The place I arrived after tearing through the space was a vast open plain.
In this seemingly empty expanse, the only thing visible was a wooden house.
Just looking at it, it screamed suspicious.
“There it is.”
At the very sight of it, my instincts kicked in.
This wooden house was outright reeking of ‘trap.’
I checked if that guy from before was lurking around but there was no one.
I also checked if anyone was inside the house in front of me, but the interior was undetectable.
It was like something was blocking it — an indescribable feeling of invisibility.
To be precise, the entire area surrounding the house appeared hazy and completely undetectable.
‘Where the heck did this guy go off to?’
I thought he’d be waiting right here the moment I crossed over, but I was wrong.
I had braced myself for an immediate onslaught upon arrival, but there was no one around.
‘And yet, he’s actually moved exactly as expected, without a single misplaced step.’
As the situation calmed down from earlier, I had a moment to reflect.
Captain Ordine and the O’Neil Kingdom’s forces immediately turned their sights on me once the Nameless kid disappeared.
They were impressively quick to adapt.
I had anticipated it, sure, but they sure were brimming with anger directed at me.
“Phew, and it’s been years already.”
I muttered alone while slowly walking towards the wooden house.
Regardless, thanks to Professor Amillion, I managed to escape that situation earlier unscathed.
Now, the key was Elaine.
The reason I took the risk and exposed myself as the Black Shadow Guild Leader in O’Neil was entirely to save Elaine.
I hadn’t yet achieved the most important goal.
Gwaaak—
Gripping the Black Shadow Sword tightly, I took a step forward.
Even if there hadn’t been a quest, I probably would have saved Elaine anyway, but now the quest just adds fuel to the fire.
I’m completely primed and ready, all the way.
Hoooww—
“Wind?”
While building up my focus and taking each step, an artificial wind blew in from the front.
The sharp gust of wind thoroughly swept over my body as it passed.
It looked fishy right off the bat.
Halt—
The moment I sensed the suspiciousness and stopped in my tracks—
Pwoong—
The now familiar sound of the air breaking echoed, and someone appeared up ahead.
A man clad in white robes.
It was that guy who ran away from me earlier.
“So you’ve finally shown up?”
“…Why is the Black Shadow Guild involved in our affairs? It’s been going on ever since the Sandglass incident.”
“Ho? You know about that?”
The man in white robes muttered in a low voice.
It seemed the theft of the Sandglass had become quite renowned on their side too.
“You had a hand in what happened to the Third Elder as well, didn’t you.”
“You’re sharp.”
Without rejecting his words, I didn’t bother denying it.
Anyway, there was no one around to hear, and whether this guy knew it or not didn’t concern me much.
“Are you here for revenge?”
“I don’t care for such petty emotions. However…”
“However?”
“You’ve messed up a lot of our plans. You’ll have to pay the price for that.”
The man’s brimming confidence from before when he had been fleeing for his life was very different now.
Whatever the basis for his self-assurance was, I had never been outclassed by confidence.
“The price? You’re the one who’ll pay.”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you kidnap an innocent student?”
“Tsk…so that girl really means something to you…”
Chirrrr—
Before his sentence was even complete, I quickly charged at him.
He seemed utterly caught off guard by my sudden attack, but my sword didn’t reach him.
It was as if he had anticipated this—there was a powerful barrier surrounding him.
“You’re too hasty.”
The man’s voice dripped with mockery as he blocked my attack.
He thought that this flimsy barrier was enough to completely deflect my assault.
“Too hasty? If anything, it’s you.”
Woooom—
A tremor rippled through the air as the blade’s surroundings subtly vibrated.
A unique phenomenon that occurs whenever space is being warped.
Whoosh—
“Whoa.”
“Look at you, quicker than expected?”
“Wh- what?”
As the man hastily retreated with a look of panic, he muttered confusedly.
The sword that seemed blocked by the barrier cleanly passed through it.
I thought I’d caught him off guard and would land a hit, but unfortunately, his movements were quite agile.
Despite being a wizard, his reflexes were impressive.
“Man, this guy’s tough…”
The technique I used to open up space not around my body but around the object I held was definitely no joke—it consumed an insane amount of focus.
Mid-battle, unless the situation allows for such ease, I shouldn’t recklessly use it.
But forcing it to show that his barrier can be bypassed was a good decision.
By planting the idea that the barrier won’t save him, he’s bound to become more cautious—a quick retreat like that proves it.
