In a small courtyard two streets away from Richard's residence, inside the main house.
A male wizard in his fifties, dressed in a Scarlet Robe, sat on the bed. His hands rested on his knees, clenched into chicken-claw shapes. His eyes were shut tight, his brow deeply furrowed, as though he were controlling something with all his strength.
Suddenly, his body jolted. A thin stream of blood ran from his nostrils, as if he had suffered some sort of injury.
Not long after, his body convulsed twice more in succession, and more blood flowed from his nose.
"Urgh!"
The male wizard spat out a mouthful of blood and abruptly opened his eyes, his expression filled with panic. The loose skin beside his nose formed pronounced folds, trembling without stop.
"Damn it, damn it..."
The male wizard repeated frantically as he hurried off the bed, grabbed an emerald green staff lying nearby, and prepared to flee.
At that moment, there was a bang outside the house. The door shuddered violently. As if struck by an enormous force, the entire doorframe was torn free with a crash, and the door toppled inward, slamming onto the ground and sending dust flying everywhere.
The male wizard's mouth fell open. Extreme panic flashed through his cloudy eyes as he reflexively aimed his nearly one-meter-long staff at the doorway, preparing for one last stand.
At the doorway, the dust slowly settled, revealing Richard's figure.
Richard narrowed his eyes at the male wizard in the room. He made no visible movement, yet an immense pressure spread outward in waves, forcefully pressing all the dust in the room to the floor.
Along with it, the male wizard's confidence was crushed as well.
With a gulp, the male wizard swallowed. Feeling the invisible pressure in the air, he instantly