“A valiant effort, but your mission ends here.”

Parton’s face turned grim as he looked at the enemy speaking in a mocking voice.

With short, blond hair and his pristine uniform the man gives off a feeling of being untouchable. He was definitely stronger than their captain.

If Tepo were present he would certainly be surprised as Parton faced Insce, the vice-captain he met during his second dungeon exploration.

Back then the blond man already behaved suspiciously, as observed by Lao Ru. And now he suddenly appeared in the tunnels not far from the exit towards the fort.

However, the soldiers present naturally didn’t think too much about it, only doubting when the tunnel system got leaked.

Other than this they felt enormous pressure. Insce was not an unknown soldier but a recent genius within the Tamed Storms Army.

Thus, the team of soldiers prepared for a difficult fight as they subtly shifted positions.

The captain was standing at the front, spear pointed at the enemy.

“Don’t worry guys. He is just one person!”

A low chuckle left Insce’s mouth. Before the sound registered in everyone’s minds, they opened their eyes wide in shock as the blond man had already vanished.

Clanging echoed through the cave as the captain’s spear collided with a slender sword.

“Not good!”

A strong power pushed the captain back. Parton reacted instantly, a triangular, yellowish shield appearing in midair in front of the captain.

But it immediately broke apart as a tiny sword appeared in midair, not much larger than the seed of a flower, shining brightly as it shot sword-formed energy at the captain.

Most of the soldiers looked at the scene in confusion. Only the captain’s blood froze as he understood what this meant.

This was a characteristic ability of low-level ascendants, the seed-form of spells.

At this point a spell could be used to fight independently, somewhat similar to Tepo’s [Projection]. The spell won’t be able to unfold its full potential, not threatening those of the same rank, but against a group of weaker opponents it was a deadly ability.

As the captain was looking ahead in dread, he suddenly felt a movement. He turned his head in shock, staring behind him.

“Careful!”

Too fast for the group of aspirants to react Insce had appeared at the side. With a bright smile the blond man pierced the back of a soldier.

Insce frowned faintly as someone tried to attack him. Not because of the attack itself, but because of the blood it pushed towards him.

“Too dirty.”

The ascendant took a large step back. A moment later he vanished before everyone’s eyes, his sword already aiming at another enemy.

This time the captain was close enough to react. As an acolyte he was the only one present barely able to keep up.

While Parton desperately conjured shields to keep the captain safe, the latter turned around, his spear trying to block Insce.

Suddenly an illusionary figure separated from the white-armored man. It looked identical to him, dashing towards the captain and delivering a vicious strike.

The captain screamed in pain as the attack injured his body and mind alike. A strong power shot into his body. With the huge difference in strength the captain wasn’t able to hold on.

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His body flew through the air, plunging into the dark abyss.

“NO! Captain!”

“B*stard!”

“I will kill you!”

Suddenly a soldier let out a desperate scream, throwing his body towards Insce. The blond man had just dug his sword deep into another soldier.

But he didn’t consider the incoming attack a threat. With a leisurely punch the weak soldier was lifted off the ground, following his captain into the deep abyss.

“NOO!”

“RUUUUGG!”

Now only Parton, Faynoa, and Ulmer were left. They had reddened eyes, hope vanishing with every death.

Suddenly Ulmer knelt on the ground:

“Insce! Stop! We surrender!”

“Surrender?”

Ulmer didn’t see the man’s amused smile, continuing hastily:

“Yes! We surrender! Take us captive!

You don’t want to draw the Sword Demon Lord’s ire, right?”

“AHH!”

Ulmer had hardly spoken his mind when a kick suddenly landed in his face. Without any chance to resist he was thrown into the dark hole as well.

Now only Parton and his old teammate were left.

Insce stopped his spell, looking at the two enemies with a sparkle in his eyes:

“You held on surprisingly long.”

Parton panted heavily, his force almost spent. He was only able to hold on because the woman next to him supported him in various ways.

Leaning on his tall shield the young man stared at Insce with defiant eyes.

Suddenly the female guard spoke up:

“Parton. I guess this is it. Come on, let’s die on our own terms.”

The woman’s eyes were surprisingly calm as she spoke such heavy words. She reached out her hand, trying to pull on Parton’s arm.

But the young man didn’t budge. Faces flashed through his mind.

“No! I can’t die here! Insce, state your demands!”

“Demands?”

The blond man let out a teasing chuckle.

“I demand that you die!”

“Nooo!”

Insce activated his spell again. Two illusionary figure shot out of his body, delivering lightning-quick palm strikes. Parton and his old teammate felt their chests cave in, their vision turning dizzy.

With no strength to resist they entered the cold embrace of the dark abyss.

Parton saw his life flash before his eyes.

I always wanted a stable life. I thought a guard job was fine. My family was living well. So why… why did it come to this?

Is it impossible to live peacefully in this world?

Time seemingly slowed down as tears ran down Parton’s cheeks. The world darkened.

At the edge of his vision, he still saw Insce. The blond man didn’t care for his victims, staring at his white boots, frowning upon the few drops of blood that hit him.

Suddenly Parton’s thoughts grew chaotic. He seemed to see ghosts. In his eyes the captain formed from a shadow, standing at the edge of the hole and looking down with a crazy smile on his face.

What?! What’s happening? Am I hallucinating?!

“So much trouble for a few witnesses.”

Parton couldn’t believe his ears as the captain’s words echoed in the cave. Although they were meant for Insce, they still reached Parton’s ears just before he disappeared in the darkness.

Witness… witness… witness…

This single word echoed in Parton’s mind. It impacted the deepest part of his soul, sending shivers down his spine.

NO! Not like this!

Suddenly the young man’s thoughts raced. He pushed his tired body. A whisp of force came from the last reserves of his core.

It flowed into a rare nine-runed spell he only got recently called [White Cocoon].

Surprisingly this was given to him by the old man who saved his life a while ago. As it turned out the man was a retired adventurer who couldn’t stand seeing so much death all the time.

Out of pity he decided to give one of his most precious spells to the young guard who was running for his life at the time.

Parton’s mind cooled down gradually. He thanked the old man inwardly as a piece of thread suddenly appeared, enveloping his body at lightning speed.

A second later a large white cocoon bound up Parton, its surface incredibly soft and able to cushion and disperse strong impacts.

But unfortunately, it wouldn’t be enough to safe Parton from a fall of hundreds of meters.

The young man also knew this, not planning to rely only on this.

He hastily mobilized his already weakened mental strength and activated his core’s ability [Enlargement: Object].

Despite its name the spells also counted as target for this ability.

Thus, the white cocoon around Parton suddenly increased in size, growing from a bit over two meters to close to twenty meters, pressing against the hole on two sides.

Carried by momentum the cocoon still continued its downward travel, its sides bending like rubber. But gradually its speed decreased from the friction until a few protruding rocks finally held it in place.

Parton almost felt like vomiting from the wild ride. His head was dizzy as he rested in the soft cocoon.

A warm energy flowed into his body from his surroundings. The cocoon constantly strengthened his body.

This was the spell’s primary use. After a few seconds of resting in the cocoon one would undergo a ‘metamorphosis’ and come back strengthened.

But for Parton right now this might not be a good thing as it was uncertain if he could survive the fall afterwards.

He didn’t have much force left and even if he focused entirely on recovery, it would take close to a minute until he had enough for another cocoon.

It was impossible to guess how long the fall would take. Everything below Parton was pitch black, with no way to discern the floor.

The young man’s lips quivered as he laid in the cocoon, racking his tired brain to come up with a plan.

What can I do? I want to survive!

I don’t want to leave you, Osybiel…