Chapter CXLVII - Battle of the Mountains (part 2)

"Veneo! A little help would be nice!"

The arch-mage said to the communication device on his clothes as he dodged the first attack from the closest chimera.

The headmaster who heard the call quickly turned to his students.

Arfius, Jericho, Manda, Alden, Maneil, and all the other top ranking students of Xyphon's academy from all three generations are ready to fight those monsters. They all glared at the headmaster, looking all fearsome.

"If we were to switch places, she would have flown to save us without a second of thought. Let's go save our useless student council president."

The headmaster said as he turned into a blur of light and flew at high speed towards the monsters fighting the magicians. The students of the academy then flew up and headed towards the ongoing battle.

Even though they are just students, their talents and strength rivalled those of a master magician. Though, Arfius's ability is already enough to make him a master wizard, which is the only position under his father.

And now that the academy students are helping out, the tide of the battle turned.

The students, alongside the master magicians, fought back against the anti-magic monsters using the force of nature, like dropping boulders or using gravity to kill them. The fight went on for a long time since these monsters are pretty resistant to magic.

While everyone was engulfed in the battle, Astar turned his back on the battle and ran away. He moved to the deeper part of the mountains, where his assistants will be waiting.

"Astar is running! We have to capture him!"

The headmaster shouted as he dropped another giant boulder at a monster. The monster got pummeled to the ground, but it is not dead or heavily damaged. It only brushes it off like it got punched.

"Damn, that thing is sturdy!"

"Veneo! Get some students to go!"

The arch-mage shouted near him as he killed off another monster by exploding them using sound magic. The headmaster nodded and flew towards the closest student, which was Jericho.

"Student! Go and capture Astar Besmar! We can take care of this part ourselves!"

"Okay! Manda, come with me!"

Jericho shouted and flew away, and Manda finished off her opponent by throwing it off the mountain and followed Jericho. The two flew towards the deeper parts of the mountain behind the base and looked for the big boss.

"Say, do you think if we follow him we can get into their secret base?"

Jericho asked while they searched for the fatty evil scientist.

"That is possible. But do you think everyone else can handle fighting those monsters?"

"Well, we have the arch-mage with us, along with the headmaster and Arfius."

"Right… Then let's just follow the fatty."

Jericho and Manda continued their flight in silence as they searched for Astar. After a while, they found a single carriage in the middle of the woods on the mountains, going to the west.

It is Astar's carriage, and it is moving at high speed towards their base. Jericho and Manda followed the carriage until it arrived on a large building placed in the middle of nowhere in these northern mountains.

The carriage stopped at the entrance and Astar stepped out of the carriage.

"Did we get followed?"

"No sir. We took a different hidden route, just like you asked."

The carriage driver said confidently, and Astar patted his shoulder.

"Good. Prepare everyone. We are leaving."

Astar said to the driver as he moved to the front door. The driver followed behind him.

"Hmm…?"

Immediately, Astar noticed something odd. Usually some of his underlings would open the door for him and welcome him into the base. And yet, the sound of the horses was so loud and no one came out to greet him. There isn't anyone answering him on the door at all. 

Something… was wrong.

The base…

It's too silent.

Astar took out his knife and moved closer to the door. The driver seemed confused, but he followed behind him anyway.

BRAK!!

"--!! Hmmp!!"

Astar kicked open the door and looked inside, only to be welcomed by the incredibly heavy stench of blood. He immediately closed his nose and looked around the room.

The room is dark. Blood is flooding the floor and sprayed everywhere on the walls. Everyone in this room is either headless or in pieces, and some of their juices were painted all over the walls.

This is just the lobby… there's even more blood flowing from the dark corridor at the far back side.

Something… had massacred them…

… inhumanely.

"W-What the hell!?"

Astar took a step back from being taken aback by the sudden gruesome scene, but before he could turn his tail and run, a shadow moved from the hall deep inside the room.

A long hand made out of shadow moved at high speed towards the door.

GRPP!!!

"Ho-HoaaAAHH!!!!!"

Astar was able to duck just in time, but the hand managed to grab hold of his driver. The poor driver got pulled by the hand that is now wrapping its super long fingers around him into the dark hallway. 

"HUAAAAAA!!!!--"

ZRRGGG!!!!!

When his scream reaches the room deep inside the base, the sound of blood splattering to the ground can be heard as the scream stops.

Still on the ground, Astar glared at the inside while pissing his pants. The pressure whatever is emitting is enough to kill anything within five meters. 

Astar… couldn't breathe at all.

BREK!!

"H-Hua--!! HUAAAA!!!!!!"

He was watching as a single item was thrown from the inside of the room and rolled on the ground. When the item stopped rolling, Astar screamed everything out of his lungs as he glared at the item.

It's the head of his driver, completely covered in blood.

"HU-HUAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Astar stood up and ran away while having his pants wet. His whole face is swollen from crying and the runny nose, but he can still run.

TAP!!

TAPP!!!

Two shadows dropped from the skies and landed right in front of Astar, stopping his run.

It's the duo who chased after him, Jericho and Manda.

"Y-Y-You are-"

"Your reign ends here, Astar Besmar."

Manda said intimidatingly to Astar, but he is too frightened to be scared of her.

Astar ended up kneeling right in front of Manda, which got the two confused. As he slowly made his way to the two while being on his knees, he pleaded.

"P-P-Please!! Save me!! Before that thing..."

"W-What? No, we aren't going to save you..."

Manda's voice became soft immediately after hearing that Astar wanted her to save him. But, Jericho immediately recognized the situation.

She glared at the entrance behind Astar, and her eyes grew wider.

"M-Manda..."

"What is it?"

Manda's eyes were dropped at the door, where blood was slowly flowing out of the room and landed on the ground under the stairs. There are so much of them, and they are all flowing out as if the inside is already overflowing.

Because it is.

"P-P-Please! That thing! I don't want it-"

 BAKK!!!

Astar fell to the ground after a light tap on his neck by Jericho. They hated him for attacking the city, but they can't kill him just yet. The kingdom will be the one to judge.

But, their attention is on something else.

"T-That head…"

"Yeah… that was the driver…"

The two slowly moved towards the door, completely ignoring the head that was on their path. 

KRIKK!!

Manda opened the door wider which made a squeeky sound when it was opened, and was immediately welcomed by the heavy stench of blood. She closed her nose immediately.

"T-This is... horri… ble..."

Manda mumbles while shivering, but Jericho is frozen.

She can't even smell the stench anymore. Her breathing completely got taken control of as the pressure dropped into her whole body.

Manda noticed Jericho's silence, and she turned to find Jericho's eyes being opened incredibly wide towards the corridor.

"W-What? What is--"

Manda stopped her sentence the moment the pressure dropped on her. It's like having the whole ocean dropped on you continuously. The two couldn't continue their breathing and turned to face the being at the end of the dark and muddy corridor.

The sound of footsteps slapping water can be heard as the foot stepped on the thick pool of blood on the floor. 

Slowly, the light of the sunlight illuminates the being that is walking towards them from the door. Starting from the legs and all the way to the top of her hair.

The person is fully naked, with stains of blood all over her body. Signs of shadow magic leaving her hand can be seen as she steps into the light, and her bright red eyes along with the dark retinas are slowly turning into normal eyes.

The pressure also disappeared as the person stared at them while crying and smiling. Jericho, still heavily taken aback, forced herself to call the red haired person standing merely five meters away from them, smiling softly at them.

"Ri… ze…?"