The last fading glimmers of the setting sun sank below the horizon, dyeing the clouds at the sky's edge in deep purple.
In the wilderness north of Withered Wood Town.
Three figures walked out from the twilight.
Two men dressed in dark leather armor led the way, their frames slender, their footsteps silent, their presence restrained to the absolute limit.
Had eyes not locked onto them, one would scarcely have felt their existence at all.
Cass.
Victor.
Mid-tier Legendary assassins from the Assassin's Court of the City of a Thousand Towers.
Behind them, a young man followed unhurriedly, clad in a well-tailored, dark-colored mage robe. In his hand, he held a staff embedded with several pale blue magic crystals.
His strength was merely Low-tier High Rank, yet his stride was relaxed, as though he were strolling through his own garden.
Arthur Julian.
The three halted ten kilometers north of Withered Wood Town's gate.
In unison, their eyes turned toward the figure blocking their path.
Morgan.
His short silver-white hair gleamed faintly cold in the dusk as his blood-red eyes calmly observed the three facing him.
His left hand held his staff, its tip plunged deep into the soil, while his right hand hung loosely at his side, fingers slightly splayed.
The aura of a Mid-tier Legendary spread out without the slightest concealment, standing like an invisible wall between the trio and Withered Wood Town.
Cass stopped in his tracks, the corners of his lips curling into a slight arc.
"Lord Morgan."
His voice was not loud, yet every word carried an overbearing, cat-and-mouse composure.
"The Tower Master is extremely furious over your decision."
"He gave you a chance, gave you dignity, and was even willing to leave a way out for those... vile races of yours after your surrender."
He shook his head, a touch of pity in his tone.
"Yet you refused to listen."
"You insisted on putting your faith in help from strangers of unknown origin."
He took a step forward, releasing his own Mid-tier Legendary aura, which collided with Morgan's, causing the air to emit a low hum.
Cass's gaze pegged onto Morgan's face like a blade, the mockery at his lips deepening.
"Are you still counting on those two Legendary half-demons you sent out?"
He sneered softly.
"Cedric and Lia have already been captured by Master Edwin himself."
"As for those demon warriors you hid away... the magic families scattered and seized them long ago, locking them up one by one in cages, waiting to be sent to the lab benches."
He paused, a cruel amusement creeping into his voice.
"And that assassin of yours ambushed near the Withered Wood Sovereign."
"What do you think he can possibly accomplish?"
"Even if he detonates the entire Withered Wood Wasteland, blowing up all the prey along with the magic families..."
Cass's voice suddenly lowered, like the flickering tongue of a serpent.
"...Master Edwin can still return with your two Legendary half-demons to report his success."
He took another step forward, his pressure bearing down like a mountain.
"And then there's you, Lord Morgan."
"Do you really think you can escape?"
Cass stared fixedly at Morgan's face, seeking to catch a glimpse of regret, fear, or hesitation.
Even a trace would suffice.
Yet all he saw was unruffled calm.
Morgan's expression remained entirely unchanged, his blood-red eyes as calm as a stagnant pond.
Cass's brow creased slightly before he grinned.
It was a cold grin.
His gaze swept past Morgan toward the low walls of Withered Wood Town in the distance, his smile widening further.
"It seems you truly believe that Avalon from beyond the Wall of Sighs can save you."
"Though I wonder if you told them..."
He paused, his voice laced with cruel amusement.
"...just how many Legendary mages Thousand Towers deployed for this hunt?"
He raised a single finger.
"Ten."
"Ten Legendary mages stationed in the Withered Wood Wasteland are tightening the encirclement from every direction."
His eyes settled back on Morgan's face, a mocking smirk on his lips.
"Tell me, Morgan, what makes you so confident you can escape with those five thousand-plus deadweights?"
Ten Legendaries.
Such power was enough to flatten a medium-sized city-state.
Morgan's expression finally shifted.
However, the shift was not the fear, despair, or hesitation Cass had anticipated.
It was surprise.
Not surprise at the ten Legendaries laying siege.
Rather, it was surprise at Avalon.
The city of freedom spoken of by that black-haired mage.
The place he had assumed was merely an ethereal vision, an illusory lie crafted to win over the half-demons.
Yet this supposed lie had just poured from an enemy's mouth.
From the mouth of an assassin from the City of a Thousand Towers.
Avalon actually existed?
The corners of Morgan's lips gradually turned upward.
He looked at Cass, a hint of gratitude rising in his blood-red eyes that even he himself had not noticed.
"Thank you."
His voice was quiet, deeply sincere.
"Thank you for telling me where the mage who helped me came from."
"Avalon, the Land of Freedom... a city-state where half-demons coexisted peacefully with other races without discrimination."
"I originally thought I was walking this path alone."
"I never imagined someone had already taken that step before me, creating the Eden of my dreams."
Cass's smile froze.