“Crrugh.”
At the same time the guy let out a groan, I charged again.
Wooom—
As I appeared before him by leaping through space, the guy reacted fiercely.
Pshhzzz—
Simultaneously jumping back a great distance, he hurled magic at me.
“This is…”
The familiar sensation from the magic he used was unmistakable.
It contained the same qualities as the dark mana Landgar wielded.
Whereas Landgar’s attack was rough and raw, this attack was different.
It was neat, cold, and precise.
Wooom—
Drawing on my past experience with battles against Landgar, I didn’t rashly swing to cut his magic.
Instead, I extended my hand, tore through the space, and redirected the incoming magic to another dimension.
I made the right decision.
At close quarters, I could feel that the nature of his magic, much like Landgar’s, was something not meant to clash with directly.
“Indeed, someone capable of defeating the Third Elder.”
“Third Elder?”
“Yes. That foolish one who fell at Crescent.”
“Oh, so Landgar was the Third Elder? Then are you the Second Elder?”
“I am the First Elder of Nameless.”
“Oh, really? First Elder meaning the first in strength?”
“The number of the Elder has no relation to their power.”
“Hmm. So you could technically be weaker than Landgar?”
The First Elder gave no answer, clearly unwilling to converse further, and stepped back.
Before I knew it, the First Elder was floating mid-air.
Simultaneously, he gathered mana at his fingertips and prepared something.
Seeing this, I focused once more.
The First Elder claimed strength and number to be unrelated, but my gut told me otherwise.
This guy was not to be underestimated.
The speed at which the mana condensed and realigned was on a different level from Landgar’s.
Landgar, proficient enough to be promoted to Vice Chancellor at Crescent Academy, was an accomplished wizard, but not in this league.
As the mana collected in both of the First Elder’s hands, they began to take distinct shapes and then started to move.
‘Is he using two different spells simultaneously?’
That was pretty impressive.
‘This isn’t going to be easy.’
Such thoughts naturally crossed my mind.
—
‘What exactly is his trick?’
The Black Shadow Guild Leader using unique techniques wasn’t surprising for Kilbis.
Still, these powers were far beyond what he had anticipated.
Swishh—
As Kilbis felt the black mana gathering rapidly in both his hands, he pondered.
Until now, the abilities shown by the Black Shadow Guild Leader were extraordinary.
Instantaneous space warping, an unusual sword, and most recently, a technique that didn’t ‘cut’ high-level barriers but just ‘passed’ through them, as though it were a kind of forbidden black magic.
‘This is why the Third Elder fell.’
Kilbis sincerely thought so.
Loyal to the Founder and the Nameless Demon, Kilbis was first and foremost a wizard.
And one of the world’s most renowned talents at that.
New magical discoveries to someone like Kilbis were fascinating events.
He had never seen anyone use space-transference magic so swiftly and efficiently, indicating some unique new ability.
As a wizard, Kilbis’s bl**d was boiling with excitement.
He wanted to unravel the principle behind the Guild Leader’s technique.
‘Using my prepared setup, I can push this guy to his limits.’
Even while conjuring two different spells with both hands, Kilbis was thinking.
Sure enough, guiding the battle to this location was part of the plan.
The wooden house behind wasn’t just any old house—it was Kilbis’s lab and hideout.
Choosing this place despite the risk of exposing everything had one reason:
Here, no matter who he fights, he doesn’t feel like he’ll lose.
Unlike the other two Elders of Nameless, Kilbis operated alone, unconstrained by subordinates.
He enjoyed absolute freedom in research and action.
Even the open plain around, not just the small wooden house, served as his laboratory.
Gwaaak—
As Kilbis clenched his fists, two distinct spells formed in both hands.
One was a small orb-shaped mass of black mana, while the other was fog.
Shhhhh—
‘Let’s test the extent of his power.’
Kilbis launched the black orb, cloaked by the fog spreading wide across the ground.
The ball flew accurately towards the Black Shadow Guild Leader standing dumbly below.
But Kilbis’s gaze wasn’t fixed on the Guild Leader.
His eyes instead scanned the hundreds of concealed magical arrays around the perimeter.
Routines Kilbis had etched while training and researching over time, these spells.
Activating just a fraction of them at once would easily dispose of the enemy.
‘I’ll strip your abilities bare.’
But Kilbis didn’t want it to end that easily.
He intended to gradually push the Guild Leader to his limits and uncover every ounce of his capabilities.
