While the three parties stared each other down, Illyan was already sprinting at full speed through the underground corridor. He didn’t need to see their fight to know he was heavily outclassed, and the longer he stayed there, the more danger he would be in.

Fortunately, there were not many guards as they were probably called off since the enemy was too dangerous.

Soon, he ran up the stairs and reached the entrance in the slums above. But seeing the curious and malicious stares around, Illyan didn’t stop as he ran off in a random direction.

‘I need to hide somewhere first lest I show them where I live…’ If someone was tailing him right now or had the ability to find him, then his disguise would be completely useless.

It wouldn’t be weird for them to look for him after all of this ends since he freed the troll.

Not to mention…

Illyan glanced at his shoulder where the corpse of the robed man he killed was and at his other hand held at the nape of Caleb who was still unconscious.

This was his spoil.

It was even better than he originally hoped for.

However, there was unease in his heart as he felt everything was quite easy so far. Yes, he went through several life-threatening situations, but that was far from what he expected.

So, he was prepared for some mishap.

A sudden rumble shook the ground as Illyan almost missed a step. Screams of the civilians resounded as some buildings started to crumble.

“Grrroooooooaaar!”

‘They didn’t stop it?’ thought Illyan as he stared back.

There, a giant stood from the rubble of the stone pavement and the houses of the slums. The entire ground was collapsing as it tried to pry itself out of the arena.

On its body, several men were hanging with their hands trying to immobilize it to a certain extent.

Only after the wind took away their robes were revealed their rotting bodies as they were biting off bits of meat from the troll.

That unnerved the being even more, making it even more aggressive.

But their objective was completed as the jets of green flames engulfed the area where the troll and undeads were.

That included the houses and people in the vicinity.

The houses exploded and people were burned to death as the smoke covered the skies. Sorrowful cries of the troll only added to the horrendous ambiance that was created by the indifference of the perpetrator.

Illyan didn’t stay in the same place to watch as he instead ran as far as he could after sensing the horrendous heat coming from the flames.

However, the commotion created still didn’t go unnoticed. The troll, covered in flames and blisters, quickly ran off the arena while waving its arms. It didn’t care about obstacles as it destroyed everything in its path.

Its skin charred black and covered in burns and soot while the still burning undead were clinging to it while burning themselves. It tried to take them off, but that only burned its arms as they continued to bite and scratch it to death.

Eventually, the troll made the last few steps before finally falling down, crushing several undeads underneath.

However, one being that was clinging to its back was different. It was covered in darkness and seemed to be defended by… a tail?

‘Damn, what is that man?’ Illyan opened his eyes wide when he saw who that was.

Ezekiel, who was holding onto the troll to get out of the arena without being swarmed by undeads, finally relaxed as he stood up.

There was a black tail slithering around him which guarded him from the flame. It was over three meters long with tens or even hundreds of half-meter-long barbs at its tip. And in the center, one big barb that was much thicker and longer than other barbs shone with red viscous liquid. It wasn’t blood but something more sinister.

The tail was scorched, but at least his main body wasn't completely scorched.

Illyan also saw the several meters long mantis blades coming out of Ezekiel's sides where his lower ribs should be.

Together with the dark aura he gave off, he was the most menacing-looking being Illyan ever saw. Not even the wendigos reached this level.

“Can you still call yourself a person if you sew so many body parts of monsters on yourself, Ezekiel? Especially when it comes to man-eaters like manticores?”

Aziro, who slowly came out of the rubble, said as he stared at Ezekiel.

“I don’t think that corpse fucker like you can judge others, hihiheh,” Ezekiel started to giggle as his body wriggled unnaturally.

This made Aziro stare at him coldly as the rage surged within his heart.

However, in close combat, he would lose quickly and so he could only call upon his creations. Fortunately, he had many undeads in reserve and wasn’t lacking in manpower. The only shame was that he could only use around thirty or so at a time before he would lose control over them.

But that should be enough for him to win over the slightly injured Ezekiel.

This time he didn’t call only human bodies.

“Grrrrgh!”

