It was a gloomy day in the Ruinated Region. With the dark clouds slowly approaching from the distance, this day was about to turn even gloomier for the group of wizards traversing through the deep forest.
"Prince Philip, we haven't found any trace of these assassins. It's been two months since the search! If we continue any longer, we will incur the resentment of the searching parties and the court…", a wizard apologetically advised. Despite the damp environment he was in, his purple wizard robes remained dry.
"Do you think I care about that? They can stuff all their unhappiness to their families later!", Prince Philip angrily retorted, pointing his finger at his subordinate, "I will not let this treachery rest that easily. Those who mess with the Royal Family shall suffer its wrath! This is my brothers we are talking about so stop dilly-dallying and start searching, you stupid ingrate!"
He showered the poor young wizard with both his anger and saliva, forcing him to cower and immediately resume his search for the so-called 'assassins'.
Not long after, another subordinate arrived with a conflicted expression, "Crown prince! Someone's found some tracks!", his eyes glistened with faint scarlet underneath.
Prince Philip's anxiety settled for a while, "Hm? Lead me to it!"
The subordinate led him southeast of their current position. Near them was another wizard dressed in purple wizard robes with two blue orb symbols on each of his shoulder pads. He was tending to a makeshift camp with an extinguished campfire in the middle.
He noticed the crown prince approaching and stood up, "Ah, Prince Philip!", saluting in respect.
"Report."
"This campfire's recent, only 8 hours or so. They should be near.", the wizard replied.
Prince Philip circled it and noticed something strange. His nose throbbed and tried to sniff out the smell in the air.
"This smell… is fishy. It's not them. Which fool would dare set up a campfire here in the Ruinated Region and eat some fish?"
The purple-robed wizard from earlier scratched his head in embarrassment. Prince Philip ignored it and thought of another thing, "Try to track this one down too. Maybe we can get lucky from it.", a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
The two wizards glanced at Prince Philip with a hint of scarlet underneath their eyes. They then received his order and quickly left the area.
"Ah, my dear brother Ruwel. Don't blame me for this. Father and I just cannot stand how genius you are.", he chuckled, "How long will this cat-and-mouse drama of yours continue? Your third brother is missing you already and the rest of your ungrateful brothers and sisters in both name and blood."
Prince Philip's eyes locked on the sky above. The dark clouds had now loomed closer than they were minutes ago, "It seems that this will become harder than I thought. Father won't be too pleased."
…
Raindrops rapidly fell from the sky, blasting the earth and quenching its long thirst. The mosses were the happiest as they could 'gather their supplies' and continue encroaching on the massive blocks of buildings who have fallen for an unknown amount of time.
But Jinmu didn't think the same, 'This will make us easier to track.'
When a group of knights and wizards work together, their combined physical and magical prowess makes it simple to locate a target. The wizard can track the magical residue left behind by casting and performing magic spells, whereas the knights can easily see through the physical changes to the environment and detect one's scent. It was a dangerous combination for hunting people regardless of their nature.
'These… assassins must be really good to avoid detection for a while now. It has been two months since the Royal Culling, yet the perpetrators haven't been caught.'
Bang!
An earth-shattering blast shocked the entire forest. Dozens of beasts ran out in fear and the birds flapped their wings away from danger.
Another huge blast echoed, followed by a long trail of red smoke flaring to the sky vertically straight. Upon reaching the highest point, it blasted into an even larger smoke visible through the downpour.
'A signal! I need to hurry before the rest can get there. They must have been found out!'
…
"Finally found you, damn assassin!", a knight holding a sword and shield gruntingly let out. His grayish metal armor was almost worn out from the multiple cracks caused by something sharp, yet the fervent look in his black eyes didn't falter.
"Don't waste any time talking! Just hold this one off, I've already sent a signal!", a purple-robed wizard reminded, standing a few meters behind the knight.
"You think this one can escape from my clutch?!", the knight charged bravely to the front, attacking the man in dark-purple wizard robes. Seeing this, the purple wizard conjured two magic spells at once, one for a distraction, and the other for augmenting the knight's offense.
"A talented master wizard. Not many could do that at this early stage, hmm. Too bad you have met me…", the dark-purple wizard smiled as he raised his left hand, flicking his finger and thumb at the same time.
The knight who was charging under the thick curtain of rain suddenly found himself too heavy to lift any part of his body. He fell to the ground with his muscles twitching, trying to resist the weight that was being pressured upon his body.
"Wh-what is this?!"
His expression turned aghast when he noticed that his armor was crushing his body. Every metallic part slowly caved in, terrifying him helplessly, "No! Don't! I-!"
His neck's armor bent inward, crushing the muscles inside. He wanted to end it badly, but the armor seemed to have taken its time well. Watching this horrific scene made his wizard buddy stand in place with his throat stuck. The magic circles he had conjured before were long gone. Only the trails of dissipated mana remained in the suffocating air.
"This is the Second Prince's-!"
With eyes as wide as a blooming flower, he fell to the ground deflated like a balloon. The dark-purple wizard glanced at the cold corpse, "They can still retain their memories somehow. This demonic spell or whatever it is isn't too bad. But there's nothing useful to him, or this one either…"
"First brother is too ambitious to even have sought the help of the demonic creatures. I wonder if the third brother and the rest made it out alive. Some of them are too young to be involved in this. Who said that the life of a royal was paradise?", a sigh left his wet lips, "Even the heavens have shared my weeping."
