Following Marshal Khar's order, all hell was let loose. From the rooftop of all the guard posts of the East and South, similar artillery rose up. Even from the rooftop of the main building, more than twenty artillery guns pointed and locked on Sharv. But this time, something was different.
Every artillery piece was now handled by a soldier. Sharv didn't know what this implied, but he understood that the danger level had risen significantly. The dilemma was, he could not move away or dodge the incoming attack, as doing that would leave Suvan in harm's way. And even though he had shielded the pit, it didn't guarantee Suvan's safety.
But before he could think of a solution, the artillery opened fire with loud blasts. Sharv, immediately, enveloped himself in the same aura he had covered his hand. But artillery projectiles have also changed. Every shell was now imbued with elements by the artillery handlers. This, combined with the number and fire rate of the artillery, was a deadly combination.
Soon ground shaking explosions erupted as shells hit their target. Not every shell could hit Sharv, as most disintegrated, the moment they touched his aura. But even if one percent of the shells managed to hit, it would cause more than five explosions per second. Debris flew everywhere, the crater was getting bigger and deeper by the second and Sharv still had to multitask. He was deepening the pit Suvan was in, and covering it with shields to maintain the distance and safety of Suvan from explosions.
The artillery didn't stop, as the explosions became like the roaring thunder of clouds. The ground shook with shockwaves, even the boundary walls were vibrating because of the intensity of sounds from the explosions.
Every explosion was of a different color, because of the imbued element. These explosions could be heard and seen from most of the city. The people from the far away could mistake it for some celebratory fireworks but those close to it could only cower in fear.
The shelling stopped after two and a half minutes.
A weak hearted man would have died just by hearing the thunderous explosions. But as the dust settled down a manly boy stood in a fifty meter deep crater. His torso was devoid of any clothes, his pants barely covering anything as they were now turned into stripes of clothing. Bruises filled his whole body and a red tattoo of a female figure faintly glowed on his chest, now clearly visible to the naked eye.
Despite his seemingly battered body, Sharv's ember eyes were slightly glowing like that of a predator. He looked back up, staring directly at Khar, with fierce determination.
A deep rumbling laughter filled the prison grounds, as Marshal Khar slowly descended to the ground.
"Would you look at that? He is still standing after all that," his voice almost echoed in the crater. " And what is this, a woman's tattoo at such a young age. You seem like a womanizer, just like me. If not for that unnerving gaze and audacity of yours, you would have made a good friend."
But this comment, especially the womanizer part, somehow got an abnormal reaction, not from Sharv but from the tattoo. Its glow brightened and it somehow itched more than Sharv had felt it ever do.
" You see, this is a birthmark. And whoever this tattoo belongs, I don't know who, but that person seems irritated," said Sharv in voice that seemed more frustrated than angry, " And that causes an itch in my heart, that I must make go away." His PRĀNÀ flared, stirring the air violently as a bright silver light glowed near his heart.
" OOh I can't thank you enough for moving directly to the point." Said Khar, as his Earth, Water, Fire and Air Chakras activated with their respective brown, blue, red and slight green glows. ' Two Chakras, that are of different colors,' he thought internally, ' Even his Space Chakra seems different. He must be the Keeper that had come in contact with those rebels.'
Sharv, without giving a second thought, moved at unprecedented speed, cracking the sound barrier. But for weaker eyes he just vanished with a thunderous sound and re-appeared in front of Khar, his right hand cocked back for a devastating blow. But Khar was not weak, he had already created a brown earthen shield crossing his hands over his chest to block. But once Sharv' s punch, covered in a dense silver hue of air, landed, the shield crumbled like a tinfoil and then eviscerated outwards from the air pressure. Khar was shot off faster than the artillery shells and landed at the corner of the building, creating a gaping hole. The shockwaves from a single punch created a crater deeper than five meters and pressure generated was enough to push any soldier off their feet.
By now some powerful people living nearby the prison had taken flight, though still out of the prison boundaries, to witness what was happening. Khar roared in anger, getting out of the debris and shot back at Sharv. His hands were enveloped in burning fire and as the intensity of his Chakras increased. He rained punches with his full might, and Sharv created a dense air shell around him. The punches landed creating rapid and numerous explosions as roaring flames erupted from his punches, trying to burn everything in the vicinity including Sharv. But the punches could not go beyond the air shell, which has now turned into a tornado and the flames could only move around it. But still these punches were enough to imbalance anyone who was weaker and was in the air, like the people outside the prison boundaries who were looking at the battle from the air.
Seeing that his punches imbued with fire made no difference, Khar moved forward and grabbed the air shell of Sharv. Then suddenly the green light of his Air Chakra overshadowed his other Chakras and the tornado was sucked in his hand. Then he punched, with extra fierceness. This time, caught off guard, Sharv could not defend himself and the punch landed flat on his chest. He was shot tumbling through air, carried by winds, as he landed flat against the boundary walls, blowing a big hole through it before rolling back onto the outer road.
Obviously this was a full blown exchange, including technical changes only to Sharv and Khar but for onlookers it had been over in less than a second, in which Khar threw some punches and then a final after taking down enemy defence. Cheers erupted from prison guards but Khar was seriously looking at where Sharv had landed.
By now, everyone in the city was aware of the situation. And yes, that included the four Sector-chiefs too. Even a dog was aware by now of where these explosions were happening. And as the people who have been briefed about the whole situation by the City Magistrate himself, they could exactly guess what was happening. All of them were on their way to the Central sector, City Jail.