At the mine entrance, Liza kept a close eye on her surroundings. Her eyes darted between the mud doll Rafael had left behind, the mine entrance, and the plains filled with ghost grass that could hold all sorts of hidden dangers.
Not even 15 minutes had passed since Rafael and Vitarys entered, and the signal finally came. But the signal didn't happen as expected.
Instead of the clay statue "breaking," it simply melted and turned back into mud.
Liza froze in place. Should she flee, or should she rush forward to help them inside the cave?
Regardless, first she should warn Zaya that something went wrong…
But just as she was about to send the message through the instant messenger, she was startled to see someone running out of the mine; it was none other than Vitarys.
Liza smiled with relief and spoke to him:
"Glad you're okay! Where's Raf—"
"Swish"
"Aaargh"
"Thud"
Liza reacted quickly to her own ally's unexpected attack, but she still didn't dodge enough. Her right arm fell to the ground after a clean cut from Vitarys near the shoulder.
At the same time, she imbued herself with a lightning spell that increased her speed and jumped, increasing her distance from Vitarys. She knew how lethal the Valyrian Noble was with that weapon; she also needed space to stop the bleeding from her own lost arm. At that moment, two thoughts flashed through her mind: run, or fight her companion who had just tried to take her life…
***
In the Castle of the Sages, while the ambush against Rafael and Liza was taking place. Rafael's blood clone was kneeling on the ground, barely remaining conscious after his main body suffered severe injuries.
"Hey, Rafael, what happened?"
"Vitarys betrayed us and tried to kill me..."
"What? Why? Where are you?"
"At the railway station entrance near Asshai..."
"Hang on, I'll come to you..."
Rafael grabbed one of Natasha's hands and spoke with difficulty:
"No, Natasha, you're many days away; even at your fastest speed, you wouldn't make it in time..."
"Okay, don't strain yourself, just tell me, what should I do?"
"I'll need to cancel my clone because the damage I suffered is too severe, and even my soul was slightly injured..."
The clone trailed off as he caught his breath and continued:
"Secure this place and don't send any trains with new cargo until the other side is safe. Warn Liza about Vitarys's betrayal and ask her to send reinforcements from Asshai to help Liza and me..."
"Okay, I'll do it immediately!"
"Wait, change the report!"
"What happened?"
"Vitarys didn't betray us, Master Baron Bones is controlling him, warn Zaya... She'll know what to do..."
With her last sentence, the clone dissolved into a mist of blood, leaving only the crystals and clothes behind...
Natasha flew through the Castle and quickly reached the Observation Room, where she could send messages.
But when she tried to summon the many magical messengers, none of them worked. Desperate, she jumped out of the castle window and flew higher, until she realized that the mine, the railway station entrance, and the Castle were now encased in a powerful barrier...
Summoning her female battle angel and using powerful spells, she began bombarding the barrier, hoping to destroy it quickly. She also gave the same Order to all the disciples in the castle and the mine to do the same.
"Hahaha, that won't do any good, disciple of White Shadow…"
Natasha stopped pounding on the barrier and looked in the direction of the voice, seeing an old man in a luxurious black robe that looked like a poisoned corpse…
"Master Poison Soul…" Natasha muttered, gritting her teeth as she saw one of her master's assassins…
"This barrier is a prototype created by the Horadrim Alliance… The purpose of this item was to replicate a single-use Ancient Relic that could cover the entire city of Asshai and protect it for nearly three minutes…"
Natasha ignored the Necromancer's mocking explanation and pounded on the barrier again…
"Well, your Castle and Mine aren't as big as Asshai, hehe, so this imitation should still block you and your group for about two hours to prevent my contractor from being interrupted in his business…"
After the last sentence, Master Poison Soul "sat" in the middle of the sky and took out a pocket watch, the time displaying a countdown. A 1-hour countdown had begun; once it ended, he could retreat without even needing to fight…
…His mission this time was simply to prevent any Masters in this castle from interrupting Master Baron Bones' plans…
***
At the Tower of Distortion, Omar and Katya ignored Rafael's advice to avoid combat until they became familiar with their new races and left the Tower, running at high speed through the dark streets of Asshai. They planned to go help their friend after Zaya's warnings…
But Omar and Katya had barely gotten far from the Tower of Distortion when they heard a mocking voice coming from the top of a small black building nearby:
"Ah, look, my old friends from the Garden of Beasts…"
When Omar laid eyes on the young figure with serpentine eyes on the roof, an immense fury welled up within him, but he held it in, as he was in the middle of an emergency and should have ignored his personal problems…
But it was a shame that this kind of Self-control was far from the inexperienced and temperamental Katya, who roared in fury and began a new partial transformation granted to her by the new race, but which they couldn't yet control, and screamed toward the man.
