“I can’t do that! The things here are more important! Even if it were Mentor Reynold, he would choose to defend this area as well!”
Wade gazed out of the window. Through the fixed spying channel, he could see that the Four Seasons Garden was already engulfed in a sea of fire, within which countless dark Magi in black robes were plundering as they liked.
“Damn it! The leader of the defense squad died in battle, vice team leader Dolorin is nowhere to be found, and the leaders of the hunting and battle teams are busy. If not, I would be able to assign a few of our Magi to give support there…”
“My lord, don’t worry. Lord Pierre, who’s in charge of the merit points exchange centre, is also a peak rank 1 Magus. Blood Rogue won’t be able to pass through so easily…”
Beside Wade, that secretary with an hourglass figure adjusted her glasses, trying to console him.
“It’s too late. Pierre has already died in battle! Our warehouse is going to fall into the hands of those wretched dark Magi!”
Wade slammed his fist onto Reynold’s desk, leaving behind a deep imprint of a fist.
“Teacher! How great would it be if you were here…” All of a sudden, weak thoughts began appearing in Wade’s mind.
Shortly after, he couldn’t help but laugh at his moment of weakness. However, his hands were still trembling within the sleeves of his robes. Due to their superior spiritual force and senses, compared to the regular man, Magi’s premonitions were quite accurate. Though they seldom appeared, it was a real possibility that such premonitions would actually come to pass.
“What? Pierre died in battle? How can that be? He’s a peak rank 1 Magus! Could it be that there’s another rank 2 dark Magus fighting here?”
The surrounding Magi became restless at the thought. Peak rank 1 Magi were, in normal circumstances, the most powerful beings in the south coast. In a situation where rank 2 Magus did not appear, they were the rulers, goals, and idols of most Magi.
However, what they had thought to have been a sturdy mountain they could count on had collapsed, leaving the Magi present in shock.
“No! Calm down, everyone!” The moment the words left his mouth, Wade realised that he had misspoken, and quickly tried to steer the conversation away.
“Though the dark Magi have a very aggressive approach this time, thus leading to a huge loss in our members and resources, please believe in the Four Seasons Garden. Believe in the elders, and believe in my mentor, the rank 2 Magus, Lord Reynold.”
“Just hang on for fifteen more minutes! The Lightning Fury from the light Magi alliance will arrive, and once that happens, we’ll make the dark Magi who killed our friends and family pay the price!”
Each word was dripping with blood, arousing feelings of hatred from the Magi present. Faced with a common enemy, the Magi calmed down.
Upon seeing that the situation had stabilised, Wade could only sigh.
The light Magi of the Four Seasons Garden were similar to a few scientific researchers that Leylin had known. For them, their main work was to experiment, not to kill, and when they engaged with dark Magi, these official Magi performed very poorly.
Besides the few small teams that were in charge of battling and defending, most of the other light Magi who were in charge of exploring the secret plane and taking care of the plants had died.
At this thought, Wade glanced at the teams from the Four Seasons Garden who were clad in crimson armour.
They looked extremely calm, not even revealing the slightest change in expression even after hearing the news of Pierre dying in battle, and of all of their resource warehouses being taken over by the enemy. They were still loyally going about their duties.
“Fortunately, the Four Seasons Garden still has a trump card! With the members of the Four Seasons Corps here, at the very least, the core of the gate to the Eternal River Plains’ secret plane will be safe!”
Wade consoled himself.
As long as the core body of consciousness was in their hands, the light Magi of the Four Seasons Garden would still be in control of the gate to the secret plane. In that case, even if they suffered a devastating loss, all could eventually be regained.
It was with this in mind that after seeing the formidable attack by the dark Magi in Experiment Zone 3, Wade had chosen to pull back his forces and relocate all his men to this place. Everything was in preparation to defend the core body of consciousness to the death.
This type of core body of consciousness could only exist within the Eternal River Plains’ secret plane. It could not be too far away from the platinum gate, and it was for this reason that a few light Magi organisations were stationed nearby to protect it, rather than simply bringing it back to the headquarters for safekeeping.
*Ka-cha!*
*Ka-cha!*
All of a sudden, the crisp sound of bones breaking was heard twice.
Two Magi fell, shock still apparent on their faces, while they still had their eyes on the comrades that they had fought alongside.
“Matt, Ernie! What are you doing?”
The surrounding Magi quickly retreated, fearfully roaring at the two Magi whose hands were dripping with blood.
*Shua shua shua!* What was even faster was Four Season’s Corps, who were in the blood-red armour. They turned into a few red streaks and encircled these two Magi.
