Atticus and Aurora streaked through the air, their figures covered in searing flames that seemed to increase in intensity as they moved.
They resembled shooting stars streaking through the sky, heading directly towards the city gates.
An intense gust of wind suddenly spread out across the area, dispersing the steamy air that had engulfed it.
Spineus's intense gaze snapped towards the north, narrowing as it settled on Atticus's retreating figure.
His next orders were instant: "Do not let him escape."
Spineus wasn't loud; in fact, even though Atticus was currently moving towards the city gates about to escape, Spineus's demeanor remained calm.
It was as though he didn't care, which was baffling considering the whole reason they were there was because of Atticus.
His words were low, but to the warriors of the Ossara family gathered in the area, it might as well have been spoken with a loudspeaker.
They moved in unison, as though they had practiced this set of movements since birth.
The sounds of the hover car doors closing echoed in the next second, followed by the rumbling of the engines. Each hover car whizzed through the air at mind-numbing speed towards the direction Atticus had fled.
Spineus took his gaze away from the retreating Atticus, landing it on the building Atticus had burst out of. A few members of the Ossara family remained behind with him, standing behind him and awaiting orders.
Spineus didn't utter a word, nor did his expression change, but the slight concern on his face was evident.
He walked quickly and entered the building, his eyes scanning the destruction caused by Atticus.
His hands subtly clenched by his side as he approached the basement, reaching the bottom in just a second.
Spineus couldn't help but release a huge and audible sigh of relief as he saw Lucienta and Luther struggling to stand up, with Lucienta still lodged in the wall deep in pain.
Spineus let go of his clenched hands and swiftly moved to support them. After a moment, the duo knelt down on the floor with their heads bowed inches away from the ground.
"I-I have failed you, Lord Spineus," Lucienta lamented, her voice trembling with shame. She hit her broken head on the floor, painting the ground crimson with her blood.
"I deserve death for this failure, Lord Spineus," Luther added, repeating the same action and hitting his head on the floor. Words could not begin to describe how ashamed they both felt.
Spineus could see this very well, and this fact made his heart ache. Both Lucienta and Luther were directly under his control, his subordinates, but ever since his father Vetebræ had started training him during his childhood, they had been inseparable.
His training had been brutal, so brutal that Spineus had ended up bloodied more times than he could count.
Spineus had been a child; it wasn't something he should have been able to withstand, but he endured.
He endured all the brutality, all the torturous training, all the hellish pains that would leave his body battered and broken.
Unable to get even a wink of sleep at night, he endured all of this because of one reason: he had comrades.
He had comrades who experienced the same things he did, comrades to laugh and make jokes about the brutality that was their training, comrades who made him smile.
Right now, those comrades were his subordinates.
Sure, it had been their idea to check out the building first, but at the end of the day, he had given the order.
He was their leader; they were his responsibility.
The entirety of the basement was filled with crimson blood, which meant that a lot of people had died. Their target had committed a massacre.
It was this same target who didn't hesitate to cut off a prince's head.
Judging from the time Lucienta's call for help had come and Atticus's emergence from the roof of the building, it was clear that the only reason they were both currently alive was because of pure luck. What if Atticus hadn't been smart enough to realize he was surrounded?
The human they were chasing was merciless. How had he forgotten this fact? How had he put his subordinates in such a situation? How had he made such a blunder?
Spineus's hand clenched hard, blood trickling out from it. His father's words resounded in his head continuously in repeat: a leader bears the weight of responsibility.
He was just beginning to realize the weight of those words. Spineus took in a deep breath, his demeanor changing.
His once nonchalant aura suddenly vanished, replaced by the aura of a warrior, a warrior prepared for battle.
A staggering amount of killing intent leaked from his form, the hearts of the Ossara warriors present in the area trembling.
Lucienta and Luther raised their heads, their expressions filled with shock. This was the first time they would see Spineus this angry.
Spineus didn't utter a word; he simply gazed down at the injured duo, taking note of each injury on both of them.
Then, he suddenly pivoted and started walking towards the stairs. A platform made of bone materialized underneath both Lucienta and Luther, their forms floating up and taking them along with him.
Spineus reached outside of the building, entering his hover car, his words ice-cold as he spoke succinctly,
"Reach out and deploy the city shields, deploy the cameras. Take me to him."
The heads of the Ossara family warriors that stayed behind lowered in unison, each of them getting inside their hover cars.
The engines hummed to life, an intense blast that rocked the space resounding in an instant. Multiple hover cars whizzed through the air, heading towards the direction of the blazing comet.
Spineus's gaze remained ice-cold as he gazed at the screen displayed in front of him, showing Atticus and Aurora streaking figures.
Before, he had taken this as simply a battle he should fight and win.
But now, now it was personal.