n

n

n

"KILL THEM!

" To say that this kind of reaction was expected would be a little understatement. Given how they came here with a clear purpose, only a madman would expect those people to surrender willingly and go to meet the elders. And Layn wasn't a madman, at least not by his own standards.

n

"So you have chosen death.

" Layn shrugged his arms. It wasn't the first time for him to fight with other humans, nor it was the first time for him to fight the ancients. This time, however, it was too good of an opportunity for the archmage to test the prowess of his cultivation to just end the entire thing with the use of formations.

nThey attacked.

nFirst, one of the shadowy figures approached from behind, most likely either believing or at least hoping that this kind of sneak attack would still work.

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"What an idiot.

" Layn's hands were the core around which his magic revolved. While the spells that he prepared had absolutely nothing to do with cultivation, it didn't stop Layn's actions at all.

"Right, release.

" Using a simple form of activating the spell, Layn smacked his hand against his shoulder while extending his middle finger.

nBOOM!

nThe magic imprisoned within the orb around Layn's hand instantly erupted, turning physical. With the air around Layn's hand slammed by a sudden force, the vibration of its particles instantly spread out from Layn's hand, smashing the initial attacker away.

nFor a moment, a silence ensued on the deserted street. Seeing one of their fellow assassins blasted away to some faraway lands, others clearly hesitated. And Irea quickly made sure to make the most out of the situation.

nLeaping forward, she reached for the shoulders of one of the attackers, as this masked figure was a long-lost member of her family she could finally reunite with. Yet, as soon as her hands touched the assailant's shoulder, her eyes flashed as the energy she continued to gather in her hand before sparked.

nActivated, Irea's internal mana surged forward, attempting to establish a new pathway for her cultivation. With the two flows of her energy attracting each other, the man who was unlucky to be right in between those forces could feel pain only for the slightest of the moments. Then, under foreign energy coursing through his body, his body was set alight as Irea simply kicked him away.

n

"Woah, that was a nice one!

" Not treating this situation as anything serious at all, Layn gave the thumbs up to the girl. Then, he moved a single step to the side, avoiding a wide slash of a sword executed by yet another of the attackers.

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"Who the ** brings a sword to a close quarter's fight?

" Shocked by the sight, Layn allowed the blade to pass by him before pushing his hand forward and grabbing the leading wrist of the enemy. With the control established, the left hand of the archmage surged forward while the magic covering his palm suddenly condensed… Only to rapidly expand back to its original size as soon as Layn's fist buried itself into the attacker's stomach.

n

"Three out, five more to go.

" Letting go of the lifeless body of the man he just smacked, Layn gently jumped away to avoid the stream of vomit, saliva, and blood that his unlucky opponent splurted.

nThis time, none of the attackers dared to just rush forward and try their luck. With Layn and Irea watching each other's back, the remaining attackers formed a circle around them, moving around as if in search of a weak spot in their crude formation… Only to suddenly disperse in all the possible directions, the further from the duo the better!

n

"No, since you came to play, you shouldn't leave prematurely!

" Just as Layn's blood started to boil under the course of the battle, his enemies suddenly decided to ditch. 'I guess I don't have much choice now, huh?' thinking to himself, Layn reached to his pocket before pulling out all the formation stones he had.

nAfter running his eyes through the marks he left on each one, the archmage picked up the one he was looking for. As soon as the rest of the formation stones was safely stored in his pouch, Layn closed his hand around the remaining stone before throwing it right at the one assailant that was unlucky enough to be still within his eyesight.

nPoof!

nLayn's throw wasn't the best. Rather than smashing in front of the escaping enemy, it crashed into the road slightly behind him, instantly turning into a mist of powder. 'Huh?' not expecting this kind of result, Layn's eyebrow moved up. But his miss didn't matter, not with how the formation stones worked.

nPac!

nFrom how he looked to his rear, it was clear that the man thought Layn missed. Whether he believed it was a purposeful miss or just a lack of proper aim, Layn could only guess. But by turning his head to the back, the pitiful attacker failed to notice a barrier that instantaneously appeared around the place the stone crashed.

nSmacking headfirst into the barrier, the man bounced away from it, only to fall on his bottom. The barrier itself didn't deal any damage to the man… But it reversed the vector of his momentum. Crashing into the ground at exactly the same speed as he had while running away, a cultivator like him should quickly get back on his feet…

nYet the body of the man remained on the ground.