“Hehe! Every time I see you pitiful light Magi, I immediately connect you guys to meek little lambs crushed in a lion’s mouth.”
Amidst the sneers and taunting, the bodies of the two light Magi underwent a very bizarre change.
Pieces of skin floated to the ground like leaves, revealing two foreign figures. One of them was bald, spare a few pitiful strands of hair at the top of his head, while the other was short and obese, with incisors that were unique to mice.
These two supposed light Magi were actually impersonators!
“It’s them! Thousand Faces and Shadow! They’re rank 5A fugitives, and are on the wanted list! Be extremely careful; it’s said that they are experts in shapeshifting, and can disguise themselves to resemble multiple different Magi within seconds, and without being caught.” Out of all the light Magi present, someone recognised the two dark Magi.
Of course, the real Matt and Ernie had long since been killed. As for when this had happened, none of the light Magi had any clue at all.
“Hehe! The trump card of the Four Seasons Garden, the Four Seasons Corps? I’ve long since heard of this name!” Even while surrounded, the bald Thousand Faces did not seem nervous at all. His tiny eyes calmly scanned the area, and then snickered, “What a pity! I don’t seem to see anyone particularly exceptional within your group.”
In response to such taunts, the members of the Four Seasons Corps gave a single answer.
*Huala!*
The armour on their body vibrated, blood-red thorny runes seeming to come to life as they shot into the air, forming thistle-like apparitions.
The innumerable apparitions merged together and formed a dense cage, trapping Thousand Faces and Shadow within it.
“Haha… The only thing you have worth showing off is this thorny cage…”
Thousand Faces couldn’t stop laughing, but from the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, it was evident that he was not as relaxed as he tried to present himself.
“Shadow, are you done yet? The members of the Four Seasons Corps aren’t so easily fooled. With just a slight misstep, you and might even die here.”
Thousand Faces silently transmitted a message to Shadow.
“Soon! I’m almost there. I need silence!” Shadow’s answer revealed that his throat was parched, and an obvious sense of urgency.
“Alright. If not for the generous rewards that the organisation is giving us, I wouldn’t do this sort of thing even if my life was threatened!” Shadow finally spoke.
*Boom!*
The huge, dull, red thorny cage kept compressing and shrinking the area within, and countless little thorns appeared, which, like bee
s, headed straight for the two dark Magi within.
*Bzz bzz! Tzz tzz!*
The tiny thistle thorns were like flying needles as they relentlessly pricked into the bodies of the two dark Magi, producing spots of fresh crimson blood.
Strangely enough, their expressions were unchanged, as if their bodies were not their own.
“Be careful!” One of the members of the Four Seasons Corps warned, and the cage that was full of barbed thistles made contact with the two dark Magi within.
*Woo woo!*
At that instant, the surface of the two Magi’s bodies turned black, and a ring of fine red tassels exploded out of the duo’s bodies.
“This…” Wade was slightly suspicious about this, and he seemed to remember something, quickly yelling, “Get out of the way!”
However, it was much too late. The two charred bodies smirked, extending their arms.
*Boom!*
The tremendous sound waves from the explosion engulfed the office and were followed by a huge amount of black smoke.
In the ensuing waves from the explosion, all of Reynold’s furniture and documents turned into dust, and what had originally been his work desk was sliced in two, revealing the sealing spell formation underneath it.
“Clones and a high-energy bomb!”
Seeing the office that was in complete disarray, as well as the many Magi who had fallen, Wade grit his teeth.
“My Lord, are you alright?” The frightened female secretary Magus hastily ran over.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine…” Wade waved his hands.
After that, an odd expression appeared on his face, and his robes began to float.
The plants that had originally been mere decorations seemed to come to life, turning into vines that grabbed hold of the female Magus in front of him.
“You… My Lord! What are you doing?”
The female secretary had been held in such a position that her legs were spread wide apart, presenting a humiliating pose in front of Wade. She still held traces of embarrassment and confusion in her eyes.
“Thousand Faces! Don’t try to swindle me! This female Magus was on my bed just last night; I’m a lot more knowledgeable about her body than you will ever be!” Wade retreated several steps, coldly viewing the female secretary Magus caught in the vine.
“Hehe! I guess I was found out…”
A maniacal smile appeared on the secretary’s face, followed by a fluctuation that revealed a bald head.
“It’s a pity that you forgot about me!”
The yellow floorboard under Wade’s feet suddenly flipped over, and a dagger that was flashing with silvery-white light stabbed towards his abdomen!
A Blink Of An Eye
This silver dagger was obviously a magic artifact; it even had a menacing, silvery glint on its blade.