The menacing growling and barking resounded as several rotting mutts were running around, circling Ezekiel.

Once Aziro was done with Ezekiel, he planned to use these to find that damn man who messed up his plan. He could finally end the miserable life of Ezekiel and use his Biomancy to make progress in breaking through the apprentice stage…

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

But the milk was already spilled, and Aziro couldn’t split his focus on some insignificant person.

Even if it took another twenty years, he would never stop attacking the man in front of him until he chipped him off bit by bit…

Meanwhile, Illyan already stopped watching as he ran at full speed in a different direction from his house. If needed, he would even run beyond the walls to hide for a few days.

When Ezekiel saw the dogs circling him, he sneered.

“Do you think you can keep me here?” With a flick of his tail, he launched himself in the air.

However, before he could do anything, a wing flapped through the air as a dark crow swooped in on Ezekiel.

When he saw the creature from the corner of his eyes, he planned to kill it as a precaution to Aziro’s schemes. But the crow elegantly dodged the slash as it rammed right into his chest.

The force behind it wasn’t anything great, but upon contact, it burst as the rotten flesh flew in every direction.

“Argh?!” Sudden pain enveloped Ezekiel as the place where the flesh touched him started to turn black.

Seeing that several other birds were flying in circles above, he abandoned his plan of escaping as he returned in the midst of undead dogs.

“We have known each other for so long. Did you think I would repeat the same mistakes again and again?”

Aziro talked as he waved his hands. His voice and expression seemed apathetic, but his eyes shone with greed. But he didn’t let himself be consumed by it as he prepared other spells.

‘I can’t use the ghost fire anymore… My mind will collapse if I use it any more.’ He inwardly frowned.

The so-called Ghost Fire was the green flame he was using against Ezekiel the entire time.

It was his strongest magic, different from spells of wizards. Only his will and power of mind were enough to unleash its power. But that was also its biggest cost as it literally drained his precious mind power he had collected over years.

However, if he could catch Ezekiel, it would be worth it. He knew for a long time that he had no chance of progressing just by depending on necromancy.

‘But if I catch Ezekiel…’ He wasted over 20 years in this goddamn place. And Ezekiel was the reason for it.

He recognized him the moment he saw him for the first time. He knew his crime. He knew what he got in that place…

And he wanted it.

That’s why he told his higher-ups that he gave up on advancing in his strength and tried to catch this guy on his own.

Unfortunately, he was too slippery for Aziro, making him suffer losses after losses.

Not only that, but they were also a bad match as one was a necromancer manipulating death while the other one was a Biomancer who was manipulating life.

They naturally countered each other.

However, necromancers have much fewer practical ways of using their magic in direct fights in early stages so he was always at a disadvantage.

The standard necromancers let the armies of undead swarm their enemies while hiding. But he couldn’t do that against someone like Ezekiel who could move quickly like the wind.

This was a common problem of most necromancers. Because of that, they needed to learn some tricks to be able to fight head-on.

Some used curses while others poisons.

But Aziro stuck to the basics. The ability to turn life to death.

Aziro mumbled something as he called out the first spell he ever learned and also the only spell he managed to modify.

‘Necrosis Touch’

His fingers turned slightly violet as the sizzling noise resounded. With the sweep of his arm, a claw-shaped magic energy leaped at Ezekiel who was defending from undead dogs.

Ezekiel used his mantis blade to strike it down and received another bout of necrosis on his body.

At the same time, one after another, crows started to sweep down as they exploded into bloody mist.

Aziro felt content for being able to apply the magic model of the [Necrosis Touch] on the bodies of those crows, something only Inscriptionists could do.

However, since he was very familiar with the spell he managed to pull

it off.

“Errgh… I must say, Aziro. Your plan was very thorough. Unfortunately, just one random guy made such a mess, hmm?” Ezekiel said with a mocking tone while pulling his arm out of the cavity of one dog that was biting on his waist.

His face was contorted from the pain as the wounds on his body developed necrosis from the crows’ attacks. He also had a suspicion that the mouths of the dogs were spreading the necrosis too.

