Chapter 92: Hell Star
Near a dark mountain ridge directly overlooking the Thorne Main Estate, several cloaked figures stood quietly in the night.
"Sir, I just received news that the infiltration team led by 10 attacked their target this afternoon, and they haven’t come out yet," a masked assassin reported, kneeling in front of Evan, the Vice-Guildmaster of Eden, and Ronny, the Guildmaster.
Out of the ten assassins gathered on the ridge, Ronny and Evan were the only two currently not wearing masks.
"Number 10 huh...? Who is that again?" Evan asked, casually scratching his head.
"It’s probably old man Freddie," Ronny said, crossing his arms.
"Oooh... that crazy old man! I’m honestly kind of surprised he is still alive, let alone still taking active missions," Evan chuckled in shock.
"Yeah, I was surprised myself when he came up to me a while back, even though his serving time as a prisoner is already over, he said he was in it for the fun." Ronny noted.
"He actually came up to you to volunteer?" Evan asked while chuckling." And he even said he is in it for the fun. He is still crazy as ever I see."
"Yeah, I once told you about it. I bet you completely forgot," Ronny sighed.
"Of course not! How could I possibly forget something that important...?" Evan lied, awkwardly looking away.
"Sigh... anyway, what I am confused about is that with that old man’s cautious character, he should have waited until the dead of night to make his move. Why did his team attack the estate in the middle of the afternoon?" Ronny said while thinking hard.
"Well, I think it’s because Chloe is also on that team," Evan said, scratching his head again.
"Wait... what?! Chloe took part in this mission?!" Ronny’s eyes widened in sheer panic. "Do you have any idea what that woman would do to us if her little sister loses even a single strand of hair?!" Ronny yelled in absolute annoyance.
"What did you expect me to do?! You know exactly how that spoiled brat acts when she doesn’t get the things she wants!" Evan defended himself.
"Sigh... fine. It’s not like the estate she went to has any powerful hidden masters living there anyway, its just three women only." Ronny muttered, trying to calm himself down.
"I think it’s about time we get started here," Evan said, looking up at the pitch-black sky directly over the Thorne Main Estate in the valley below. "...13 and 17."
Two masked assassins from the back immediately stepped forward, nodding silently the moment they were called.
"Are you absolutely sure you can pull this off, Evan?" Ronny asked, slowly pulling a black mask over his face. Engraved neatly in the corner of the mask was the number 1.
"Of course I can. Don’t look down on me," Evan smirked.
"It’s just that the specific spell you are preparing to use is well above your current Circle and you have never actually cast it before. Even with the supply of mana from these guys, doesn’t practical skill and experience also account for something like this?" Ronny cautioned.
"Don’t worry so much! I got this. And besides, it’s the easiest way to kill these bastards. It’s their Main Estate, after all, and they are a wealthy Baron family. I’m sure they have heavily armed guards and traps up their sleeves. But with the chaos I will cause from up here, there is going to be a lot of confusion. That is when you and your boys step in to easily slaughter any stragglers that somehow survive the blast. Got it?" Evan explained confidently.
"Yeah, I got it," Ronny nodded.
"Sir, we are ready now," 17 said to Evan. 17 had raised his hand and firmly grabbed the back of 13’s neck. Evan just nodded in approval.
"Just don’t enter the village yet, okay?" Evan warned Ronny, who was preparing to go down the mountain.
"Why?"
"It’s just that I’m not entirely sure if the massive blast radius of this spell will also impact the surrounding civilian village. So it’s much better to be safe than sorry. Just wait outside the village limits until the spell drops," Evan instructed, walking closer to 13 and 17.
"Understood," Ronny said, leading the other four black-masked assassins down the dark mountain path.
"Begin," Evan ordered.
Right after Evan gave the command, 17 gently placed his other hand on the back of Evan’s neck, bridging the physical gap between himself, 13, and Evan.
Another assassin quickly stepped forward and handed Evan a long, wooden magic staff with a brightly glowing green orb affixed to the top.
Number 17 closed his eyes and began chanting in a heavy, rhythmic tone. Almost instantly, Number 13 dropped to his knees, violently gritting his teeth in excruciating pain as his internal mana was being sucked out of his body.
’Mana Transfer... a highly unique type of spell and 17 is literally the only person we know who can actually cast it,’ Evan thought, throwing a sideways glance at the agonizing 13.
’And for some reason, among all of us in the Guild, 17 is the only one who came to us completely voluntarily. He didn’t commit a massive crime in Tessan like the rest of us did and he doesn’t even go on missions that much like everybody elese does, in my eyes he is really suspicious. And that is exactly why I don’t trust this guy. And he is always wearing his mask. Even I, the Vice-Guildmaster, don’t even know his real face! Whenever I ask that woman about his background, she always dodges the question,’ Evan thought suspiciously.
