The Trip Back

"That dragon tail meat was really delicious..."

"If you say that one more time, I'll leave you in the woods."

Bryan shut his mouth.

Currently, they were traveling in the same path that they had used to go up. It's been half a day and they've traversed a little more than half of the path.

"Master, are you sure that it's fine to leave Sebastian there alone?"

"If Lady Fae is his guarantor, he'll be safe no matter what."

"True… I don't really see Lady Fae being bested by anyone. Though, isn't she just a Magus? Even if she's the strongest among the house heads, don't you think that pitting her against a Sage is a bit too much?"

Markus chuckled.

"Bryan, you don't know about the truth behind the tales sung about Lady Fae. My father personally told me about how I should never provoke her as all the influence in the world wouldn't save me from her anger."

"..."

Bryan gulped.

As someone who worked directly under Markus, he knew how terrifying the former head of the House of Luna was. The extent of his influence was something that he'd never hope to match in a hundred years.

"Besides, you wouldn't attack someone with an unknown ability, would you?"

"Certainly…"

Bryan had seen a little of it before. Fae holding up a giant pillar with one hand as if it was a feather. Even the strongest of the Walt House wouldn't be able to replicate such a feat so easily.

However, the tales spoke of her manipulating other powers as well.

Of course, it's not as if powers that had several uses didn't exist, in fact, there were quite a lot of them. However, none of them truly stood out like Fae's abilities.

"Are you sure we weren't followed?"

"Anyone below Magus wouldn't be able to see through my mist, and it isn't a problem to anyone because we're the last ones to leave the mountain."

"Well done."

Markus took a look outside of the window and he could see the mist from afar. Their front was completely clear while their surroundings were covered in mist.

"How long will you be able to maintain it?"

"It should be enough to last us for the rest of the trip if I don't have to fight any beasts on the way. It would be nice to have Sebastian take care of them for us."

"Hmph."

Markus snorted and closed the curtains on the window. He looked down on his book for a moment before frowning.

"Wait, something's wrong—!"

BOOOOOM

A giant explosion accompanied by the carriage flying off the side of the mountain and into the forest below. The wagons accompanying it had also been crushed under some rocks that had fallen.

Had it not been for the explosion, it could've passed for a landslide.

"Ugh…"

Markus opened his eyes as he heard Bryan groan. He didn't know how long he had been knocked out for, but it couldn't have been very long.

Markus kicked the tipped carriage's door open and stepped out. His head was bleeding and some of the blood had soaked his left eye but he had no time to mind it.

Looking up at the path they had been on, rocks covered them and there were even some small rocks falling.

Markus took out his sword and erased any of the rocks that could land on them before checking the wagons for other survivors.

"So this is your doing?"

All of a sudden, Markus thrust his sword behind him at the throat of a person covered in armor.

"This armor…"

"Hahaha!"

The person in the armor suddenly laughed.

"Speak, who are you?"

"Oh? So you aren't even going to believe for a second that I'm Sebastian Sol?"

"Do you think that he'd be able to evade my presence so easily?"

"You make a good point."

The person in the armor's voice was very androgynous but the armor he wore was the same as what Sebastian always wore when using his Soul Armor, it was a perfect copy.

"You've been a thorn on my master's side for far too long. And, seeing as how Sebastian Sol isn't traveling with the rest of you but instead, with that b*tch, Fae, I could only go with an alternative."

"..."

Sebastian's worries had come to fruition.

Last night, Sebastian had told him that the Sages were most likely planning an attack on the route back and would be sent back by Fae instead.

Markus guessed that he would be transported back with teleportation, though he didn't know the exact method.

'If he had rode in my or Jonathan's carriage…'

What amazing foresight.

Of course, Markus believed that Fae was the one who told Sebastian about the attack.

"Have you stopped daydreaming yet?"

"What do you want?"

"Finally, the details."

Though Markus wanted to cut them down as soon as possible, he couldn't. With his energy, he could feel that his opponent was on the same level as him—if not stronger.

"You will come with me, whether you like it or not. Your servants here? They're all dead. You understand?"

"Yes, I understand completely."

"Good—"

Just as the person finished speaking, Markus had stepped forward and slashed with his sword.