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"What happened to him?

" Seeing that all the enemies either groveled on the ground in pain or already managed to escape, Irea lowered her hands before looking at her partner.

n

"That's a law of inertia for…

" Layn's mind twitched. With a thin layer of magic coating his body suddenly exploding, Layn used its momentum to lean to the back.

nSWOOSH!

nJust in time to avoid a massive blade cutting at him from above!

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"It's not… OVER!

" Before Layn could even finish his words, some kind of strange master managed to swing this enormous weapon two more times as if the gravity and weight of this insane blade didn't apply to him. Yet, just as he was uttering the third word, Layn allowed his magic to augment his fist before he smashed it right into the side of the lengthy sword!

nCracks appeared all over the blade, not designed to withstand such a force at such an angle.

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"WATCH OUT!

" Just as Irea shouted her warning, the sword, barely a hand-width away from Layn's body, exploded. With the sharp pieces of metal ruptured from the sword instantly filling the air, even the archmage had to back down.

nThump!

nSmashed away by the force of an explosion and punctured by several small pieces of debris, Layn crashed into the wall of a nearby building. Coughing a few times to get rid of the blood that filled his lungs, he fell to his knees.

n'What the hell was that…' Even while injured, Layn didn't allow himself to lose the track of the ongoing fight. With his eyes scanning the area in search of the one who executed such a devastating technique, Layn tapped his body all over, using the pain to indicate the location of his wounds…

nOr rather, their lack.

nSurprised by such an unexpected outcome, Layn tore his robe into two, revealing his naked, ripped chest. And while there were a few violent and grey spots on it indicating the places he was hit… It appeared that the feeling of his body being punctured was just his brain giving the feedback of what would happen… if not for his cultivation.

n'In the end, it still proved to be quite useful…' Raising his eyes back at the scene, Layn finally noticed what was the actual intent behind the attack that just smacked him apart.

nThe pieces of metal from the shattered weapon didn't fly in his direction at all, as if someone reached the level of being able to control all the entangled vectors of the explosion. Surely, a few pieces slammed into him, but given the size of the weapon…

n

"So that's what that **er was aiming at…

" Weakly standing from where he fell before, Layn cast a single glance at the bodies of the men he and Irea defeated just a moment ago. Then, he turned his eyes away. Even if his years of fighting and adventuring made him generally immune to the sight of gore, their bodies no longer looked human.

nNot with an insane amount of metal pieces protruding from every single centimeter of their skin.

n

"Wait, they are all dead?

" Only when Irea noticed the dejected look on Layn's face did her lips utter this question.

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"They did us dirty. I failed to foresee this.

" Taking a few steps and lowering himself over one of the bodies, Layn closed his eyes for a moment before gathering the energy in his right hand. Then, with a gentle movement, he brought his hand above the deceased man's eyelids, before lowering them down. At the same time, his body jolted slightly, as if he was about to start weeping over those unnecessary deaths.

nYet, before the tears could start flowing from his eyes, Layn stood up. Moving towards his girlfriend, he pulled Irea into an embrace, as if seeking comfort from her warmth.

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"I know who sent them.

" While still playing his role of a man struggling to deal with the notion of death, Layn whispering those words into Irea's ear, while holding her just strong enough to stop her from reacting to those words.

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"What did you…

" Allowing her body to be controlled by the man, Irea whispered in response.

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"There is a lot more to magic than you would ever want to know,

" Layn replied in a low voice while looking towards what appeared to be a random direction.

nA direction, where the subspace of the core academy was located.

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