his eyes and the unfocused look sharpened at that name. He looked at the man and no matter how he tried to recognize him, it was already impossible because there was only one implication from the other man's story, he was that boy.
Altair was a well known name in the field of magic from a thousand years ago. During that era, magic was not that developed as it was in the present. People only knew that if a person uses any magic with the color of black, they were people who had dealings with a demon. The Altair household was the first to advocate that not all magic with dark color was evil.
Because they were an influential family, many decided to follow him and believe in his words. Not until they were framed for colluding with the demons to overthrow the imperial family. The slanderers also detailed how they saw the Altair's oldest son using black magic to kill people.
They denied the accusation and intended to clear their name but before they could do, they were wiped out. They were judged as guilty even before the emperor could hear their story. Mages were the ones who headed the slaughter and together with them were soldiers and heroes.
They marched towards the Altair territory and declared war against them. The family wouldn't go down easily and they fought and were still overwhelmed. One by one they were captured except for the oldest son and his one and only sibling. That same night, their estate was burned and so were its owners.
Despite the fear and despair that the boy was feeling, he needed to stay strong for his younger sister. Even after that, he could still hear their screams of help and agony as they were being burned. And now that one of the mages who participated in that incident was still alive. He could now do his revenge.