He had not expected his mockery to ignite the opponent's fighting spirit instead.
And that reaction provoked him more than any counterattack ever could.
Cass's face darkened. With a cold snort, he stepped forward and drew a short blade from his waist.
"Since you refuse to come to your senses..."
"Wait."
Victor placed a hand on his shoulder.
Cass turned to look at Victor.
Victor didn't look back; his eyes swept across the surrounding rocks, bushes, and dead trees, his brow furrowing slightly.
Then he glanced back at Arthur.
Arthur stood behind the two, staff in hand, the magic crystal at its tip emitting a faint blue glow.
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
A few breaths later, he opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth slanting upward as his eyes casually swept over a patch of grass in the distance.
That glance was subtle, like wind brushing over grass tips.
Yet a trace of amusement lingered in his smile.
Saying nothing, he withdrew his gaze and spoke evenly.
"Aside from him, there are no other Legendaries."
He paused.
"That High-tier Legendary from Avalon isn't here."
Victor's brow smoothed out.
The smirk returned to Cass's lips.
The two exchanged a look, sinking slightly into stance.
Yet Morgan was faster.
His staff thrust downward sharply, its tip sinking deep into the dirt all the way to its crest.
A massive surge of mana poured through the shaft into the earth.
The ground cracked open instantly.
The earth beneath Cass and Victor bulged and fractured as countless earth spikes burst forth from underground.
Sharpened wind currents wrapped around the tips of the soil-colored spikes, green-gray wind blades swirling with shrill whistles through the air.
Cass pushed off his toes, leaping backward in a flash while sweeping his short blade in an arc, severing several earth spikes aimed at his face.
Victor grabbed Arthur by the collar, flinging him backward before dodging the volley of earth spikes.
Arthur flew over a hundred meters, landing on a relatively flat patch of ground in the distance.
He stumbled slightly, using his staff to brace himself and steady his posture.
Cass and Victor touched down.
The soil beneath their feet was soil no longer.
It had turned thick and soft, like a stirred quagmire sucking at their ankles.
Lifting a foot took several times more effort than usual.
Not just right beneath their feet.
The entire area across several hundred meters had transformed into this state.
A vast, dark-yellow quagmire trapped Cass and Victor in its center.
The quagmire continued to expand.
Three hundred meters, four hundred, five hundred.
Morgan stood at the center of the quagmire, supported by a solid rock platform beneath his feet.
His staff remained buried deep within the rock, its shaft trembling faintly as the crystal at its top emitted a blinding light.
Cass's face darkened.
A spell of this magnitude could not possibly be cast instantaneously.
Even if prepared in advance, there was no way he and Victor wouldn't have sensed the spell's presence.
The only possibility was that the opponent had buried this massive spell array deep underground.
He pulled hard at his feet; with a gurgling sound, his foot tore free from the mud, only to sink right back in.
"Burying the magic circle underground..."
His voice held a faint, almost imperceptible trace of admiration.
"Such a subtle trick... truly remarkable, Lord Morgan."
He looked up toward Morgan.
"However, after activating such a massive magic circle, are you certain you still have the energy left to cast a Legendary spell to kill us?"
Unlike ordinary Transcendent mages, while Legendary mages could cast Legendary spells, very few used them during combat.
Though existing Legendary spells possessed terrifying damage—capable of shattering a Legendary assassin's protective qi in a single hit—their activation was slow, their mana consumption astronomical, and hitting targets exceptionally difficult.
The most fatal flaw, however, was that apart from top-tier Legendary mages, almost no Legendary mage could cast two Legendary spells at the same time.
As for controlling targets with Transcendent magic before blasting them with a Legendary spell?
Transcendent magic couldn't possibly bind a Legendary assassin.
Which meant that on the surface, Morgan had pulled a fast one on Cass and Victor, locking them firmly in place.
Yet he could do nothing to actually harm them.
If dragged out over time, Morgan—who had to continually maintain this colossal magic circle—was bound to lose.
Morgan knew this.
Cass and Victor knew it too.
The two stopped struggling.
Cass returned his short blade to his waist, letting his feet sink into the mud as his body crouched slightly.
Victor folded his arms across his chest, watching Morgan with a cold gaze.
They ceased moving altogether.
Like two insects trapped in amber, quietly awaiting the passage of time.
Morgan shifted his eyes away from them, glancing over at Arthur, who had been tossed beyond the spell's reach.
The young man stood on the flat ground a hundred meters away, staff braced against the dirt, robes fluttering in the evening breeze.
His expression was serene, even somewhat lazy, as though watching a performance that had nothing to do with him.
Morgan spoke.
"This High Rank mage of yours holds quite a distinguished status."
"Aren't you afraid my people will capture him?"
Back during the negotiations, Morgan had already noticed Arthur's uniqueness.
Facing two Legendaries, his attitude had not been humility, but arrogance.
Cass laughed.
