Chapter 75
Serbian looked at the gory scene in front of him and listened listlessly to the muffled screams.
A cloth was stuffed into the black mage's mouth.
His circle's connection to the heart had been cut off.
Serbian did it thoroughly.
When the first black mage's presence was confirmedin zolar town, the remains had been sent to the Royal Academy research lab.
And Theodore had personally presided over the experiment.
Now Serbian looked at the scene before him.
When the connection between a mana circle and the heart was severed, a mage's internal pathways crumbled from within.
He became completely crippled.
Professor Ashvile had been the mastermind behind the idea.
"We should use the theory of attempting different mana commands to cripple them.
A mage who attempts it without understanding it is left with devastating results.
Same should be true if an external force disrupts the natural mana flow.
After all, we need a fast and certain method to deal with them. And this is the most efficient way."
Serbian remembered her hardened expression.
And Theodore's experiment had led to the verification of this idea.
This resulted in a quick breakthrough.
Now, they hadn't expected to deal with another black mage so soon.
It was still rough around the edges, and Serbian was the only one close to mastering the new mana command theory.
So he had to come up with a crude method to deal with the black mage on his own.
He simply didn't have enough time to understand the new spell.
He closed his eyes.
The sounds of intense battle replayed in his mind.
The monsters had chased them relentlessly.
Crack.
Boom.
The battle had gone on for the whole day.
And just when they had some relief, another misfortune struck.
Serbian looked at the intelligent monster with horrified eyes.
Homeright and Arnold's condition was worsening.
Zewwww—
The air split apart, and an arrow landed in the monster's front eye out of nowhere.
Serbian looked at the arrow.
He had seen similar ones during their journey, but he hadn't had time to pay attention.
Boom.
Boom.
A sword struck the monster's skull while arrows bombarded its entire body.
But compared to a mage's damage, it was far less effective.
Serbian looked at the person appearing before them.
The knight commander shouted,
"Surround it! Don't let it open its mouth, otherwise we're finished!"
A spear descended from above and impaled the monster's jaw, tightly shutting its mouth as soon as the command was given.
The knight commander was already conjuring small blades.
Countless sword-like images struck the monster's body, multiple shards slicing its skin.
But they only cut a few centimeters before stopping.
He gritted his teeth.
They were weak.
Incredibly so.
The Princess was right.
Yet she had chosen to leave them here—with the professors who bore the brunt of the monster's assault.
That alone showed her trust in them.
"Ahhhhh—"
A low shout escaped his mouth.
The knights completely surrounded the monster.
They were weak.
But they had numbers.
They would whittle it down slowly.
He knew his weakness better than anyone.
So he read and read, memorizing as much information on monsters as he could.
But there was little available on intelligent monsters.
Still, he knew that didn't excuse his shortcomings.
The monster resembled a small dragon, only a few meters in length.
But he knew these types possessed dangerous spells originating from their mouths or breath.
So he had its jaw impaled—on a guess.
And he had been right.
It thrashed violently, trying to shake off the spear.
Crack.
Boom.
The spear shattered into multiple pieces.
Blood dripped down its jaw.
But Knight Commander Leonard didn't let up.
"Attack!"
The shout rang out again, and they struck the head from multiple directions.
A wire wrapped around its mouth, trying to shut it again—but it snapped easily.
Still, the monster didn't get the chance to open it again.
Crack.
Its jaw was broken into two parts by an earthen spear.
Leonard didn't look back at Serbian and rushed forward to attack.
Homeright leaned against the edge of a broken carriage.
Between shallow breaths, he noticed a shadow.
His body reacted instantly.
A small flame ignited behind the shadow's neck.
Tuck.
The figure collapsed, cleanly knocked unconscious.
He signaled Serbian.
Then rushed toward the shadow.
A person lay there unconscious.
He was a mid-grade mage—someone who should have been in Zolar Town.
He opened his eyes and tried to attack as soon as he regained consciousness.
But Homeright shattered one side of his arm and shoulder, knocking him unconscious again.
"Haa… haa…"
Leonard breathed heavily.
They had been fighting for a long time, and the monster still made them tremble with fear.
There were twenty magic knights—trained in both magic and swordsmanship since childhood.
Yet the abomination before them refused to fall.
"Ahhhhh!"
He lunged at the monster again.
Although they had disabled its primary attack, its physical strength alone left them speechless.
Leonard raised his sword.
The air split apart—
and he brought it down on the monster's neck.
Zinnnnng—
The blade cut clean through, completing a full circle.
Blood splattered.
"Eh…?"
Leonard was stunned.
He hadn't expected his attack to land so easily.
He had been prepared to sacrifice his life just to sever the monster's head.
Something felt wrong.
The monster had been lively moments before his strike.
But its eyes had dimmed just before the attack landed.
Serbian immediately gathered mana and used a holy amulet to burn the monster's corpse.
The unconscious black mage lay before them.
Serbian took out the exchange crystal—it had gone dark.
His eyes dimmed.
His fists clenched so tightly that his nails pierced his palms.
Blood slid down his fingers—he didn't even notice.
Homeright's face drained of all color.
Arnold didn't say a word.
A whip formed silently in his hand.
Zinnnng—
It lashed through the air and tore into the mage's body.
Tuck.
Tuck.
Crack.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Each strike landed harder than the last—until flesh split and bone began to show.
Crack.
The knee shattered.
Still, he didn't stop.
Tap.
A hand grabbed his wrist.
Serbian.
"Stop it, Arnold… it won't change anything."
Arnold froze.
For a moment, his body trembled—like something inside him was about to break.
Then he turned.
His eyes were bloodshot. Wild. Unfocused.
"This… this bastard…"
His voice came out hoarse—barely held together.
"He was right beside us…"
His grip tightened on the whip.
His voice cracked.
"And all this time—"
His breath hitched violently.
"He was dragging us into this… into this hell…"
Silence suffocated the air.
Then hollow, broken words resounded.
"The students are gone…"
A pause.
"Zain is gone…"
His lips trembled.
"The Princess is gone…"
The whip slipped slightly from his hand.
"Just like that…"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
His shoulders shook.
"All because of this… this piece of filth…"
The last words came out as a breath, not a voice.
Homeright turned away and drove his fist into a tree.
Thud.
The bark cracked.
But he didn't feel it.
The knight commander and the others stood frozen.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
The weight of the words crushed down on them—slow, suffocating, inescapable.
The Princess…
Gone?