Anti-Mage (II)

"Quilina, I'm warning you—get that damned, ugly, disgusting Parasitic Demon away from me, or I'll kill you."

Quilina laughed even louder after hearing the third man speak. "Kill me? Laru, who gave you the courage to speak to me like that? Hmm?" The demon growing from her palm trembled violently upon sensing its master's emotions, then burrowed into the ground and repeatedly emerged around him, trying to bite him.

The third man's expression changed drastically. He rapidly chanted an incantation, and Dark Green light gathered around him. "Clark, don't you want to stop her? She's a lunatic. She'll ruin all our plans. If we fail this time, none of us will end well—not even you."

Clark was the fourth person, the one who had remained silent all along. He was the temporary leader of the four Anti-Mage Apprentices. Upon hearing Laru's words, he spoke calmly. "Enough, Quilina." His flat voice carried astonishing power. The three people present simultaneously showed pained expressions, and Quilina, bearing the brunt of it, actually screamed in agony.

"We have delayed long enough. Mordo Tower may not be strong, but if they truly intend to deal with us, one Formal Mage will be enough. We must kill all the apprentices in Bran Town as quickly as possible, then gather the souls and flesh." He glanced at Quilina. "Once the collection is complete, whatever you do has nothing to do with me. But for now, you must obey, or I will kill you. You know I can do it."

Quilina pursed her lips and withdrew the Parasitic Demon into her palm. She gently stroked the exposed mouth. A moment later, she began giggling again. "Of course, Master Clark. I'll behave, just like those little puppies."

Clark ignored her and instead asked the first man, "Fuen, how are your preparations?"

Fuen patted the massive body of the Wind Wolf King and said hoarsely, "Give me a few more hours. The drug hasn't fully taken effect yet. I can't control enough Wind Wolves right now."

Clark nodded. "Then wait until tonight..."

"Wooo..." At that moment, the Wolf King beside Fuen suddenly let out a low growl. Surprise appeared on Fuen's face. "An apprentice has walked out of Bran Town alone."

A gloom hung over Bran Town.

According to Zack and Thomas, no trace of the Anti-Mages had been found during the Magic Beast siege that morning. There had only been a little over a hundred Wind Wolves attacking the town, but no one knew what methods the Anti-Mages had used—every single Wind Wolf had launched suicidal assaults against the Knight Order and the Rune Barrier without fear of death. If not for the two Senior Apprentices in Bran Town, they would have been unable to hold out even that morning.

But even though they had held the line, every knight in the Knight Order was now wounded. Some knights who had lost arms or legs no longer had the strength to fight, so they could only replenish their ranks from ordinary townsfolk who possessed the Physical Fitness of knights but had never received combat training.

None of the townsfolk fled. It was not that they did not want to, but that they did not dare. The bloody lessons of the past few days had warned them that walking out of the barrier alone meant certain death. If they wanted to survive, they could only fight to the death.

But the apprentices wanted to flee.

In a concealed corner, William and the other two gathered together, discussing something.

"Let's run. Anti-Mages—they're such terrifying things. How could we possibly handle them?" Reili's face was full of anxiety. The staff in her hand restlessly scraped across the ground, making an irritating sound.

Terry clasped his hands together, and Vines intertwined with a metallic clatter. "We're only Newbies. We haven't even learned many spells. This isn't a battle we can handle. Let's leave, William."

William was not as naive as the two of them. By now, he had noticed something wrong about the road they had taken. Since the Anti-Mages had been confirmed to exist, the reason they had arrived safely in Bran Town was merely because the Anti-Mages had deliberately allowed it. He dared guarantee that if the three of them tried to leave Bran Town, they would suffer a brutal attack at the first opportunity.

"Wake up. We can't leave." William firmly rejected the idea of fleeing.

Reili instantly broke down. "No, how can this be? We can leave, Terry, right? We can leave, can't we?"

William unconsciously recalled what Adam had said about the Weakling Alliance. Sure enough, the unity of the weak was worthless. At a time like this, only one's own strength could help oneself, or else... "Go attach ourselves to the strong. We have no other choice. We can only hope the Senior Apprentices can hold out until support from the Tower arrives."

Thomas and Zack were doing everything they could to restore their magic power. They had even taken out the damaged Aether Crystals they usually treasured too much to use. When Zack saw William arrive, he said, "If you want to leave, I won't stop you. But I have to warn you: once you leave the Rune Barrier, you'll be in even greater danger."

William shook his head. "Is there anything we can do?"

Thomas looked at William. "You're not completely stupid. But honestly, there isn't much you can do. A battle of this level is no longer something Newbies can take part in. Let me think." Thomas considered it, then said, "There are Four People of you. Work in pairs and operate the rune weapons."

