Mazim slowly regained consciousness.
Hiss!
The pain at the back of his head made the Witchcraft Practitioner grimace, and his mind swam.
What happened?
I was excavating the Philosopher's Stone and ran into those black dogs.
Luckily, I came prepared and inflicted heavy losses on them. That bastard Eisen De won't be recovering anytime soon, either.
But that bastard had reinforcements waiting, and they pursued me relentlessly.
I had no choice but to take the most dangerous secret passage.
This is the Songshi family's villa in Ai City. It's usually empty, but my luck was terrible this time. Someone from the Songshi family happened to be here.
Those reinforcements of mine...
Forget it!
Not a single one will escape.
Even with his mind muddled, Mazim had a very clear understanding of the Songshi family.
They were absolutely not an enemy he could take on alone.
Even all the Witchcraft Practitioners in Ai City combined would be no match for them.
Otherwise, those black dogs in Ai City would never have addressed Songshi as "my lady."
Right!
Who attacked me?
My Philosopher's Stone!
As his memories of Songshi returned, Mazim quickly came to his senses.
The moment his mind cleared, Mazim thought of his Philosopher's Stone. Only after he realized it was still in his palm did he breathe a faint sigh of relief.
But his heart immediately leaped into his throat again.
"Are you sure you've taken care of everything?"
"Of course."
"Mazim never imagined I'd be following him."
"Now is our best chance."
The voices reached Mazim's ears.
One sounded somewhat familiar.
The other was completely unfamiliar.
Judging by their voices, neither was particularly close nor particularly far away. Once he established that there was at least some distance between them and him, he opened his eyes a fraction.