Wendel’s Plan

"Take formation." The fourth-stage Guardian mage roared.

Although he had planned to surrender to the opponent under specific conditions, the mage had been prepared for a situation where the negotiations failed. As a former graduate of the First Dawn Academy, it was only proper for him to be smart enough to make arrangements for various scenarios.

The other mages responded right away, almost as if they had been waiting. They cast various short-chant spells at the young man, each with enough power to deal a large amount of damage to a human-sized block of metal.

The young man smiled at this and simply swung his hand at the wave of attacks, as if pulling lightly on an invisible cloth in mid-air.

"If I were a normal peak rank fifth-stage Guardian mage, I might have considered your proposal more thoughtfully, after all, there was a bit of truth in it. Sadly for you, I'm no ordinary fifth-stage Guardian mage."

As the young man waved his hand, the air seemed to have vibrated and this went on until the vibration waves clashed with the attacks of the mages, dispelling them with ease.

"What kind of magic was that?" One of the mages couldn't help but be shocked.

"Such a backwater society. Your usage of magic has only been limited to the elements in nature, and this in turn restricted your growth as a mage." The young man said with a light smile.

The mages didn't have much time to think about his words as the young man made another move. This time around, he stuck out his right index and middle fingers and held them together, before drawing his right arm back as if he were pulling an invisible arrow. In the very next second, the young man in a black trench coat pushed his arm forward, his two fingers pointing towards the group.

"Mana Trembling."

An invisible wave spread out from the tip of the man's fingers and approached the group of students and mages.

Asher's instincts kicked in as he could feel a dangerous sensation heading towards them. However, he could do little to nothing about it. The gap between a third-stage Guardian mage and a fifth-stage Guardian mage wasn't something that could be covered by mere knowledge alone. Not only was the latter ahead by two stages, but there was a difference in phase between them.

If he were a fourth-stage Guardian mage, Asher wouldn't be as helpless, but as of now, he was truly helpless.

The other mages in the team, although not as experienced as Asher, were still former geniuses of their time and generation. They all sensed the attack coming from the young man and deployed various defensive measures, be it spells or artefacts. Some also extended this protection towards the students.

Bang.

The attack arrived and with it was a strange yet powerful force that demolished the defences of everyone.

In the Great Dawn kingdom, artefacts were really rare, particularly defensive artefacts. The best that could be found amongst them were those that could tank attacks of a fourth-stage Guardian mage and these were only in the hands of people who were both rich and very influential. In this case, apart from Melissa who got hers from Asher, only the students from great families[1] had an artefact at that level or close.

Against the attack of the young man which incorporated the power of a peak rank fifth-stage Guardian mage, these defensive artefacts could only last barely up to a second before they were shattered.

The students as well as the mages were blasted away by the shockwave and the attack, falling to the ground in a haphazard manner.

"Damn it."

"Are we really going to die here like this?"

"I don't want to die. I'm too young to die."

"I still have a lot of things to accomplish. Somebody, anybody, please help me!"

Some of the students who recovered from the impact, despite being injured already, began to break down as fear took over them. In the end, they were still children despite all the life-and-death encounters they've experienced. Against such an overwhelming power that seemed to conclude their end, it was inevitable that some would break down. Only a few amongst them were still trying to plot out an escape route, one of whom was Wendel.

Unlike the other students, Wendel possessed an item that could allow him to display the strength of a fifth-stage Guardian mage with one attack. This was given to him by his father, the king, and considering that Aurora and Lyn were more valuable in the man's eyes than he was, Wendel believed that the twins also had something similar if not better. The same could also be said about Emma, who was the precious daughter of duke Saunters.

Even so, the artefact would allow him to exhibit the power of a fifth-stage Guardian mage only once, but that wasn't enough to defeat their opponent who was at the peak of the stage. To survive, Wendel needed to cooperate with the two princesses as well as Emma, who each had a similar item in possession.

Without hesitation, Wendel sent a mental message to the trio, doing his best not to get noticed by the young man.

Asher, on the other hand, didn't know what Wendel was planning but that didn't mean that he had resigned himself to fate. Unlike the students, he knew that he was the target of the young man, so while others might have a very slim chance of survival, Asher had none. Even if they somehow escaped this cavern, Asher knew that he would still be hunted down before he can leave the Manchurian forest.

'Escaping is impossible unless I can heavily injure him, but with the force we have at hand, that's impractical. There's only one way to pull it off.' Asher's eyes flashed.

He didn't have an artefact that could display the power of a fifth-stage Guardian mage like Wendel, the twins and Aurora.

Unlike regular artefacts, artefacts at the fifth-stage Guardian realm and above could rarely be found in the open and were usually made or imported from any of the three empires.

Part of the reason the Arnhaunts had almost zero such artefacts was due to the fact that they weren't as influential and rich as the other two families so, they couldn't afford the services of artefact makers who could make such items. In fact, even if they could, the Arnhaunts had nothing to attract these 'high-level' artefact makers who were usually haughty.

As for importing them from the three empires, the Arnhaunts lacked the wealth, influence and connections to pull such off.

'But I need a distraction and I still need to get it back.' Asher frowned.

Meanwhile, the young man approached the group slowly. Even though he had the power to end it all quickly, he seemed to prefer not to hurry things but revel in seeing the hopelessness in the eyes of his victims.

"I've been asleep for a while. Come on, play with me a bit more otherwise I'd have to end things soon." The young man smiled.

"What the heck is wrong with you? Do you have a screw loose or something?" The protector, who was charged with keeping Asher's team safe, cursed at the young man.

Even though the opponent was much stronger than he was, since the mage was now faced with certain death, he wasn't bothered with maintaining a calm and mature attitude any longer.

"You're annoying. Maybe I should make an example with you first." The young man stopped just about five metres away from the group and lifted his right index finger, pointing at the protector.

"Now!" Wendel shouted.

Aurora and Lyn abruptly took out a magical dog tag and crushed it in their hands. A terrifying blast of mana broke free from the tags and stormed towards the young man.

Wendel on the other hand, rose up and took out a special dagger from his storage ring and slashed it into the empty space between him and the young man.

The dagger immediately cracked into pieces but the shards didn't spread out in all directions but headed towards the young man. Accompanying them was an intense deathly aura as well as an alarming force of mana.

The distance between the students and the young man wasn't much to start with, and the abruptness of the counter-attacks when considered with this seemed to dictate that the attack would be a sure hit.

"So this was what you were planning."

The young man smiled in the face of the attacks, unruffled by the murderous auras that approached him. It was almost as if he knew that they had a trap set but had purposely walked right into it.

"I'll show you the difference between me and a regular peak rank fifth-stage Guardian mage."

Unlike the first sentence, the latter was projected into the minds of the students and the mages as the young man made his move.