David felt a surge of relief as he saw Veles appearing nearby, but that relief disappeared fast when Veles flashed him a thumb up and retreated in the back. Leaving him practically alone to face this hunk of a man—not that he could blame Veles for it, Davis was well aware of how he looked when he’d teleported them.

This left him to face solo this shield and sword-wielding bag of muscle. Even just two exchanges where Davis managed to strike his shield were enough to give him understanding that his opponent was many times physically stronger, despite Davis’s body being heavily enchanted by mana.

Not only did that shield repel his strongest stab, but his muscle painfully vibrated under the sheer backlash of the impact. What was worse, his opponent additionally wore a heavy armor made of the same material as the shield. On top of that, a neat row of chainmail ran through his whole muscular build, giving Davis few options for where to strike.

So, he’d to get crafty. Dashing forward, he repeated the same thing as the past two times. He could practically see the scoff under the helmet of his opponent. The tip of his spear that was aimed at the center of the shield suddenly changed its course. Instead of impacting anything significant, Davis just struck the ground right under the shield… and that was when he did something shameless.

Right from the place of impact, a large chunk of earth enchanted by his mana went under the shield and straight for the armored figure’s crotch!

He didn’t waste a second after hearing the collision and a painful “Ugh!”

Davis sidestepped and circled his opponent’s shield, appearing to his side and immediately sending another stab precisely aimed at the shoulder of the arm that held the shield!

He saw the collision between his spear and the shoulder guard supporting the muscular figure. Even if his stab didn’t do much damage, his aim was never that—if it was, he wouldn’t have aimed there in the first place. So, seeing the grip holding the shield lessening, Davis mustered all his strength and sent the strongest kick he could muster directly at the side of the shield, sending it flying from the figure’s hand. This was one of the tricks he’d picked from Veles when dealing with someone with a shield.

Unfortunately, afterward, Davis didn’t have enough time for anything else. A swift slash of a sword was coming his way.

Luckily, all that armor and the pain in the crotch made his opponent slow and sluggish, giving Davis plenty of opportunity to dodge the attack and retreat a good distance away.

“Shameless bastard!” the guy in armor snarled. “I will fucking kill you!”

Seeing the guy’s sword glowing blue, Davis knew he was in danger. Without many options left, he stirred his mana into the ground and randomly fired a dozen first-sized earth balls at his opponent. Fortunately, this seemed to have worked. The blue diagonal slash of mana missed Davis by a hair.

Taking this opportunity, Davis kept sending more and more earth shots while rapidly burning his mana, forcing the muscular guy to be more active by trying to avoid them hitting the important parts.

Still, Davis was relentless. He kept nearing the guy and showering him with as much dirt as he could before reaching just a couple steps away from him. He then tapped the ground, and the armored guy suddenly had his knees buckle, his right leg sunk into the ground. While another, much larger ball of dirt directly hit the looking hole in his helmet that served as his eye-opening.

Too scared to come any closer because the blinded guy was swinging his sword recklessly. Davis went into the throwing position and just waited.

Being in this particular situation where his helmet was filled with dirt, the armored guy did the only available thing; he removed the helmet with his free hand.

But, just as he blinked, hoping to check his vision, the spear’s tip was a centimeter in front of his head. And the next moment, it pierced right between his eyes, not stopping until it reached the half-length of the shaft.

Seeing the burly man fall down, Davis felt disgusted by the loud crunch as his spear further penetrated the guy’s head. Not really wanting to touch the gored spear, Davis looked around and noticed that despite his triumph, their overall situation wasn’t any better.

Trician was at a great disadvantage; he was facing five individuals at once, and by what Davis could tell, some of them were at the same level as the old butler—meaning most likely Sixth Stage—giving Davis no opportunity to provide help. Many people protecting this estate have already fallen, and the metallic golem supposed to give the protection was dismantled even before they came here.

As for Veles, he was nowhere to be seen, probably brewing something in the background. The only saving grace here was Tora. She threw her little vials all around, creating clouds of sickly greenish smoke that made others reluctant to approach, allowing the rest of the security of this estate to have more space for maneuver.

However, Davis knew this wouldn’t last long.

The next moment, one of the assailant’s fighters screamed in panic, gaining the attention of the few who had a chance to look away from the battle. And unfortunately for them, they should’ve just ignored his screams… Because his voice died just the next moment, the thin, almost invisible silk threads had cut deep into his throat, and the rest of his body wasn’t spared. His every limb had thin silk cutting deep inside his flesh as if trying to pull him apart…

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

This seems to have been the signal as one yelled, “She is here!”

In unison, every single one of the attackers rushed under the bluish dome that had appeared in the same second white threads strangled one of their comrades. Unluckily for them, not everyone could make it—the defenders stopped some, while the rest got caught with the threads.

This didn’t seem to faze those who were already under the protection. Two mages responsible for invoicing this barrier worked together to form a set of complex greyish runes. Of course, Davis and the rest weren’t standing still. They kept sending a relentless barrage of attacks but without causing a single scratch on the barrier.

“Tch,” Trician clicked his tongue while finishing off one of the stranglers, “They are getting away again.”

“Shame,” Dalia’s voice suddenly appeared. She slowly walked as her hands gently swayed, creating fine lines of threads that enveloped vegetation all around, “Tough, we did manage to save the estate this time.”

She then scanned the surroundings more thoughtfully, “Good, the client is alive, and the damage isn’t that much,” her head then snapped at the blue barrier, “They will pay, I will make sure of it.”

