Deep within the thick smoke, the instigator, Asa, stood with his back to the crowd, his hands occasionally gesturing to adjust the flow of magic.
That leisurely and composed demeanor made him unforgettable to everyone present.
"Boss."
Sascha murmured to herself, a complex emotion surging in her heart.
The more she interacted with him, the more she felt the secrets hidden within this Wizard were bottomless.
Perhaps he himself represented another possibility—a possibility of a world completely different from the wretched life before them. That was why people always wanted to get closer to him.
In this world, everyone has had enough.
There couldn't be a place more rotten than this.
Panam Palmer didn't have such delicate thoughts. Covering her nose and mouth, she uttered two words from the bottom of her heart:
"Badass."
Immediately after, she inhaled a wisp of residual smoke and began coughing violently.
On a certain day of a certain month in a certain year, Panam Palmer was choked by what Asa poured out.
Because Rebecca was too short, the toxic gas settled along the ground, making it almost impossible for her to keep her eyes open from the fumes.
The others had various expressions, but their moods were roughly the same.
Asa suddenly sensed a system notification that Sascha's favorability had increased, and he nodded slightly.
He never showed off for nothing.
As for the situation inside the mine, judging by the continuous kill notifications on the system interface, he could already guess the gist of it.
Caught off guard as the cave filled with high-temperature smoke, anyone who could die wouldn't be left. No matter how much Cyberware they had, the brain ultimately needs oxygen to function.
Asa had privately given this combo magic the name 'Gas Chamber.'
The creative inspiration came from a famous painter, and the therapeutic effect was genuinely excellent.
Among the four Elemental Magic types, Asa was most proficient in fire, which, after all, came from Sabrina's personal tutelage.
Among these, there was a high-level spell called Vassilas Smoke. It could create suffocating smoke that enveloped an entire house, causing the creatures inside to die of poisoning and suffocation.
However, the structure of this mine was complex and the caves were deep. Releasing Vassilas Smoke in place might not blow it inside. Therefore, it had to be paired with another spell, the atmospheric magic Brown's Bow.
Vassila and Braun were both powerful mages recorded by the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.
Vassilas Smoke was used to trap enemies, while Brown's Bow summoned strong air currents for auxiliary effects. It was originally used to help ranged weapons achieve greater range and penetration, but this time Asa used it to blow the thick smoke.
He continued to increase his magic output. His reserved air attribute dropped at a visible rate, soon approaching the warning line.
At this time, intermittent experience points were still coming in from deep within the mine; clearly, the fish that escaped the net hadn't been fully cleared out yet.
At such a critical moment, how could he let others see his embarrassment of running out of steam?
Asa decisively hit pause, returned to the Wizarding World to replenish a round of mana, and then switched back nonchalantly to continue casting.
As for the second round of battle with Yennefer and Sabrina, it wasn't worth mentioning.
The entire operation was smooth as flowing water. To an outsider, it looked like he had maintained his magic output for nearly ten minutes straight without a single drop of sweat on his face, the whole process being relaxed and easy.
Only when the system indicated that no more experience points were ticking did Asa stop.
The wind and smoke gradually receded.
A trail of white smoke rose on the distant horizon; that smoke was likely another exit of the mine.
Asa withdrew his gaze and patted the non-existent dust off his hands.
"Done."
Everyone looked at each other, and for a moment, no one spoke.
Pilar's neck suddenly elongated. While his body remained in place, his head had already leaned in front of Asa.
Realizing his body should follow, he rushed in front of Asa and dropped to one knee in an extremely fluid motion:
"Please teach me magic, Master!"
Before Asa could react, Rebecca came sprinting from afar on her short legs and kicked Pilar over with a flying kick.
"Stop messing around, you bastard!" After scolding her brother, she suddenly became a bit restrained, seemingly realizing that the request itself was a kind of offense.
Knowledge has value, and magic even more so. As mercenaries, how could they possibly afford such a price?
Was that half-step back movement serious? Such a small gesture hurts so much.
Asa watched the interaction between the siblings and nodded imperceptibly. Their relationship was quite good.
Scorpion stepped forward. This usually steady, hooded man rarely showed a cramped expression.
"Mr. Wizard," he said, weighing his words,
"Why not come to the camp tonight and sit with us?"
Asa heard Scorpion's words, but his gaze had already crossed him, casting toward the distant horizon where something was approaching.
"The inside of the mine should be cleared out. You can guard the other exits for any stragglers. The problem now is..."
"Someone is coming," he said in a deep voice.
"Probably drawn by the smoke."
Maine came down from a high point, his tone equally heavy,
"It's a Militech convoy. We've been spotted."
"This is quite a large formation this time."
As Asa spoke, he made an inconspicuous gesture.
A faint ripple of magic passed over his body. His temperament and face instantly became ordinary, and hidden among this group of bizarre-looking mercenaries, he was no longer noticeable.
...
The crushing defeat of the Militech intelligence team had clearly infuriated the higher-ups.
Meredith, the branch manager, had just taken office when the branch suffered such a major loss. Therefore, she issued a death order to the latest intelligence team, her original words being:
"If you don't find the culprit, go rot in the Badlands as Nomads."
Thus, the intelligence team spent day and night in the Badlands, refusing to let go of any possible lead.
They were naturally aware of the friction between the Nomads and the Wraiths, but according to their judgment, neither side could achieve such a clean and efficient cleanup.
The Nomads were too poor, and the Wraiths were too chaotic.
The missing agents must have been taken by someone else.
However, by staying near these two groups, they might stumble upon some clues—that was the judgment of the new intelligence team leader.
To this end, Militech even deployed the heavy equipment they had stationed in Night City.
On the horizon, a massive metallic silhouette was slowly emerging.
Chimera six-legged robots, Matador heavy armored vehicles, and numerous Pteranodon combat drones.
Such a grand display was certainly not to bully small fry like the Nomads and Wraiths; they were prepared for the mastermind in the Badlands who had secretly and completely ambushed the agents.
Perhaps, they were still hiding in the Badlands.