Drip! Drip!
My steps, heavy with fatigue, rocked against the ground soften up by the rain. Each time I dragged my feet through the soil, I felt like it were quicksand trying to consume me.
"So disgusting"
I kicked of the creasing dirt.
"I took this job because of some client apparently wanting revenge on some organisation, who would've thought it would be raining though?"
It was a slight surprise to me, but it didn't matter much in hindsight.
'At least I brought my umbrella'
Or else I would have turned into a wet towel by now.
'Oh?'
In the far distance, sirens blared wildly. Not because they wanted to rip out and unearth the secret thieves organisation.
'Fast response?'
Caressing my chin, I looked up and saw the numerous beams of green light cross the skies.
'They came specifically for me? They shouldn't have...'
The umbrella in my hand twirled and spun.
And I walked further in. Without a care in the world.
*
*
Outside the slums.
"All warriors standby!"
""Yes sire!""
"Search every nook and cranny for the Archmage Gaia! Don't leave a stone unturned, this may be the last chance we get! who knows when Gaia might stop being active"
""We will not disappoint!""
They all said in unison.
The platoon commander's face twisted and contorted. He declared to the heavens above.
'I swear Gaia, on everything I have...'
Hate flashed onto his face.
'I will'
Veins popped out, they pulsed with pure refined mana.
"Kill you!"
He promised as such to the Gods watching and rolling the die.
"Sir! We have found traces of mana residue! There appears to have been a fight!"
The commander rushed to the 4th circle sword mage.
"Can we trace it to him?!"
"No sir...it appears that it is someone else's mana that backfired on them when attempting to use magic"
"Damn it! Is it because of that famous mana domination trait he has?"
The sword mage nodded.
"I believe so"
Pressing his hand on his temples. The commander issued a new command to everyone.
"Alright, close down the perimeter till reinforcements arrive! escape will not allowed again under my watch!"
"Understood!"
All the mages, swordsman and archers went into place, sending in scouts occasionally to track the movements inside as much as possible.
But nothing. It was only a desolate land inside with no signs of life anywhere.
'He must be somewhere in there!'
They had already set up multiple alarm artifacts to make sure he couldn't escape no matter what occurred. These artifacts were specifically created from a genius sorcerer alchemist.
Even Archmages would have a hard time trying to escape without setting it off.
'Well, they have major flaws despite that though'
Naphel Kruz walked leisurely underground.
"From what I remember, these artifacts were completely false advertising"
Archamages around the world who heard of this artifact took it as a challenge to embarrass the entirety of Aster Kingdom's famous alchemists.
And succeed they did. They made the so called alchemical genius 'Lock Nip' bawl his eyes out in front of every major political family.
One rare moment in the history of the Royal family. Where all Archmages stormed the castle and pointed out all 1.024 flaws it had.
I felt sorta sad for them. I mean, they worked so hard only for the Archmages as a collective movement, move to humiliate the entire kingdom so much they kept the incident under tight wraps.
"Alright, now that we are in, let's close this umbrella up"
It took a few tries, but eventually I was able to neatly close up the new umbrella I st—I mean, bought from a patron.
"Still, how I am going to kill every single one of them"
One method was just to blow up the entirety of the area, but it seemed like that action had its own consequences in this point of time.
"What to do... What to do..."
Naphel walked in circles, until it hit him like thunder.
"Wait, they should've sent squads by now, right?"
Or at the very least scouts should be patrolling the area.
"Let's do this carefully..."
Taking off my glove, I took off a ring and immediately put it back in.
"Should be enough"
Putting the glove back in and knotting its ties, I walked back into the underground.
"Wait, my umbrella"
Almost forgetting the thing, I rushed and picket it back up. It would have been real bad if they took it in for testing to track my location constantly.
"There isn't that many that could do that though...maybe other Archmages?"
Walking back in. I again, leisurely walked through the desolate underground.
***
"Sir Yujin! We found a trace of mana!"
"I know...I felt it"
All of sudden, the entire area had been drenched in a heavy yet cold pressure.
There was so much condensed mana, it could make an unsuspecting child faint just by being in a 2 mile radius.
Glancing at his surrounding, he saw the rats, birds and dogs completely fainted from the pressure that was emitted.
"I'm going in, don't follow"
"What?! Sir Yujin, alone?!!"
Yujin glared at the sword mage, a new inspiring recruit.
"You will only get in the way, if I were to fall and all of you as well"
He clenched down on his jaw.
"We won't get another chance"
"But..."
Yujin grabbed the collar of the sword mage.
"I won't say it twice"
"Yes sir..."
He meekly answered to him.
While Yujin felt bad for saying this to a new recruit, it was better than him dying meaninglessly to the foe ahead.
'Curses, if only I was powerful enough for them to want me'
Only the elite of the elite entered the inside of the slums, they closed in where the sudden pressure of mana came from in minutes.
"Sir, this is the place"
"Search carefully, we have to make sure he can't escape"
He snapped orders to them, the scout cast a high-level stealth spell.
"Priests, your blessings"
"Yes, platoon commander"
The priests and holy knights that had been on standby began stepping out. Even the Saintess from the church and Saint from the Hero's party stepped out.
"O h mοτheρ Gοδes, bεstow us mορταls your mιραclεs"
Their voice distorted and the words they spoke sounded like gibberish to others.
"Haste"
The Saint casted a miracle that accelerated one's thoughts and movements by 75% for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
"Death Resistance"
The Saintess casted a low-probability manipulation miracle that lasted 2 days.
"High-purity regeneration"
The Saint casted a miracle that increased the regeneration rate of everyone within a 15 meter radius for 15 hours.
"Goddess's luck"
And the Saintess casted a miracle that by 'luck' increased everything within a 5 meter radius for 30 minutes by 150%.
The priests, holy knights, Saint and Saintess kept adding even more and more high, mid and even low level miracles.
"Huuu..."
The Saintess wiped the beads of sweat that formed on her forehead.
"That is the most we can do, it is all up to you after that"
Yujin nodded and commanded to everyone.
"Listen everyone!"
He drew the attention of the entire elite squad he himself specifically made.
"Today, we take an Archmage's head back home!"
"Uooooohhhh!!!"
They roared out their fighting spirit.
"Some of you might die!"
"...."
Everyone turned silent at the words, despite having many buffs placed onto them, they were still unable to shake their instinctual desire for survival.
"Anyone who wants to turn back now, this is your only chance!"
Everyone still remained silent.
"No one?"
None dared to move, because all had reason to be here.
Even though some were different species, they still came band to band for a single goal
To kill Gaia the Cold Metal.
Hate had brought them together, unified them to kill a single man.
"In that case"
His voice relaxed, and then as if in the chorus of a song.
"Follow me!"
His voice raised high and mighty like a note on a piano.
"To our deaths and to our goal, you damn freaks!"
They all, followed the platoon commander down the underground, where Naphel walked carefully in.