"They must've been chasing each other across territories. Bad luck, they crashed near this village…" Thyruz said.
"Will they leave the village alone?" Nara asked.
Although she doesn't know anyone in that village, she still couldn't imagine that so many lives would be lost just because of a Fifth-Tier Magician's stray spell.
But no one answered.
No one knew about the alignment of these Mages in the first place. If they turned out to be in the Evil Faction, then they wouldn't really care about the lives of ordinary people.
"Before worrying about them, we should think about ourselves first..." Miki replied after a few moments.
As they tried to move away, it was as if the mages were following them. Soon, Rayven saw one of the injured mages. He noticed a flash of green underneath the male's cloak.
It was probably the Primordial Core that Ardania was looking for.
'We really should leave this place…' Even though there could be an opportunity in this scenario, the risk was simply too high.
What if Ardania, the winning side, does not want any witnesses to her crime?
If that's the case, they would be eliminated for sure.
Since Rayven thought of this, Miki, Nara, and old man Thyruz had also thought of this. Still, none of them dared to run.
The man, Vairen, was wounded. There was blood staining his robes, but his eyes seemed like he hadn't given up just yet…
Rayven's group was hoping that Vairen would attack with his full strength once again, and they would use that opportunity to flee!
Suddenly, Ardania floated above him… She was suspended in mid-air, and she raised her hands.
Then, twelve glowing orbs formed around her in a circular pattern.
"This is your final chance. Surrender it, and I might leave your mind intact."
Vairen laughed. "Why don't you take it from me? Here…"
He said while lifting the Primordial Core with his left hand.
However, Ardania knew that it was a trap… It was pretty obvious, as a matter of fact.
Realizing that he was seen through, Vairen snorted.
"Even broken and dying, I'd rather burn it!"
And then it happened.
He consumed the Core!
Ardania squinted her eyes, not too worried about the situation. It might even be better with this since she already knew where the core was located. As long as she avoided targeting his stomach, she'd be able to retrieve it…
Now, it was time to remove all of his limbs!
However, as Ardania attacked, something unexpected happened. A mysterious force suddenly blocked her Spells! It must've come from the core...
Whom~
A wave of powerful energy suddenly exploded and disrupted Rayven's plan to flee!
The mana in the area had suddenly become chaotic!
"This…" Thyruz was shocked. The surroundings seemed to have been warped by the raw, ancient essence of something not meant for mortals.
He also had no idea what the Primordial Core was, but it seemed that it was some kind of forbidden drug that could forcefully increase the power of the Mage.
Vairen's broken body healed rapidly, but his expression was already twisted. The power was too much…
"Fool…" Ardania snorted as she realized that she couldn't stop it anymore. Her quick spells were just bouncing off, so she had to prepare for a big one, but it would take a few moments.
Just like that, they watched as Vairen screamed in half-agony and half triumph as green-black veins formed on his skin…
"Is he... transforming?" Nara whispered.
"No," Thyruz said slowly. "He's being consumed."
He was right.
The newly empowered Vairen let out a howl and fired a beam of condensed energy, blowing through Ardania's triple-layered shields and crashing into her chest…
It happened so quickly, and she failed to defend herself!
Still, they noticed how she spread out her shields and ensured that Rayven's group wasn't affected.
Boom!
She was flung backward and crashed through trees and boulders.
Rayven froze as he saw this… Although he doesn't have any Mana Sense that could help him feel the existence of Mana, he knew just how powerful that Spell was.
So this... this was the kind of world he had entered.
***
Vairen's howls echoed as he started becoming increasingly inhuman.
The Primordial Core's raw energy surged from him, and it was getting more and more dangerous here.
"Back!" Thyruz shouted as a wave of dark miasma swept outward. He then cast a wind spell and protected them from being harmed.
Rayven instinctively grabbed Nara's hand and pulled her behind a boulder.
As the air calmed slightly, Rayven peeked over, and that's when he saw it.
Amid the scattered debris from Ardania's fall, her spatial pouch had been torn open.
Rayven knew that the pouch definitely had a spatial storage effect because it spewed out numerous items that shouldn't fit its size.
The pouch's contents could be seen… There seemed to be crystals, vials of unknown medicines, old scrolls, and gold coins, dozens of them!
They all spilled like water from a broken dam. But more importantly, he saw several glowing items, and they should be magic-related things!
Of course, the others had also noticed this…
Rayven's instincts kicked in. He wanted some of those!
Furthermore, Ardania was still unconscious, and Vairen had lost his reason!
"I'm going," he whispered.
"What?!" Nara hissed. "Are you insane?! She's not dead!"
"I know. That's why I won't stay long. I'm… I'm also planning to save her!"
Rayven said as he decided not to be too greedy. He believed that as long as the woman was saved, she would at least be thankful enough to reward them.
Thyruz looked at him and made some calculations... "I'll cover you… You've got thirty seconds."