Wade’s innate defense spell immediately materialised into an armour of vines to protect him, but he was still pierced through by the silver white dagger.
As much as Wade was not resigned to his fate, he crashed to the ground, dyeing the area in a pool of red.
The brown yellow boards contorted, finally turning into the shape of a black figure.
“You guys had only noticed the changes that I, Thousand Faces, had made, but you forgot that the darkness can turn into a shadow and attach itself to any object…”
Wade was severely injured, and did not have much spiritual force or magic power left, so naturally, the vines that bound Thousand Faces had now slackened.
Thousand Faces massaged his wrist as he smirked.
*Ka-Cha!*
Suddenly, a flashing arc of red light pierced through his neck, causing blood to spurt out from his throat.
“It’s a pity that you have also underestimated us from the Four Seasons Garden!”
*Pu!* A member of the Four Seasons Corps, who seemed to be a team leader, retrieved his blood-red sword and pointed it at the location where the shadow was.
With another flash of red light, the thorny prison appeared once more, encircling Wade.
Not only could the prison of thorns be used to ensnare and kill enemies, it was also used as a form of a barrier for allies.
“Protect the Lord! Leave him to me!” This team leader exclaimed.
Shortly after, four long, blood-red shadows pierced the skies, appearing outside the prison of thorns.
“Thousand Faces died just like that!” Shadow looked around in disbelief.
In accordance with the current mess in the office, many Magi had lost their ability to move after that high-energy bomb. However, with the protection of their blood-red armour and innate spells, the members of the Four Seasons Corps did not receive serious injuries. They had already moved and completely blocked Shadow’s escape route.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
Shadow constantly surveyed his surroundings and roared with rage. “Despicable! I was deceived! What happened to the support that the organisation promised me? Where is it?”
Based on this situation, it seemed that Thousand Meddling Hands had issued them missions, but hidden a lot of important information. They had probably also promised some false rewards.
“Hmph! They are truly dark Magi! When it comes to this sort of situation, they’ll only care about themselves!”
The leader of the Four Seasons Corps snorted and then pointed at the place with the seal. “Team 2 is to guard that area. Do not let anyone get in there!”
A small group from the Four Seasons Corps immediately dashed to the seal spell formation, and a red circle of light brightened again.
The leader waved his blood-red longsword, aiming it at Shadow.
“You make me angry! In the fifty years that I’ve been carrying out missions, it’s the first time that my target has been hurt! Are you ready to pay the price?”
Energy particles constantly shimmered around his body as a formidable spiritual force emitting from his body and engulfing Shadow.
His gaze was especially sharp as if he was staring at prey that he had settled on, which caused Shadow to shudder in fear.
“Wait, wait… We can discuss this. I know a lot of information about the Thousand Meddling Hands. We can work together…”
Shadow yelled out insincere words that attracted attention, a layer of magic that was so thin it was almost invisible flickering under his feet.
*Shua!*
His body transformed into a black streak, basically surpassing the limits of what the naked eye could see. In an instant, he charged out of the circle of the Four Seasons Corps Magi that had trapped him within.
Shadow flickered a few times and separated into a few similar-looking black shadows that dashed in various directions.
*Ka ka!*
In response to this, the team leader merely laughed condescendingly and fiercely stabbed his blood-red longsword into a wooden floorboard in front of him.
Ripples that were like ocean waves extended throughout the area.
A brown “human figure” sprung out of the ripples.
*Rumble!* The leader quickly came before Shadow, his blood-red longsword slashing across and forming a bright arc.
*Ka-cha!* The transparent armour and pendant at Shadow’s chest shattered just like that. The longsword then ruthlessly sliced into his chest, spilling fresh blood everywhere.
*Pak!* Shadow fell heavily, and the leader of the Four Seasons Corps approached. With his right foot, which was clad in a metal shoe, he stepped on Shadow’s chest. “Run! Why are you running?”
*Ka-cha! Ka-cha! Ka-cha!*
Tiny, and yet piercing, sounds of bones breaking was heard from Shadow’s chest.
Large amounts of foam and blood spilled out of the corner of Shadow’s mouth as if he wanted to say something.
That round of intense battle had happened so quickly. In almost ten or so seconds, all of this had happened, and the Magi who had fallen were unable to react at all.
At this point, the faint black mist had yet to completely
disperse.
“Hm? Wait, no!” The leader who was stepping on the chest of Shadow suddenly turned, his expression changing to one of alarm and anger.
Then, he simply gave up on Shadow and rushed to the front of the seal spell formation.
“Blood Restraint!” The leader’s large hands grabbed forward into the air! Shortly after, a light green human figure was snatched out of thin air.
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