Chapter 41: Battling a rank-2 magician (1)

Having reached a distance of 20 meters close to his targets, and seeing that none of them has yet to react… the brown-clothed man knew that his plan has worked, just like the many times before.

Not even the summoned beast was alarmed, which meant that if he wanted to get closer, then chances were that he could still go undetected.

However, he didn't want to push his luck too much, besides, this distant was enough to throw the grenade and not miss.

Also, the five were together, with barely any distance between them…which meant that one grenade should be enough to take them all out.

Feeling excitement at the prospect of getting easy gemstones, the brown-clothed man licked his lip as his eyes gleamed with radiating killing intent.

He very much liked this feeling.

His invisibility spell gave him a massive advantage. And the prospect of taking people's lives without them even knowing he was there gave him an overwhelming sense of superiority. It was simply way too thrilling.

These five were sleeping still, not having the tiniest idea that the scythe of death was already upon their necks.

With his blood boiling with excitement, he suppressed his breath, to avoid making excessive noise. He took out a grenade from the small bag at his waist, and then scanned the five people to determine where to aim and throw the grenade.

However, just at this moment, something completely outside the realm of his expectations happened in front of him, catching him off guard…

As the half-moon was up in the sky, shrouded with countless stars, and brightening the night to a large extent, it wasn't impossible to make out figures in such distance.

Under his eyes, one of the five jolted himself up, took few steps in his direction, and then assumed a vigilant posture.

This wasn't all. The moment this person leapt up, two abnormally long, octopus-like limbs emerged from behind his back, and rose in the air, like a pair of vicious snakes.

The brown-clothed man's expression froze, and the smile on his face vanished at this terrifying development…

Being undetectable was his biggest advantage over others. But now… this person was looking right at him, as though he was completely reveled before him.

The worst case scenario had come to be…! His presence… was detected!

'This guy actually have a sensory type spell…!'

The two octopus limbs meant that this person was a magician too, and his action reveled that he had not only located him, but was also ready to engage in a battle with him.

"WAKE UUUUPPP!!"

The sudden bellow from that man caused him to fall in a state of anxiety and panic.

If the others joined this person in attacking him… he would be a dead meat, especially with the summoned beast on their side.

Thus, he decided to kill this man at all cost, before the rest joins the battle.

This man was obviously the only one that can detect him, so, with his death, none of the others would pose any threat for him. Also, his brother was watching from afar. So, he would come here as fast as possible to back him up.

But before that happens, he first had to eliminate this man!

With a sense of urgency and panic rising in his heart, he pulled out the pin and threw the grenade at the man…

However, to his fright, the man simply waved one of octopus-like limbs, and the grenade was flung away just like that.

The brown-clothed man's heart went cold at the sight.

'This is bad…! I have to kill him quickly…!'

Determining to finish off this man at all costs, the brown-clothed man decided to resort to use his trump cards... 'Dark energy blast spell' and 'Dark blade spell!'

Although these two spells were strong offensive spells, however the problem with them was that their magic energy consumption was great; also, their cooldown time was too long…

So, he could use each one of them only once in a confrontation… which was why he left them as a life saving measure that he uses only when falling in dire straits… which was pretty much now.

Dark energy blast!

He unleashed the first spell at the target, wanting to eliminate him as fast as possible.

However, and to his fright, the man actually survived the spell that nothing had survived so far, by receiving it with one of his octopus-like projections, thus salvaging himself from what should have been a finishing attack.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of crisis, he followed up with the other spell…

Dark blade!

This spell was his ultimate move, able to cut through anything. More ever, its speed was so fast that nothing had escaped it so far.

Luckily, and as usual, the spell didn't disappoint.

Seeing that the energy blade hit the man right in the chest, the brown-clothed man heaved a sigh of relief… this situation could have evolved into a dangerous one.

'This damned tenacious man was down at last…'

However, before he could finish his thought, a stunning scene happened ahead…

Immediately, his eyes bulged out in terror, and his blood froze…

The man didn't go down as expected… instead; the octopus-like projects rose up in the sky, and then move down at him in a high speed like whips of death…

This… was the last thing he ever saw…

...

Now, it had to be said, the invisibility spell that the brown-clothed man got, turned him into a sort of mage-assassin, which gave him an overwhelming advantage against his opponents when using ambushes, enabling him to get close to them and then deliver the finishing blow.

After so many confrontations with both other magicians and beasts, the brown-clothed man always finished off his enemies without being detected. So, when his target this time noticed his presence, this threw him off balance, causing him to slide in state of fear and panic.

As such, and instead of making the safest choice, which was retreating, he panicked into making the choice of attacking.

Actually, attacking was still a justifiable choice to make; as he didn't think that a mere mage wouldn't die immediately after receiving his two powerful offensive spells.

However, what the brown-clothed man didn't realize… was that with the ability to sense ill intentions, this covered up man was literally his perfect counter. Also, since the brown-clothed man didn't have a defensive spell, he could only watch as the two vines descends at him with speed beyond what he could react to, to claim his life.

