n

n

n

"People ahead!

"

nThis simple shout served as an energizing factor for the entire group. For the last several hours, all they did was run and rest, but now, the boring part of their expedition was finally about to end.

n

"Seventeen strong, all on horseback!

" A more detailed report quickly reached Layn's ears.

n

"We should still be outside of their patrol range,

" the archmage muttered, confused about the unexpected situation.

n

"What does it matter?

" Markus asked, shaking his head to show how little he cared for Layn's worries right now.

"Increase the speed and move to intercept!

" Instead of wasting time on worries like Layn did, Markus shouted his order before increasing the pace of his run.

n'What are they doing so deep in the steppe?' Layn thought as several possibilities ran through his mind. 'Deep scouting? Deep sentries? Or maybe just a baiting force?' he thought about several possibilities.

nFor the next few moments, everyone hung in the aura of uncertainty. Thanks to the power of every last of the soldiers, they could easily outrun even the fastest horse. The clash between two forces was, as such, inevitable.

nAs Layn continued his run, the cold winds of the afternoon cooled his face and his emotions alike. With the distance between his group and the Slavian party decreasing, his thoughts calmed down.

n

"Make sure not to kill,

" he ordered before rapidly increasing the pace of his run.

nWhen the first report came, there were several miles between the two groups. When Layn came to his senses, only half of that distance remained.

n'Gather the mana...' Layn thought, guiding his mana-manipulation with his thoughts. 'Condense it to the point of oversaturation,' he continued to manipulate the energy. At the same time, he had already managed to get to the very front of his group.

n

"Let it carry you ahead!

" he shouted to himself, pushing the energy below his feet and letting free of his control.

nLayn's body was made out of mana and mana alone. As he continued to use it in the physical world, there was hardly any way to observe this fact anymore.

nBut mana itself had no eyes to see that. It had no sentience to decide what to push and what to ignore.

nLayn's vision blacked out. Even though his body was made out of condensed mana, it operated on the physical plane. As such, when his speed massively increased as the wave of decompressing mana pushed him forward, the blood simply couldn't reach his brain.

n'I guess that's what happened to those who tried to beat the speed records,' he thought, as the land below him turned into a hazy mess.

n'Gather the energy,' Layn thought, repeating the same step from before. But this time, rather than condensing it to the smallest area possible, he weaved his own mana into a sort of cushion that he used to dampen his momentum before falling down to the ground.

n

"Whoa!

" a man on a horse shouted when his mount acted up. His voice was filled with surprise, caused by the seemingly unreasonable behavior of his trusty companion.

"What happened, buddy?

" he asked right as Layn's feet softly touched the ground behind him.

n

"Sieg! Behind...!

" Another soldier shouted, but it was all for naught.

n'Go to sleep,' Layn thought, slamming the side of his palm into the back of the slavian's soldier neck.

nIt was one of the simplest and most complicated techniques of subjugating humans that Layn ever learned. Simplest because there could be hardly anything harder than a simple strike like that. Insanely hard because even the slightest lapse in judgment regarding the amount of force used and the attack would turn into lethal or a completely useless one.

nOnly by striking with the precisely right amount of strenght one could properly knock his opponent out.

n

"ATTACK!

" Another soldier shouted. The entire group rallied up just in time... For Layn to disappear.

n'They are not that bad,' he thought, condensing the very fabric of space around himself, making it impossible for their eyes to notice him. He was still there, a reach of their hand away. Yet, the space around him made the light skip right over his presence.

nA space easily capable of fitting a grown-up male turned as small as one's fingernail. At least, it happened from the perspective of the soldiers.

n'Knocking them all with this method would be too hard,' Layn thought, using his ability to hide himself to take a moment and analyze the situation. But just as he was about to rub his chin and pace around the place, one of the soldiers rapidly turned his head away.

n

"From the east!

" The soldier shouted, pointing his arm right at where Layn's group was coming from.

n'Not good,' Layn thought, moving his eyes in the same direction as everyone else. 'If they get to them first...' he thought, moving his eyes from his own companions to the Slavian soldiers only to finally rest them at the outline of massive wall already visible right at the edge of the horizon.

n'I guess I have no choice,' Layn thought before clenching his teeth. He then clasped his hands together, instantly revealing his position to all the soldiers around him.

nHis spell never made him disappear. It just made his entire self appear so small that no human could ever notice him. Yet, nothing else about Layn ever changed.

nMeaning, when he clasped his hands, the sound it released was perfectly capable of reaching everyone's ears!

n

"He's here!

" a random soldier shouted, drawing his saber and striking precisely at where Layn stood.

n

"Suck it,

" Layn whispered before spreading his two palms apart. At the same time, with a single thought, he surrounded the entire group with a thin barrier of pure magic, separating the entire world into the area inside and lands outside the barrier.

nLayn didn't contest the soldier's attack. He didn't need to.

nBecause if he condensed just the visual aspect of space to hide his visual self before, then he now stretched a tiny point of it to near infinity. A single point in space, located right between his spread-out palms.

nIt was a single point. A plain singularity that had no size yet contained more space than it would take to fit the entire steppe that Layn governed.

nBy itself, it could do no harm to anyone or anything. But when all the air within Layn's barrier suddenly found an overwhelmingly massive area of a perfect void, the laws of pressure did the rest.

nThe saber heading for Layn's head missed when the raging wind surged to bring the pressure back to a stable state. Slammed by the wall of air, the poor soldier's hand snapped, forcing the weapon to fly out of his hand and enter the black hole of space between Layn's hand.

nLayn killed the peculiar space between his hand as soon as all the air disappeared from the space within the barrier. With his flesh reinforced by the cultivation, his lungs could withstand the sudden change of pressure.

nSlavian soldiers, surprised by the sudden change, couldn't prepare themselves for it. Once they attempted to breathe in, all the air escaped from their lungs, saving them from the unpleasant feeling of having their bodies explode outwards. But by doing so, they effectively limited the time that they could stay awake.

nAfter all, no matter how strong one was, lack of oxygen would kill them either way.

nLayn lowered his barrier as soon as the last of the soldier fell to the ground, unconscious. At this point, only two out of the seventeen horses remained awake, although desperately struggling for breath.

n

"What happened?

" Markus asked, reaching the place of the silent carnage a moment later. Just one look at the horses and humans desperately catching air was enough for him to look at his friend in disdain.

"I know war is never nice, but to treat clueless animals like that...

" he muttered, showing one of the traits that were commonly believed to be the reason why Yelna married him in the first place.

n

"Would it be better to just kill them?

" Layn asked, squinting his eyes as he looked at his friend.

"It would be way easier on me too,

" he added as he turned his eyes back to the scene of people and horses struggling to regain their breaths.

n

"You can deal with that kind of problem later,

" Al entered the discussion, throwing both Layn and Markus a look of disdain.

"Men, take care of them all!

" he shouted an order, instantly pushing Layn's group into action..

"Just make sure not to kill them. We still need someone to give our best regards to their leaders!

"

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