Ross stood at the door, his body trembling in shock as he looked into what was meant to be the office of the marquis. All he saw were walls painted with blood, guts hung by nails around the entire wall. The body of the marquis was nailed to the wall and his intestines had been taken out, his eyes gouged out and dropped on the table, leaving hollow holes on his face.

Even for someone like Ross, the scene sent shivers down his spine. He stepped back subconsciously. Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. He moved fast to the side, evading the attack as the sword cut into the edge of the wall and got stuck there.

Ross looked, and who he saw was the very guard that had brought him here.

"This was all a plan," Ross muttered in realization. He charged at the guard before he could pull the blade out and kicked him right in the chest, throwing the guard back. He slammed into the ground hard and rolled until he came to a stop.

"You lot are part of the Red Sun. You killed a noble," Ross said in anger. He stretched out his hand and a sword formed from ice. He did not use his real sword as he felt he did not need it, not for backstabbing scum like this.

The guard struggled back to his feet and then wiped the blood that formed as he bit into his tongue by accident when he was thrown back.

"This kingdom belongs to the Red Sun, it always has and always will!" he yelled.

"Save that for hell," Ross said and stepped forward. With that single step, he covered the distance between them, thrusting the ice blade through the neck of the guard, killing him instantly. He left the sword in the neck and walked away.

"I have to get to the princess, she is in danger."

He headed to the stairs, but once he arrived there, he saw a mage with a staff stretched out at the bottom and a magical circle already activated. He dove back where he came from very quickly. A massive fireball ripped from the circle and slammed into the wall at the top of the stairs and burned down the basinet portrait of the marquis that was there.

"Shit," he cursed as he got back to his feet.

"Sir Ross, please come down and we will capture you without hurting you, the Red Sun does not wish to kill," one of the guards at the bottom said.

"Yeah, I believe that after you tried to roast me," Ross said. He leaned his back against the wall and then opened his palms. He began muttering something, a spell, one that seemed pretty powerful. In the next moment, a magical circle formed under him and then smaller ones began forming in other locations inside the house down to the ground floor.

When the guards saw that, they immediately became alert.

"Everyone watch out, he is about to use a spell," one yelled. They all thought it was some sort of attack spell, but it wasn’t, as cold ice fog began shooting out and covering the entire place, making it hard to see.

Only then did they realize what was happening.

"He is going to use the fog as cover, watch out," one guard yelled.

Ross leaped over the stairs and landed in the fog. He pulled his sword immediately and vanished from where he stood. As he moved, he cast a fire-based spell, one that allowed him to sense the location of heat. With that spell, he was able to see the location of each guard.

He came towards the first one from behind, and by the time he sensed Ross, it was too late. Ross drove his blade from behind through the heart and pulled it out fast, splattering blood on the floor and vanishing soon after. He moved fast and precise, and the number of dead guards began rising very fast.

"He is among us, take him down, don’t let him corner you," one guard yelled, only for his throat to be slit in the very next second and his body to hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Rather than stand around, a few started moving around and slashing through the air in hopes that they would get Ross. Ross caught up to one and proceeded to kick in his knee. The leg bent backwards and snapped. What followed was a guttural scream before a blade was plunged into his neck, killing him.

The closest guard there rushed when he heard the sound, but very quickly fell victim to a similar fate. The blade came from behind and he was beheaded in one swift motion. His body hit the ground at the same time as the head.

The mage that worked with the guards had been in a corner of the room ever since the fog spread and was quietly casting a flame spell, one that would be powerful enough to dispel all the fog and help the guards take down Ross.

The spell was about to take form, the magical formation for it glowed bright and the mage was about to cast it, but at the very final moment, Ross walked in his direction and stabbed the sword right into the heart of the formation and then infused it with his own mana. His plan was to totally dispel the spell, but Ross had miscalculated and what followed was not what he had expected.

In that moment, the failure of the spell caused the mage to lose control, which made the voices of the mana reach his ears and then his mind, the voices that all mages block out to ensure they cast their spells well and do not run mad or die. Those voices now flooded his mind and began revealing the truth of mana to him instantly. The knowledge immediately broke his mind and then caused mana madness. His core shattered and all the mana in his body ran free.