"Your luck just ran out."
Alythess flashed a cruel smile as blazing orange flames erupted around her.
The intense heat distorted the air itself.
This was one of her signature enhancement techniques. Every spell she cast from this point onward would burn hotter, strike harder, and consume far more than ordinary fire ever could.
"Light!"
She thrust both hands forward.
Two pillars of flame compressed into razor-thin beams, lancing toward the Ancient One like searing lasers.
Even so, the Ancient One’s golden barrier held.
The impact shoved her backward, blasting her clean through the doorway and out into the street.
Oddly enough, that worked in her favor.
Inside the fortress lurked too many unfamiliar enchantments, hidden traps, and magical arrays she couldn’t fully decipher. They might not have been powerful enough to defeat her outright, but they forced her to divide her attention.
Against opponents like the Eredar Twins...
That was unacceptable.
Outside, with open ground beneath her feet, she could finally fight freely.
The Ancient One stood calmly in the middle of the deserted street, hands clasped behind her back.
She looked completely composed.
Only she knew the truth.
A scorching energy was circulating through her body, slowly consuming her stamina from within.
Flame Touch.
A deceptively subtle spell.
Every attack from Alythess planted another fragment of the curse inside its target. Individually, the effect was almost imperceptible.
Repeated often enough...
The flames accumulated until they reduced the victim to ash from the inside out.
"Shadow exists beneath the flames!"
The Twins emerged from the fortress.
Salyssra attacked first.
Twin daggers cloaked in absolute darkness carved sweeping arcs through the air.
Her signature technique.
Shadow Blades.
Unlike her sister’s fire, however, the assault failed to gain any real advantage.
The Ancient One flowed around every strike with effortless precision.
She sidestepped.
Redirected.
Counterattacked.
Each movement was economical.
Perfect.
She even found opportunities to launch disciplined counteroffensives without disrupting her defense.
Within moments, Salyssra found herself on the losing end of the exchange.
Watching from the doorway, Evenson couldn’t help muttering,
"They should just rename her the Supreme Martial Artist."
For someone carrying the title of Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One spent an alarming amount of time winning fistfights.
At least they had taken the battle outside.
Even reinforced by countless enchantments, Evenson wasn’t entirely confident his fortress could survive the Ancient One and the Eredar Twins going all out indoors.
After silently lamenting the Ancient One’s absurdly misplaced talent points, he decided it was probably time to make his own entrance.
He took a step toward the door.
Clea moved immediately.
She blocked his path.
Twin crescent-shaped blades of golden magic materialized in her hands.
Not axes.
Not swords.
Just enough steel to make her intentions unmistakable.
"You intend to fight me?"
Evenson looked at the weapons and instinctively swallowed.
"I just don’t want you making an even bigger mistake."
Pain filled Clea’s voice.
"Don’t let those two women deceive you."
"They’re demons."
"They can’t be trusted."
From her perspective, everything made perfect sense.
Those two demonesses had corrupted him.
They had seduced him into becoming a black warlock.
If she could just separate Evenson from them...
There might still be hope.
Unfortunately...
Evenson heard something completely different.
Those two women...
His conscience instantly became guilty.
She knows.
She figured it out.
After a long pause, he managed an awkward defense.
"I’m a warlock."
He lifted his chin.
"Working with demons is perfectly normal."
"But your heart isn’t evil."
Clea took another step toward him.
"I know it isn’t."
"Sometimes," Evenson replied quietly, meeting her eyes, "good intentions aren’t enough."
He sighed.
"Please move."
"You can’t stop me."
Then he added honestly,
"I don’t know any spells that can restrain someone without hurting them."
"Then kill me."
Clea’s answer came without hesitation.
"I won’t move."
"I won’t stand here and watch you fall into darkness."
Evenson lowered his head.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
Then...
With astonishing speed entirely unrelated to the seriousness of the moment...
He scooped up a black-and-white blur from the floor.
"...Huh?"
Before Clea could react, Evenson threw Habus at her.
She stared blankly.
Had...
Had the black warlocks started using huskies as projectile weapons?
"Woof!"
Habus barked.
The magical blades in Clea’s hands shattered instantly.
Her body swayed.
The flow of magic inside her vanished as though someone had flipped a switch.
Spell Lock.
The husky landed gracefully before trotting several steps away.
Despite appearances, Habus was considerably smarter than he looked.
He had long suspected this woman might someday become his master’s wife.
Offending one’s future mistress was rarely a wise survival strategy.
So he exercised exquisite restraint.
He severed Clea’s connection to magic without causing the slightest injury.
He didn’t even reveal his true form.
After all...
There was no point frightening the future lady of the house.
Evenson watched him with heartfelt appreciation.
Dogs really were humanity’s best friends.
Extra meat this month, he decided.
Clea stared at her trembling hands.
"What..."
"What did you do to me?"
"I just need you to rest for a little while."
Evenson quietly cast the weakest Curse of Weakness he was capable of.
Normally, such a minor spell wouldn’t incapacitate a trained sorcerer.
But with her magical energy already sealed away...
It was enough.
Her knees buckled.
Before she hit the floor, Evenson caught her.
Sorcerers relied upon two sources of strength.
Their physical stamina.
Their cultivated magical power.
Weakening only the body accomplished little while magic remained available.
That was why Habus had to cut off her spellcasting first.
Evenson gently carried Clea to a nearby chair.
As he turned to leave, her weak voice stopped him.
"Don’t..."
"Don’t keep going down this path..."
"I believe..."
"You can still come back."
He paused.
Then brushed a loose strand of silver hair away from her face.
"Don’t worry."
He smiled warmly.
"I won’t disappoint you."
Outside, Salyssra finally lost patience.
"Time is a luxury you no longer possess!"
Darkness exploded around her.
Four shadowy duplicates burst into existence.
Shadow Images.
Five identical Salyssras attacked at once, their blades weaving together in a relentless storm.
For the first time, the Ancient One gave ground.
She retreated.
One step.
Then another.
Then a third.
Heat suddenly surged behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder.
The street had transformed into a sea of molten lava.
The magma spread outward in glowing waves.
Flame Patch.
Alythess had quietly cut off every avenue of retreat.
Yet instead of turning aside...
The Ancient One leaped backward directly into the lava.
It looked like suicide.
Then reality folded.
A circular golden portal opened in midair just before she landed.
She disappeared into it.
At the exact same instant...
A second portal burst open behind Alythess.
A razor-edged blade of golden magical energy shot out toward her back.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter