"Senior!"
A few of the front office members of the order who were silently watching what was happening outside from inside the opened doors of the order's receiving area immediately went out save Albert.
It was common knowledge that most members of the Blacksmith Order were average humans, especially those working in the front office.
What could they possibly do in front of a mage?
As for those who could wield magic, they were mostly out on the field gathering materials they could not get from the Chamber of Commerce. The few who remained were Array Specialists who were busy crafting along with the Blacksmiths.
However, the moment they stepped out, those white-robed mages with Matias would not let them.
In an instant, the Blacksmith Order's front gate was filled with different colored magic arrays. There were green, light brown, light yellow, but mostly red magic arrays that summoned either the earth, wind or fire elements.
A small whirlwind engulfed the front office members of the order as arrows molded from earth magic shoot out in midair toward them. Midway, flames appeared on each of the arrowheads when they entered the whirlwind and hit the members of the order.
"Argh! M-My eyes!"
"My arm! Help! It's burning! It's burning!"
"S-Someone! Please, call the army officers!"
Shrill cries filled the surroundings as the members inside the whirlwind were bombarded by burning arrows.
While crouching on the ground holding his half-burned arm, Albert watched his fellow members burn slowly inside the whirlwind.
The fire from the arrows was not fierce, but because of the nature of the wind coming from the whirlwind, its intensity had almost tripled. Aside from this, the fire rapidly spread on the ground leaving minimal space for the members of the order to move.
Ignoring the pain in his arm, Albert turned his attention to Matias and practically prostrate himself before the latter.
"P-Please have mercy, young master Matias! W-We are but ordinary people! Please cease your magic!"
"Huh?" Matias glared at Albert. He walked toward him and stepped on the latter's head, burying his face in the ground.
Albert winced but did not retaliate. He had no means to retaliate.
It was very unfortunate that the Blacksmith Order's Array would only activate if violence happened inside. Outside, the facade of the building could withstand magic and physical attacks at a certain level, but it had no formula wherein it could protect the people from the attack.
Such a specific formula was hard to calculate.
"You did hear me say that I want Tyr here right? I also mentioned killing each one of you. Is it my fault that you guys readily deliver yourself in front of us?" Matias practically spat out each of his words.
Albert did not reply but remained prostrated on the ground.
The onlookers from a distance dare not intervene and only watched. To them, they were curious about how the Blacksmith Order would handle this predicament.
Matias was a member of the Lumley Family, and practically everyone in Starhorn already knew of the statement the Blacksmith Order issued banning the former from all of the establishments affiliated with the Conclave.
After the Blacksmith Order issued the statement, the Lumley Family did not make a sound.
Just when almost everyone was convinced the Lumley Family had backed down after the Conclave had intervened, they had sent the first grandson with a group of mages to the Blacksmith Order!
Though the latter appear to be challenging Disciple Tyr and the Blacksmith Order only, the Lumley Family's action clearly showed their stance.
'We are not afraid! If you want to ban us, then we will show you just who you are messing with!'
Of course, both the Conclave and the Three Noble Families were a large faction not to be trifled with, but because of the former's neutral status, the Lumley Family was not afraid to showcase their might.
Inside the Blacksmith Order, as soon as Matias had arrived, a few members of the order had ushered their customers to a more safe area inside the building, another went to the working area to report, and another sent a message to President Sigma.
The people inside actually did not hear Matias's demand because Noir added a soundproof formula in the working area. He did this to ensure Kyran would not be disturbed while he worked.
When the members of the order found what was happening, all Array Specialists stopped what they were doing to go outside. It did not matter if they were in the midst of a critical phase in their creation, because the matter of protecting the rest of the Blacksmith Order members were far more important.
It should be noted that most blacksmiths were also ordinary humans. Some possessed weak magic, and thus could not be promoted to an Array Specialists. However, they could still craft simple enchanted magic items because arrays were not only reliant to a mage's magic energy but the materials.
The blacksmiths who noticed the commotion looked on in confusion.
Gunter, whose workstation was close to the entrance of the Blacksmith Order could not help but look at big metal doors.
It was the same entrance that Kyran had entered from the first time he went there, and Gunter was the blacksmith who stopped him.
Just as he was contemplating whether to peek outside to see why all the Array Specialists had left, they felt a slight tremor on the ground.
"Just now, did you feel that?"
"Where did that tremor come from?"
"I think it came from outside."
One after another, the remaining blacksmiths had exclaimed.
Gunter frowned slightly. He knew the tremor had something to do with why all the Array Specialists had left. Looking at the other blacksmiths inside, most of them were thinking the same thing.
"Stop!"
