Chapter 155 A Beginning After the End

After the officer spoke, Shaoke nodded. Looking at the guards atop the wall ahead, he felt a surge of pleasure. But that pleasure was soon drowned out by the fear he had just experienced during the hunt. "I don't want to die. At least not at this moment. If I died now, who would remember me?"

Lava Ray was an advanced form of the second-level spell 'Blazing Ray'. Similarly, the third-rank Lava Ray was the spell with the greatest penetrating power at its tier, a reputation that not even the military's exclusive spells could surpass. The crimson glow slowly intensified as his gestures changed, and Shaoke chanted the mentally draining Abyssal language in a peculiar manner.

As the spell completed, the crimson beam broke free from the spellcaster's hands, transforming into a ray of light as thick as an arm that, under the caster's control, swiftly pierced the gate and extended rapidly backward under Shaoke's mental guidance.

A dull thud echoed in the courtyard, and Shaoke realized that his spell had been blocked.

The blocked spell didn't concern him much. He ignored the shouts from within the courtyard. Now, he only recalled the scene of being hunted by those warriors. He knew that if it weren't for the timely arrival of the eighth-tier mage, he would never have had the chance to seek revenge here. As for whether the instigator mentioned by the fourth-tier warrior was here, he didn't consider it.

He released Lava Ray after Lava Ray. He no longer controlled the attack range of these spells, just mechanically firing them at the same spot. He wanted to see if the other party could withstand his spells.

"Stop!" the officer suddenly interrupted Shaoke's spellcasting. "The warrior who blocked your spell is already dead. Your spell not only penetrated this courtyard but also pierced through a residence behind it. Fortunately, my cavalry discovered it in time, or they would have died silently under your frenzied, aimless attacks."

At the officer's urging, Shaoke stopped casting spells. He panted heavily, and the three-pointed star magic array involuntarily flared to life in his eyes. He felt that this bout of spellcasting was even more exhausting than when he was being hunted in the mountains outside the Death Fortress. The panic in his heart finally eased a little after the frenzied spellcasting. Shaoke straightened his cloak and thanked the officer. Then, glancing at the other mages who had dismounted, he also jumped off his warhorse and stood quietly, waiting for the owner of the estate to appear.

"Great Viscount, won't you come out and explain some matters?" the officer shouted loudly, taking a javelin, infusing it with aura, and hurling it forcefully. It struck the thick gate that had already been pierced by Shaoke's spell, shattering it and revealing the situation inside the courtyard.

Nearly a hundred guards surrounded a middle-aged man with a beard, dressed in luxurious robes and holding a slender scepter symbolizing his nobility. "Under these circumstances, does my explanation hold any meaning?" the owner of the residence calmly replied to the officer's inquiry, then pointed his scepter at several warriors lying on the ground.

"Is that mage going to kill me like he killed them?"

"From the mouth of that hunter, I know it was you who instructed them," Shaoke said with a calm expression. "What good does this do for you?" After speaking, he quietly awaited the other party's response.

"You killed my nephew," the viscount shouted agitatedly, waving his scepter forcefully. "He had just been promoted to second-tier mage when you murdered him. His father..." The viscount was about to say more, but his subsequent words were cut off by what happened next.

Shaoke had no patience to listen to the other party's explanation. Glancing at the two high-rank mages who still had their eyes closed, he turned to the officer and suggested, "From now on, I will follow your decisions."

The officer looked at his collaborator, suddenly drew his military saber, and shouted loudly, "Attack! Kill all the men here. Leave the women." Then, he took another javelin and hurled it at the panicked guards.

Attack. Sharp arrows pierced through the courtyard walls; exquisite javelins stabbed into people's chests. Nearly a hundred single-target attack spells rapidly blasted the guards gathered together. The violent explosions echoed far into the night.

After one round of attacks, the cavalry roughly crashed through the thick courtyard walls and began galloping through the luxurious residence, wielding military sabers and javelins, and started hunting down any remaining humanoid figures standing.

The brutal hunt did not cause too much panic among the surrounding residents, even though the one being killed was their own kind—a noble. Shaoke quietly closed his eyes, listening to the desperate howls. At this moment, he actually felt a deep sense of loss, without the pleasure that should have come after revenge.

