"It looks bad but it's way better from what the attackers ended up like!

"

"

"…!

"

"

Carcassuss proudly puffed up his chest and flexed his arm, his biceps almost tore the sleeve apart.

But that wasn't what made Zoemi and Miriette gulp down their saliva in shock.

From behind Carcassuss's fist, a large blade of darkness extended and rose into the sky.

And it wasn't an inconspicuous obsidian dagger but a menacing jet-black longsword surrounded by an overwhelming aura of death.

"…

"

Zoemi ended up glancing over at the peaceful wolf-like shadow beast – although the massive jet-black blade seemed to be a lot simpler, the black-haired boy didn't have any delusions about which one was stronger.

|A versatile spell that can be used in vastly different scenarios versus the spell that only purpose is to kill its target.|

There really could not be any other conclusions to that situation.

"Cupcake…!

"

Kirissu – not realizing the inner thoughts of the otherwise expressionless black-haired boy – exclaimed angrily and slapped her husband on the chest since she couldn't reach any higher.

"I know you want to show off to the kids, but don't scare them!

"

She scolded him before turning to Zoemi and Miriette and bowed apologetically.

"I'm so sorry for him! He's a bit stronger than an average magician and he loves to make a show…

"

She said with her head down and…

*WHAM*

Without as much as a peep of warning, Zoemi launched himself straight at the much larger man – his body became enveloped in a murky shadow that formed into a demonic armor with beastly traits and while looking like that, the boy punched the man straight in the face unleashing a torrent of ice-cold air…!

|FUCK – NO EFFECT?!|

Zoemi cursed to himself, feeling that it was his fist getting damaged instead of Carcassuss's face so he did the next best thing he could think of before anyone else could even comprehend what was happening…

*SLAM*

…he ended up kicking at the man's chest, using it as a launchpad and flew right back at the petrified Miriette.

"Wha…?!

"

As the dark-haired girl managed to barely open her mouth to react, Zoemi was already hugging her securely and…!

"?!?!?!?!?!

"

They both disappeared into the thin air as the shadow flashed in the spot that they occupied a moment before.

"…wha… what was that…?

"

Kirissu gasped, raising her hand and touching her black hair frozen solid.

"Cupcake?!

"

She then flinched and turned to her husband with a panicked expression.

"I'm fine, nothing to worry about…

"

The massive mand waved his left hand – because his head and right hand were encased in a solid block of ice that definitely wasn't there before the punch.

"Evorietto, did you capture them?

"

Instead of getting upset or angry at his state, Carcassus tapped the wall of the carriage and asked.

As soon as he did so, a tall and thin feminine man emerged from the shadow beneath the counter…

…but his expression didn't suggest he had good news…

"No. It doesn't even feel like he used shadow jump or shadow travel.

"

Evorietto shook his head and reported.

"Did you set up your bubble properly…?

"

The feminine man was followed by both Oktria and Elsby – both with bitter expressions – the long-haired Oktria was the one to ask the Evorietto the question.

"Have you seen any commoner or another mage approaching the twelve-foot radius around our carriage? Of course, I set it up properly!

"

The man scoffed and glared at the long-haired woman angrily.

"Cupcake – what happened to your blade…?

"

"…?!

"

"!!!

"

"?!?!?!

"

Kirissu suddenly gasped, pointing out at the massive man's right hand – the darkness blade should extend to the length of an average two-handed sword was trimmed to only a few inches, barely sticking out above the man's fist.

"…I didn't do that, that's for sure…

"

*CRACK*

Carcassuss frowned and finally broke the ice encasing him, with just the strength of his muscles alone.

"…my shadow beast that I showed to Zoemi also disappeared…

"

"..!

"

Elsby gulped down her saliva and raised her hand in shame.

"What the hell is that kid? How did he escape a shadow blade DESIGNED to contain shadow and darkness magicians?!

"

"He must have slipped by or forced his way through – Evorietto told me before that it was possible with enough strength, right?

"

Another two people showed up, materializing from the darkness – an angry wrinkled elderly man, and a large round woman.

"I did – but that would require him to be in the realm of the sages and not magicians! That kid wasn't that strong!

"

The feminine man shook his head and answered the round woman's question with a dissatisfied expression.

