Chapter 245: Hunting and Departure

Faced with Shaoke's decision, the two female mages could only reluctantly agree. However, Mage Roman pulled Shaoke aside for a quick, affectionate moment, which Mage Yisier, who was keeping watch nearby, mercilessly teased them over it. Finally, only after Shaoke kissed Mage Yisier too did the two female mages finally leave, satisfied. As for the conflict that had just occurred at the banquet, the two female mages seemed to have forgotten it, and neither brought it up. Yet, from their intense kisses, Shaoke could still sense their concern for him as they departed.

The Blizzard Legion's convoy was long gone, but Shaoke did not return to his residence. Instead, he returned to the street not far from Mage Yija's family estate. This was a road all guests had to take when leaving; the other direction led to an area where more distinguished individuals resided, and the banquet guests weren't allowed into that district at night.

Shaoke cast a few simple support spells. Under the Shadow Spell's effect, he quickly vanished into a dark corner the streetlights couldn't reach. Unless a mage did a thorough scan, no one would detect his presence there. He waited there, planning to ambush the noble who had tried to invite the female mage Roman to bed during the banquet. As for the outcome of this wait, the mage had already made up his mind during the banquet.

After waiting nearly two magic hours, as luxurious carriages passed by him one after another, Shaoke sent out a thin thread of mental energy to scout ahead. During the banquet, he had memorized that noble's mental signature from the Mist Trade Guild. If the guy passed by, he'd spot him right away.

Some passing guests sensed Shaoke's presence, but most did not notice him. Even if the carriage owners detected the mage hiding in the dark corner, they didn't pay it any mind, as the hidden figure did not exude any hostility toward them. As for who might fall victim, they cared little—as long as there was something to gossip about the next day.

Three carriages came out of the Yija family estate. Shaoke quickly picked up the faint mental signature he'd noted earlier from the front carriage. The carriage, pulled by four tall horses, was soon less than a thousand meters away. At that moment, Shaoke began preparing his spells without hesitation.

A clump of green flame ignited atop his staff, and with the chanting of incantations, a ball of fire descended and merged into the spell structure. Three green javelins quickly formed and, under the mage's command, shot toward the carriage with a roar. After completing this, Shaoke activated his defensive spells and precisely locked onto the noble inside the carriage with his mental energy.

The sudden attack caught the small convoy off guard, leaving them no time for effective defense. Although a guard erupted with aura in an attempt to intercept the three javelins, as a fourth-rank warrior, he was incinerated into ashes by the spell, offering no resistance whatsoever.

Although there were others inside the noble's carriage, Shaoke still directed the three flame-formed javelins to strike it. The violent explosion and magical fluctuations quickly drew the attention of nearby residents, and some people from the Yija estate rushed out, hurrying toward the scene.

The sixth-rank Green Flame Manipulation easily obliterated the carriage, and Shaoke sensed that the target he had been tracking had lost its mental fluctuation, which pleased him greatly. Although he had successfully killed the noble who had clashed with him at the banquet, the mage did not stop his attack.

The incantation, mixed with ancient magic tongue, was chanted again as hand gestures changed. The green flame burning on the carriage wreckage suddenly exploded, splitting into dozens of fiery tongues that swiftly entangled the surrounding guards and the two rear carriages. The middle carriage burst apart, and a warrior wrapped in thick aura rushed toward Shaoke, while the other guards and the last carriage were quickly consumed by the flames, as their auras were insufficient to resist the green fire's burn.

Another mage leaped out of the final carriage, locking onto Shaoke with mental energy. He activated the protective spells on his robe and began preparing an attack.

Facing the rapidly approaching warrior, Shaoke quickly identified him as a sixth-rank warrior. Although the man charged at him with a longsword, Shaoke paid little attention to the impending attack. Three golden spears, formed through the chanting of ancient magic tongue, floated above him and then flew toward the mage who was preparing a spell. Despite the mage's attempts to dodge, Shaoke's superior mental control ensured that all three spears merged into the mage's body, launching a frenzied assault on his meditation space.

The sixth-rank warrior hurled his sword, infused with aura, at Shaoke. The nearly two-meter-long blade, if it struck the mage, would not completely shatter all his sixth-rank defensive spells, but the impact would disrupt his subsequent spellcasting.

Lava Ray. Two consecutive third-rank lava rays were instantly released by the mage, leveraging his rank advantage with slightly increased consumption. The crimson beams struck the sword, deflecting it from its original trajectory. At that moment, the sixth-tier mage successfully closed to within a hundred meters of Shaoke, and the warrior's face broke into a grin. Based on past combat experience, once a mage was approached by a warrior, they were easily injured or killed by a warrior of the same rank.

Clearly, this warrior was unaware of Shaoke's identity and past experiences, and he paid a heavy price for his ignorance. Rending Ray, a fifth-tier piercing spell, was prepared by Shaoke in the shortest possible time. By then, the warrior had already raised his fist to strike. The gray-black beam easily shattered the man's joyful face, then pierced through a guard behind him before dissipating.

Shaoke estimated that the warrior likely died without understanding how the mage had prepared a fifth-tier spell so quickly—it was his first and last encounter with such an attack. If he had known, he would have diverted most of his aura to defense rather than offense.

The corpse slammed heavily into Shaoke's protective spells. The residual aura energy managed to pierce the sixth-rank defensive spell on his cloak but could do no further damage. Shaoke took a few quick steps back to mitigate the impact.

The fifth-tier mage, struck by Shaoke's mental spell, had his head shattered by the Rending Ray, ending his agonizing struggle. None of this could be blamed on anyone but himself—he had failed to recognize the spears as mental attack spells. However, not all low-rank mages had the chance to witness mental spell attacks, so such mistakes were understandable. Yet this error cost the fifth-tier mage his life.

The assassination was executed perfectly, at least in Shaoke's view. Through mental probing, he detected no mental or aura fluctuations within a short distance. As for the Yija Family members chasing after him, Shaoke was unconcerned. He simply stood there, waiting for their arrival. Before that, however, he dispersed the still-burning green flames with a special incantation, as allowing them to continue would have destroyed the thick stone slabs on the street.

When the Yija family members and other guests arrived, they saw only scattered corpse fragments and a black-robed mage with green flames burning on his staff. Among the crowd, Mage Yija, after a brief mental probe, quickly identified the mage but said nothing.

In response to the various probes from the crowd, Shaoke suddenly unleashed all his mental energy in a counterattack. His violent, bloody, and utterly unrestrained mental force swept over them repeatedly, causing discomfort among the low-order warriors and mages. One merchant, who possessed no abilities, even fainted under the oppressive mental pressure.

"Esteemed mage, did you do all this?" the middle-aged mage who had spoken in ancient magic tongue at the banquet asked, his expression grim. Having a guest attacked so soon after leaving his estate, he couldn't help but resent the instigator. Why couldn't the assassination have been carried out farther away? Yet now, he was more annoyed at the mage before him for not leaving after the deed. He had no desire to engage in conflict with this assassin, as the target was not a member of the Yija family, and thus he had no obligation to help apprehend the killer.

"Yes," Shaoke nodded, then a clump of green flame flew into his hand, burning quietly. "This has nothing to do with any of you. I don't want you to interfere in this matter." With that, he suddenly crushed the flame, which did not harm him but instead split into dozens of tiny sparks, drifting slowly into the air. After forming a strange pattern, they emitted a faint magical fluctuation.