"OLD DARAN, YOU DARE COME BACK TO LIFE? DIE!"
"Boom!"
Omar saw the roof where Daran was standing explode, sending black rocks flying in all directions, and then shifted his gaze to the direction he should go to help Rafael. He knew that if he went in that direction to help Rafael, Katya wouldn't be able to win this fight alone…
"I'm sorry, my friend. If I go to you, I might lose someone important to me again. I hope you can resist…"
After turning his eyes to the enemy, Omar activated an advanced spell toward one of the branches of the Ash River, causing the river to overflow its banks and unleash a terrible flood that immediately flooded all the streets in this region of Asshai, causing minor chaos among the few residents and apprentices in the area, but at the same time improving the fighting atmosphere in the couple's favor...
***
Somewhere deep in the Shadowlands, Jhon realized he was being followed by three powerful specters, but somehow he managed to escape them and disappear into the depths of a natural cave…
When the specters entered the cave in search of him, they found a powerful chimera monster blocking one of the paths, preventing them from continuing their search.
A long time later, two of the three specters retreated and approached a small frozen lake a few kilometers away from the cave, with a figure seated in its center…
It was one of the most influential popes of Asshai, the sinister and mysterious Pope of Bacalon.
"How come you three lost sight of him?"
The two specters spoke in an unknown language, and the Pope responded again in the Asshai'i language.
"A cave with a powerful chimera? And there was a symbol? Show me what it was!"
One of the specters waved his hand, and a symbol of a shadow beast surrounded by a crown of branches was reflected on the blue floor of the frozen lake.
"What is the Garden of Beasts doing in this cave?" the Pope asked himself, reflecting...
"Well, our mission was to eliminate or capture the Red Sage's right-hand man. If he entered this cave, he'll have to leave eventually..."
"Go back there and keep watch at all the entrances to the place. Notify me immediately when he reappears!"
The two specters bowed in silence and left the Pope, who was said to be merely an avatar of their God, alone again...
***
In the Yin Yang Tower, Jack had received an urgent message from Zaya urging him to rescue the other Sages and quickly reach the last place they were seen, the mine entrance.
But like Natasha, he too was interrupted by a figure who wanted to prevent him from helping his allies.
The figure blocking Jack's path also surprised him. He wore no mask and displayed his face with confidence and fearlessness in the terrifying environment of Asshai.
A youthful appearance, with long purple hair, the same color as his eyebrows and mustache.
Jack found some of the features of the young man blocking his path familiar. His mind wandered for a moment, but thanks to some additional information a certain Master shared with the Order, he finally put a name to the face before him, and it wasn't just any name. But the Order's number one target for extermination:
"Bloodmage Kalindor…"
"Oh, you know me?"
"Yes, I do…" Jack replied calmly.
"You seem in a hurry, but my mission this time is to keep you from going anywhere…"
Kalindor smiled sinisterly after his last sentence and began chanting a powerful, advanced spell. He was pleased to earn another huge reward for getting rid of someone as weak as this novice Master…
****
Special thanks to Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Parsa, Scott Robertson, and Pato Senalima!
Magic Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, 704Corleon, Rodrigo, WhoisMitch, Leery Falcon, Grave Walker, and adam!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley, Avacus, and TabbyRabbit!