Rune weapons worked on principles similar to magic items, but they required an apprentice's own magic power as fuel. That was why Thomas had arranged for them to work in pairs.

To his surprise, William's expression stiffened. "Mr. Thomas, Adam has already left."

Adam had indeed left Bran Town. He had learned from the townsfolk about the scale of the Magic Beast attack that morning and Bran Town's casualties. With his insight and analysis, he could easily determine that Bran Town had no way to withstand a larger beast tide. In other words, if reinforcements did not arrive in time, Bran Town was finished.

Unlike those underpowered townsfolk and apprentices, Adam could come and go freely. At a time like this, he naturally would not choose to remain trapped in a dead city and fight to the death for people unrelated to him.

He discovered that ever since entering this region, the egg had become abnormally excited. Something in the surrounding Energy Aura seemed to be attracting it. Adam was currently dragging the egg toward the source of that energy.

The Magic Beasts along the way did not attack him. Instead, they continuously retreated. Adam knew these Magic Beasts were being controlled, and they should now be passing information to the mastermind behind them.

Adam did not stop them.

He was different from the other human apprentices. Seeking advantage and avoiding harm was merely a low-priority mode of thought for him. Exploring the unknown was his instinct. Out of immense interest in the Anti-Mages, Adam had chosen to come out alone and search for their trail.

Adam was a natural-born mage, and mages were all devout researchers. When researchers encountered knowledge that interested them, they would temporarily cast life and death aside.

Captives would be best. If not, corpses are still acceptable. The worst case is simply getting to see their magic. Adam silently told himself. As for the possibility that he would be defeated and die, the odds were very low. As long as there were no Formal-ranked Anti-Mages, escaping should not be a problem with the astonishing support provided by telekinesis.

Adam approached the source of the energy at a steady pace. As he traveled farther, the number of Magic Beasts along the way grew greater and greater. Scarlet eyes flickered densely within the forest, so thick it blotted out the sunlight. By this point, Adam had become cautious as well. Telekinesis covered his entire body, forming a thin Defense Layer. Magic power surged within Mage's Armor, ready to activate magic at any moment.

Whoosh!

From the shadows to Adam's left, a Dark Green arrow-shaped spell shot toward him at high speed. It pierced through several Magic Beasts along the way without losing any power, and even bizarrely devoured their flesh and blood to strengthen itself.

Adam raised his hand, about to activate magic, when he felt a yearning emotion coming from the egg in his other hand. Without hesitation, Adam withdrew his magic and used telekinesis to move the egg into the spell's flight path.

A terrifying laugh seemed to rise amid pain. The spell struck the eggshell and was swallowed by steaming evil energy, then vanished completely.

"Huh?" The enemy in the darkness sounded astonished. "An Abyssal Creature's egg? You actually have something this good. Hand it over, and Uncle Laru will give you a quick death."

Adam automatically filtered out the garbage information and asked softly, "Anti-Mage?"

"You know about us? And you still dared walk out of Bran Town alone? Are you looking down on Uncle Laru? You fool beneath the sun!" The enemy in the darkness instantly flew into a rage. This anger had come from nowhere, and to Adam, it felt like he was facing a mental patient.

This is an Anti-Mage? A lunatic? Adam stood where he was, frowning.

Identical spells came at him from every direction. Adam precisely lifted the egg and blocked them all. The emotion from within the egg gradually changed from delight to pain. Clearly, it could not digest too much.

The enemy did not seem hurried. He continuously provoked Adam with words. "You've never experienced a real battle, have you? Does the academy even prepare a Duel Arena for you, where you bow to each other before using magic? Hahahaha! Idiot, idiot! What right do worthless trash raised in greenhouses like you have to enjoy the sunlight?"

The enemy in the darkness had been constantly moving through the Dense Forest. From beginning to end, no two consecutive syllables had come from the same direction. The Anti-Mage clearly understood the ways of battle deeply. Seeing Adam stand completely still, he naturally took Adam for a Newbie. He had no idea Adam was absolutely confident that he could instantly discover his whereabouts whenever necessary. The only reason Adam did not move now was because there was no need.

Another spell shot toward him. Adam extended his right hand, layering heavy telekinetic protection over it, and caught the spell barehanded.

This spell was indeed corrosive. It ate through the telekinesis layer by layer, only dissipating outside the eighth layer of protection. Adam sighed, then said, "Only power level seven?"

Every layer of protection Adam condensed could withstand magic equivalent to one unit of power. As long as the spell's power could not instantly exceed the limit of his defense, Adam would not be injured. He had deliberately wanted to understand the Anti-Mage's spell power, but the result disappointed him greatly.