Just as he was about to leave, another commotion gathered his attention. Not far away from him was a young, tanned man fighting off the two-man party of a knight and a wizard. He observed the massive number of magic array formations that were being swiftly placed throughout the area, hidden from the opposing party.
"A nameless spell caster?", the dark-purple wizard was dumbfounded, "Interesting. I've yet to see someone who could live up to me."
He strolled along the deep forest with hands on his back, calmly observing the intense clash from the other side. As for the two corpses earlier, they had long vanished under the rain.
…
'Activate!'
With bloodied eyes, Jinmu activated the nearest magic trap from the knight, trying to blast him off his momentum and trajectory. The knight remained emotionless, ignoring the gush of water coming at him. A transparent magic barrier suddenly appeared, deflecting the gush of water from enveloping the knight.
However, the knight sensed some disturbance in his surroundings, quickly tapping his foot out of the tree branch he had just stepped onto. This time, a water explosion erupted from the magic trap, blasting the sturdy wooden branch into pieces.
The knight then upped his guard and coated his armor with his chivalric essence.
Zoom!
Several wind blades appeared from the top of the tree, slashing the armor, and leaving a dent despite the heavy defense. The knight frowned, clearly displeased.
"Can't you set up your magic barriers faster? Look, you're being beaten by some nobody. And a brat at that."
A wizard in purple robes landed not too far away. Displeasure was written on his face too, "Fool! This brat's definitely not your regular nobody. Can't you see that he's not using magic circles nor incantations to cast spells?"
The knight snorted, "What's so special about that?! Shouldn't all wizards be like that too?"
The wizard inwardly cursed this stupid knight, "Do you think we did not want to have that kind of ability too? If being a nameless spell caster was easy, then every wizard in this world wouldn't have dabbled in using magic circles and incantations! Don't act too conceited, you damn muscle-brain maniac!"
The knight ignored his remarks, "I don't care about your excuses! Liven up or else this brat will escape! I don't want to become an embarrassment because of your incompetence!"
'Tsk!', the wizard conjured four light green magic circles under the knight's feet, "Darting Wind."
The knight felt his feet become more robust and flexible after this augmentation.
Jinmu scrutinized them from afar. He was hidden by the thick vegetation, giving the knight and the wizard a hard time searching.
'That wizard is augmenting his speed. Even if I put up a water mirror clone of myself, this guy will react faster long before I could generate another one… His assimilated beast must also be from the cefilera beast family. How troublesome.'
He glanced at the fast-approaching knight who was hopping around the trees like a grasshopper on a prairie.
"There's nowhere to hide, brat!", the knight channeled greenish chivalric essence into his sword and slashed in front of him multiple times. A 100-meter area of vegetation was mowed down, finally revealing Jinmu's previous spot.
The knight snorted and jumped another hundred meters forward and continuously slashed everything in front of him without care. Not long after, he found Jinmu's figure hurrying off to hide again, "Found you!"
The wizard instantly buffed the knight's speed. The latter then brandished his rapier, landed on the side of a sturdy tree, and gathered strength into his legs before leaping directly behind Jinmu. He grinned as his rapier deftly pierced through Jinmu's stomach. The force was so strong that the trees further in front had fist-sized holes.
"What?!", the knight was taken aback when Jinmu's body receded like smoke. He slashed the smoke away in fury.
The wizard arrived and stood above a tree branch not far away, "What happened? Did he disappear?"
"That's my question to you. What do you think, dumbass?!", the knight responded in displeasure.
The wizard ignored the unkind remarks and scanned his surroundings, "Strange… The only magical residue left is the augmentation spell I have applied… This is ridiculous."
"So it's not his magic spells?", the knight was confused.
The wizard shook his head, "No, somebody must have helped him. It must be the assassins! Their strange methods will prevent me from tracking the mana disturbance around us. Worse, if they are water magic users, this rain is going to further cover them under this thick forest."
"Unless a grandmaster or an archmage comes over, they will remain in the dark…"
The knight gripped his fist and struck down a nearby tree, "Damn it! Why didn't we send out some grandmasters or archmages?!"
"The League recalled them due to some mission…"
The knight brushed off and ignored the wizard, "Tsk! Prince Philip won't like this!"
The wizard turned his back, "Save your bitterness later. The demon beasts must've been attracted to the noise. Let's regroup with the main party and report our findings to Prince Philip."
"What about the red smoke?!", the knight hesitated.
"Ignore it. It must've been a trap and those two were lured to it. Now, they must be dead. No use sacrificing our lives for that...", the wizard waved his hands.
"How could you be so sure?", the knight asked.
The wizard snorted in disdain. How could these knights be so stupid? Was every knight like this guy?
"Do you think these assassins who have been hiding for too long would be easily caught like that? With how everyone is so scattered and with the rain falling either coincidentally or not, sending red smoke around won't be that efficient. They must've taken advantage of this downpour and lured a two-man party. Worse, they might be attempting to lure some more."
"And look, it took us almost two minutes to arrive here. The battle at that point would've already ended. If not, the assassins either got away or they killed our men."
"Let's just go back now and warn off the rest on our way. We don't want to lose more while we're inside this dangerous area."
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