Overwhelming Firepower

The agents of the hawk’s talons stared at Vahn warily. Simply looking at Vahn, they understood that this person was strong.

Under normal circumstances, if there were a divergence in the mission, they would have retreated and formulated another plan, but based on the orders given, there was no retreat. The group looked at each other as they tightened the grips on their weapons.

Seeing their reactions, Vahn sighed as he fixed his clothes. ”I guess all of you made your decision. So now you are no longer guests but intruders in need of punishment.”

The agents shifted into formation, most of them stood at the front, a few in the rear, and three of them were preparing to use different spells. Their aura mantles flared outward, and the mana became thick in the surrounding area.

Vahn simply watched them. ”Good stances,” he said, sounding genuinely pleased.

Vahn then took a step forward, and the floor cracked. Every agent instinctively retreated half a step. They didn’t even realize they’d done it.

Vahn’s eyes softened, almost regretful. ”How unfortunate, it would seem that you lack something essential to be called warriors... You people, are simply children playing as warriors.”

A chill swept the hall; the nearest agent couldn’t breathe. Aura pressed down like the weight of the sea, crushing, suffocating, yet Vahn’s expression never changed from polite patience.

”Come,” Vahn said, raising one hand, palm open. ”Let us begin.”

Hearing what Vahn said, the agents looked into each other’s eyes. They had understood that there really was no backing down now. The agents no longer hesitated and lunged at Vahn simultaneously, steel flashing in the dim hallway.

Vahn did not move, or rather, he moved so little that it was like he was insulting them. It was as if he was telling them that he didn’t need to use too much effort. A tilt of the head, a half step forward, a wrist turning with the elegance of pouring tea.

Steel rang in the hallway. One agent’s sword snapped clean in half. Before he could even register what had happened, Vahn placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, almost gently. The intruder’s knees buckled as if the weight of a mountain pressed down on him.

”Despite you being intruders and wanting to disturb the young master’s sleep, since none of you have any killing intent. I will be merciful,” Vahn said softly. ”Only the arms and legs. You will live.”

He vanished from their sight, and then in the next second, they heard a sound. It was a sound like that of breaking twigs, echoed, once, twice, several times in a heartbeat.

When Vahn reappeared behind them, the mages had already collapsed, limbs twisted at impossible angles, groaning, alive but helpless.

The ones who remained standing gulped dryly at the sight. Vahn smiled kindly at them.

”Come on then. Show me that you people at least have courage.”

Vahn raised his hand and signalled them to come to him. The remaining agents gritted their teeth as they charged forward and attempted a coordinated attack.

***

In Robert Duskwell’s personal lab, the sound of explosions, glass breaking, and a few muffled screams could be heard. No one in the mansion even bothered to check despite the noise since that was normal noise to hear for the places were Robert was staying.

Smoke was everywhere, and it was hard to see anything. A few agents were already on the floor, unable to move due to paralysis. Others had been encased in ice, and a few had fallen asleep.

”Hm... I guess most of these only work if you catch the opponent by surprise. Still, it is interesting to see the difference in resistance between an aura user and a mana user. When it came to being paralyzed, the mana user had a higher resistance, and when it was being encased in ice, the aura user had better resistance.”

Robert started mumbling to himself in the thick smoke. Hearing what he said, looking at them not as enemies but as experimental subjects, unnerved a few agents.

One of the remaining agents let out a frustrated breath, aura flaring as he cut through the smoke with a wide slash.

Robert’s silhouette was revealed, standing beside a table surrounded by volatile chemicals. He continued mumbling to himself, but then stopped to look at the person who made the attack.

”Hm?” Robert looked at the one who made the slash. ”Around the fourth aura mantle, but the aura seems unstable; it is as if it were forced out of you. How interesting.”

One of the mages who could now see Robert tried to use Bind on the other party; chains of mana shot forth, fast and precise.

