“Haa… haaa…”

Neron panted heavily as he struggled to take a good look around him.

His blurry vision could barely piece together the silhouettes that slithered in the darkness, and the pain all over his body did not help matters.

‘I can sense about twenty of them. They all have Blood Stones…’ 𝘪𝑎.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He didn’t have enough Mana to generate any attack, and his body was in too bad a condition to run.

For the first time in his life, Neron felt truly helpless.

“T-this kid… don’t tell me he killed Lord Kissel.”

“How is that even possible?”

“Are we even a match for him? Can we capture him without Lord Kissel?”

“You fool! He’s all beat up! Of course we can.”

As the words of the respective Mages of the Coven whispered words to themselves, they advanced closer to Neron.

‘N-no! Stay back! Stay back!’ His thoughts screamed.

Unfortunately, they didn’t even hear him, talkless of paying him any heed.

‘I have to try something. Even if I have to squeeze out the last ounce of Mana from my body… I have to—!’

~VWUUUUUUMMM!~

Before he could conclude his thoughts, a sudden pressure covered his body.

While he couldn’t properly move before, he couldn’t even feel any part of his body at this point.

It felt like he was being crushed by something heavy.

‘W-what is this…?!’ His eyes nearly popped out of his sockets as he felt a powerful presence appear.

“This is quite the surprise.”

As the voice echoed in the night, Neron saw the approaching silhouettes cease their movements and fall to their knees.

“Here I was, wondering what was causing the delay. I never expected such an outcome…”

The voice sounded oddly familiar to Neron, but he couldn’t quite place it.

“He actually managed to defeat Kissel and delay the plan for so long. It’s a good thing I came when I did.”

Neron felt a rattling under his skin.

This man was on a completely different level compared to Kissel.

Neron struggled to raise his head despite the pressure, fighting to see the man whose presence caused such a stir among everyone around him.

“Interesting. You are even resisting my Mana Pressure. You’ve grown since I last saw you… Neron.”

As soon as Neron heard him call his name, a face instantly manifested in his mind.

‘Y-you are…!’

His eyes became clear thanks to the Mana he infused within it and he managed to raise his head to look upon the man who caused all of this.

Just as Neron thought, the looming figure that floated about him was someone he knew quite well.

‘Father had two apprentices. He was the less talented one… an Archmage of the Eastern Kingdom.’

—Lord Landon!

“It seems you recognize me well.” The elderly man smiled as he looked down on the boy.

As he descended, his wrinkled gaze made Neron chilly inside.

“I know you must be confused. Someone like you wouldn’t understand. I won’t bother trying to explain—neither to you nor your father.”

Neron already understood without needing any further explanation

“You’re their leader… aren’t you?” He managed to croak out.

“Isn’t that obvious? I’m the Coven Leader of the Blood Mages.”

Lord Landon now stood before Neron, partially squatting as he looked at the boy who was now gritting his teeth.

“And you… are my prize.”

With a snap of his fingers, Neron was utterly paralyzed, unable to control even a single Mana Particle.

All his senses were suspended, and he felt like he was plunged into a world of darkness.

Like a vegetable, his face became blank, and everything around him ceased to make any modicum of sense.

This truly was the end for him.

“Sleep tight, kid.”

Thus, everything went blank.

*******

“Haaa… what a mess.”

Landon sighed as he had Neron float above him.

His Original Magic, Dark Cocoon, served many purposes.

However, its most notable function was to separate anything within the Cocoon from the effects of reality.

As such, It served as the ultimate cage for a captive, as well as the ultimate defense for himself.

Landon looked at his subordinates, the twenty Blood Mages who had been so hesitant to capture a wounded boy.

“You wasted too much time.” He glared at them. “Let’s get going now.”

As Landon floated in the air, he expected his subordinates to activate their Magic Item to do the same, but some of them hesitated.

“W-what about the others?” One of the Blood Mages dared to ask.

“They went to delay the Butler. Now that we’ve captured the target, we can still go and rescue the—”

“Don’t bother. They’re already dead.” Landon responded, his eyes narrowed on his subordinates.

“I no longer detect their presence nor the power of the Blood Stones.”

He frowned slightly as he ascended further into the sky.

“Damn that Aldred. Even with the Trump Card I prepared for them, he still managed to eliminate them.”

No… it wasn’t Aldred that got on his nerves the most.

It was the boy he currently had in custody.

‘Someone like him, defeating a well-accomplished Mage… how absurd.’

Kissel was a man who had developed his Original Magic. He wasn’t very strong, yes, but his utilization of Magic was excellent.

Yet, a single brat did him in? It was preposterous!

Neron couldn’t be said to be a genius any longer. He was something beyond that.

‘They’ve wasted too much time, but fortunately, we have gotten our prize.’

All of Landon’s subordinates rose with him, and they began to depart from the estate.

However…

~VWOOOOOOOOMMMM!~

A sudden white veil instantly spread over the sky and covered the entire landscape.

The ground soon became white, and everything around immediately suffered the same fate.

There was nothing in sight except blankness.

“No…” Landon whispered to himself as his eyes slowly bulged.

He recognized this power. It was impossible for him not to know who it belonged to. 𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮

His body trembled as he looked behind him, only to see the very person he went to great lengths to avoid.

“Lord Mordred!”

𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