Chapter-28

After leaving the cave with the help of Malina, she had warned him not to seek the assistance of the Silvercrest family, emphasizing the need to be wary due to the presence of his stepmother. Theron examined the list of materials, recognizing some but not all. Despite taking a day to reach his destination, the fast train allowed him to travel swiftly. He headed straight back to Solara Haven, the academy city.

Solara Haven, apart from being the name of the academy, was also a city where numerous trades and transactions occurred. Theron had chosen to return there because of the city's reputation for having a wide variety of items available.

Upon arriving in the city, Theron immediately began searching for the materials Malina had requested. He managed to find most of them but encountered difficulties locating a few rare ones. Reflecting on his previous experience with the sunfire ginseng, Theron inquired about the appearances and information of the remaining materials beforehand from Malina. He successfully located the rest, except for one elusive item that he couldn't find, no matter where he asked.

Remaining calm, Theron decided to check the system shop. He found the last material he needed and purchased it for about 300 points.

After two days, Theron arrived back at the marsh, using the stone given to him by Malina. As he crushed it, Malina appeared behind him.

"You have arrived, young master."

Theron nodded in acknowledgment.

"Have you gathered all the materials?"

"Yes."

Malina approached Theron, smiling as she uncovered her appearance. She was a middle-aged woman with brown hair and brown eyes, retaining a certain beauty. Taking the ingredients from the bag Theron held, they returned to the cave.

After arriving at the cave, Malina looked back at Theron to say something but something struck her as she looked down to see that there was a silver sword pierced through her chest and Theron looking at her with cold eyes.

"Why?"

Theron retrieved the sword, and Malina, holding her body with the help of the wall, walked backward.

"Why would you attack me?"

She looked pained as she looked at Theron but Theron wasn't unfazed by her pleas and remained resolute.

"Stop lying"

"What would I lie?"

"I have told you everything" She screamed at him, then fell seemingly lifeless. Theron, however, didn't move and continued to observe the motionless body.

Suddenly, the body began to move, and dark smoke emerged from it. From the smoke, a male figure emerged, laughing.

"Hahahahahahaha! I never expected you to be so clever, young master. But it is not enough."

He had steel gray eyes, two horns on his head, black hair, a shaved beard and a scar run across his face. Despite the hole in his chest where Theron's sword had pierced him, the figure seemed unfazed. He continued to look at Theron as the wound started to regenerate. He looked like a demon rather than a human.

The cave started to glitch as if it was not real from the start as they appeared up above a flat mountain range and with plenty of caves. Then with a speed which Theron couldn't see but he was still able to block the strike with his katana due to his instincts but the force behind the punch made Theron flew like a broken kite as he smashed into a stone wall.

Dust started to appear as the demon from before started to clap.

"I never expected the young master to get this strong even after his condition"

"I always wondered why you didn't die"

Theron used the katana to get up as he spat out the blood from his mouth.

"What did you do to my mother for him to end up like that"

"I didn't want to do anything to her. I wanted to kill you instead. Why would Vivienne give birth to a hybrid like you, and why would she marry a useless human brat? I never understood her at that time, but I knew she must have been maliciously tricked by that evil human, or else how could she have married him? Yes, what else could it have been except for that?"

"Haha…..hahahahaha"

The demon's words grew frenzied as he repeated them, lost in his fantasy. Then, he turned to Theron, and his eyes grew colder.

"But you, you have always been a thorn in my plans. And for that, you will need to die."

A blackish magic spell structure or rather called a rune started to appear as blackish balls of mana formed from them and hurled towards Theron. He swiftly dodged and parried those he couldn't avoid. The barrage left dust swirling in the air. Sensing a presence behind him, Theron turned, but before he could react, the demon seized his head and slammed him into the wall. Struggling to break free, Theron's attempts to fight back were futile, as the monstrous figure held him firmly. 

Looking towards a specific cave in the mountain, the demon smirked. The demon felt something wrong as he looked down to see a fiery hand through his chest. The hand emanated flames, and the demon, caught off guard, released Theron, who slumped against the wall.

"There have been many surprises you brought, but they have not been as big as this one," the demon remarked, observing Theron's hands now ablaze.

"Hahahahahaha! Even if you have mana and can use spells, what would you even do with it? Hahahaha!" The demon laughed mockingly

"You should rather look at yourself." Theron, with a calm yet determined demeanor, pointed at the demon. The demon, glancing down, saw the wound that should have healed now expanding, and a fiery blaze burning through his insides, consuming his mana veins. A scream of agony escaped the demon.

"NO, HOW DO YOU HAVE THAT! YOU ARE A HUMAN, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO OBTAIN THAT!"

Using his last reserves of power, the demon attempted a desperate rush towards Theron. A spell rune appeared upon Theron's hands as a fireball the size of a basketball appeared and continued to expand as sweat started to appear on Theron's head. The ball of fire was now the size of a small car.

The demon seeing the golden flame though not similar to the flame he had always been afraid of, it held the same aura and he knew he would die if he didn't run as he started to run but the ball of fire seemed to be like a sun rushing towards him as he screamed and an explosion appeared.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"