"So that's your choice? Fine."

Suddenly, dozens of people wearing masks had stepped out of the bushes and trees and surrounded the carriage and wagon.

"..."

"There's only going to be one ending, and that's with all of them dead and you bound."

Markus took a deep breath as he glanced at the people that had surrounded him. All of them were Adepts and there were even a couple of Casters mixed in them.

"As expected of the King of the Underworld, to be so thorough in trying to deal with one person."

"We don't want any loose ends. Get him."

Accompanying a battle cry, Markus and the unconscious servants were sieged by dozens of people.

"HAAA!"

Markus let out a roar as a pillar of light enveloped him and pushed back everyone below Caster. The servants were unharmed.

The two Casters that had been mixed in the crowd charged at Markus and fired their abilities.

Markus deflected them using his sword and fought back.

It didn't take long for him to cut both of them down. The gap between a Magus and a Caster was far too large to ignore. He pointed his bloodied sword at the person wearing Sebastian's armor.

"Aren't you going to get me yourself?"

"I'd be dirtying my hands unnecessarily."

Markus frowned. They couldn't possibly expect a bunch of Adepts to be able to take him down.

"Looks like they're here."

Just as the armored person finished, a giant claw threatened to cut him apart. Markus blocked it with his sword but was still sent crashing towards the carriage.

"Ack…"

As a Magus, he rarely received attacks that could hurt him so much like the latest attack had. He looked up despite his blurring vision and saw a beast standing on two legs.

"Werewolf… The Mad Dog."

The reason that Erakles was given the title of Mad Dog was because of his ability and his personality when using it.

He was like a fierce beast when fighting and his ability is to polymorph into a werewolf. Typically, his house could only do so under a full moon but with enough training, they could transform at any time.

When transformed, they could display tremendous power and have senses that far exceed humans. When it came to battle, he was the one nobody wanted to be matched against.

Markus forced himself to stand but all of a sudden, he saw a giant flame cover his vision. He quickly raised his sword and created a shield of light before falling down on one knee.

He raised his head and could see a dragon fly above them. Then, he looked at the wagons on the side, the bodies had been burnt to a crisp.

"..."

Markus was seething with anger. He bit his lip so hard that it bled as he forced himself to stand.

He brandished his sword despite knowing that he wouldn't stand a chance against a Sage, let alone two.

Odium dropped down from the giant dragon and stood near the armored person.

"You're still going to fight in this situation? It wouldn't be able to change anything."

Just as he raised his energy, a figure landed in front of him. It was a man whose body towered over Markus.

"Hahaha…!"

Markus could only laugh as he saw the identity of the person in front of him.

"To think that three Sages would go all this way to greet me!"

Markus didn't falter. He thrust his sword forward but the Conqueror, Eucliff didn't even flinch as he took the attack.

Markus felt a tremendous pressure assault his body as he was once again forced to kneel.

"AAAGGGGHHH!"

It wasn't a cry of pain, it was a cry of anger.

For the first time in years—no, for the first time in his life. Markus was truly angry. From the bottom of his heart, he wanted to tear apart the people in front of him.

"Weaklings shouldn't be so loud."

Eucliff spoke and kicked Markus so hard that his body broke the carriage in half.

Markus stood up as if he didn't notice the pain and ran forward with his sword.

The armored person finally made a move and met Markus in combat.

"Grand Judgment!"

Markus shouted as he fired a pillar of light at the Sages who were just watching from afar. Though he knew that his attacks wouldn't be able to do anything, he still did it. The armored person took the opportunity to launch a blow at Markus' ribs.

"Agh…!"

Markus staggered from the pain, but he didn't fall.

"You're resilient, I'll give you that."

The armored person raised his leg and kicked Markus from his left side. With his eye soaked in blood, he wasn't able to see and got hit. His body flew towards the carriage and he couldn't do anything but lay there helplessly.

"It's about time to end this."

The armored person walked toward the carriage but stopped. He raised his head and saw the clouds parting.

Alarm bells rang in his head and he quickly ran toward Markus but it was too late. A giant pillar of light crashed down from the sky and enveloped both the armored person and the Sages.

BOOOOM