The trees that once sheltered the lush vegetation inside the forest were reduced to a stick of charcoal. On the ground, scorched bodies littered, some with their eyes still opened. The haunted look in their eyes was something that Jude and the others would never forget in this lifetime.

"This — " How could one human do this? The loud explosions earlier lasted for about five minutes. The group waited for another five minutes before they removed the barrier that kept them safe from Cassandra\'s flames.

They thought it would be small bombs, just like what she told them.

They thought it would be something that would act as a gun, targeting each of the assassins that surrounded the four of them.

But this?

This is something else.

This is total annihilation.

How could a bomb made of pure black flames be this powerful? He met Ymir\'s eyes and, just as he expected, the man also had a frightened look on his pale face. Among the four of them, Ymir was now the weakest as he, along with his subordinate, created the thick barrier earlier. However, the weakness in his eyes wasn\'t enough to hide the horror that he felt inside.

"Where is she?" Jude managed to ask.

"She told us not to find her," Ymir reminded. The plan was to leave the bodies, leave this place as soon as possible, and not tell a soul about her and what happened. Cassandra promised that she would take care of the bodies. However, she also made them promise not to come back and look for her anymore.

This is something that they never understood.

"We all had secrets." Lord Cygnus uttered, his voice somber. "We need to leave. We don\'t really know if there are more assassins around us." Right now, all of them have no way of fighting anymore. They are wounded, tired, and spent. A single assassin might be enough to kill the four of them in this state.

While walking, every one of them started to analyze the situation. Firebombs aren\'t really rare, all fire Elementalist should be able to create one if they want to, but not many of them could control it. They are just balls of fire that had the ability to explode. However, the limitation of this type of ability is the number of bombs that one could produce.

For instance, if someone is going to create a bomb that is going to affect only one meter squared then, this person might be able to create at least five of them, depending on that person\'s core. If that same person is going to create a huge bomb that could damage a kilometer\'s worth of space, then that person could only make one bomb and might even die if he or she would force their core to increase the damage of the said bomb.

Second, this type of bomb doesn\'t really discriminate. Allies or enemies can get caught in the explosion and die. This was the reason why Cassandra asked them to create the greatest shield that they could create.

With these two factors, the user needed to possess the right timing to avoid any casualties and the right strength to be able to create those bombs. So, they also need timing and precision and not many people have such talent, especially not when it comes to live combat.

Usually, people who use these kinds of stuff are the warriors who didn\'t care if their allies would die or the ones that are desperate to survive.

So, how did she do it?

Was it possible that she had become so powerful?

To grow one control of the ability, an Elementalist needed two crucial things. First, they needed a comprehension ability. Basically, they are just human who knew how to comprehend the laws of nature. This is why they could use the elements that are abundant everywhere. And second, they needed experience. Even if someone comprehended the laws of nature and became so powerful, they would have a hard time defeating an experienced soldier who had killed thousands of demons.

Now that he thought about it, Cassandra just arrived from the outside world. She hadn\'t joined them in the front lines for years now. So, her being this powerful doesn\'t really make any sense!

"Jude…"

"Hm?" He looked at Ymir.

"Don\'t think too much about it. Remember… she saved us."

"I wasn\'t."

"I know you. Your attitude is worse than a fire wielder\'s."

"Are you calling me hot-headed and cruel?"

"You said that yourself."

"You— "

"We should tell our heads about this. We are the four great clans. We need to unite if we wanted to save this country from that crazy man."

Jude clenched his teeth when he heard Ymir\'s words. In fact, the clans were in chaos right now because of Cassandra\'s impending marriage to a Royals— the son of that ungrateful king who only wanted power. "Tsk." Jude and most people inside the four great clans that this marriage is another scheme of that King to weaken them. However, they couldn\'t really openly defy a Royal without causing chaos in the capital.

With the power of the four great clans, eliminating the Royals is actually a very easy job. However, the Royals and the Four Great Clans exist to keep the balance and share the power. Once one of them is eliminated, the other would only run rampant and upset the balance inside this country.

"The bodies. Do you think she is planning to do something about them?" Ymir asked. Cassandra emphasized that she is going to keep the bodies of those people.

"Probably burn them?" Jude uttered.

"No, I think she is planning something. Her flames... should be hot enough to turn them into ash. But she didn\'t do that. Instead, she kept the body intact. Now that I think about it, that level of control is really something."

"Hm…. maybe she is going to hang them? Show them to the Royals? Or use them as bait?"

Jude frowned. Indeed, Ymir was right. Why would Cassandra want to keep those bodies? She shouldn\'t have some weird fetish, right?

.....

I decided to lock the chapters early.

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