He was heavily breathing as he ran his mana across the injured parts of his body trying to slow down the necrosis’ effect. Unfortunately, while he was a biomancer he didn’t develop that much in the recovery specialization…

For normal wounds, he was alright but necrosis wasn’t something that could be healed that easily.

“Do you think I will fall for your provoca-” Just as Aziro had a disdainful glance at him, Ezekiel’s tail sprung up from the ground as its barbs shivered before shooting off in several directions.

Then, sudden waves of darkness surged from his hands as it covered the entire street.

Everything happened too quickly for Aziro as he was engulfed within the darkness.

He was alarmed and immediately used another spell which molded the bone spears he had under his robe into armor.

After that, he called upon his loyal hounds as if feeling the retaliation was near.

And he was right as the sudden red streak flashed upon him. It struck him right into his chest which blasted him several meters into the air.

Fortunately, the spear bones’ armor protected him and the attack only grazed him.

“Sir Aziro!” The robed men who finally ran out of the underground arena only to see their boss sprawled on the ground called out as they ran to him.

Aziro wanted to yell to back off since Ezekiel could easily strike them to death but by the time the darkness dissipated he was already gone.

Ezekiel already finished his goal of killing the troll just as he did a few months before. He believed he hid it from him since Aziro would never watch over such events. Unfortunately, Caleb recognized some of his behavior traits.

Thanks to that, they knew he would attack soon after they caught another troll to destroy their commercial might and also to lure them into the mountain woods where Ezekiel had his ‘toys’.

It was an open trap as they really couldn’t stop with the arena anymore. If decades ago the arena brought a surprising amount of profit then now it was the norm for the superiors beyond the kingdom.

If the supply of bodies and money would be cut off they would ask questions. Something that Aziro couldn’t allow.

For that reason, he needed trolls that were the biggest entertainment in his arena that drew even nobles from other cities.

‘Next time…’ Just as he thought about it he realized that Caleb went missing. At first, he thought he was just somewhere he couldn’t see him but he never showed up afterwards.

‘Where did he go?’ Confusion filled Aziro’s mind as he fell into a daze.

Meanwhile, he was surrounded by his subordinates who stared at the glaring wound on his chest. He was just lying there while watching the skies above with an empty gaze.

However, he noticed their gazes. Unlike those loyal subordinates who would be horrified, sad, or try to help him, their expressions were expressionless or even gleeful. Some of them were already prepared to finish him while he was down.

That was how their organization and many others in the Arkravav Empire worked. Kill or be killed.

As someone who was almost an Expert Stage Necromancer, he had much better things that they coveted.

‘Did Caleb also decide to betray me?’ Soon, he threw this thought away as he remembered he went unconscious the last time he saw him.

‘No…’ Then his mind went towards the variable of his plan.

That man.

His eyes narrowed.

Just then, one of the robed men called out.

“Why do we wait until he recovers? We can just divide the loot. It is not like there are many of us since others are dead anyway.”

Others were silent but they didn’t show any signs of stopping him either.

Then without saying anything else he raised his hands and mumbled the incantations.

Unfortunately, before he could do anything several crows flew at him. This time they didn’t explode on contact but instead pecked at his head.

“Argh?!” This way they gouged one out his eyes as he screamed in agony.

However, as he wanted to retaliate, one of the hounds that was pierced by the barbs stood up as it jumped at him and tore him apart.

His cries of agony made the others turn pale as they stood there while watching Aziro slowly stood up, taking a vial from his robe.

The robed men seemed terrified as they watched completely indifferent Aziro who was thinking.

‘This manticore’s poison is dangerous…’ The poison came out of the biggest barb that was similar to the scorpion’s stinger. While the poison itself was lethal to people of higher stage it would still cause them to fall into a daze, which was enough for skilled manticores to play them to death.

Thinking about the failure today, he didn’t fall into rage. Instead, he turned even more determined to catch Ezekiel to get stronger.

As for that other guy…

Aziro healed himself in the midst of rubble as one of his subordinates was eaten alive while screaming for mercy.

With the sweep of his hand, the head of the robed man fell on the ground.

“I will kill you myself!”