The forest at night was even gloomier than the campsite.
The moonlight was blocked by layers of tree canopies, and only thin slivers of silver light filtered through the gaps between the leaves.
The dim night plunged everything a short distance away into pitch darkness.
The surroundings were silent, save for the occasional chirping of distant insects and the footsteps of two people.
Lahar walked in front, his pace quick and carrying a hint of impatience.
Byakuran followed half a step behind, his eyes sweeping over the surrounding area as he maintained basic vigilance.
However, before they had even reached their expected destination, a figure suddenly stepped out from behind a tree ahead of them.
First, a boot appeared.
Then half a face.
A gloomy man stood in their path with a ferocious grin, wearing the expression of someone who had waited a long time and had finally gotten what he wanted.
“Council hounds and bastard Mages of the Light Guild…”
“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Before his voice had even faded, more figures dressed in black robes emerged from behind the surrounding trees, from the bushes, and even from the branches overhead.
The hems of their robes fluttered despite the absence of wind as they gradually surrounded the two.
Lahar’s expression changed drastically.
His steps froze, and his hand immediately went to the weapon at his waist.
“You are…!”
“The master of Pandemonium—Mard Geer!”
“Impossible! How could there be an ambush here? I was clearly monitoring your every move!”
A trace of panic leaked into his voice.
Cold sweat appeared on his forehead and glimmered beneath the moonlight.
A sudden burst of laughter erupted from all around them, sounding especially harsh in the silent forest.
“Hahaha!”
“You Council idiots. From the moment you first invaded, we already discovered you.”
“All of your subsequent actions were under our surveillance.”
The enemy opposite them wore a mocking expression as he ridiculed Lahar’s failure.
“At first, we considered eliminating you immediately and abandoning our preparations here so we could escape.”
“But our ceremony had already reached its critical stage and was about to succeed.”
“So we decided to let you keep your miserable life for a little longer.”
“We wanted you to lower your guard and buy us some time.”
Mard Geer couldn’t help feeling proud of his own cleverness.
Not only had he successfully achieved his goal, but he had also toyed with the Council that had been hunting them all this time.
“Sure enough, you people had no idea what we were doing.”
“After returning, you only began monitoring our movements. Even then, you dragged your feet on the extermination operation time and time again before finally deciding on a plan.”
By the end of his speech, Mard Geer’s face was filled with unmistakable arrogance and smugness.
“And now our ceremony has succeeded, granting us invincible power.”
“You are no longer anything worth fearing.”
Lahar’s face turned pale.
“H-How could this be?!”
Byakuran was equally speechless.
The Council really isn’t reliable enough.
It was one thing that they hadn’t noticed the major activity taking place behind enemy lines.
But they had actually been counter-surveilling them?
Doesn’t that mean everything I did today was completely within the enemy’s calculations?
How am I supposed to play this game?
If the person who had come with Lahar hadn’t been Byakuran but some ordinary Mage, they would have been in serious trouble.
Of course, if Byakuran hadn’t come, the person who would have been sent was Jura.
So there probably wouldn’t have been much trouble either.
After Lahar fell into a brief period of self-blame, he subconsciously tightened his grip on the weapon at his waist.
Then, catching sight of Byakuran from the corner of his eye, he suddenly remembered the strength Byakuran had displayed before.
His confidence returned.
Straightening his back, his voice rose as well.
“This is my dereliction of duty.”
“But you didn’t run away. Instead, you came here to ambush us.”
“I don’t know what gave you such confidence, but now that you’ve appeared in front of us again, you have nowhere to run.”
“Obediently surrender!”
“Hahaha!”
Another burst of mocking laughter erupted around them.
Some of the black-robed figures bent over and slapped their thighs, while others deliberately poked their faces out from beneath their hoods, watching the situation as though it were an entertaining show.
“You really underestimated us.”
“Originally, we thought that if your reinforcement was some famous and powerful Mage, then there would be no point risking our lives fighting you.”
“The ceremony is already complete. We could simply pack up and leave.”
“But instead…”
“You brought such a brat with you.”
The leader’s grin became ferocious.
“Really, don’t look down on people too much!”
As he spoke, his body suddenly began to tremble violently.
His body and face began changing drastically.
His shoulders and back bulged outward.
His fingers elongated into sharp claws.
Crooked, bony protrusions emerged from his forehead.
His eyes were transformed into two points of burning red light.
His terrifying demonic appearance was fully revealed.
The black energy surrounding him was so intense that the bark of the nearby trees was peeled away piece by piece.
“Now I possess invincible power.”
“I am no longer some insignificant weakling you can chase around whenever you please.”
The bodies of the others surrounding them also began to swell.
Their black robes tore apart as their bodies transformed into monstrous forms.
They completely abandoned their human appearances.
The scene instantly became a chaotic gathering of demons.
“Have you seen it?”
“This is our perfect demonic form.”
“Fear our power!”
Byakuran had been watching the entire performance for quite some time.
Seeing that the atmosphere had reached the appropriate point, he calmly stepped forward.
The scattered moonlight illuminated his slightly immature face, contrasting sharply with the distorted shadows around him and making his figure appear somewhat thin.
Yet there wasn’t even a trace of surprise or fear on his face.
He casually picked his ear, as though the entire conversation they had just exchanged was nothing more than the buzzing of flies.
Afterward, he even blew lightly on his little finger.
His expression carried a hint of impatience.
“You’ve been talking and babbling for ages.”
“Can we start fighting now?”
As he spoke, Byakuran prepared to take a stance and use his magic to deal with this group of creatures that were neither human nor demon.
“Wait!”
The leading demon suddenly shouted.
Byakuran stopped.
The ferocious smile disappeared from the ugly face of the demon and was replaced by a solemn expression.
