Chapter 28: Mages Forced to Brawl to Reduce Their Debt

"You want me to kill someone who controls strange creatures? The price for my services is high."

Kaecilius, with a few of his followers in tow, looked down on the vampires before him with disdain.

And indeed, his disdain was evident. His dark eye circles, known to some as the price of using black magic, might be mistaken by others as a sign that these dark mages were workaholics who hadn't slept for days.

In fact, Kaecilius hadn't slept in a very, very long time. "Sleeplessness" was just one of the trivial costs of using magic.

Beyond that, he had to offer his mind, body, and lifespan to the various deities who granted him magic. This was the price of using magic—borrowing power meant repaying the debt.

Under such a gaze, some of the weaker vampires instinctively averted their eyes, while a few of the more noble-born ones tried to meet his stare.

"We truly don't know where we went wrong with him, but he's already destroyed seven of our bases in just two days! Hundreds of us have died or gone missing!" said a vampire elder dressed in finery.

"Be confident—missing means dead. The luckier ones become that human's food, while the unlucky ones become hosts for those aliens."

Kaecilius was a man of principle. Though he looked down on vampires, since he had chosen to take this job, he had done some research on Duncan.

"I'll send one dark mage to kill him," Kaecilius declared.

"Just one? We were hoping you would take care of it personally," the vampires present frowned.

"Fools! My main target is Kamar-Taj. I won't waste my strength on a minor character!" Kaecilius shook his head, his elegant ponytail swaying, drawing everyone's attention.

At least, the vampires couldn't help but glance at it.

"But he's not a minor character..."

"In my eyes, he is. You bats from the sewers have never witnessed true greatness. Even my mentor—the Ancient One—needs to borrow power from that being!"

Kaecilius sneered at the vampires. "Even you were born because of that being. Without black magic, where would you vampires come from?"

The vampires looked confused.

But Kaecilius, having learned from Dormammu, knew the truth: vampires originated from black magic.

And since Dormammu was the deity who wielded black magic, Kaecilius naturally believed that vampires were just inferior byproducts of Dormammu's creation, unworthy of attention.

Another elder, deeply dissatisfied, muttered, "We shouldn't have sought out these dark mages! Paying to deal with Duncan feels unreliable. We should have gone to Baron Blood instead..."

But he was quickly silenced. "Enough! Our clan has its own ways!"

Crash!

At that moment, the sound of shattering glass echoed as Blade burst in, followed by a swarm of aliens.

"Looks like we had the same idea, targeting this place. But it seems the vampire you're looking for isn't here."

Duncan's voice rang out.

Blade drew his twin swords. "My goal is different from yours. I leave no survivors. Even if they're human, as long as they side with the vampires, they die."

As Blade spoke, his red eyes behind his sunglasses fixed on Kaecilius.

Kaecilius curled his lips in a mocking smile, then shifted his gaze to Duncan, who was surrounded by several robust aliens.

"Those dark circles... a dark mage? I didn't expect an extra bonus. But the fact that vampires have teamed up with you has really lowered your standards," Duncan remarked.

Dark mages were easy to spot. They were the only ones on Earth who followed Dormammu and bore such appearances.

"Hmph, I feel the same. It seems we at least agree on one thing: vampires are the best material to be used and discarded."

Kaecilius grinned maliciously as he unleashed black magic. Dark mist spread, enveloping everyone in the room. The vampires who came into contact with it were instantly consumed.

After a series of screams, their bodies disintegrated into black particles, flowing like water into an unknown realm before vanishing completely.

Kaecilius's expression improved slightly.

"Kaecilius!! What are you doing? We're allies!" a vampire elder shouted.

"Allies? You defective products think you can be my allies? Did you really think I was after your money? You're only fit to be offerings to please the great Dormammu!"

While the vampires wanted to kill Duncan, Kaecilius had a different plan—he wanted to kill them all.

Every person on Earth would belong to the great Dormammu.

"This guy's not right in the head. Attack," Duncan ordered.

Blade, without a word, charged at Kaecilius with his swords.

Duncan, however, knew how tricky the spatial magic of the Kamar-Taj lineage could be. Those golden portals weren't just for transportation—they could also be used to "sever" by closing them abruptly.

So, Duncan focused on the other dark mages present from the start.

Whoosh!

A peculiar-looking alien, with fleshy tendrils on its body, quietly approached one of the mages, but the mage was prepared.

"Lowly creature, let me show you the power of a professional mage!"

The dark mage sneered, pulling a rod from his sleeve and charging at the alien with agile steps.

"My weapon is made of vibranium! It can withstand your acid blood!"

Good, a rare dark mage who hadn't completely lost his mind to Dormammu. He knew to use vibranium to counter the aliens' most troublesome trait—their acidic blood.

But it seemed his brain wasn't entirely intact.

Duncan's expression shifted slightly. Though he had expected the combat style of these mages, seeing it in person was still hard to take.

Their defenses weren't much stronger than an ordinary human's, yet they loved to charge into melee combat with weapons like knives and rods, even against aliens, which were born for close-quarters combat.

This brought to mind Doctor Strange, who, whenever he fought, would unleash a barrage of powerful spells without hesitation. Things like the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, the Sacred Sword of the Vishanti, and the Shield of the Seraphim.

Just look at that lineup of spells—Cyttorak, the Vishanti, the Seraphim—all deities of multiversal stature. Every spell Doctor Strange cast was borrowed from such beings.

It's worth noting that Hoggoth is one of the Vishanti, the trinity of deities.

"Somehow, the local mages are a bit different from what I imagined. Are they worried about owing too much debt? Your master isn't very generous, is he?"

When magic isn't enough, fists will do.

After some thought, Duncan concluded that these guys were just too poor—or perhaps Dormammu had grown stingy—since they couldn't even use magic freely. Moreover, the cost of using black magic was far higher than that of white magic.

They were nothing compared to Doctor Strange, who had the backing of Kamar-Taj. No wonder they ended up being crushed by him.

"Hmph, do you even understand magic?" Kaecilius raised his hand, conjuring the Rings of Raggadorr. A golden disc appeared in his palm, effortlessly slicing a drone alien in half.

Facing the splatter of acidic blood, Kaecilius raised his other hand, summoning a small portal to block the blood and send it away.

"If I wanted to, I could drop you all into the ocean in an instant," Kaecilius said confidently.

He thought Duncan was coming for him, but Duncan knew how difficult it would be to kill someone as skilled at escaping as Kaecilius. From the start, Duncan had his eyes on the other dark mages.

Amid the chaos, a melee-obsessed mage was already pinned down by an alien, screaming as he was dragged before Duncan.

With practiced ease, Duncan picked up an alien egg from the back of one of his aliens and performed a facehugger implantation on the dark mage.

Duncan wanted to test something crucial, and he was deeply excited about it.

Sure enough, the moment the implantation succeeded, a powerful surge of magical energy emanated from the dark mage's body, and black substances began to spread slowly.

...

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