The Wastes, Dartex's Capture

Elder Flock and Eluard landed on dark brown earth with barely any trees or animals in the area.

This was the Wastes, described as the turf of the demonic creatures that came from the Otherworld. The ground was corrupted by their foul aura for so many years that it adapted over time.

Elder Flock sensed the area by flowing his mana around. It was a technique known as zoned mana sensory, helpful in detecting nearby hidden threats, magic array formations, and other secrets that were out of the naked eye's reach.

The difficulty of the technique was high due to the mana's high reactivity when exposed outside. If one was careless, they would lose control of the mana they sent out.

Eluard could feel a pressuring sensation coming from the old man beside him.

'What sort of monster is this old guy? I understand that you want to sense something but it shouldn't be this domineering!'

Eluard wondered how powerful would Elder Flock be if he used his magic.

"I found it.", Elder Flock softly said.

He raised his right arm and pointed at the dead tree in front of them.

"Dissipate."

A single word was what it took before fragments of a magic formation array shattered into million pieces like glass.

Eluard became speechless. If others were to do this, it would take them a few minutes to do so.

A small entrance to a cave was then shown to them.

Elder Flock could sense the familiar ominous aura from Dartex.

"Dartex, it's no use now. Come out and prostrate yourself and I might bring mercy unto you."

An evil cackle resounded from the cave, "Mercy? Have you ever shown mercy to your student, you foolish old man!"

The earth crumbled as magma spewed out below.

Dartex wasn't surprised that Elder Flock and Eluard managed to track him.

Elder Flock pushed Eluard out with a simple flick of his left hand, landing kilometers away from Eluard's original spot.

"What?", he was dumbstruck. However, his daze didn't last long as large fireballs rained down from the sky.

"Cataclysmic Firefall!", Dartex shouted.

Elder Flock only gazed at the impending swathe of hot fireballs. He even had the confidence to play with his beard in front of Dartex.

"Oh, what a flamboyant display of your meager skills, Dartex. If you continued under my patronage, I would have worried that I might be injured from that."

"Shut up old man and die!", Dartex ignored Elder Flock's insult.

The latter snorted and flicked his right hand.

The clouds darkened and the wind became turbulent. It generated several tornadoes of large sizes and different magnitudes.

The force coming from them was so strong that the fireballs, despite how terrifying they were, started to flicker and died out a while later.

"Impossible!", Dartex was in disbelief. Little did he know that the tornadoes were sucking out the mana from his spell.

The tornadoes stopped and everything returned to normal.

"Clap of the Earthen Thunder!"

The mountains in the distance started to rumble and form into multiple 30-meter golems with thick arms and legs.

"Voiden Core!"

Dartex then infused his void mana into all the golems, turning them purplish-black and increasing their durability, speed, and strength.

"Roar!"

The void golems jumped quickly, landing in front of Elder Flock, and delivered punches straight at his minuscule figure.

Elder Flock simply waved his hand again.

Wind swiftly traveled through the void golem's body, cutting it like butter. The golem stopped in place before blasting into little chunks of earth.

Another void golem swooped its legs but Elder Flock flew to the air on time. He then circled his right arm around, suddenly enveloping the void golem in fire, melting the earth until only lava was left.

He then erected a strong wind barrier to his right side.

"Bam!"

A void golem tried to punch him but the force rebounded, pulverizing itself.

Eluard witnessed all of this pass in just half a minute.

He realized that every time Elder Flock silently casted a spell, his fingertips would emit a faint golden glint.

'Is that what they call divinity?', Eluard wondered.

…

"Is this all your worth, Dartex? I can't believe that the fallen genius would fall this far down."

Dartex tried to escape to bide more time for the demonic creatures to come over and help him.

Unfortunately, Elder Flock wasn't easily fooled.

"You shouldn't underestimate a true archmage, Dartex. We only let you do as you wish because… we were afraid that you might die on our hands accidentally."

"Divine Retribution."

Golden lightning struck, shattering all the void golems and electrifying Dartex all at the same time.

It was then followed by an ear-shattering thunder that violently shook the earth.

"Arfffff!!!"

Foam formed out of Dartex's mouth as he collapsed and blacked out.

His body that floated in the air fell on the ground with a loud thud.

"You can come over now.", Elder Flock said to Eluard.

Even though they were kilometers away, his voice sounded as clear as if he was beside Eluard.

"Elder Flock, is he still alive?", Eluard worried.

He wouldn't be able to complete the optional requirements of his special task if Dartex ended up dead.

"No, but his life is on the line. If he still wants to uphold his promise, returning to the living shouldn't be a problem for him.", Elder Flock explained.

Deep inside, however, Elder Flock decided to hand over Eluard instead of the League.

Originally, they planned to use Dartex as a tool to observe the Wastes. They knew that the Otherworld wouldn't maintain peace forever and it was time to prepare for the worst of things.

They pushed through with the plan despite how illogical it was because the Otherworld wasn't fond of forming relationships with others except themselves.

Years of surveillance led to nothing but disappointing results. It was way worse than they had imagined not because the Otherworld didn't form a pact with Dartex, but because Dartex developed his villainous personality more than what they had imagined.

They had to sacrifice a lot of personnel just to continue with their plan. With the increasing displeasure from the other high magisters, they decided to kill Dartex instead and put on the cloak of justice.

Today was supposed to be the day Elder Flock would kill Dartex.

The League intentionally let out rumors of the fact that they found the entrance to the Heavenly Magic Academy so that Dartex would come over and foil it.

However, knowing that a mole resided in their ranks, Elder Flock lost his trust in the League.

Handing Dartex's dead body back to them wasn't a worthwhile plan. Fortunately, a blessing arrived at the most fortunate time.

"Young man, you know the way to the Heavenly Magic Academy, right? If so, lead us there now.", Elder Flock advised before setting up a concealing magic array formation on their surroundings, "The demonic creatures won't stop until we are both dead and they retrieve Dartex."

"If you are truly someone from the Heavenly Magic Academy, now is the time to prove yourself to me."

Elder Flock was this worried because the Henderrals stationed in the Wastes were as powerful as Elder Flock himself.

They weren't an easy opponent to deal with and he had to compromise to Eluard even if it meant betraying the League in the process.

Regardless, he could leave Eluard if he deceived him.

Eluard understood Elder Flock's intentions and immediately conjured three teleportation magic circles under their feet.

Elder Flock widened his eyes, 'So it's real.', glancing at Eluard.

The magic circles flashed, teleporting them out of the Wastes before the demonic creatures arrived.