Rebirth of the Phoenix God

"Sir, at this rate we might be late to the party!"

The protests of the mercenaries could be heard all over the column. While only limited to some murmurs or to the protests directly conveyed to the young man's ear, Fen could feel that unless he does something quickly, this entire scheme could turn into a disaster.

Obviously, it was just a slight possibility of what could happen. For as long as their travelling column looked as orderly as it presented itself in the city, no problems should arise. The trouble would begin only when soldiers' voices could be heard from a distance, or once Fen would lose his patience and cave in to the demands of his fellow mercenaries.

"We don't have any choice."

Gritting the answer through his teeth, Fen pretended not to be annoyed by the fact that he had to repeat this reply several times in just the last few hours. It wasn't that he didn't want to join the ongoing party at Ofmase or anything, but if he allowed for the column to actually trave at the speed those hardened veterans were capable at, they could no longer pretend to be some kind of elite unit hired by unnamed overlords from the Kinar's borderlands.

"Sir, but our brothers and sisters are dying out there!"

This also was the truth. Given the several slight delays that they encountered during the meeting with the monarch, Fen's group was a bit behind the planned schedule. Unless Fen's friends were to wait for his group to start the party, then the fact that they had to pretend they had no idea about the ongoing siege of Ofmase would be the reason why they couldn't just gallop over the last bit of the distance that separated them from the city.

"I know and you can trust me… I'm the one wishing the most to just drop all the pretence and join them."

Fen didn't need to explain the reasoning behind his decision. All the mercenaries were perfectly aware of who they were supposed to appear as, an appearance that would be broken if they rushed towards the city before seeing with their own eyes that it's laid under siege. 

But one couldn't use logic to argue with emotions. Thankfully, there wasn't all that much distance left for them to cover before the high walls of the Ofmase appeared before their eyes.

"Fen!"

Contrary to Fen's worries, the siege has yet to start. And that means that instead of openly tearing down the walls of the city while risking many of their fellow mercenaries to do so, Fen could just fly over and bombard the gates with his fire for long enough for not a single defender to remain in it. 

"I'm back, Orsha."

Jumping down his horse to meet the person galloping towards him, Fen thought that the two of them would end up jumping into each other's embrace. And his guess couldn't be any further from the reality.

"Fen, we need you right now. We are about to start the sneak attack at the gates, and we need all the hands we can get."

With how serious Orsha's face was, Fen didn't dare to dawdle on the topic either. Instantly rushing back towards his horse, the young man stood up in his saddle before looking back at the unit of mercenaries behind him.

"Everyone!"

There was no point for the long introductions. All of Fen's men were perfectly aware of what was about to happen now. All that was left, was for the young man to give the order.

"We attack! Let's liberate the city from the hands of those damned nobles!"

With his right hand raised high into the air, Fen could see how all the murmurs of anxiety from before disappeared in one instant. With just a single sentence from his mouth, the bloodlust filled those monsters of men, turning their eyes bloodshot. Even before a single droplet of blood was spilt, all those mercenaries were ready to follow their commander into the area of heaviest fights!

"We got some people at the stone gate. As long as you can pull their attention to the west one, we might be able to rush for the citadel gates. And if we hold it…"

Orsha didn't need to finish her words at all. Before she even managed to finish her sentence, Fen already manifested his catalyst. Despite his horse charging forward, the young arcanist didn't bother to sit down on the saddle, opting to use his momentum to take to the skies instead.

Spreading his wings, the difference between the speed of the wind and the pace at which Fen was bursting forward was enough to give him the initial lift he required to ascend. With his horse already out of the potential range of the danger, the young man simply looked at the gate he was supposed to attack in front of him. 

And then, his wings started burning.

Using the constant and ongoing explosive consumptions of the air from above his wings that turned into burnt air below them, the skies themselves seemed to carry Fen forward on their waves. Before Orsha could even lead his unit towards the concentration point where all three parts of their army converged, the young man could already hear the shouts of alarm coming out from the city.

"Let's start the fun…"

Fen never forgot how the local lord wanted to not only chase them away but actually to chase after them. And now, it was the time for them to eradicate this city from the existence to send a powerful message to the Kinzarian monarch about the danger of the imaginary forces of the nobles!

With balls of fire growing in his hands, Fen continued to climb higher and higher, all the way to the point where no projectile or arcana thrown from the city could endanger him any longer. After all, his aim wasn't to conquer the city all by himself. All he needed to do, was to pull away the attention of the enemies from the stone gate, located at the southern end of the city.

"Go…"

Whispering to himself, Fen finally let go of his hold over the two fireballs in his hands. With how insanely condensed the flame was within them, not even the drop from several hundreds of feet above the ground managed to make them run out of the energy.

BOOM!

Once the fire touched something that it couldn't burn through as easily as it could through the air, a huge explosion shook the entire city. Even with how high he was in the skies, Fen could still feel the shockwave reaching for him. Taking a moment to stabilise his position in the skies, Fen started to prepare another set of two fireballs as soon as the violent convulsions of the air no longer threatened his stability.

Looking down, a truly demonic scene could be seen. With the fireball condensed to the point of acting like a solid thing, once it hit the stone of the gate, the blaze contained within instantly spilt all over the place, burning anyone who was unlucky to be at the gate. In just a few moments, all the opposition in the area was wiped out.

"They don't have any arcanists down there? Or are they late to the party?"

Noticing the opportunity, Fen didn't dare to waste it. His fireballs still in preparation didn't stop the young man from suddenly pulling his wings around his body, instantly dropping down from his position. Once the acceleration of the free-fall couldn't push his descend any longer, Fen once again ignited his wings. The only difference laid in fact, that this time the young man greatly limited the effectiveness of said flames.

After all, it would be a pity to end his life by smashing his head against the hard rock of the gate!

"NOW!"

Following his instincts alone, Fen spread his wings again right before he would crash into the ground. With the drag of the air instantly slowing his descent, by the time his feet touched the burning stone of the wall, all the young man had to do to soften his fall was too bent his knees.

"Oh boy…"

Even for someone who saw so much blood and death in his life as Fen, the scene at the gate was repulsive with how bloody it was. No matter where the young man would look, a dark remains of what used to be the guards continued to whittle away under the gusts of wind, spreading the dark ash around the place.

But this wasn't even the true beginning the massacre that was bound to happen in this city.

Turning around, Fen looked down at the streets below the gate. With the civilians hiding away in their homes, they most likely believed that at most, they would only lose their wealth, maybe a few members of their family if the siege the attackers would turn out to be bloodthirsty.

"I'm sorry…"

Even with how it was all a part of his plan, Fen couldn't help but shudder when he thought about what he was about to do. Being a mercenary didn't equal being a completely heartless monster. Sadly, the young man no longer could step off the path that he entered upon his fiery reincarnation.

"But it is either you, or us."

Steeling his resolve, Fen closed his eyes and approached the edge of the platform at the top of the gatehouse. Once his feet could no longer feel anything below them, the young man stopped. And then he shook his hands free of the two more fireballs that he was preparing all this time.

Dropping them right on the dense urban area below him!