"Aaaaa—" Evan suddenly let out a low moan, his eyes rolling back slightly before he quickly covered his mouth in embarrassment.
’The mana... I can feel it flooding my body! It’s... it’s so incredibly warm and intoxicating! I hope this feeling stays like this forever!’ he thought, his hands trembling as he almost let go of his staff from the sheer euphoric rush.
"Concentrate! Dammit!!" 17 shouted, pressing his fingers forcefully into Evan’s neck to snap him out of the intoxicating daze.
"Oooh... right! Sorry about that," Evan apologized quickly, his face flushing with embarrassment.
"Se kri pa tir plo nio sap fer zha..."
The moment Evan began his own heavy incantation, the sky directly above the Thorne Estate far below started to violently change. Strange, crackling sparks of dark, fiery mana began violently illuminating high in the clouds.
...
Inside the Thorne mansion, Jacob and William were still sitting in the private study, deeply discussing their future alliance plans with Martha.
"Mmmm..." Vincent, who was standing quietly behind Jacob, suddenly frowned deeply.
"You can feel it too, right?" Sidd, the red-haired Mage, suddenly asked, looking at Vincent with wide, terrified eyes.
"Mmm... what are you guys talking about?" Jacob asked, looking between the two guards in confusion.
"Shit!! You take care of here!!"
Suddenly, Vincent’s entire body violently erupted in a suffocating crimson Aura! Moving with such blinding, explosive speed that the wooden floorboards splintered under his boots, he rushed entirely out of the study. No one even saw how he got through the door; he was just a blur of red light.
"What is happening, Sidd?!" William demanded, jumping out of his chair.
But Sidd completely ignored his Lord.
"De spe to ruk se shi gre fra..." Sidd rapidly started chanting at the absolute top of his lungs, his hands glowing furiously.
"That’s a high-tier mana shield chant!" William gasped, recognizing the ancient syllables.
"Hey... what is he doing?! Isn’t he at the Fourth Circle? Why is he chanting, becauseI once heard that when a mage reaches 4th circle they won’t chant?!" Martha asked, pure panic setting into her voice.
"It’s a heavy shield incantation! And if a Fourth-Circle Mage is desperately doing an incantation of that length, it means he is forcefully casting something way above his normal leve—"
"EVERYONE!! EVACUATE THE ESTATE RIGHT NOW!! STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! THERE IS AN ENEMY ATTACK COMING FROM ABOVE!!!"
Before William could finish explaining, Vincent’s roaring voice, magically amplified by his dense crimson Aura, echoed violently across every single hallway and courtyard of the massive estate.
There was a brief, terrifying moment of absolute silence. And then, total chaos erupted. The frantic screams of guards and maids filled the air as everyone started running in completely different directions.
"We should run too!!" Martha cried, her hands shaking as she grabbed Jacob’s arm.
"NO!! Do not move! We are perfectly safe right here!" Sidd roared, finally slamming his hands down. A massive, thick blue dome of concentrated mana violently expanded, completely sealing the ceiling and walls of the study. Sidd instantly collapsed into his chair, panting extremely fast, sweat pouring down his pale face.
"I’m entirely sure Vincent only shouted those warnings to at least give the poor people outside a slim chance to survive! But I’m absolutely positive... with the terrifying scale of the mana I am feeling gathering above us... this spell is going to kill almost everyone in this estate!" Sidd gasped in sheer terror.
"My son!! Adam!!" Jacob screamed, suddenly trying to rush out of the blue shield to get to the medical wing.
"Don’t worry about him, My Lord!" Sidd yelled, holding out a hand. "I’m sure that is exactly where Vincent went! And with his terrifying physical speed... he should be arriving at Adam’s room right now!"
...
Up on the mountain ridge.
"It seems the ants in the house finally noticed," 17 noted coldly to Evan, who was still chanting with his eyes closed. "You better hurry it up if you don’t want your main targets to run away."
’He is talking way too much today! Did he forget that I am his superior?! Tsk, I will deal with him after we are done with this,’ Evan thought irritably. ’And besides... I’m already done.’
Suddenly, the wooden staff in his hands began to shine with an absolutely blinding, terrifying green light, illuminating the dark mountain ridge like a beacon.
"Hell Star," Evan whispered coldly his voice sounding like 3 layered voices.
The exact moment the words left his lips, the glowing green orb atop his staff violently shattered into a thousand pieces.
High up in the sky, directly above the Thorne Estate, the small, crackling sparks of mana suddenly expanded into a massive, apocalyptic sphere of churning fire! In an instant, the devastating fireball plummeted downward, swallowing the entire estate in a blinding, catastrophic explosion of hellfire.