17th of the Black Star

Emil halted his feet and turned around to face the Fire Spirit coming straight at him.

Chris and the rest were 30 to 40 meters away, watching the Painter’s fingers emit blue particles of pure and condensed Mana.

“I need twenty-no.. Fifteen seconds!”

“You have ten.”

Responded Arthur as he used the disposable human host to dash forward.

[Law of Resilience]

[Multi-Resistance(Passive Lv4)]

[Magic Casting(Passive-Active Lv3)]

[Enhanced Spell]

[Sanguis Barrier(Active Lv8)]

The Fire Spirit let out a scream as its flames struck the incoming parasite, however, the shiny and thin barrier formed a dome around the two of them, temporarily halting the blazing dark-red flames.

The barrier shook heavily and started to crack after 4 seconds. Meanwhile, Arthur’s body sustained heavy damage but still held on thanks to all of his active skills.

“Out of the way!”-Emil

[Origin Return]

Arthur immediately teleported back to safety and removed his barrier the moment Emil yelled.

The Painter, who was a very capable mage, cast his Ice-aspected spell.

Contrasting the Fire Spirit, a powerful blizzard burst forth: Two opposite energies clashed against each other, but the tunnels suffered little to no damage.

“I’m not done yet.”

Emil chuckled and moved his hand, another spell was cast. A relatively big and long arrow made of glistening metal whooshed upwards and hit the ceiling above the Fire Spirit.

There was a momentary tremor then an explosion as rubble and debris fell on and in front of the target.

“See how the geniuses do it? Efficient and better than constantly fleeing.”

Emil looked at Arthur and the other four, an annoyingly smug expression on his face.

“You’re still a narcissistic murderer though.”

“What I did was not murder, but art. Those fortunate enough to have experienced my impeccable skills firsthand should feel honoured.”

“Enough of this. Which way do we go?”

Arthur, also having had enough of Emil’s noisome antics, interrupted their argument and asked with an impatient tone.

In fact, whether it was him or his companions, none of them seemed to be able to stomach Emil Red. However, the man claimed, and later on proved, that he had drawn an elaborate map of these complex tunnels.

“You really want to go ther-”

Emil was cut-off as bits of flames appeared from within the large cluster of debris.

“Tsk! It’s not dead. This way!”

After glancing at his 3-dimensional map, Emil pointed at a path to the right and then started running.

The six of them kept their fast pace for a couple more hours before Emil stopped.

“Blackcrest might be worse than out here. It’s going to be a warzone.”

“It’s still better than staying here. The Fire Spirit keeps growing stronger.”

Arthur, now back in Leonis’ body, solemnly stared back at the Painter.

They had been traveling with him for a little over two days, and despite his initial objection, they convinced him that the path they had come from was dangerous.

The Fire Spirit was hot on their trail, and due to the abundance of ambient Mana in these tunnels, it was growing frightening and exponentially more powerful.

“I suppose so…”

Emil sighed, his body shivering as the creepy scream of their pursuer echoed across the gloomy and spacious tunnels.

It took him weeks to map most of this place, but almost all the paths led to a dead-end or were buried under rubble.

For now, it was safe to assume that there were only two exits. One that led to Blackcrest and one that to the already-destroyed and scorched ruins under the desert.

“It’s targeting us. I’m not staying here.”-Isabella

“Blackcrest is going to be attacked by three Seats along with their armies. Still, we might be able to slip away. We go there… Are we all in agreement?”

In response to Arthur’s question, they all nodded.

“It’s decided, then.”

Two hours later, they reached a ladder that led to a sealed trapdoor.

“More! I want him completely chained!”

Bernard Capilla bellowed orders at his Special Guards, who pushed the new 6th-floor inmate into his new cell.

“If we screw this up, it’s not just me who’s done for, all of us are! Do you understand? I want this place under strict guard!”

“Yes, Warden!”

More than twenty Special Guards were on the 6th floor. Ever since the breakout, Bernard became anxious and more serious about his job, going to extreme lengths to ensure no mishap happened.

He had expected to be relieved of his duty, but thanks to the Castellan’s intervention, he was spared and given a second chance.

“Good.”

The elderly Warden stared at the inmate, who had long blonde hair and a haggard appearance.

Feylord Lernon, the perpetrator behind the attack that happened in Azakin City.

Usually, the Empire wouldn’t send terrorists or assassins to the Shadow Keep Penitentiary, but this was a unique case, apparently.

‘If they sent him, that means they need him alive and away from the Imperial Capital. No no… I need not overthink this. I will just do my job!’

“Hmpf!”

Feylord, who had chains and all sorts of binding artifacts put on him, was sitting on the ground with his head lowered. He seemed to have given up on any type of retaliation, verbal or otherwise.

Even after the Warden left and only the deafening silence remained, he didn’t move.

