"You were listening in on our little exchange of pleasantries and still want to help…?

"

Ludier asked while stepping forward, wary about the beastly shadow warrior of unknown origin that suddenly just popped up.

"I did, but I knew about you beforehand – the disinformation campaign launched by the queen and the Derizno family isn't perfect.

"

Zoemi shrugged his shoulders and declared, making sure that his armor will automatically swallow any spell launched at it just in case Ludier would turn on him at the moment's notice.

The thing he said wasn't the truth but merely a lie he came up with on the spot to gain the trust of the pale-blue-haired man.

"Really? And what about the friends of yours?

"

Ludier scoffed and glanced to the sides while Xeonith was still too busy adjusting to the pain of getting his fingers and thumbs forcefully shortened by Zoemi.

"Friends…? What do you mean?

"

The black-haired boy raised his brow even though the pale-blue-haired man was unable to see it because of the beastly helmet of the shadow armor.

"The one that created that blade for you and the one who healed me just now.

"

Ludier scoffed and shook his head, clearly angry that he was treated like an idiot.

"Sorry to break it to you, but it is only me. I don't know if it will help you understand, but you can think about me as a strong shadow magician.

"

"…I see… huh… That sounds like old man Banemor when he was alive… Are you perhaps related to the Banemors?

"

Zoemi explained indifferently, which surprisingly was instantly taken by Ludier at the face value, which honestly was welcomed.

"No. Not to my knowledge at least. I was born in the slums of the capital, quite an unlikely place for anyone with a surname to end up in. But now… I have a request – that piece of filth tortured and almost killed a friend of mine who helped me a lot, I want to make him regret ever raising his hand against her before we kill him.

"

The black-haired boy shrugged his shoulders again and answered shortly before changing the subject back on the matter at hand…

Xeonith was quiet… too quiet…

"AS IF I LET ANYONE KILL ME! ROCKFALL!

"

As if he waited just for that, the brown-haired boy pushed his encased body high into the air, breaking through the warehouse's roof, and while mid-air he cast of the stone armor like a chrysalis and sent it down in the devastating rain that leveled not only the one warehouse but all the ones surrounding it too.

"ROCK ERUPTION!

"

As if that was not enough, he cast a follow-up spell, turning all the projectiles he created into bombs that started a chained eruption powerful enough to cause an earthquake that easily reached the Aspakeony Academy.

"Stone armor!

"

As Xeonith was falling back onto the ground, he recast the defensive spell, making himself a brand-new golem body just in case the murderer and his shadowy helper miraculously survived the attack that consumed just about half of his remaining mana, sending him straight into the beginning stage of the mana depletion state.

Needless to say, his landing alone caused another tremor, although this one on a much smaller scale and…

"GHUAGH…!

"

Only a second or two after his stone-clad feet touched the ground giving him a false sense of security, two ice spears flew right ut of the debris and impaled his armor's torso while also grazing his actual flesh and blood torso, although barely, making him let out a panicked scream when the ice mana came in contact with his earth mana, slowing its flow to a crawl.

"H-how…?!

"

Xeonith gasped, staring in disbelief at the pale-blue-haired man standing tall completely unharmed right next to an equally unaffected beastly shadow warrior.

"HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?! EVEN IF THE ROCKFALL DIDN'T KILL YOU, THE ROCK ERUPTION SHOULD…! Ah…!

"

The brown-haired boy lost his temper extremely easily and shouted his lungs out before he flinched and realized that although the place where the warehouse the three of them fought was destroyed by his initial spell, it looked like the chains explosion didn't reach it at all.

"HOW?!

"

Xeonith roared furiously.

"The explosion was quite nice, but there need to be any rocks around to explode in the first place, don't you think?

"

Zoemi shrugged his shoulders and the next moment all the debris around the three of them sunk into the murky darkness hidden beneath int until that point – and to make add insult to injury, the black-haired boy adjusted his shadow armor so that the beastly helmet disappeared for a moment, reviling his face to the stunned brown-haired boy.

"Espine's attendant…? You…?! B-but… you were a weakling…!

"

Xeonith gasped and almost stepped back – almost, because not only did the massive spears impaling him keep the golem-like armor in place but also his stone-clad legs partially sank in the darkness and were held in place by something that could not be seen from outside.

"PFFFFTH…! GHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I like you, kid! You want to torment him first to get back for what he did to your friend, right? Be my guest! ARROWS ONSLAUGHT!

"

Ludier trembled and finally burst out in hearty laughter, grinning wildly towards the unmasked black-haired boy, reached out his hands towards the incapacitated Xenith, and shouted an incantation.

"GHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH…!

"

At his command, hundreds upon hundreds of icicles materialized in the air all around him and pierced inside the stone armor just enough to graze and the body of the transcended earth magician hiding within, sending the numbing, agonizingly painful sensation right through his entire body.

"Interesting…

"

Zoemi glanced at the attack and flicked his hand, making a shadow raise for a split second and swallowing a few dozens of projectiles that overall didn't make any difference on the effectiveness of the attack.

Xeonith was becoming more and more like a porcupine, or an incredibly overburdened pincushion.

"Oh, so it's like that. Interesting, you both use the actual elements and put it together with mana in your spells instead of creating it from the mana alone – I was wondering how come some magicians could conserve their mana better than others of the same strength.

"

Zoemi nodded to himself – he could have reached for the shadow of the spell, but now that he could regain a portion of mana from the spell of another magician getting a hold of it in such a way was far more efficient.

"…ah, right, you are a shadow magician…. Out of the basic six attributes, the ones that have to actually create everything with mana are darkness, fire, and light.

"