Chapter 22 - Thamior
If he had to describe himself with one word, it would be.. this...he looked miserable.
The white pale skin he had was not gone, boiled and peeled off by the attack. His face was covered in red blood, so red that it was turning into black.
But still, he was in good condition other than the overwhelming pain of his skin exposed and boiled internal organs.
Silas’s lips twitched as his eyes wandered across the room. There was a white light illuminating the entire room. With his mana sense, he knew that the light didn’t come from a spell but rather a combination of magecraft and science.
Because they were expensive, only upper middle class citizens and nobles adored it in their houses.
The furniture in the room was of high quality. Even the floor was made from marble and had been imbued with mana stone to increase its durability.
All in all, this room seemed to be Thamior’s office. Silas slowly turned his eyes and looked at the old man sitting on the chair. He placed his hand on his lap and elegantly waited for a reaction.
"Thamior, I have come to kill you." Silas spoke, his voice hoarse due to the damage in the lungs.
The old man chuckled and looked at Silas, scanning him. As if he was showing that with this state, what could he do?
Silas didn’t care that the rage inside him was slowly consuming his reasons. He wanted to kill the man. His stomach hurt thinking about the vile thing he did in the experiment.
"You are not the first to declare that statement but congratulations, you will succeed." Thamior lightly clapped his hand and coughed out a large quantity of blood.
Each drop of the blood held an essence of mana. His vessel was leaking. He didn’t have much time in the world. He failed. He thought of experimenting with Silas’s group but time won.
Silas’s wavering eyes looked down into the old man, filled with contempt. His hatred so filled that it suffocated him.
Thamior nodded.
Silas extended his hand and fired a Tier 1 spell. Pierce.
That was all he could do at this moment. The mana he could spare... no... the man he could gather by overworking his mana core which was injured by the overusing of the spell.
Thamior waved his and a soft barrier appeared. The barrier was small but it blocked Pierce without missing.
Silas groaned and fired another set of Pierce.
Thamior blocked everything in similar manners. His beings as a sixth circle mage was showing.
Even though, his mana output and quality was dropping, his usaged of spell and mana was incredible. Much more superior than him.
Silas grinned his teeth and continued bombarding with spells. He was sure that he could win a draw out battle.
The energy inside his body was working madly to heal him. Sure, using mana was painful but he could bare the pain.
After firing another rays of Pierce, Silas dropped to the marble ground, kneeling, panting, gasping breath.
Silas looked up and saw the same small barrier which blocked his every attack.
"Monster." He muttered with his damaged vocal cord.
"I will take that as a compliment. But it is not difficult to do for a sixth circle mage." Thamior muttered. "My understanding of mana surpassed every sixth circle mages."
Silas couldn’t rebuke that statement, after all he was correct.
As the one who was in the blink of death, Thamior most certainly got some insight from that. Because of that he surpassed every sixth circle mages in term of knowledge.
He was one step higher then regular sixth circle mage and one step lower than the seventh circle mage.
But those steps were undoubtedly as vast as the distance between ground and the sky.
"But our climatic battle doesn’t have to this way." Thamior spoke softly as if he was trying calm the rage behind Silas’s eyes.
"What will you achieve when you kill me? You will only gain the scorn of my family and bare weight of magekiller. In my lifetime, he helped many people. You will also gain their wrath. It is useless to kill me now. I am already dead. Tell me what will you achieve in this useless battle?"
"Revenge." Silas said one word.
And it was enough. He didn’t need to explain his motive.
But it was true that there was nothing to gain from this raid. Deep down, Silas knew it was futile. Thamior was going to die and the experiment would likely shut down.
If he didn’t do, the protagonist would dismantle the family and killed them. He knew the outcome but he couldn’t help but interfere.
After all, he didn’t stop, the life of children would increase.
If he didn’t destroy this base, Floen Family would continue experimenting with mind control crest and more damage will happen to the children.
The potential death of thousands children. A hundred children. Even one child was enough to move him.
He stared at Thamior. The cause of all this. If he didn’t research the main control crest, none of this will happen. None of those children will die.
Silas was not a good person but he couldn’t stand someone who hurt a child.
Thamior understood Silas’s feeling. Despite what he did, he understood the weight of his crime.
But it was a cold hearted logic in his heart that allowed him to take this step. And he wouldn’t apologize for that.
Thamior sighed. "Then, there is only one choice we can do. Make a deal with me, Viremont."
"Bullshit."
"A foul language from the mouth of a noble. Your grandfather would jump in joy." Thamior said without changing a tone.
Silas squinted his eyes, not wanting think about his grandfather. "Don’t change the subject. I will kill you."
Thamior sighed and snapped his finger, creating a tier 1 spell. Pierce. The spell was the same as his own, even the small change he made in the crest was similar.
The spell passed through the air, targeting him.
Silas tried to create Water serpent but his mana core shook violently, sending back a wave of mana to his organs. He spat out blood and lifted up his hands, protecting his head.
But the spell curved to the left.
Silas followed the direction of the spell and noticed a small child about the age of 12 curled up in the corner.
The spell was targeting the child.
Silas moved. He didn’t where the strength behind his legs came from.
Nevertheless, he moved, hugging the child and letting the spell struck his back. Even the act of hugging pained him as he didn’t have a skin.
He looked down, ignoring the burning pain from his back. "Are you okay?"
The child’s eyes were lifeless and hollow. He had seem those kind of eyes before.
Suddenly, the child rushed toward him and bite down his shoulder.
A chuck of flesh torn away from his body.
"Ahh." Silas yelled in pain, pushing away the child in reflex.
He looked at the child who still have the same lifeless eyes but on his mouth was his flesh. The child chewed the flesh and swallowed it.
Chill crept over his soul.
"No. No." He muttered.
Suddenly, the wall on the room crumbled under magic. Silas’s eyes widened as he saw what the wall was hiding.
Many children with the same lifeless expression walked toward him.
"No. Impossible. The crest shouldn’t develop this far." Silas muttered. "How?"
"Viremont." Thamior called out his name.
Silas looked at him and pleaded. "Stop. Release them."
"Make a deal with me, Viremont." Thamior said calmly. "A deal that will help me and you. No.. a deal which neither of us will get a happy ending. A terrible deal bitva deal we must make nevertheless. After all, that was the only way I can live."