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nThe culling of Kerren's group didn't last long.

nBut mindful of what his new friends had to go through because of the man, Layn decided to leave Kerren for the very least. Forcing him to watch as the heads of his comrades and allies fell off their shoulders one by one, the archmage quite enjoyed the clear terror in the man's eyes.

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"Please… I beg you… I will never…

" Being in control over the formation, Layn could hear the cries of the man, even though he didn't appear to be speaking at all. After all, only once was aware that everything in this realm was akin to an illusion would one strive to overcome it.

nThen, Kerren's turn came. As his head lopped out of his neck, the still expression of terror remained perfectly instilled on his now tense facial muscles.

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"There is no need to keep everyone tense. I wonder what kind of face Irea will make…

" Muttering to himself, the archmage swung his hand, putting an end to the formation.

nIn the end, his guess turned out to be right. The fact that the air of this world was deprived of the magic conducting element didn't mean anything for the usage of formations! As they derived their powers not from the free-flowing magic itself but its alignment in the world, with the caster pitting various natural powers to make them work in a specific way, they could work even in places heavily deprived of magic energy!

nBut as happy as the archmage was with the results, with the dispersal of the barrier, the gore scene of the aftermath revealed itself to everyone's eyes.

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"Gasp!

" Since Irea stood nearest to the archmage, her reaction was the most audible one. As for the others, Layn could only judge their thoughts from their shocked expressions.

nCasting a single glance at the beheaded corpses in front of him, Layn lowered his sight at the blade in his hand. While he killed them all by acceding to the laws within the formation, it was still the first time for the archmage to fight with someone completely clueless about methods to defend themselves in such traps.

nIn the end, this easy fight only left Layn with a bad aftertaste.

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"How did you…

" Raising her deep eyes from the corpses back at Layn's face, Irea trembled slightly as she asked, only to cut her sentence short. After cutely shaking her head, something seemed to click in her mind as she clasped her hands and lowered her entire upper body.

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"As promised, I will fulfil any wish you might have.

" Looking at the girl, Layn's eyes twitched when he saw her hands slightly trembling. What's more, after just a moment of hesitation, everyone else in the group suddenly kneeled on one knee before clasping their hands and lowering their heads.

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"We will fulfil Senior's wish!

" Responding in a single choir, the ancients clearly weren't prepared for what they just saw. Compared to the girl who was at least trying to appear to act normally, the fear in their moves was clearly visible.

n'Ah, I get it. Hiding my means doesn't change the outcome. Did I overdo it?' Cracking his brain over the topic, Layn ultimately decided to put it on hold for now. After all, his entire plan of basically buying the loyalty of those people was about to come to fruition.

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"Okay then, before we start, I have a normal request for everyone. Don't treat it as my wish or anything. Would you mind helping me out to collect their valuables? It would be a pity to leave it here to rot.

" Be it outfits, weapons or even money, everything had its value. After claiming their lives, it was only natural for Layn to claim their belongings as well.

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"Ah, sure.

" Startled with such a natural request from the archmage, Karter sprung up. Noticing that the new addition to his group wasn't overbearing but was trying to disperse the tension that hung over everybody, he sprung up before ordering his people around.

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"Let's go.

" At first reluctantly, soon the entire group dived into the slightly repulsive but natural activity. And once the treasures hidden in the group's storage rings started appearing, the greed made everyone work even harder.

nAs time went on and more and more different treasures and bags of money started to pile up, Layn finally observed some longing and anxious glances that ancients started to throw towards the pile. While they didn't appear that they had problems getting by, it was only natural for a human to long for such riches.

nOut of the entire group, only Karter, Sitra and Irea appeared to be completely unfazed in the face of the treasures. Karter most likely already projected what kind of wish Layn had in store while Sitra didn't seem to care at all. Thinking about this, given how much credit did those people give to the two-star experts, maybe this fortune didn't appear all that appealing to him.

nIt was Irea that presented Layn with a peculiar case. With her eyes slightly clouded, her movements seemed to be slightly off. As if she couldn't completely focus on gathering the spoils, with her mind surfing somewhere across the skies.

nSoon, this arduous yet fruitful task came to an end. The corpses were stripped off everything of value, the storage ring got emptied and all the money from the various sack piled in a single mountain.

nMoving up, Layn stood before the pile of goodies before throwing a thoughtful glance towards the ancients.

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"Okay then, let's deal with this before the atmosphere will turn sour.

" Smiling to everyone, Layn could see the dejected looks of some of the ancients. On the other hand, Karter and Sitra appeared to be completely relaxed, as if they already made their assumption and reinforced their belief in what they thought the archmage would do.

nAnd it was the perfect moment to shake everyone.

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"Outside of Irea, my wish for everyone is to split this pile more or less equally between everyone in the group, and then accept one of the portions each without holding back. Any attempts at refusing this split will be treated as the violation of our deal.

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nIf one could rate the moments of turning group expectations around, then Layn's act would definitely score a place amongst the highlights.

nThose who already gave up on the haul, suddenly found themselves enriched by a substantial amount. Given the difference of numbers between the two groups, on average, everyone would be privy to nearly two times the average wealth of an expert from Kerran's group!

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"Eh? What about me, then?

" As surprised as everyone by Layn's sudden and unexpected decision, Irea almost jumped in place. Raising her eyes on the archmage's face, the girl's face instantly exploded with red before she shyly hid her face to the side.

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"Ah, fear not.. While I might not know you much, I'm pretty sure if I offered you the help that I believe you really need right now. That's why, as to make sure that you, my benefactor in more ways than you might think, will be properly rested, once we will move out, instead of walking, you will swallow your pride and allow me to carry you!

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