Alric
“That’s...” Darlie watched the streaks of light that were pursuing someone vigorously, and felt herself getting tense. In front of her were Magi from the Primordial Spirit Slaying Sect.
They wore loose blood-red robes emblazoned with an inverted silver cross on the back. A white skull was at the heart of the cross, its eyes filled with an abyssal darkness. It seemed to be smirking at her.
This was the standard attire of the disciples of the Primordial Spirit Slaying Sect. She could feel the traces of elemental conversion from all of these Magi, ‘They’re at least semi-converted Magi. And that leader, he’s... he’s...’
Practically the very moment she turned her attention to him, the leader suddenly turned to face her, the terrifying silver light from his eyes paralysing her, “A– a rank 2 Magus! Someone who’s materialised their spiritual force?”
When Darlie felt her knees go weak and was about to fall, her shoulders suddenly moved and her body was supported by a powerful force. Immediately after, Leylin’s gentle words entered her ears, “Don’t worry, it’s fine.”
His voice seemed to be infectious, and she managed to recover from her crippling fear.
“Thank you!” Darlie chanced a glance at Leylin, and felt immediately at ease.
From her point of view, with someone as powerful as Leylin whose strength could not be fathomed beside her, she could escape successfully, even from the Primordial Spirit Slaying Sect.
Mind calm, she now was able to focus on other things. These sect disciples were chasing a young man with sky-blue eyes and brown hair. The elemental particles surrounding him were near substantial, and helped him move faster and resist the attacks.
‘Peak rank 1, with elemental conversion at least 75%? Who is he? Why is he being pursued by the Primordial Spirit Slaying Sect?’ Darlie’s eyes flashed with puzzlement.
“You can’t escape!” the rank 2 Magus yelled in a low voice, and silver spiritual particles converged to form an incredibly fine silver whip that was tens of metres long. With an elegant flick of his wrist, the long silver whip snapped straight, pushing towards the back of the fleeing Magus.
“Fallen Star Pendant!” With the Magus’ yell, a layer of dark-red light formed a faint armour around his body.
*Thwack! *Boom!* A dull thud was heard from his back, and the dark red armour shattered. The young Magus flushed red.
Because of that, the silver whip halted its movements. It allowed the young Magus to dart towards the entrance of Ebole Town, the same place Leylin and Darlie were heading for.
“Don’t expect a mere middle-grade magic artifact to be able to save you!” Seeing his opponent escape the blow that should’ve taken care of him in one shot, the rank 2 Magus’ expression grew dark. Phantom skeletons twisted as they brought darkness and despair to the surroundings.
Darlie could see practically every pore on the escaping Magus’ face, as well as the crazed disciples whose eyes were glinting with bloodlust. She couldn’t help but pull at Leylin’s sleeve, “Mister! My Lord! Let’s go!”
“Go? Why should we?” Leylin chuckled indifferently. He had merely summoned the male with his soul and bloodline, and not saved him personally. This was to gauge his strength and luck. Seeing this scene, he concluded that the little guy’s strength was passable and that he had rather good luck, something that caused him to nod inwardly.
The young Magus who was currently fleeing was naturally the Farlier Family descendant who Leylin had sensed. He was likely related to a brother or sister of Leylin’s, and he could see similarities to his father and even himself in the young man’s features.
‘Damien has already met with them? He’s passed my Fallen Star Pendant over too...’ Leylin touched his chin. The magic artifact that emitted the dark red armour was the intricate cross pendant on the youth’s neck. It even had some broken gems on it. This was the middle-grade magic artifact that Leylin had created in the south coast, the Fallen Star Pendant.
Middle-grade magic artifacts had little effect past rank 1, which was why he’d handed it over to Damien in the hope that he would hand it over to the outstanding descendants of the Farlier Family. It looked like Damien had completed his task well.
“Mister Leylin... is he the person you’re waiting for?” Darlie pointed at the fleeing Magus, something suddenly hitting her, “He’s a member of your family, so you’re especially here to save him?”
“Something like that!” Leylin’s eyebrows raised, and he then glanced up towards the sky, a ruminating smile on his lips, “It’s quite lively today!”
