Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) by V.A. Lewis (autobiographies to read .TXT) 📕

Julian lifted his cane, and pointed at Shang.

"You."

Shang blinked, but Julian just moved one. He pointed at a Rabbit Beastkin, another Dog Beastkin, two Humans, and finally at the man standing beside me: Theodore.

"You. You. You. And you," Julian said, before finally lowering his cane, and nodding to himself. "All of you shall be killed and made an example of. So that there will be no more… issues."

Shouts of outrage came from multiple people. Shang stepped forward, and barked at the slaver.

"If you really think we’ll just—"

"You really should just surrender. Do believe me. It pains me as much to kill you, as it does for you to be killed," the slaver spoke without a hint of irony in his voice. "I’ve already alerted the city guards. They’ll be here at any moment. You’ll all die if you fight back. Give. Up."

Shang hesitated, and even Rin was left without any quips. It was all over. Our grand plan to escape was ruined. Foiled by my kindness to two foolish slaves.

Everyone knew it was over. Perhaps we could fight. But we would lose in the end; it was a pointless fight that we could not win.

But something happened.

In the distance, bells began to ring. The city guards mobilized as the alarm was raised, and was echoed throughout the city.

"The city alarm? They did not have to—"

Julian turned around, then paused.

It was not just him. We all did. Everyone stopped and stared at the city walls.

To the west, there were hundreds of gunshots being fired from the battlements of the walls and from below it. Bolts of blue energy flew back and forth at something on the walls. A figure, barely visible in the distance, ran vertically down the inside of the walls of Bys. At the dead of night, such a small and dark figure usually would not be seen from where we were.

But each bolt of gunfire told us where to look. It shone in the darkness, shedding some light at the hooded figure. But even more important was what the figure was doing; a person could not physically run down a wall because they would fall. Not unless they had magic.

And magic they had.

With each step the figure took, a magic circle appeared. The magic circle glowed yellow, and had a radius of about six foot. They ran down the walls with that magic, and dodged the oncoming bullets with ease.

The figure looked like they had their hands raised the entire time, as if they were casting another spell. And if it was a spell, it was not meant for their attackers or to defend themself.

They continued bobbing and weaving as the bolts of energy rained down past them. The figure spun and danced in the moonlight, as if they were in a waltz with no partner but the incoming hail. Finally, the figure was finished casting their spell. They crouched for a split second, and in an act that defied gravity once more, they leapt off the wall.

The figure flew at least 30 feet away from the walls; spinning and dodging the barrage of bullets mid air. Then, when the figure was about to land, they pointed their hands at the gates of the walls.

With that, their spell was complete. A large black magic circle covered the gate, before quickly shrinking in size to a mere speck. And for a second, nothing happened.

Then, from the center of the circle, from where the speck of a magic circle was, a massive ball of green and black energy quickly expanded into a sphere that engulfed the gate.

Everything that the sphere touched was obliterated, and it stayed like that for a moment. However, that moment ended, and the sphere erupted into a massive explosion that blew apart the surrounding walls and all nearby houses.

The walls were gone. Collapsed. And beyond it was a void of darkness that stared into the city.

Everyone— Shang, Julian, Theodore, Rin; both slaves and slavers alike— stared dumbstruck at the sudden destruction of the city walls. No one moved. No one made a sound.

I gazed at their expressions. At the look of shock at such utter devastation that occurred out of nowhere. And I almost wanted to laugh.

I knew this would happen; well, not this specifically. But I knew something would happen. Because—

Because if there is a powerful Goddess that hates me, then there is an equally powerful god who hates me more.

And perhaps I had been arrogant. I dared to challenge god, even when I was only Human. I wanted to defy him. I wanted to exact vengeance upon him.

But he had finally responded to my petty resolve.

I stared as from beyond the walls of Bys, the first abomination stepped out of the darkness. The first of many. Creatures not of this world. Beings made of nightmares and the primal feeling of horror. Hatred incarnate.

These abominations came for the city. The Slave City. And that night...

The Free City of Bys was destroyed.

Chapter 21: Abominations

The Free City of Bys had seen many conflicts in its time. Unlike Boleria, which was a city that focused mainly on trade and commercial businesses, Bys was a city of slavery. As such, Bys would often get into conflicts with other Free Cities, enslaving the prisoners of war for free labor.

It had gotten into conflicts with not just other cities within Besha, but brought it up against the most prominent of cities in the Free Lands. And though it had not won all those wars, it had won some of them. And that was enough. It had worked out for the Free City.

Over a century ago, Bys had finally established itself to be one of the pinnacle cities of the Free Lands. It went against