Robbery Attempt

Atop the Mage Alliance's headquarters, two figures were engaging in a fierce duel. Their battle caused resultant shockwaves and sparks of light to split through the air.

Each combatant was moving too swiftly for the naked eye to follow. Signs of teleportation magic would also occasionally appear in this intense confrontation. Finally, after a drawn out exchange, one of them eventually flew painfully backwards onto the roof's solid floor.

"ERK!!"

The man that fell was none other than Wyman Brionne, a mage with significant status within the Mage Alliance. Due to the recent battle, his body ended up becoming covered in numerous deep gashes. Around the section of the roof where he landed were a handful of other elite mages, all of whom were either groaning in pain or staying unconscious due to the severe injuries they received.

With eyes burning in indignation and exhaustion, Wyman bared his teeth as he forced himself to stand and face the intruder. Behind him, the door to the rooftop was broken open by the other members who heard the commotion.

"Master!" Austin, having curiously ran up with the rest of the group, cried out in worry upon seeing Wyman's robes stained with blood.

"Stay back!" Wyman warned in a manner unlike his usual self. With a somewhat haggard face, he half-turned his body towards the doorway and shouted again to the other mages, "All of you, stay away! Do not interfere!"

Once those words rang out, the others instantly halted their steps. Perhaps it was partly due to the rare tremble of wariness coming from Wyman's voice, but all of the people gathered eventually stopped their movements, with a few cancelling the spells they've already prepared.

As if possessed by some call of foreboding, the crowded spectators slowly turned their gaze towards the opponent who had inflicted such a miserable state onto one of their guild's strongest members.

Standing far away on the other end, an individual cloaked in black mist silently faced the mages of the tower. Held in his(?) right hand was a single knife that contained a set of undeterminable enchantments.

Although this was the first time they were all witnessing this individual, there was no mistake in recognizing these characteristics. Due to the Mage Alliance's close relationship with the royal family of Bavalon, as well as several other organizations within the capital city, most of the people here have already familiarized themselves with the distinct image of the dark figure in front of them.

Said to be a monster that terrorizes the rich and favors the poor in Fermes, and a menace of society to those in Spanyx, this figure was undoubtedly the so-called Requiem. Having gained a rising reputation among informants across three countries, this unidentifiable creature was now standing on the very rooftop of their guild's headquarters.

Although there was a wide girth of distance between them, the mere sight of Requiem was enough to instill an unnatural feeling of dread within all the mages that've gathered here. Some of the younger and less experienced ones, such as Austin, failed to stop themselves from trembling in terror as their eyes continued lingering on the shadowy figure.

Not even Wyman was an exception to the creeping fear that slowly pervaded his rationality.

'What exactly is this creature?' he thought in struggling contemplation. On his left cheek, a bead of perspiration was slowly trailing down. 'There isn't a single trace of killing intent, but simply standing here is enough for me to feel nervous.'

Right now, Wyman's instincts were emitting several warning signs to the rest of his body. Slowly, a feeling of trepidation started to emerge in his mind, weakening his will to fight.

'Is it some kind of psychological magic? Or did he covertly inject a toxin in me during our battle?'

He did not believe that a Master-level mage like himself would have his mind or will bend so easily under the effects of another person's spell.

Touching his bleeding wounds, Wyman activated his magical talents to detect any abnormalities within the fluids of his body. But no matter how hard he searched, there wasn't any sign of poisoning that could be found.

For a moment, silence descended on the rooftop, leaving many people in fearful anticipation of the next events that were about to unfold. After a few seconds, the question 'why is Requiem even here?' resonated in the minds of every spectator.

It didn't take long before that question was answered, however. Scrutinizing the shadowy figure closely, the crowd eventually spotted the item which appeared to have been Requiem's objective.

Grasped within the mysterious being's left hand, there was a metallic disk the size of a food plate. On one side, there was a carving depicting the sun in golden colors. But on the other, there was the image of a silvery full moon. A ringlet of numeral symbols lined the object's outer edges on each separate face.

This magic item was one of many being researched here by the Mage Alliance, and was moments ago being closely guarded within the tower's sacred vault. Years of complex study granted it the Unclassified rank, something that rare few possessed in this world.

"He-he's got the Astral Dial!" someone exclaimed in a pitched voice.

Those words triggered a shocked reaction among the majority of the crowd.

'Astral Dial?' Austin turned his head around as he witnessed several members of the guild acting startled. 'That name sounds a little familiar...'

When those words fell onto everybody's ears, Requiem slowly turned around to leave, looking to have no further intention on staying here. Before he could escape, however, pillars of flames suddenly erupted at the edges of the rooftop, extending several hundred meters into the air before swirling together into an enormous dome-shaped prison.

The caster of this phenomenon was Wyman, who appeared determined to finish off his opponent at any cost to prevent that magic item from being stolen away. Not only would it be a disgrace for his guild if he let this intruder go, but there could be a potentially sinister purpose behind the action of this theft.

Due to the tower's security, the Mage Alliance's headquarters would have restrictive measures in place to prevent certain types of magic from being used. However, Wyman's position granted him authority that was recognized by the tower's magical buffs, preventing any hindrance on the spells he could utilize.

Requiem silently turned back towards Wyman and met the other man's gaze, seemingly accepting his conviction.

The faraway spectators collectively held their breath as the second battle between the two commenced.

Taking the initiative, Wyman started by unleashing a barrage of spells on his opponent.

Numerous fireballs rained down, having departed from the fiery prison above the rooftop to converge onto the area where Requiem stood. Accompanying them were streams of lightning that were directly shot out from Wyman's position, moving in random patterns that attempted to restrict the other person's movements.

Flashes of light and sounds of explosions ringed through the air before the rooftop's surroundings gradually settled down.

'It should be over now, right?' Austin thought, having strong confidence in his master's abilities.

But when the smoke dispersed, the appearance of Requiem's unscathed figure soon shattered his expectations.

The crowd of mages began to stir, becoming slowly corrupted by the intense feeling of dread that continued to relentlessly hound their minds.

After the initial attack failed, Wyman used his mana to instantly gather fierce gusts of wind nearby, twisting them around into drill-shaped tendrils that looked like condensed tornadoes. They were eventually launched towards the opponent from every angle, covering the directions of retreat.

Calmly observing the incoming attack, Requiem simply made a casual slicing motion with his knife before vanishing into thin air.

The next second later, the surroundings became quiet once again, as Wyman's attacks unexpectedly broke apart and dissipated without warning. From the spectators' perspective, it was as if the condensed tornadoes were suddenly torn open from the inside.

Another second later, Requiem reappeared once again, standing in the exact same spot since the start of the battle.

'This bastard is testing me...' Wyman clenched his fist furiously.

Feeling compelled to not prolong this fight, he finally attempted to unleash his spatial magic.

The surrounding space warped, bending space and time in an attempt to rip open a rift onto the body of a single target. If this spell succeeded, then the result would be Wyman's assured victory.

While this action may seem a little reckless at first, the elite mage was well aware that the Astral Dial possessed a nigh-indestructible characteristic. Once the current holder was completely annihilated, retrieving the magic item afterwards shouldn't be a problem.

But another moment later, a stabbing pain mysteriously appeared in his right torso.

"Gurk!"

Blood spurted out of Wyman's mouth, further staining his robes as a deep wound was punctured onto his body. Space and time stabilized again as his consciousness slowly started fading away.

"Master Wyman!" he could faintly hear his apprentice calling out his name.

The prison of fire above the mages began to fall, prompting the entire crowd to duck for cover. Before something disastrous occurred, Wyman forcefully exerted the last of his willpower to manipulate the flames into one final attack.