His claws almost slammed into his chest.
Then, with lightning speed, he pulled a magic tool from his robes and quickly pressed a button.
Pop!
The magic tool lit up.
A screen of light appeared in the air.
It was a communication device.
The projected image showed a somewhat dilapidated village.
In the center of the village were ordinary villagers.
Several children had been forced to the ground, huddling together and comforting one another.
Standing around them were numerous figures wearing the same black robes as the demons before them.
Each one held a weapon and stared hungrily at the hostages.
“The villagers of Red Apple Village have all been captured by us.”
“Are you sure you still want to fight?”
“If you make a move, my men will immediately kill one hostage.”
“And then another.”
“They’ll all die because of you.”
Byakuran’s movements suddenly stopped.
His expression changed drastically.
He didn’t dare make another move.
“How despicable!”
Lahar couldn’t contain his anger when he saw the hostages.
“Only by surviving can we have everything.”
Mard Geer’s smug expression returned.
“What does being despicable matter?”
“Before you even set out, my men had already been ordered to capture hostages.”
“All to deal with you.”
Byakuran’s expression became strange.
“Wait.”
“Just a moment ago, you were looking down on me and acting as though you could wipe us out with a flick of your finger.”
“So why did you capture hostages beforehand to threaten us?”
Faced with this sudden contradiction, Byakuran, who hadn’t panicked even once until now, finally found it difficult to maintain a straight face.
I’m speechless.
These people from the dark guild acted arrogant and looked down on everyone on the surface, yet secretly captured hostages in advance to threaten their opponents.
What kind of overly cautious villains are these?
Hearing this, the leader of the dark guild proudly puffed out his chest.
He seemed to be in an excellent mood as he explained.
“Hmph.”
“What do you think we rely on to repeatedly evade the Council’s pursuit?”
“Caution.”
“If the opponent is a famous and powerful Mage, we’ll immediately run away without taking a single unnecessary risk.”
“But I never expected the person who came this time to be a Mage like you who looks so weak.”
“At first, most of us—including me—didn’t want to run anymore.”
“We swore that we would make you witness the power we had obtained and force you to submit to our greatness.”
“However, a small group of our members believed that since the Council dared to send you here as reinforcement, things might not be as simple as they appeared.”
“In the end, they managed to persuade us.”
As he spoke, Mard Geer’s expression once again became filled with reluctance.
“But everyone was unwilling to accept it!”
“Before we obtained this power, no matter who we encountered, we could only run away with our tails between our legs.”
“Now that we finally have power, we still have to run away with our tails between our legs?”
“Then wouldn’t obtaining this power have been completely pointless?”
“So we made two sets of preparations.”
“First, we ambushed you on the road to demonstrate our strength.”
“If you showed fear or were frightened into running away, we would crush you with overwhelming power.”
“If you remained indifferent and weren’t frightened at all, we would use hostages to threaten you.”
“Only by preparing for both possibilities could we guarantee a foolproof victory.”
“Your expression and actions just now told me that you aren’t afraid of our power.”
“That confirmed our second guess.”
Mard Geer smiled.
“But you’re people from the Light Guild and the Council.”
“Surely you won’t simply stand by and watch these hostages die, right?”
Mard Geer reached somewhere beneath his robes and pulled out a pair of handcuffs.
The metal rings clicked together, producing a sharp, unpleasant sound.
“If you want them to remain safe…”
“Obediently surrender and put on these magic-suppressing handcuffs!”
Byakuran’s scalp went numb.
He was completely cornered.
Lahar really screwed me over this time.
What kind of monitoring was that?
It would’ve been better if they hadn’t monitored them at all.
They ended up getting themselves targeted by the enemy instead.
Lahar’s lips moved, but he still didn’t say anything.
He simply looked at Byakuran with eyes filled with guilt.
Byakuran couldn’t think of any good solution.
He slowly lowered his hands.
But he couldn’t simply surrender without a fight.
So, at the same time, he suddenly released his own magic power.
Boom!
The surrounding air instantly became heavy.
Fallen leaves that had been drifting through the air stopped spinning and slowly sank toward the ground.
Even the faint moonlight shining through the treetops seemed to become dimmer.
A tangible killing intent descended upon the members of Pandemonium, crushing them on a mental level.
The people of Pandemonium were instantly terrified.
Some swallowed nervously, their Adam’s apples bobbing up and down, yet they couldn’t make a sound.
Others watched in horror as their manifested claws began trembling and involuntarily retracting.
Their faces turned pale.
Those with weaker mental fortitude were so frightened that they collapsed onto the ground, trembling violently.
“M-Monster…”
Mard Geer’s heart was also thrown into turmoil.
The red light in his demonic eyes flickered erratically.
Could this person from the Light Guild actually be a lunatic who doesn’t care about the hostages?
Fortunately, just as their psychological defenses were beginning to collapse, Byakuran slowly spoke.
His voice wasn’t loud.
Yet it suppressed even the sound of breathing throughout the forest.
“Remember your words.”
“Release the hostages.”
“Otherwise, no matter where you flee—to the ends of the earth—I will find you.”
“And when I do…”
“I’ll make you wish you were dead.”
With that, Byakuran withdrew his overwhelming magic power.
The oppressive atmosphere instantly vanished, as though the air itself had suddenly been sucked away.
Several black-robed figures immediately bent over and retched.
The members of Pandemonium felt an enormous sense of relief.
But at the same time, their fear only deepened.
Even though Byakuran had already made it clear that he wouldn’t attack and was standing motionless in place, none of them dared step forward for a moment.
No one noticed that, not far away, a shadow flashed across the trunk of a tree.
Then it rapidly disappeared into the distance.