"Let's start with a little appetizer~"
Leon snapped his fingers.
【Mirror Image】!
The air distorted as light and shadow refracted.
An arcane phantom, looking exactly like Leon, instantly coalesced at the doorway. It even struck an incredibly obnoxious, swaggering pose before stepping out through the blasted-open door.
"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"
The crossbowmen, who had been waiting at the other end of the corridor with their nerves taut to the breaking point, instinctively pulled their triggers the moment they saw a figure.
A dense rain of bolts tore through the steam. Before that "Leon" could even finish posturing for 0.1 seconds, he instantly dissolved into a shower of crumbling arcane light motes.
"Hit... No! It's an illusion!"
"He's inside! Don't give him a chance to breathe!"
"Kill him—!"
However, in the momentary vacuum of fire following that volley, the real Leon suddenly lunged toward the blind spot beside the door frame.
He didn't even need to peek. He simply extended his right hand, which was wreathed in violent fire elements, casually out of the doorway and made a grasping motion toward the empty space at the end of the hall.
"Burn, you bastards."
【Flame Storm】!
"Fwoosh—!!!!"
Without any warning, a violent pillar of crimson fire, like the gaping maw of an angry dragon, instantly filled the entire narrow corridor!
A wave of high-temperature air, carrying a destructive shockwave, licked hungrily along the walls!
"Aaaaagh—!"
The three Black Tail Gang thugs charging at the front had their screams scorched dry in their throats before they could even let them out.
The leather armor on their bodies instantly curled and ignited. They were transformed into three piteously rolling fireballs, stumbling blindly through the corridor.
"Damn it! Where's the mage? Put it out! Put it out now!"
From behind the flames came Kofman's exasperated, furious roar.
Immediately following, an obscure and weak mana fluctuation surged.
The enemy's accompanying, mediocre mage finally completed an incantation that had been as long and labored as a bout of constipation.
"Water... Water Stream Impact!"
"Splash—!"
Two thick but seemingly underpowered jets of water gushed out, slamming hard into the raging wall of fire.
"Sizzle—!!!!"
The collision of flame and water instantly generated a thick, high-temperature steam capable of scalding a person's respiratory tract. A white mist filled the entire corridor in an instant, dropping visibility to zero.
The other guests in the tavern had long since been scared out of their wits by the explosions and fire. One after another, they screamed as they smashed their windows and scrambled down to the street, terrified that they would be turned into roasted pigs if they stayed a second longer.
The Black Tail Gang members below didn't stop them, merely shouting their official cover story: "The Black Tail Gang is assisting the city guard in capturing a fugitive! Unrelated personnel, get lost!"
Inside the steam-filled room.
Leon was not flustered by the obstructed vision. He even had the leisure to evaluate his opponent through his perception.
Oh? There's a mage on the other side too?
This mana fluctuation... it's chaotic and hollow. The casting delay was so long it was like he was constipated. At most, he’s an entry-level transcendent, not even touching the edge of heroic.
Leon curled his lip and gave a professional evaluation:
A superficial appraisal: Trash.
"Wow... This—this is such a chaotic torrent of mana!"
Unlike Leon's nonchalant, posturing manner, Lucrezia was watching with glowing eyes, her face full of excitement.
As a princess of the Sylvania Kingdom who had seen grand spectacles at the Arcanum Public Occult Academy—the place known as the little Harvard of the Valoria Continent—she had witnessed no small number of legendary mages in action.
But those old fogies... which of them didn't act like a rigid, stationary turret, protected behind heavy knights while chanting incantations as long and tedious as foot-bindings in a droning, aria-like tone?
But Leon was different!
No long chants, no meticulous arrangement of elements.
He was like a rebel defying the laws of truth. In his hands, mana was not a monarch to be carefully served, but a slave to be driven and lashed at will!
This level of seamless, illogical instant-casting made even her—a dragon-blooded sorcerer—feel a shiver in her soul. He was more of a monster than the "chosen ones" like her, who relied on their bloodline to cast spells as easily as breathing!
Sorcerers were just instinctive beasts with one-trick specialties; this guy... was a magician who had honed his skills to the ultimate degree, playing with ten thousand spells in the palm of his hand!
"Well done! My servant!"
Lucrezia clung to the corner of the wall, waving her small, fair fists. She had completely entered a state of chuunibyou, issuing a high-intensity declaration of judgment toward the hellish scene outside:
"Yes! Just like that! Let the karmic fires of the red lotus purify all the filth in this world!"
"Cry out! Wail! Let these foolish ants repent in the abyss of despair! Let them know that the consequence of provoking the 'Wings of Darkness,' Lord Lucifer, is nothing but total annihilation! Hahahaha!"
Her heart throbbed wildly in her chest, a surge of tyranny and destructive desire originating from deep within her dragon bloodline pulsing frantically.
In those rose-red pupils, a phantom of a majestic golden vertical slit, imperceptible to ordinary people, flashed momentarily.
But she still forcibly suppressed the impulse.
She knew she was currently just a half-baked "power bank." Firing off random blasts would only cause trouble for Leon.
Leon didn't have time to pay attention to the little cheerleader beside him who only knew how to shout "Pro!" All his focus was concentrated on the thick steam billowing outside the door.
Although Kofman the werewolf was arrogant, he didn't sit in the position of the Black Tail Gang's boss based on brute force alone.
Looking at the dense steam that made it impossible to see one's hand in front of their face, his murky beast-like eyes didn't show panic; instead, they flashed with a greedy and cunning light.
Heaven is helping me!
This stupid mage actually created a blind spot for himself!
It was common knowledge that mages were glass cannons.
As long as he could get close... no matter how powerful the great mage was, he was nothing more than a fragile bone that could be crushed with a casual squeeze!
However...
Recalling that terrifying pillar of fire from just now, Kofman tightened his grip on his scimitar. A trace of instinctive wariness still rose in his heart.
A spell of that energy level... it had definitely reached the heroic rank!
This kid looked like he hadn't even grown his hair out yet, but he was actually a damn genius?
But immediately, that wariness turned into the mockery of an old veteran for a rookie.
Unfortunately, he's just a fledgling with no combat experience after all!
In such a narrow corridor, he threw out such a high-mana-consumption ultimate move just to deal with a few minions?
What a waste of heaven's gifts!
Kofman calculated quickly in his mind:
After that one blast, his mana pool is probably already bottomed out, right?
Still, that kid Harvey was right; this fat sheep is indeed a bit thorny. He even set traps in advance and almost made me crash and burn!
But in the face of absolute numbers and geographical advantage, it’s nothing more than the struggle of a trapped beast!
This is Kent Town, my territory!
In that case...
Kofman glanced at the shivering underlings beside him, his lips curling into a cruel arc.
He would let these pieces of trash go fill the holes first and drain the kid's last bit of mana while they were at it.
When he was completely silenced, he would step in to harvest the head!
At that time, the credit for slaying a heroic rank mage and breaking the formation, as well as the reward from the First Young Master, would all be his alone!
Having made up his mind, Kofman used the steam as cover, kicked an underling beside him, and let out a highly provocative roar:
"What are you all afraid of! He can't fire a second one of those ultimates! He's out of mana!"
"This is a heaven-sent opportunity! Charge through with your shields! Whoever kills him gets a reward of one gold coin! Archers, keep firing! Keep him huddled in that room like a blind man!"
"Kill—!"
Disordered footsteps and crude roars broke through the steam, like beasts released from a cage, closing in fast.
Rate on N.U.
