"Not good…" Rayven muttered as the battlefield had barely settled when the air shifted above them.
A low hum reverberated, followed by a sudden gust of wind that scattered snowflakes in every direction.
The escorts, adventurers, and even the surviving bandits froze, their eyes instinctively lifted upward.
Rayven's breath caught. Flying…?
Above them, descending slowly with an aura that pressured their souls, was a mage cloaked in black. He looked terrifying with his scarred and burned face… Furthermore, his eyes seed similar to those of a reptile!
His robes were made of black silk, and it seed as though the air was surrounding the man.
He scanned the people below, and after realizing that no one could match him, they looked at them in disdain…
Thyruz's face paled. "Tier 4 at least… No, the pressure… he's Tier 5 Mage."
Rayven's jaw tightened. He had fought hard against Brian, but this was different. This was overwhelming.
'I can't offend this man. Not now.'
The mage hovered above the caravan, as he seed to be searching for sothing... However, his eyes locked onto Rayven, narrowing with irritation.
"So… you're the one who defeated the Full-tal Arcanist…" the man said, his voice deep and mocking. "Handso, arrogant-looking… I despise handso faces like yours. They offend ."
'What?' Rayven had no idea what the man was talking about while looking at him.
Suddenly, Rayven's cloak rustled as he straightened, forcing himself to et the mage's gaze. "Who are you, Lord Mage? Did we offend you?"
He was a Tier 5 Mage, and Rayven didn't want to fight this person.
The man smirked as he realized that the handso young mage was scared of him. "I am Malachar, an Archmage of the Abyssal Path. Rember the na, boy. Few live long enough to speak it."
Mr. Shrubs staggered backward; his face was already drained of all color. "Archmage? A Tier… Tier 5… gods help us…"
Malachar's eyes turned toward the wagons, then back to Rayven. "I ca for the sa thing you fought over. The heart. The Lord-Class Beast's heart. It belongs to now."
Rayven's hand clenched. He didn't mind giving it up at all, but before he could speak, Malachar raised his staff.
"O abyss that devours light…
Abyssal Rend."
The spell ca so fast... A wave of black energy surged forward, striking Rayven before he could even react.
Boom!
The ground shattered as Rayven was hurled backward, his body smashing through rocks, earth, and trees. He tumbled nearly three hundred ters before crashing into a mound of debris, snow, and stone, collapsing over him.
"Hmph… I hate all good-looking n…"
Everyone knew that there was no way for Rayven to survive that attack!
"Rayven!" Nara scread, her bow clattering to the ground as she sprinted toward him.
Miki cursed as she also ran towards Rayven's location... "Damn it! He hit him too fast!"
Thyruz's face was filled with fury but he couldn't do anything about it. "Stay together! We need to reach him!" His staff glowed as he cast protective barriers around Nara and Miki, then dashed forward himself.
The caravan erupted in panic. Copper and Iron Ranks stumbled, so fleeing, others frozen in terror.
The escorts tried to hold formation, but the sheer presence of Malachar made their knees weak.
Malachar descended slowly, with his boots touching the snow slightly.
He ignored the chaos as his eyes were fixed on the lead wagon.
Mr. Shrubs trembled, clutching his cloak. "No… no, please…"
Malachar extended his hand.
Soon, the box containing the sealed artifact lifted from the wagon as though pulled by invisible strings. It floated toward him while glowing faintly under the seal's resistance.
He smirked at its sight. "So it's true. The heart of a Lord-Class Beast. Sealed, but still pulsing with power. You thought you could hide this from ?"
Shrubs fell to his knees. "I… I had no choice… The Guild demanded…"
"Silence," Malachar snapped, his aura pressing down so hard that Shrubs collapsed face-first into the snow.
In the anti, Nara and Miki reached Rayven's broken form, digging through the debris.
They were expecting that his cloak was torn, his body battered, or in short, heavily injured…
However, they were shocked to realize that he was not…
"R-Rayven…" Nara muttered, unsure of the situation…
Rayven quickly signaled the three to stay silent and pretend that he was heavily injured!
Apparently, Rayven had been saved by Ardania's gift!
Ardania's Necklace allowed him to survive an attack coming from a Tier 5 Mage. It was supposedly the gift he had received for accepting the mission of investigating the Count!
Now, it had truly saved his life.
"Ahh…" Thyruz and the others looked at each other and relief could be seen on their faces.
***
In the anti, Malachar flew above as he had already taken the item he needed.
During this ti, he scanned the surroundings again… Of course, Nara quickly pulled her cloak over Rayven's body, covering him from view.
"Don't let anyone see he's fine," she whispered urgently.
Miki crouched beside her, nodding. "If Malachar suspects, he'll co back. Keep him hidden."
Thyruz also knelt, his staff glowing faintly as he cast a healing spell called Cure Wounds…
A soft light spread across Rayven's chest, but it was weak. Anyway, it was more for show than effect. His injuries were already stabilized by Ardania's Necklace, yet Thyruz played the role of healer convincingly.
Rayven's eyes flickered open, but he quickly shut them again, feigning unconsciousness
Malachar, hovering briefly above, glanced down at the scene. He saw Thyruz's weak healing spell, the frantic adventurers, and the covered body… Then, a laugh escaped his lips.
"Hah… pathetic. Heal your pretty corpse if you wish. It won't matter..."
He then turned to the box in his hands and smiled… "Now… The heart is mine."
With that, he turned and vanished into the storm, leaving only the echo of his laughter…
"He's gone…"
"Oh, god… Finally…"
The escorts collapsed in relief as they really thought that they would also get hit by the Archmage's Spell…
Still, they couldn't help but feel pity for the handso mage who was killed by the Archmage.
They even silently thanked their parents for not making them a bit too handso.
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