…

As the rumble of explosion sounded, a heart-wrenching cry of sorrow came from behind Ramie. It was the grieved cries of Reem.

"DAAAD!! WAKE UP! WAKE UUUP…!"

However, ramie didn't look back, and kept his eyes focused ahead.

The killing intent had already vanished, and so is the aura.

The dust started dissipating, revealing a figure, lying still on the ground that his vines had just bombarded.

Lance arrived next to him, and after exchanging looks, he moved carefully toward the figure with utmost caution, while holding Jeffry's assault rifle.

Ramie followed after lance. He could not sense any aura from the figure on the ground. Apparently, this thing was very much dead. As around half of it was turned into a mush of meat and blood.

Evidently, the power delivered with his vines had crushed this beast into mincemeat.

Finally, ramie was able to relax. Nothing could come back from this, so, the threat had been neutralized.

Albeit… at a terrible price…!

Reem's anguished cries were the only thing audible now through this quiet night.

Looking behind, over at the boulder, Ramie could see that Jeffry was lying lifelessly on Reem's lap, drenched in his blood.

Ramie immediately checked himself up… And, he was stunned…

"This…!!!!"

The slit on his chest had actually closed, and blood was no longer flowing. More ever, he was still able to stand, and aside from an overall sense of weakness in his body, there was nothing else… not even pain.

Ramie was shocked… he didn't know whether this was a momentary feeling before he collapses and dies, or that his bloodline vitality was really this terrifying…!

While Ramie was checking his wound, the summoned beast ran pass him, overtook lance, and circled around the dead figure on the ground, while letting out low sounds of irritation.

Evidently, he felt humiliated for failing to detect this enemy despite being the strongest here. And that his failure had caused his master to pay such hefty price as a result.

Being as prideful as he is, the beast felt very ashamed of failing so miserably.

Seeing the summoned beast get closer to the figure, with still no reaction, ramie followed lance and moved closer to the figure on the ground.

"This…!"

Ramie's eyes went blank at the sight…

This figure… actually belonged to a human…!

The upper side of his body was smashed beyond recognition; it was basically a mush of meat, bones and blood.

Ramie stared sluggishly at the crushed corpse. The sight of the figure in a small pond of blood and meat was like a visual nausea.

Suddenly, a though that was like a bolt of lightning struck Ramie's mind… he had actually minced a human being to death…!

After the bakery store confrontation, the thought that he might have to defend his life against other people, had never ceased to cross his mind every once a while. However, he didn't think that it would happen so quickly… Just hours after leaving the city

Beasts were beasts, they had clear motive – they attack to kill and eat. As such, ramie had no problem to kill the attacking beasts.

However, people… are different… They have all kinds of motives.

So, why did this man attacked them?

Did he do it out of selfish motives…? Or, does he have a starving family somewhere, and he wanted to steal their food to feed his children?

As Ramie stood in daze, gazing at the minced corpse, the azure gazelle king suddenly started growling at a certain direction. And sparks of lightening flickered intensely around his two horns, signifying the arrival of yet another threat.

Luckily, this enemy was detectable one.

Ramie, Lance and Neil's expressions immediately changed. They didn't need anyone to explain what did that mean…

They instantly knew… that the horror of this night… has yet to come to an end…

A sound that was akin to the howl of wind came from the direction the summoned beast was facing.

It sounded far at first, but then, the intensity of the sound started growing louder and louder, indicating the arrival of yet another fearsome enemy.

Ramie's heart started bounding hard, his yellow eyes shone with intensity under the hood.

As lance and Neil were wondering on whether this new enemy was another accomplice of this man, or wandering beast that was attracted by the commotion of the battle, ramie on the other hand, and with his special eyes, already determined the identity of the enemy.

Ramie's face twitched at the sight. This man was definitely another magician, as he was actually flying… or more accurately, he was floating about one meter above the ground, while dashing at them in great speed.

"Be careful! The enemy is a magician!" ramie alarmed the two with him.

Jeffry was dead, and as a result, Reem was in no condition to support her summon with the buff skill she had, nor to use the defensive skill to support them. Worst, even though ramie's confrontation with the minced man was exceedingly short, the intensity of the battle made him use up more than half of his magic energy in those few short seconds, not to mention that he was feeling weakened due to severe injury that was inflicted on him.

If possible, Ramie didn't want to be involved in another fight. He really hoped that this new incomer wasn't affiliated with the minced man.

However, this didn't matter. If this man had hostile intentions, then it means that the choice of the battle had already been made for them.

"STAY YOUR HANDS…! LET GO OF MY BROTHER!!!!!!"

Like a clap of thunder, the new incomer's booming bellow reverberated in all directions in the quiet night, causing the very atmosphere around to vibrate with the intensity of his rage.

In a heartbeat, everyone's expression froze.

The language in which this man shouted indicated that he was a fellow country man. So, they perfectly understood his words… and the implications behind them.

Now, Ramie was sure…

This night… was doomed to be filled with bloodshed.

He… just hoped that it wouldn't be theirs…!

…