“You can’t escape. When we of the Primordial Spirit Slaying Sect want to kill someone, we’ve never fail!” The distorted skeletal images soared out with what sounded like a prophecy from the rank 2 Magus, turning into a few bone necklaces that instantly locked around the young Magus’ ankles.
*Thud!* The Magus lost his balance and fell, seeming very pitiful as blood-laden bandages were revealed on his chest. Evidently, this was a wound from his time being chased.
“Weren’t you running? Go on, run some more.” The rank 2 Magus steeled his expression as he approached the fleeing Magus, watching him from above.
“I said that there’s never been a Magus who’s escaped on our kill list. Consider yourself lucky, our sect master will meet you personally and extract your soul, boiling it in fire for a hundred years...”
“Just... Kill me!” The Magus who had fallen turned over with difficulty, spitting out the words with no hope in his eyes.
The long hunt as well as being unable to join any large organisations had already left him weary to the bone, “I’m sorry, Grandpa Damien. I couldn’t help you in your vengeance...”
“Lock him up properly. Be careful,” the rank 2 Magus instructed the disciples behind him. He then scanned Leylin and Darlie who were at the entrance of Ebole Town.
The aura Darlie emanated showed that she was a newbie who had recently advanced. With Leylin concealing his abilities quite well, he was treated like small fry.
“Kill them all and extract the souls of the residents in the town. We finally managed to get out, so it’ll be good to bring something back...” The leader commanded, and the sect disciples answered loudly. Crimson appeared in their eyes as they drew closer to the two with malicious intent, as if beasts that had found their prey.
“Mi– Mister Leylin! You’re very powerful and can defeat them quickly, right?” Darlie took multiple steps backwards. All of those disciples were semi-converted, and could suppress her easily.
“There’s no hurry. There’s someone else yet to arrive.” Leylin replied without enthusiasm.
“There’s someone else yet to arrive? What does that mean?” Her little face had turned deathly pale.
“Keke, this female Magus has pretty good meat. How tender!” A disciple pulled at his nose, displaying an evil grin.
“You can do whatever you want with the body, but you have to extract her complete soul. The soul of an official Magus isn’t too bad, and you can even exchange it for points...” a dried-up old man him while snickering.
“I...” Tears appeared in the corner of her eyes. She was a traditional light Magus, and in Four Seasons Garden the most danger she had ever met was some accidents while taking part in some outdoor experiments. However, there had been mentors around and she had always survived, shocked but safe. She had never met with a situation like what was happening now.
“Don’t come over!” Darlie wailed, like the last cries of a feeble lamb. It only stimulated the appetite of the ravenous wolves in front of her.
“Rest in peace.” Just as the disciples were about to make their move and Darlie was in despair, the air seemed to freeze. Piercing sounds echoed out from explosions in Teljose City, and a terrifying gust parted the clouds themselves.
A white light in the horizon grew increasingly dazzling, finally forming a faint world of holy light. The unprecedented terrifying pressure caused Darlie to go limp and fall, feeling suffocated.
The disciples surrounding her all collapsed, and the rank 2 Magus’ expression changed. Watching the white world of light, he turned grim, “Holy Light Domain! A rank 3 Magus!”
A Magus appeared out of nowhere in the hazy domain, holy light forming an illusory scene behind him.
“Lord Alric of Teljose City! Are you here to break the balance in the south coast?” The Magus yelled, though everyone could hear that he was only putting on a brave front.
This was a rank 3 Magus, a peak existence in the south coast! Alric’s strength was well-known even among rank 3 Magi, and he was in charge of Teljose City which was a large base of the light Magi. He was in the top stratum of light Magi.
Someone like that could kill a mere rank Magus like him easily, especially with how tense the relationship between their opposing factions was.
Alric coldly answered the rank 2 Magus’ question with a word. “Scram!”
“You–!” The rank 2 Magus flushed red and finally gritted his teeth, “Take him. We’ll be off!”
“You can go, but you’ll have to leave him behind,” Alric pointed at the Magus on the ground.