"He didn't use either shadow or dakness spell, he teleported away.

"

Carcassuss announced in a serious voice while carefully looking at his right hand with the piece of the broken darkness blade sticking out of it.

"…what…?

"

Evorietto asked taken aback.

"It's the same as with this ice – this isn't something that shadow magic is capable of creating – this actually slowed down my mana flow. This was ice magic.

"

"…!

"

Not letting anyone talk over him, Carcassuss declared showing off his right arm with chunks of ice still stuck to his skin.

"To make everything even more confusing – that kid has most definitely managed to snatch my darkness blade as well as Elsby's… how much mana was in your shadow beast?

"

The massive man looked over to the dark-skinned girl and asked.

"Average fire-magician worth's.

"

She responded immediately, straightening her back as if she was answering to a superior in a military organization.

"…mine was several average light magicians… Evorietto.

"

Carcassuss nodded and sighed before turning back to the feminine man.

….he also suddenly moved his lower jaw and furrowed his brows – before Evorietto had a chance to respond, Carcassuss reached out to his mouth and took out a tooth loosened by the boy's punch…!

"…that kid… he might have not been on the sage level today, but I'm not sure how long that will last…

"

The massive man declared while carefully looking at his tooth.

"New orders – focus on the other candidate – DO NOT try to engage that kid. We underestimated him the first time and it seems like he took it as a threat.

"

Carcassuss commanded and looked up – while he was examining the loose tooth, the initial group of darkness magicians gathered around the carriage increased to nineteen.

"He grabbed the mana-filled spells and **ed off – that doesn't sound like a spur of a moment thing at all…

"

Someone pointed out in suspicion…

"Maybe he knows that we got the necromancer and tries to get stronger…?

"

"Ah…! He sees shadows…! He saw the shadows of the spell around the pocket watch that the vice-commander tried to sell…! He must have seen the shadow in the earring we get that servant girl from the Academy…!

"

Someone else added – and Elsby flinched and pointed out, clenching her fists.

"Yes… that's what I meant when I mentioned him getting threatened by us underestimating him…

"

Carcassuss glanced at the short-haired young woman and nodded with a solemn expression.

"…if you ask me, it seems that he wields several attributes, it would be best to kill him now before he will become a problem like the ones two hundred years ago…

"

"That's a good point…

"

"We had to gang up on that one guy with fire and earth attribute, didn't we? It was a nightmare with all that heat from the lava…

"

A sickle-pale, horribly skinny woman leaning against the carriage said in a weak voice – and a few others agreed with her…

"Denied. The Presence calls him its toy, which should have gotten our attention from the start… Who knows, maybe he will give us the answer we are looking for? In the meantime… Raseriat – you will contact the other candidate for our sibling, and while doing so keep an eye on that kid. If even you will deem him dangerous then feel free to kill him.

"

He then nodded his head as if deciding on something significant and turned to the round, jovial-looking woman.

"Aww, I'm sure this boy is just confused and an honest talk would make everything better – but an order is an order, commander. The other boy isn't even capable of using shadow gate though, do you want me to guide him…?

"

The round woman's face lighted up with a gentle and motherly smile and she shook her head lightly, emanating an aura of peacefulness.

"I would prefer if he reached that level himself, but I will leave it to your judgment. Just don't be too soft on either of them.

"

Carcassuss nodded at her with a serious expression and looked over every other darkness magician.

…or as they should be correctly addressed darkness sages…

"Raseriat, one more thing, you aren't fit for combat – if that Zoemi kid will turn hostile, you can use the necromancer as a bargaining chip… if he even knows about her.

"

"I'm sure it will be fine without me restoring to that, but I'll keep that in mind.

"

Carcassuss added and the round woman made a reassuring expression.

"That's it. Dismissed.

"

"YES, SIR!

"

The massive man commanded, waving his hand – and after a choir of voices responded to him in unison, every single darkness sage gathered at the spot sunk into the expanded shadow and disappeared – together with the carriage, just as if it was never there, to begin with.

…and the life of the town continued as if nothing happened since the shadow barrier blocked not only the sounds but the vision as well – no one even realized that the group of the worst traitors in the history of the kingdom had been there in broad daylight just a second before….