One of the Array Specialists exclaimed as soon as they arrived at the entrance of the receiving area and saw the whirlwind and the trapped members of the order.
One after another, the Array Specialists roused their magic as red magic arrays appeared and circled their hands.
They did not step outside and instead, used their affinity to fire magic to control the flames inside the whirlwind.
"Humph!" The earth and wind mages among Matias's group sneered at the Blacksmith Order's attempt to save their fellow members.
They were aware that all Array Specialists of the Blacksmith Order were fire mages. As far as they knew, President Sigma was the only earth mage in the order.
Even Chairman Noir was a fire mage.
The earth and wind mages from Matias's side moved and launched another attack.
The wind mages amplified the whirlwind disrupting the flow of air inside. The fire within seemed to have weakened but because of the change in the air inside, the members were now having trouble breathing.
"You!"
Two Array Specialists from the order raised their hand toward the white-robed mages casting the wind magic. They summoned fire balls and aimed at them.
The earth mages who had seen this waved their staff, a large light brown magic array appeared beneath their feet.
The ground tremble as a mass of earth emerged to block the fire balls.
Small explosions resounded as the fire balls hit the mass of earth.
"H-Help us!" The members inside the whirlwind whose bodies had suffered from burns and now was having trouble breathing cried out.
Matias sneered as he looked at the Array Specialists that did not dare step outside the opened doors of the building.
"What? I thought the Blacksmith Order valued comradery. Why won't you step outside and properly help your people?" Matias mocked. Then he suddenly looked thoughtful and said, "On second thought, are you thinking of sacrificing these people to protect that deceitful Tyr?"
"Do not go too far! Release them!"
A master mage among the Array Specialists hissed while he made a move to step outside the door.
Matias's smile turned wicked as he waited for the Array Specialist.
It was meaningless to kill ordinary members of the order. Their real target was the Array Specialists and the Blacksmiths. This was the mission the Lumley Patriarch, Matias's Grandfather, gave him.
Matias did not ask why, but he could more or less guess it was retaliation to the ban statement they declared. As for the matter with Disciple Tyr, it his personal mission.
With the humiliation he suffered because of Tyr, Matias would definitely make him pay.
The moment the master mage Array Specialist stepped out the door, Matias's eyes glinted maliciously and a huge red magic array hovered behind him.
A fire mage attacking another fire mage was not really ideal. Since both had the same innate magic, they tend to be immune to both.
However, if the innate fire magic of the other was far more superior, then it was possible.
"Burn him!" Matias shouted as a huge blazing roc emerged from the magic array and flew at an astonishing speed toward the Array Specialist.
The master mage failed to react on time and was instantly engulfed by the blazing roc.
"Argh!"
Even with their uniform's fire resitance and his own fire immunity, the master mage felt the blazing roc's flames burn him.
"Senior!"
"Emmet!"
Ordinary members and Array Specialists alike exclaimed in fright as they saw how Emmet's hair and clothes slowly turned to ash.
"HAHAHAHA!" Matias laughed hysterically. "Weak! You think you just because you are a fire mage you can withstand my flames? YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED!"
Matias mocked as he stomped one of his feet in glee.
The foot he had used was the one above Albert's head, and the older man winced as his face got pressed deeper on the ground.
In the background, agonizing cries from the members in the whirlwind and Emmet resounded and the rest of the members inside the building fell into despair.
Albert too cried in despair. If he had not stepped out as soon as he had seen Matias this probably would not have happened.
No, in the first place, he had not imagined Matias to act ruthlessly. They were inside Starhorn City, after all. If they ran rampant, the Royal Army would have intervened.
Wait.
Where were the Royal Army? Were they not going to intervene?
As despair filled the heards of every member of the order the air suddenly turned chilly.
It was then followed by a deep cold voice speaking from out of nowhere.
"Not qualified?"
When the members had heard it, their sullen eyes suddenly turned bright in anticipation.
They knew that voice!
The voice added, "Let me direct that back at you."
A huge light golden magic array appeared above the Blacksmith Order building. In an instant, an immense magic pressure weigh down on Matias and his people, forcing almost all of them on their knees.
At the same time, their summoned magic disappeared, freeing all the members of the order and saving Emmet on the verge of getting burn to death.
In the blink of an eye, all of them disappeared. Even Albert who Matias's had stepped on vanished.
"You are not qualified to run amock here."
The huge metal doors at the center of the Blacksmith Order building slowly opened as a man in a white hooded coat appeared.
With his handsome features, auburn hair and alluring aquamarine eyes, that glowed menacingly at the moment, Matias and his people recognized him at once.
"DISCIPLE TYR!" Matias shouted in anger.