Just as Shaoke thought everything was about to end, a powerful magical fluctuation emanated from a courtyard nearby. A middle-aged man in light gray robes floated in the air. "A noble who has always supported you is being killed without value after the war. Is this how the military department operates now?"

The female mage, who had been standing aside with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them. Two golden rays of light flew from her eyes and struck the gray-robed mage floating in the air. Then, a small golden booklet floated out from the bag at her waist, rapidly enlarged, and hovered in front of her chest. "This place belongs to the military department's mages. Those belonging to the Mage Guild have no right to discuss matters here. Land, or your head will become part of some mage's staff."

The two eight-pointed star golden rays were successfully blocked by the gray-robed mage using the spell attached to his staff. The gray-robed mage landed with an ugly expression, watching the still-slaughtering cavalry and the mages occasionally casting spells to snipe enemies, and said loudly, "This kind of slaughter is meaningless."

Unfortunately, the cavalry would not obey his orders and instead continued their slaughter. While the two eighth-tier mages were confronting each other, the battle inside the residence ended. A cavalryman dragged the master of the place and forcefully threw him onto the street outside. Then, he turned back and returned to the courtyard, where a large number of women awaited their plunder.

Shaoke did not pay attention to the plundering inside the courtyard or the viscount thrown onto the street, stripped of all his jewelry and outer robe. Instead, like the other mages stationed outside, he stared intently at the gray-robed mage, ready to lock onto him and launch an attack at the fastest speed upon receiving orders.

The blue-robed female mage was quite satisfied with the choice made by the gray-robed mage and smiled, "Here, I believe you will face no danger if you follow our instructions." As she spoke, she turned her gaze toward the crying women being plundered by the soldiers, frowned slightly in thought, and continued confronting the mage.

"How do you plan to deal with this viscount?" the thin male mage, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly asked Shaoke. "If you still have the ability, no one here will oppose anything you decide to do."

Looking at the viscount, who was struggling to maintain his composure and not appear too panicked, Shaoke actually felt a sense of weariness. Elemental Hand, a third-level spell he had just learned not long ago, was prepared by him. A palm three to four meters in size floated directly above Shaoke. At the caster's command, the large hand suddenly grabbed toward the noble.

An earthen-yellow stone wall surged from the ground and rapidly surrounded the noble. Although somewhat surprised by what had just happened, Shaoke continued his attack. The gray hand heavily slapped the stone wall, which emitted a yellow glow that quickly neutralized Shaoke's attack. The large hand also dissipated in the air due to Shaoke's imprecise control.

"Attack." Because the eighth-tier mage had cast a defensive spell to protect the viscount, rendering Shaoke's attack ineffective, the observing officer was quite dissatisfied. Most of the cavalry drew their javelins, infused them with a large amount of aura, and hurled them fiercely at the circular earthen wall. Although it was unclear what tier the defensive spell of the stone wall was, its protective effect was evident. A hundred javelins infused with fourth-rank aura did not shatter the wall as the officer had imagined. Instead, after being struck by the javelins, only some stones fell off, and the wall continued to protect the viscount. The officer then took out a fist-sized crystal ball and gently crushed it. A black light flew into the air, emitted a special magical fluctuation, and disappeared.

Seeing this, Shaoke suddenly turned around and, like the other mages, quickly prepared spells to attack the gray-robed mage who had cast the defensive spell and was now confronting the blue-robed female mage.

It turned out that when Shaoke's Elemental Hand struck toward the viscount, the gray-robed mage, taking advantage of the blue-robed female mage's slight carelessness, quickly cast a defensive spell to protect the viscount.

However, the gray-robed mage's actions quickly angered the blue-robed female mage. She was furious that the other party had broken the rules in front of the low-rank mages. A pentagram floating in the air quickly appeared as she traced it with her small staff. Then, the golden book floating in front of her chest rapidly flipped under her command and finally stopped. "Imprison," the female mage chanted in a beautiful language. A complex golden spell structure floated out from the book and quickly merged into the pentagram array, finally forming a pale golden giant net that descended toward the gray-robed mage.

After casting the spell to protect the viscount, the mage knew the other party would not tolerate him, so he quickly prepared to defend himself. He tore a golden scroll, and three large golden rings surrounded him. After doing this, the gray-robed mage quickly prepared several low-level spells, hoping to interfere with the blue-robed female mage's spell attack.