Judging from the characteristics of this spell, it should be some branch of curse magic. No wonder Mainstream mages had abandoned it. It really was weak.

But Adam had misjudged this. Curse magic had never excelled at facing enemies head-on. Laru had come out to hunt Adam for two reasons: first, he looked down on the Mainstream mage apprentices trained by academies; second, he could no longer bear remaining with Quilina.

Adam lost interest. He had no interest in curse magic at all. Since this school of magic had already been abandoned by the Mainstream, it had no value worth researching. He softly said, "Is this all you can do? Or are all Anti-Mages trash like you?"

Laru was stunned. The caution he had felt when Adam caught the spell barehanded was instantly cast aside. He roared furiously, "Trash! What did you say?! You? You weak lambs dare look down on the great Anti-Mages?"

He really is a psychopath, Adam thought. Could long-term oppression have warped his mind? Or does practicing ancient magic have side effects that drive people mad?

"Corrosive Arrow! Corrosive Arrow!" Laru roared continuously, firing identical spells toward Adam one after another.

Adam noticed that Laru shouting the name before using magic did not seem to be merely a habit. He was using syllables to mobilize magic power. Adam could not help laughing. He truly did not know how these arrogant, conceited Anti-Mages had continued surviving on the Mage Plane. Did High-Level Mages regard them as protected animals?

"How boring." Adam spoke softly. The instant his words fell, boundless radiance erupted from nowhere, illuminating the dark Dense Forest so clearly that every detail was visible. Even though they were controlled, the Magic Beasts staggered back again and again beneath the light. As for Laru, he was completely at a loss.

"Found you."

Adam raised a finger and activated the magic stored within his threads: High-Pressure Water Line.

Among the spells Mordo Academy made available to apprentices, High-Pressure Water Line was relatively complex. Its Rune Array required a full eleven runes. Water Flow appeared from thin air before Adam, then completed its shaping in an instant, gathering at his fingertip into a tiny stream that spun at tremendous speed. With Adam's movement, it shot toward Laru at a speed the Naked Eye could not possibly catch.

The High-Pressure Water Line collided with the Corrosive Arrows and effortlessly scattered them. The energy consumed was negligible. When the High-Pressure Water Line reached Laru, its power had not weakened in the slightest.

Laru's eyes nearly split apart. He had no doubt that this spell could effortlessly slice him in two.

Laru hurriedly activated his Life-Saving Magic Scroll. The Defensive Magic stored within formed a Lightless Shield before him, canceling out the water line. This Lightless Shield was apparently a magic spell of considerable rank. After taking Adam's High-Pressure Water Line head-on, it showed no signs of dispersing and remained firmly standing before Laru.

Terror and heartache mixed on Laru's face, creating a ridiculous expression. He roared at Adam, "My Lightless Shield! The Life-Saving magic Master granted me! You ruined it! You ruined it!"

Though Laru was insane, he was not stupid. Shielded by the Lightless Shield, he rapidly retreated deeper into the Dense Forest. Adam's effortless use of such a powerful spell had shown that Adam was not someone he could match, and Laru was filled with regret.

Yet there was no such thing as knowing earlier. Adam looked at the Fragments of the scroll beneath Laru's feet with some regret. This was actually a Defensive Magic Scroll personally made by a Formal Mage. Its value would have been astonishing if acquired intact, but now it was useless.

"You come when you want and leave when you want? How could anything be that cheap?" Adam shot into the air and chased after Laru at a speed far beyond his. Telekinesis worked at full force, continuously capturing and compressing the air. Adam became a moving artillery platform, firing continuous, dense Wind Blades at Laru.

Laru fled in a miserable state, not even daring to turn around. The Lightless Shield was not fixed in place. It flexibly circled around Laru, intercepting every spell.

Adam accelerated again and overtook Laru, then landed several dozen meters in front of him. He lightly stamped his foot against the ground. Alerted, Laru hurriedly dodged aside. The next second, a sharp earth spike rose from the ground.

It was not over. Every time Laru dodged, an earth spike accompanied him. He avoided them desperately, only to find that the earth spikes were appearing faster and faster. Worse still, all kinds of 'Low-Level Magic' continuously flew toward him from every direction, leaving him nowhere to run.

"Damn it, damn it! This monster—are his Mental Power and magic power limitless? How is this possible?!" Laru mistook the telekinetically compressed air for magic activated by Adam and was horrified by the apparent quantity of Adam's Mental Power.

Crack.

