After two days of Yaku laying low and resting, the plan to close off the outer gates and rain fire on the people of the outer layer was in motion. Guards walked the big roads leading to the outer gates, shields held to protect themselves from every angle. They reached the gates, shut them completely, and broke their mechanisms.
Once they returned to the inner layer, they closed those gates as well — practically putting the people of the outer layer in a huge prison. Hours later, the sound of an explosion woke Yaku, startling him. Everyone was shocked; they all ran outside and saw a house next to them leveled to the ground, burning with people inside it.
Yaku widened his eyes in horror at the scene, but he didn't have time for shock as dozens of huge fireballs rained across the outer layer. Explosion after explosion — screams of horror filled the air, hundreds wounded and dead. The small medical teams couldn't possibly keep up.
The liberation party ran around trying to help as many people as they could. Yaku used his magic, running and saving as many injured as possible, but it wasn't enough. Hundreds of the wounded ended up dying for lack of medical staff and the nonexistent healing mages.
Every few hours everyone would think the attacks were over, but a new wave of fireballs came. The outer layer had turned into hell. Thousands gathered around the gates trying to open them, but it was no use. They were completely shut. Doth used the gates as bait to send another wave of fire, killing hundreds in one fell swoop.
The situation was more than dire — it was complete domination. Yaku stood there, the fire reflecting in his eyes as he stood in the blood of innocents. He punched himself. He slapped himself. He screamed to himself, "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! THIS ISN'T REAL, IT'S A NIGHTMARE!" but it wasn't a nightmare — it was reality.
Crill walked up behind Yaku. Yaku was on the ground, forehead pressed to the blood-soaked earth, his tears mixing with it. Crill got down on both knees, put his hand on Yaku's back and said, "This… this is all my fault. I thought we could change something, but I was wrong. All this blood is on my hands."
Yaku lifted his head. As blood rolled down his face, he looked at Crill with pure anger. "This is not your fault. It's Doth. I will kill him," Yaku whispered in a shaky, angry voice.
"Kill Doth? How can you kill a mage this powerful? He will cut you up before you even reach him. I'm sorry, Yaku, but this is my fault. If I never created the liberation party, all of this would've never happened. You… you should've never saved me. If only I stayed a slave, hundreds—no, thousands—would be alive today." Crill shouted, tears rolling down his face.
Mana coated Yaku's feet as he stood and looked in the direction the fireballs were coming from. He clenched his fists, and before Crill could say anything he was already gone. Crill looked around; Yaku was nowhere to be seen.
Yaku ran as fast as he could, burning mana quickly. He reached the inner circle walls — the only way into the inner layer was to climb them. He poured mana into his hands, dug his fingers into the rock-solid walls, and started climbing, pushing his whole body upward with all his might. He was making progress.
Guards on the walls noticed him, immediately rang the alarm, and started shooting arrows. He persisted, dodging arrows left and right. His fingers grew tired but he kept going; his nails started breaking, but he kept going. An arrow hit him in the arm, but he didn't let that stop him. He scaled that gigantic wall with everything he had until he reached the top.
He ripped the arrows from his arm and started beating the guards one by one, breaking their armor with his reinforced fists. They couldn't stand a chance — his reinforcement magic was simply too fast, too powerful. But that was the problem: Yaku put everything he had into this valiant effort, and his mana was burning at an incredible pace.
After dealing with the guards on top of the wall, he dropped into the inner layer where hundreds of guards were waiting. He stood there facing them: one man against a small army. Another round of fireballs was fired from Doth's castle. Yaku noticed the source of the horrific attacks and immediately knew he had to stop it, but now he had to make quick work of the guards — his mana was already halfway depleted.
He stood there, the blood on his face dried, looking at the guards with complete anger. Veins popped on his forehead, his pupils constricted; the air felt heavy and intense.
One of the guards couldn't wait any longer. He charged, breaking the silence. Yaku immediately swept his legs and knocked him out with a single punch to the face, breaking his nose.
Yaku didn't want to kill any of them, so he couldn't use his mana slash. At the same time he didn't want to waste his mana, either. The guards surrounded him and attacked in pairs. Yaku ducked and dodged, making them run into each other, grabbing their heads and smashing them together, knocking them around.
As he fought, someone on the wall regained consciousness and aimed an arrow at him. The shot came while Yaku was busy. Yaku noticed it as if the arrow were moving in slow motion. He bear-hugged one of the guards and, with full force, threw him into the arrow, blocking it and surprising everyone.
The guards grew more anxious as their numbers dwindled, but they were still simply too many for Yaku. Even if he knocked them all out, he would run out of mana before reaching Doth.
He was fighting two guards and left a careless opening; one guard jumped and slashed Yaku in the back, hurting him badly. Yaku screamed in pain and immediately turned, punching the guard that slashed him in the stomach with all his might. The punch shattered the man's chest plate and broke nearly every bone in that area. The man flew back, taking down many guards in the way as well.
It was starting to get hopeless. Yaku was down to less than a third of his mana, and the wound on his back hurt like hell. Dozens of guards still surrounded him, ready to gang up and kill him.
The sound of fire filled the air as a big pillar of flame took out many guards. Yaku turned and saw salvation — Narbo, Geo, and Emilia. His heart felt relieved. Narbo and Geo started helping him; the odds flipped in an instant.
They formed a tight defense, watching each other's backs and defeating any guard that dared get close. Green mana leaves and branches ran along Yaku's body, fully healing him — it was Emilia's warm healing magic. Yaku closed his eyes for a second and felt bliss.
Minutes later, all the guards were defeated. The group ran together to hide in Emilia's bakery to discuss what to do next.
"I'm so glad you're all right. I was worried sick," Emilia said, looking at Yaku with worried eyes.
His cheeks flushed. Embarrassed, he responded, "Uh… you too. I'm happy you're well."
Narbo and Geo looked at each other and started laughing, making them both more embarrassed.
The air turned serious immediately after.
"There is no time to laugh. Hundreds are dying every hour if we don't do anything," Yaku said in a grave tone.
"We must stop the mages casting the huge fireballs. Are you guys with me?" Yaku asked.
"Yes, we're with you. Let's save the people of the outer layer!" Narbo responded, while the other two nodded.
"Then let's do it. It's now or never!" Yaku said, clenching his fists with determination.