Two mages inside had finished casting their spell, and the floating greyish runes swirled and rushed to the ground, procuring the circle that perfectly enveloped the interior of the protective dome. Grey light shone from this circle, gently shining the lower body parts of those inside. Just as this light shone brighter, a loud pop was heard…

It happened in a fraction of a second. A tiny silver dot blinked in the middle of the circle. Yet the devastation was immediate. All the mana poured inside crating this spell recoiled back, sending everyone flying against the inner walls of the dome…

Seeing the opportunity, Dalia spun into action, “Attack the dome! Especially mages!” She loudly ordered and went to work. She quickly started drawing runes as Tricius and the rest of the backup Dalia had brought followed her example.

“That was easy,” Davis suddenly heard a voice next to him. Startled, he absurdly moved his head, only to see Veles shrouded in a black fog.

“Where were you?” Davis asked.

“Here and there, I had to check for some rats,” Veles replied. His voice sounded fine, but Davis noticed his eyes dropping, and apparent exhaustion was written on his face.

“Your doing, I guess?” Asked Davis after pointing at the blue dome.

“It is. That pathetic attempt of warp isn’t going to work with me here,” Veles lightly shrugged as the fog covering him disappeared.

Suddenly, the barrier broke under the constant assault of various spells, and the Dalia’s underlings spun in action. Ever since Veles had interrupted the warp spell, everyone inside was either unconscious or highly dizzy, so apprehending them wasn’t hard.

“I must thank both of you for providing us help,” Dalia reached them after everything had calmed down and said, “Without you, I would’ve most likely lost another property.”

She then glanced at the current resident, who appeared to be a very skilled Mage, “And probably got our credibility further tarnished.”

“Glad to be of help,” Veles replied, “However, next time, I would be more careful of who you are allowing inside your properties.”

“What do you mean?” Dalia’s eyes narrowed.

“During the battle, I’ve taken on myself to check the ward control room,” said Veles, “After all, I was able to use my spatial abilities here without any interference. And once I checked, my speculation about wards being beforehand tampered came true.”

“Is that so…” Dalia quietly murmured. Her clenched fist served as the proof of how angry she was.

“I suggest you three leave,” Dalia said, and Davis suddenly noticed that Tora was already next to them. “City guards will come and demand a report. It’s tedious, so I suggest you avoid them if possible.”

Davis had nothing to say. It had been long since he accepted himself as Veles’s lackey. So, whatever Veles decided, he would act upon it.

“I wouldn’t want that,” Veles replied, then spun around and started walking.

Before Davis could follow him, he saw Dalia gesture for Trician, who was nearby, “Please escort them back.”

“As you wish, my lady,” With a bow, Trician matched the Veles’s pace while he and Tora followed behind.

“What’s going to happen now?” Davis asked.

The butler just slowly looked at him and started explaining, “If you are wondering about those captured, they will be interrogated in the hope of gaining information about the mastermind behind this attack. As for Mage Koli, the current resident, he will be properly reimbursed for his troubles.”

Davis nodded and let his mind wander about the previous events. Still, he kept the keen focus on Tricion as the butler faced Veles and asked, “Are we going back to pick up chests with Spell Jewels before going to your residence? Or do you want me to send them to you? I don’t want to be rude, but your current state isn’t very good. I would suggest you take a rest as soon as possible.”

“Thank you for consideration, but I will manage somehow,” replied Veles with a shake of his head, “I don’t feel like leaving those chests in someone else’s hand will be a good idea.”

“Valid point,” That was all Trician said as they continued walking back to Dalia’s place.

On their way, Tora had fed Veles numerous ‘healing’ potions. However, Davis highly doubted she did it with the goodness in her heart because each time he drowned one, she would observe his reaction like a hawk would its prey. It was really disturbing, so when Davis got offered some medicine, he politely refused.

After around twenty minutes of walking—it took a while since they had to take a detour not to encounter any guards—they finally reached Dalia’s mansion and went straight to the basement.

But just as they descended the stairs, they were met with a disturbing sight…

A strange creature stood before them, looking like a barely ten-year-old child with bright red skin filled with disgusting deformities and scars. Its head was twice the size that it should be, and on top of it stood five jagged horns.

This disgusting thing was busily feasting on flesh… flesh of a poor maid who lay down disfigured underneath its feet.

Angered by this sight, Davis grasped his spear tightly. He saw that the Trician acted the same and prepared his sword. Yet, the creature barely took notice of them…

Its previous ecstatic expression as it ate suddenly froze. It dropped the piece of its meal and then happened something Davis would never forget.

Fear…

That thing displayed so much fear that even Davis clearly felt it. Tora standing next to him, was visibly shivering, somehow making him even more uncomfortable.

Still, those giant beady red eyes were solely focused on one person… Veles.

A second after this strange reaction occurred, Davis noticed how the creature’s hands dropped to the side. The fear it felt significantly lessened while at the same time being replaced by what Davis could only discern as madness. Yet, that didn’t last long either…

“You dare stand before me?” Veles arrogantly said. It was the first time Davis had heard him like this. “Do not waste my time and kill yourself,” Veles then ordered in the same tone.

Like a puppet, the creature’s claw moved on its own and punctured a hole inside its own head. Immediately dropping down dead…

Veles then sent a ball of black fog towards its dead body. It enveloped the creature whole before starting to dissolve any of its remains.

“Okey,” Tora, who was on the verge of freaking out, asked, “What the hell is going on?”

Well, Davis would like an answer to that too…