Over more than ten minutes of pursuit, Adam continuously depleted the magic power of the Lightless Shield. Finally, after six earth spikes struck the Lightless Shield simultaneously, the shield let out a crisp crack and dissipated. Despair appeared on Laru's face.

"A mere lamb actually defeated a great Anti-Mage..."

Adam mercilessly interrupted him. He had no interest in listening to an enemy's nonsense. "Anti-Mage isn't what you call yourselves, is it?"

Laru froze and instinctively said, "What?"

"Taking the name your enemies call you as your own title is truly laughable. You're nothing but Underground Rats, yet you dare speak of greatness?"

Laru roared, "You damned—"

Adam flicked out a Wind Blade that sliced between his legs. One of Laru's legs was severed. Adam said, "You aren't alone, are you?"

Laru clutched his wound and rolled across the ground in agony. He had never imagined Adam would so decisively cut off his leg. Shouldn't he interrogate him first?

Adam walked toward him and stopped Ten Meters away. He restrained him with telekinetic tendrils, then threw a small fireball onto his wound. The bleeding stopped instantly, with immediate effect.

The pain nearly made Laru pass out. He rasped, "You'll regret this. I'll make you wish you were dead!"

How dared a defeated dog threaten the victor? Adam repeated the process and cut off Laru's other leg, then asked again, "Answer me."

Laru stared at him with hatred. Then his gaze abruptly turned pleading. Using his arms, he wriggled inch by inch toward Adam across the ground, whimpering, "Let me go. Please, don't kill me." A little closer, just a little closer. I'm finished, but I'll drag you down with me!

Naturally, Adam would not give him such an opportunity. Curse magic was a type he had never encountered. Although he had already determined that it was ineffective against Formal Mages, he was still only an apprentice. He could not guarantee that he would not fall into Laru's trap.

"Stubbornly refusing to repent." Adam decisively threw out two Wind Blades and cut Laru into Fragments. Then he tossed the Abyssal egg over from a distance. The egg rapidly devoured all of Laru's flesh and blood.

Through his Mental Power, Adam sensed that once Laru had fully died, a dense Negative Energy Aura rose from his corpse. The egg swallowed the aura directly, and judging from the feedback of the creature inside it, it was extremely pleased.

So this is how Anti-Mages cultivate? By destroying life to draw in special Energy Aura? Adam muttered inwardly as he continued deeper into the Dense Forest.

Still in that Open Ground, Clark's expression suddenly changed. He took a contract made from the skin of some unknown creature from his robe. Laru's name on the contract turned gray, then vanished.

"Laru is dead," Clark said quietly.

Fuen, who was leaning against the Wind Wolf King and constantly fiddling with potions of terrifying colors, and Quilina, who was whispering to the Parasitic Demon alone, both raised their heads.

"Laru is dead," Clark repeated.

"Hehehehe, there's nothing strange about that idiot dying, is there? It's just a bit of a pity. My little darling really wanted to eat him."

No one paid Quilina any attention. Fuen said, "Killed by the Tower apprentice who walked out alone? By those idiots who don't even understand what battle is?"

"Idiots? No. Laru had left less than half an hour ago. To be killed in such a short time, the one who came isn't a weak opponent." Clark's face darkened.

"Mordo Academy still has a Strong Person like that alive? I thought Monte Carlo's Formal Mages had killed them all." Fuen also realized something was wrong and spoke gravely.

"Laru may have been foolish, but his magic had an excellent contaminating effect on the Rune Barrier. Without him, breaking Bran Town will become much slower." Clark suddenly stood. "We can't wait any longer. We must attack immediately. Fuen, it's up to you."

Fuen nodded, then shattered all the potions on the ground. A hallucinatory aura spread through the surroundings on the breeze. The Wind Wolf King beside him instantly lost its mind, and savage red light flashed in its eyes.

"Quilina," Clark said.

Quilina raised her head and gave him a seductive smile. "What is it?"

"That apprentice is yours. Kill him, or hold him back. Don't let him approach Bran Town."

Clark remained unmoved. Better than anyone, he knew how insane this woman was. Not even a man ruled by lust would take an interest in her.

The Parasitic Demon grew from her palm and continuously expanded, eventually becoming an ugly serpent-like monster upon the ground. Quilina rode the monster and rapidly vanished, leaving behind only a sentence drifting in the wind. "Your will, Master Clark."

Clark and Fuen turned and walked into the darkness. A bad premonition had arisen in Clark's heart. This harvest might not go so smoothly.

"Fuen, if the situation is wrong, abandon the plan and leave immediately. If necessary, stay behind and cover the retreat."

Fuen's face was entirely concealed within his black robe. Hearing this, he gave a silent, vicious grin and answered, "Of course, my Master."