The two parties stared at each other. Either of them waited for someone to take the first move.
'A caster and a fighter, huh?'
Fighting without his mask was a challenge for Eluard, much more difficult now that he was facing two demonic creatures.
"So it was true all along.", he coldly spoke, "That the Otherworld is on the move."
The demonic fighter snorted and dashed towards Eluard, clenching his fist as he delivered a strong punch.
'Let's see you react to this!'
He punched through Eluard's body but found out that no blood burst out. Eluard's figure vanished like a cloud of smoke, shocking the demonic fighter.
'An illusion? When did he cast that?!'
His feet landed on quicksand, disrupting his footing before tripping on the ground.
Worse, the entire ground become hollow and he fell 10 meters deeper. He couldn't muster his strength and found out that a siphoning magic array formation was set up.
A roar of a dragon was heard, forcing his attention down below. Upon looking, a pillar of flame quickly rose and burned him to death, giving him no chance to shout in pain.
The demonic caster was dumbfounded, leaving him unable to react as the flame continued to ravage up the cave's ceiling, blasting an entire column of earth away which caused an avalanche that was now headed towards him.
The most confusing thing was that the demonic caster didn't feel any fluctuation of mana in the surroundings,
'When did he cast those traps and those spells? Is this what they call nameless spell casting?'
He gathered his demonic power and chanted.
"Sonic Explosion!"
The huge buildup of snow was blown hundreds of meters away. It almost buried a passing merchant caravan but they were quick enough to react to this sudden downpour.
"Earth Shift!", a feminine voice shouted. Her bright yellow eyes displayed a confused look after casting the spell.
Five magic circles were formed before the earth quaked, separating a chunk from the rest and sliding forward 200 meters away.
The guards were puzzled. Where in the heavens did that lump of snow come from?
A man dressed in wizard robes came out and stood beside the woman.
"Orlon, can you sense it?", she asked.
"West of our position, some sort of battle is going on. Should we check it out, Meyera?", Orlon hesitated.
"No, I think it's best if we keep watch from here. We'll wait for a while.", Meyera replied.
The battle in the distance ensued.
The demonic caster hovered in the air, dodging the fireballs that Eluard sent. He retaliated using his sonic explosions.
Eluard erected earthen walls to defend against the demonic caster's attack. The sonic explosions hit them and slowly cracked his defense.
He moved out of his position after sensing a disturbance below.
Roots sprouted from where he was just now, going as high as 10 meters before bending in pursuit of Eluard.
"Devouring Fire Breath!"
Intense flames flooded the pursuing roots and were quickly burned to ashes. The flames suddenly swirled and formed into the head of a dragon.
"Fire Dragon Flame!"
The dragon roared, swiftly flying towards the demonic caster. He free fall towards the snow, chanting a spell.
"Frost Wave!"
An extremely cold breeze rushed to meet Eluard's flames.
Unfortunately, they were too intense that the demonic caster's spell vaporized without even turning into water. He tried to regain his footing but he found himself hanging mid-air.
'What? When did he?!'
Roots were springing out on the ground below him. All of his limbs were restrained and he was positioned upside down.
Seeing the dragon's head approaching him, his heart became unsettled, and cried for mercy.
"No! Stop!"
The flames brushed past him, burning his skin but was left alive.
The demonic caster's body was charred black, leaving only his bare muscles twitching. Another cold breeze went by, cramping his muscles like hell.
His groans were dull and devoid of life. How he wished Eluard had killed him instead.
"I guess demonic creatures of your level are this weak. I didn't need to use my staff for this battle.", Eluard triumphantly declared.
He picked up a lump of snow and formed it into a snowball. He readied his hand and threw it towards the demonic creature.
The demonic caster's hoarse voice called out to him, "Kill me… Just kill me! You won't get anything from me so why the delay?! You want me to suffer what I deserve?"
Eluard let out a hum as if he was confused, "I will definitely kill you, demonic creature. But for you saying that I cannot get anything from you…"
He knelt and met the demonic creature's eyes, or where they were before, then coldly spoke.
"Unfortunately, that is something only I can decide."