They wrapped around Robert’s arms, locking his wrists together. Seeing that Robert was successfully bound, the agents exhaled in relief.

”Got h-”

The agent wasn’t able to finish his sentences when he heard a clicking sound. Robert tilted his head, expression unseen beneath the beak mask. He then dropped a vial on the floor, blue mist came out, and the chain of mana cracked and broke.

”I see, so it works against this level of mana quality. Hm, I need to see more to make sure.” Robert then looked at the mage who cast the binding spell. ”Hey, you, do you know a more powerful binding spell? Preferably a third or fourth circle one.”

When the agents heard Robert asking such a question, they felt insulted, especially the mage. It was like he was not treating them as a threat to him at all.

”You damned bastard, don’t look down on me!” The mage raised his staff, mana surging violently. A higher-tier spell began forming, Magic Bind, Third Circle, thicker runes carved into the air like chains of light.

Robert’s eyes sparkled through the smoke. ”Oh! So you do know one.”

The chains shot forward, faster, heavier, reinforced with runic suppression. They wrapped around Robert again, this time biting into his coat and skin. Mana seals clamped like steel, restricting his movement far more effectively than before.

Robert didn’t struggle, as he simply checked which body parts he could still move. The way he acted so nonchalantly just made the mage who cast feel infuriated.

”I see, this one is a much better binding spell. You even added the rune of suppression to make it heavier than my own body. If I hadn’t been playing around with those knights every now and then, this would have been enough to make me fall to the ground. Interesting... Now let’s see if it can withstand this.”

Robert, who was still able to move his hands, took out a vial hidden in his sleeves. It was the same type as the one he used before. He dropped it to the ground, and the blue mist came out again, but unlike before, the binds did not crack or break; they rattled a little, but that was all.

”So it’s not able to handle this much quality of mana, or are the runes the problem. I guess, I’d better take note of this.”

The mage grit his teeth. ”Mock me again, alchemist, and I’ll!”

Robert ignored him entirely. Instead, he flexed his bound wrists ever so slightly and muttered:

”I really didn’t want to use any spells while doing this experiment, but I guess it can’t be helped.”

The temperature of the room shifted. Mana thickened, heavy, suffocating. The agents tightened their formation as their aura and mana roared outward in defiance.

Robert raised his head slowly. The runes on the chains started to flicker. The agents watching felt their hearts sink.

The Fourth Circle spell: Catalytic Overdrive.

His bound wrists glowed as he channeled mana not outward, but into the chains themselves. The spell didn’t forcefully break them. Robert’s mana overloaded the structural mana inside the binding spell

With a sound like shattering glass, the binds dissolved into glittering dust.

Seeing Robert use a fourth-circle spell without chanting or a medium to strengthen it made the mage gulp dryly.

It was at that moment that the agents understood that this was a person they would not be able to capture if they didn’t go all out with the intent to kill the other party.

Unaware of the thoughts of the agents, Robert rotated his wrist casually, checking the slight reddening where mana had constricted. He seemed almost disappointed.

”I really am not that adept at using that spell. It took ten seconds for the binding to break, using a fourth-circle spell on a third circle; one should’ve made it work even faster. Is it because I didn’t use a staff, so my mana flow was not as good as I wanted it to be?”

Robert mumbled to himself as he took out a notebook and started scribbling in it with one hand, while reaching for something else with the other.

The agents collectively tensed as they saw Robert pulling out a large beaker full of swirling amber liquid. The aura user agents quickly dashed forward, but Robert was one step ahead of them.

Chains similar to what the mage used bound the aura users. The speed at which Robert activated the spell was incredible, and he did it without chanting.

”Hm, doing chantless really does change the quality of the spell. The spell becomes substandard, but in battle, I guess it is good for a surprise.” Robert made an assessment as he looked at the remaining agent.

”Now then she we proceed to Stage Two of experimentation.”

The agents could not see Robert’s face through his bird beak mask, but based on the tone, they could imagine he was smiling gleefully under that mask.