Captain Uther and Count Zidal both wore grim expressions.
"Did they all escape?" Count Zidal's eyes betrayed irrepressible shock. "An attack that powerful, and we still couldn't finish them all off? This... this is unbelievable!"
Captain Uther glanced at him, then turned toward the only one of the four who wore a mage robe, an elderly man.
"Master Jonah, what do you think?"
The old mage called Master Jonah looked equally grim. After glancing around, he answered in a low voice, "I miscalculated. I thought an eighth-level spell would be enough to stop them, but I never expected them to withstand it head-on."
"You're a Great Mage! Why didn't you just use a forbidden spell? Now they've all escaped, and our operation is a complete failure! Do you understand?" Count Zidal immediately roared.
Master Jonah gave him a cold look. "Do you think forbidden spells take no time to prepare? Besides, they cause such a commotion that those men would have noticed beforehand. It would have been useless."
"Then at least use a ninth-level spell! What was that eighth-level spell about? Are you really that stingy with your mana? Do you have any idea how important this operation is? Do you know..."
Captain Uther frowned and raised a hand to stop Count Zidal's accusations, then looked at the remaining member of their group, an ordinary-looking middle-aged man who was also dressed as a noble.
"Duke Roman, these Xinfei Merchant Guild Guards will surely try to escape back to their base near Dero City. I need your Dero Kingdom to help us intercept them on the way."
The middle-aged man called Duke Roman nodded. "No problem. Their base near Dero City is over five hundred kilometers from here. Without magic locomotives to transport them, it will take them at least several