It was a laugh filled with a near-reverent certainty.
"Capture him?"
He repeated the words as if hearing a joke.
"Lord Morgan, if you can capture him..."
He paused briefly.
"...then you'll have seized our lifeblood."
"So go ahead, quickly send your people to catch him."
Morgan's pupils contracted.
He saw the confidence in Cass's eyes, as well as the indifferent smile on Victor's face.
It was no disguise.
It was genuine, heart-felt certainty.
They weren't afraid of Arthur being captured.
In fact, they were anticipating Morgan sending someone to capture Arthur.
An intense sense of unease welled up inside Morgan.
He hurriedly lowered his head, speaking urgently into the Transmission Stone inside his robe.
"Wrong... something is wrong with that young man."
"Get out of there!"
The instant his words left his mouth, a muffled explosion rang out from the other end of the Transmission Stone.
Not voices—an explosion.
The sound was dull, as if something had detonated in the distance.
Morgan jerked his head up, snapping his gaze toward Arthur.
A hundred meters away.
Arthur's body slowly floated upward.
Not jumping, nor running, but true levitation.
His mage robes snapped loudly in the twilight wind, the crystal at his staff's tip shining with blinding azure light.
Magic tools drifted out from his breast, sleeves, and belt, slowly orbiting his body.
A dark blue gem hovered above his head, radiating a glow as deep as the night sky.
A dark silver pocket watch hung at his chest, its cover half-open, hands standing completely still.
A golden badge was pinned to the collar of his robe, shining like a brilliant sun.
Three items, three distinct lights.
Deep blue, dark silver, radiant gold.
They orbited Arthur like planets revolving around a sun.
And behind him, row after row of magic circles unfurled.
Not Legendary magic.
Transcendent magic.
Magic circles emerged behind him in dense, overlapping layers.
The teal of tempests, the red of flames, the blue of ice, the purple of lightning.
More than a dozen Transcendent spells activated simultaneously, the brilliance of their circles ripping through the dusk and illuminating half the sky.
Arthur stood at the heart of those circles like a monarch upon a throne.
And across from him, on the ground...
...lay sheer devastation.
The entire dead wood forest had been uprooted and blown apart, thick trunks torn out by their roots and scattered everywhere.
The shrubs had vanished, a layer of earth shaved off to expose dark yellow soil and rubble.
Scorched marks fanned out from the center, the air heavy with a pungent smell of burning.
Elvia knelt amidst the rubble.
Her armor was shattered.
A long fissure split her breastplate, her pauldrons were gone, and only a few fragments of her skirt armor hung from her waist.
Shards lay scattered in the surrounding earth, glimmering faintly in the gloom.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, dripping down her chin onto the stones.
She gasped heavily, her golden eyes locked onto Arthur in midair, her pupils wide with shock.
Beside her, two half-demon warriors lay collapsed on the ground.
Ian and Colin.
They remained motionlessly half-buried in dirt and gravel, their faces caked with blood and filth.
Upon being spotted by Arthur, before they could even break free, that volley of magic had blown them straight to the ground.
Transcendent warriors had not even had a chance to react in that instant.
Elvia had seen it.
She had witnessed the exact moment those magic circles lit up, sensing the abrupt surge of magic coalescing in the air.
Her body had reacted faster than her mind.
Dodge roll, evade, channeling her full battle force throughout her body.
Yet even so, she had failed to dodge completely.
The shockwave struck her like a solid wall, tearing her armor to pieces and sending her airborne.
Had it not been for her sheer instinct, she would be lying motionless alongside those two half-demon warriors right now.
Elvia surveyed her surroundings, taking in the uprooted dead wood forest, the scraped-clean ground, and the lingering stench of scorch.
Her head buzzed loudly.
How the hell was this damage caused by a High Rank mage?
Arthur, hovering in the air, was also observing the ground.
His eyes swept over the two unconscious half-demon warriors, finally coming to rest on Elvia.
A High-tier High Rank warrior who, despite being caught in the collateral damage of his first volley, had actually survived.
A sneer curled Arthur's lips.
He raised his staff, the crystal at its tip flaring with intense light.
The Transcendent magic circles behind him spun in unison.
The second wave of attack.
Blinding light burst forth as tempests, flames, ice, and lightning rained down like a torrential storm.
The dead wood was uprooted once more, the ground repeatedly plowed over as scorched layers accumulated.
Yet when the smoke cleared, the golden figure was nowhere to be seen in Arthur's view.
Arthur fell silent for a moment before slowly descending to the ground.
He landed next to the pool of blood, crouched down, and lightly touched it with his fingertip.
In his perception, a fine soul thread was moving continuously away.
The opponent had survived his Transcendent assault once again, and was currently fleeing.
Arthur's mouth gradually curved into a smirk.
"Interesting."
With that, he flew off into the depths of the wasteland.
Rate on N.U.