The chains were tightly wrapped around his entire torso, binding his arms and hands. His legs had metallic cuffs as well as weird magical contraptions that rendered him unable to use Magic.

It was a bit of an overkill, considering the fact that the penitentiary already had magical formation that made it impossible for inmates to use Magic.

‘Is this really it?’

At last, he raised his head and inspected his cramped and dark cell. Except for the stone walls, there was nothing else.

South of Skywall Fortress, in a small region of forests known as the Emerald Lands.

Julie caressed Furball as it soundlessly slept on her lap. Fortunately, during the banquet, she had left it in her estate.

The vampiric rabbit, surprisingly, had managed to leave the city on its own and even locate her.

Julie glanced at the dark-haired youth sitting on the ground and staring at the night sky.

“A-are we really going there?”

Even after traveling with him for a couple of days, Julie didn’t know how to act or talk in front of such a being.

He behaved and looked like any other human, which was a far cry from the horrifying stories about him.

“Yes. I will take care of it.”

Leiu turned his attention to her, his pitch-black pupils fixated on her in a discomforting way.

Actually, Julie had already told him about the anomaly in the manor’s basement, but the Nameless Knight was confused. He didn’t know what it was, but it did make him agree to go check it out.

Before that, however, he declared that he needed the Phoenix.

“Are you not his sister? You seem to be against this.”

“We… are not on good terms.”

“He is still your brother. Family.”

“...”

Julie wryly smiled but didn’t elaborate further. She kept feeling uncomfortable and uneasy around the young man. He talked very infrequently and constantly had a gloomy expression as if he was tired of everything.

“If the Phoenix asked for me specifically, then it must know something about that anomaly.”

He paused for a couple of breaths and looked at bare hands as if trying to sense something.

“We retrieve your brother then we go to your home.”

Julie didn’t object, but it wasn’t like she was in any position to do so. She had escaped the Imperial Capital along with the Nameless Knight, so she was certain that was branded as his accomplice.

It wasn’t safe to take the main roads to return home. Instead, it was better to stick with Leiu, who-albeit losing access to Primordial Darkness- was still ridiculously strong.

Any monsters that they accidentally stumbled upon during their brief travels were killed with one hit.

“Won’t that monster chase us again?”

Julie shivered as she remembered the Headless Soldier.

“No. It’s no longer in this world.”

****

18th of the Black Star

Spectral Steel

Ancient Kalish Palace

The Seat of Nobility, Olivia Vir Divitae, was awake early in the morning. She sat on her room’s terrace, which overlooked the entire city.

Spectral Steel was the oldest city in the Militant Syndicate, once the home of Elves before they were driven East, across the Abyssal Sea.

“A beautiful morning, isn’t it?”

Olivia’s one and only servant approached her and put a plate of fruit on the table next to her.

The servant was a wrinkled elf with light-green eyes. Ferandel, he was called, but what was much more important was his title: Sage.

Ferandel was subjected to a Black Magic curse that basically turned him into Olivia’s slave. It was thanks to him that she ascended to her current status and was able to become the ruler of Spectral Steel.

“Only four days left.”

Olivia smiled and enjoyed the cool breeze while eating the fruits.

“Once the Demon has its fill, I’ll be compensated with a lot of gold… enough to slowly rebuild Blackcrest and make it mine.”

The Sage, who was incapable of speaking, stood behind her like a statue. His face was expressionless, and from an outsider’s point of view, he looked like a frail and elderly elf.

Still, Olivia was used to this as she softly chuckled and kept treating him like air.

The morning was peaceful and quiet, as usual, at least until Olivia stood up to leave her terrace.

Ferandel extended his hand and grabbed her close to him while simultaneously raising a barrier that deflected several projectiles.

The Seat of Nobility, startled by this, let out a scream when dozens of black-clothed and masked figures literally climbed the walls and leapt at her.

The one taking the lead had a savage red aura bursting from his body.

“Hashashin!”

Olivia immediately touched the bracelet around her hand, but nothing happened, much to her surprise.

The Hashashin completely surrounded Ferandel and Olivia, but they didn’t recklessly attack.

Their leader stared at the Sage before raising his sword and slashing down.

An ancient and overbearing energy emanated from the Sage as the Hashashin’s attack was easily blocked.

“Bombs! Stop them!”

Olivia saw the other assassins take out the notorious ‘Mana Bombs’ and ignite them without hesitation.

The Sage, swiped his hand to the side, causing thorny vines to surge from the ground and impale the enemies. Alas, all of them were illusions, meant to momentarily distract the Sage.

The door of Olivia’s room was flung open and a big group of Hashashin flooded inside.

It was then that Olivia realized something; The Sultan, who was undoubtedly behind this, didn't just sent his best Hashashin, he had sent all of them.

However, unbeknownst to her, their objective wasn’t to kill her.