Betrayal

'Why is he after me?'

Asher had originally thought that the young man before him was an agent of the royals, but the behaviour and actions of the man seemed to say differently; especially the address the man used on Asher, 'pagan'.

Rather than saying that he was an assassin sent by the royals, Asher felt it was more appropriate to say he was an assassin sent by another party.

'He's definitely not of the Terreans, and no third-party figure in the surrounding region would address me as such. There can only be one answer then. Those guys.' Asher grimaced.

The only faction Asher could think that could plot something like this was the faction that the guide back in the Vermont mine belonged to[1]. That was a faction that could even sneak in one of their members to become an assistant to a yellow-robed elder of the Arnhaunt family. Neither the Terreans nor the royals could even do such without an insider.

'Have they decided to become more active?' Asher thought.

Meanwhile, the young man slowly walked towards him while the students and the mages froze in fear.

Suddenly, the unharmed fourth-stage Guardian mage, the one who disliked Asher, gritted his teeth and spoke up.

"If I may lord, please spare my life and that of the others. In exchange, we won't stand in your way or clash with you. And you can take the boy without any troubles."

"!!!" Everyone shook at those words; surprise covering their faces.

"Hmm?" The young man stopped and glanced at the mage.

Seeing as he had finally gotten the intruder's attention, the mage continued.

"Esteemed one, I can see that your target isn't all of us but just that brat over there. While it's true that as a peak rank mage of the fifth-stage of the Guardian realm, we are not worth even the dust of your shoes, we are still something. If we are to resist with our all, chances are that with the resources we have in hand, we could harm you, albeit barely. If we focus on escaping, it's quite possible that one of us could survive and inform the kingdom of your appearance, actions and behaviours. I'm guessing that you wouldn't want that to happen. In fact, I believe that you don't want that to happen, though I don't know why. However, we could go against your wishes if we pool together our strength."

"Go on." The young man said.

"In exchange for our freedom, we will swear an oath on our lives to not reveal whatever had happened here. You let us live and in exchange, you take the boy without any resistance as well as gain our support in covering your actions. We can simply claim that he died at the hands of a mysterious enemy during a fight. We don't know what exactly these beasts are so they count as a 'mysterious enemy' hence, even if a truth spell was used on us, the real truth would never come to light." The mage said.

He had thought up this idea and it sounded logical. As for what Truth spells were, they were techniques used to differentiate lies and truths, but only few individuals could use them.

Apart from Asher, no one else knew what these shadow beasts were. In fact, no one knew their name (apart from his teammates who Asher had earlier informed). For this, one could say that the shadow beasts were mysterious enemies to these students and mages. At the same time, the young man before them was also a mysterious enemy. So even if they claimed that Asher had died at the hands of a mysterious enemy, the truth spell would fail to identify their words as a lie. Unless further details about the 'mysterious enemy' were asked, everything could be covered up. And to make sure that was so, the mage planned to wipe the memories of the students right after this; a spell that no one knew he wielded because everyone who did have that knowledge removed from their memory.

"You can't!" Melissa shouted.

"You bastard, how dare you sacrifice Asher!" Noah and James were equally furious.

Luna was sad but she was too scared to speak up. As for Owen, he didn't react to those words but was instead studying the young man.

"Silence!" The mage roared.

"It's either all of us or just him. Why sacrifice the lives of so many mages with future potential just for a stinking null?! Think about it. Would you rather die here or live? That's a simple question. As for fighting back, oh please. At best only one or two of us could escape and by us, I mean us protectors. You students are destined to die so understand that my actions are for your sake!"

When phrased like that, even Noah and James couldn't find a way to counter the mage's words. Their expressions crumbled but in the depth of their hearts, they didn't want things to end like this. Only Melissa remained glaring at the mage, looking as if she would fight him to the death any second soon. Truthfully, that would have been the case if not for the fact that her body couldn't move.

"Sighs. A classic case of having to sacrifice one even against their will for the sake of others. How depressing." The young mage sighed.

"Esteemed one, please let me know your thoughts?" The mage bowed and asked.

As a fourth-stage Guardian mage, even under the pressure of the young man, he could still move better than the rest.

Although he looked calm, the mage was sweating heavily in fear. Only he knew the prowess of a fifth-stage Guardian mage as he had once clashed with one, and that person was even weaker than his current opponent; only at the early rank.

"My thoughts? I just want to get everything over with and return to my slumber. As for your idea, it's worth considering after all, I could be done with my mission without spending much effort. That sounds less depressing to be honest."

Just when the mage was about to sigh with relief, the young man continued.

Unlike before, the young man now spoke with an invigorated tone.

"However, you look down on a peak rank fifth-stage Guardian mage a little too much. A bunch of insects actually think they can harm me or even escape from me? Oh, please. You know what, I'll let you guys play with me a bit. Come now, and don't be shy, or else you'd die."

The young man grinned fiendishly.