Eluard's iris turned golden, blanking out the demonic creature's mind. His eyesight warped before his consciousness was pulled out to a different dimension.
…
"Mahiista, why is it that you wanted to mess against the divine frost dragon so bad? Can't we let the Siegfried Clan oppose High King Garron on their own?", the demonic caster asked.
The one he was talking to had their back to face him. However, their shadow towered over the demonic caster's body. He was even intimidated just by looking at the defined and well-built muscles of this demonic creature.
A large rock nearby was shattered into pieces using its tail, letting out a loud snort before the demonic creature faced him.
"Because this stupid clan is of no use at all! They cower in their mansions, waiting for an opportunity that might arrive for the last of their lifetimes!"
His round head let out fumes of anger, shouting at the demonic caster with indignance. Eyes full of hatred, he continued.
"I'm giving them a head start so those ungrateful northerners should be thankful!"
"Allustro wanted a bloodbath and I'll give this to him! What do you think that frost dragon will do when I slaughter a bunch of pigs in his backyard, huh?!"
The demonic caster gulped. He couldn't find an answer due to the frightening disposition of the demonic creature.
"He will slaughter every northerner he sees on the tip of his eyelids!"
Confusion filled the demonic caster's mind. Wasn't the purpose of sending the turned undead northerners back to spread the outbreak before wreaking havoc in Norva Assili?
"And mind you, not only that! Minjax applied the curse of the winter rose to a woman from a noble elven household, the Zumfiels! They are on their way here as of this moment. Not only will the frost dragon ignore them, but he might also even implicate them in his rage!"
His voice turned cold and evil, grinning from ear to ear.
"Once that happens, the elves will be in further turmoil alongside their civil war. The Zumfiels will ask for an explanation from the Norva Assili but since the Siegfried Clan will take over at that time, what explanation will they receive?"
"Nothing!"
The large demonic creature waved his hands all around. He would sometimes grab his head or thump on the ground similar to an insane monkey.
"And since the Zumfiels will not receive any explanation, they will be out for blood, widening the scale of the bloodbath and more sacrifices for demon lord Vahalla!"
He cackled maniacally. The sight of elves and northerners killing each other thrilled him.
The demonic caster lowered his head, "Then… about the others…"
"Well, aren't you here to look for any presence of the academy in the vicinity?", the demonic creature approached him and eyed him, "Don't let them catch you, or else our plan fails, do you understand?!"
The demonic caster nodded his head vigorously. Failing at this task meant their death. And a not so merciful death at that.
He left the area, ending Eluard's memory intrusion using his eye of fidelity.
The surroundings warped again and his consciousness returned to his main body.
He caressed his neck and stretched his head to the sides, trying to alleviate the dizziness that affected him. That was his first time intruding on the memory of others, almost draining his mental strength.
"You… how can you?! All of this… did you not care whether we surrendered or not?!", the demonic caster was terrified.
He knew that the moment his mind blanked out, all of his secrets were exposed to Eluard.
The latter smirked and slowly stood up. Disposing of them wasn't his first option, not until he heard that the demonic creatures were already aware of their presence.
What was the difference between trailing them and killing them? Nothing, except for the fact that some of their members died.
He wasn't worried about not getting any information either. His eye of fidelity could see through everything, it was just that doing so would burden his mind. Still, Eluard was ready to endure the pain as long as it benefitted him and the academy in the long run.
"Surrender? You think I'd allow you to do that?", he raised his hand and casted a fireball, blasting the demonic creature's head.
[ Corpses of demonic creatures detected. Do you want to harvest it? ]
'Oh? I can also harvest something from them?'
He agreed to the system's prompt and waited for results.
[ Harvest successful. ]
[ Received Lower Demonic Core (x2), Red Demonic Staff (x1, Rare) ]
[ Demonic cores can be sold to the system and exchanged for either magic crystals or personal achievement points. ]
The additional information surprised him. It seems like Eluard gained a new source of stable income. In addition, he could help out his cause as well.
'I'm going to hunt them later. For now…'
He turned around and faced his west. Two wizards showed themselves and revealed a shocking expression.
"Huh? Aren't you…"
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