<"Silence!">, Cale's stern voice, echoed through Rangar's head. With one powerful blow, he severed the head of a Thormod from its body before throwing the corpse at one of the leaders he had killed just seconds ago. Luc, on the other hand, stayed hidden in a bush and killed a number of the Thormods in front of them with his shadow after panic broke out among them. Almost simultaneously, the creatures began a sprint and came straight at Rangar, causing him to fold his arms protectively in front of his body and assume a defensive stance. He reinforced his skin with his Igrikum as the dubious creature hurled him backward with full force. As if in flat stone, Rangar was thrown across the ground before he immediately straightened up, got to his knees, and lunged to strike. His fist struck the strange creature squarely in the chest, tearing a hole in its body before it fell to the ground and Rangar pulled out his bloodied hand. But he did not get a chance to look around. Several Thormods were attacking him, which is why he could only casually notice Cale's words. <"Rangar, Luc. Join me as soon as you can, I'm leaving my post. We'll start with plan B. Defense line A, stand by.">

Rangar dodged an attack from the Thormods and slammed his fist into his opponent's face as he could see the dragons racing abruptly toward the ground in the background. Only seconds later, a vast sea of flames could be seen, which the Thormods seemed to notice as well, as quite a few turned around to the back. Rangar took advantage of the moment of inattention and killed a group of Thormods standing a few meters in front of him.

One figure, to his surprise, appeared right behind him, so Rangar held his arm protectively in front of his head and the short sword bounced off his skin.

"What the...", the warrior muttered in surprise, pulling back at the same moment.

"Nice try", Rangar threw back with a sneer and provocatively clenched his fists, accompanied by a short fire that appeared under his fingers. With a powerful punch, he sped his fist into the ground, causing the earth to shake. Instantly, his opponents lost their footing and had to concentrate on not being knocked over by the tremor, but they had not counted on Luc. The young High-Magician dove right behind the warrior who had just attacked Rangar with his sword and snapped his neck. With his shadow, he held a multitude of Thormods and larger creatures, making each of Rangar's blows deadly.

<"Sylve is under attack">, one of the dragons spoke up, causing Luc and Rangar to exchange surprised glances. The two High-Magicians nodded to each other and split up to follow Plan B.

<"Info to Fengari and King Leonhardt. Send the backup group to Sylve, the last two leaders and also the chairman himself might be there.">

<"Understood">, the dragon confirmed as Rangar took giant strides towards Cale's location, decapitating all the Thormods he could see. But when he suddenly realized how many there had been, he came to a stop. His eyes landed on a broadly built Thormod wearing war paint he had never seen before. Luc, who was sitting at some distance from Rangar, also seemed to see the chairman, who was accompanied by dozens of Thormods and creatures.

<"Don't take any chances">, the Eldest spoke up. Almost simultaneously with the statement, Rangar felt a tremendous discharge of mana and immediately recognized it as Cale's mana.

<"Caleb?">, he therefore called out in irritation and took a few steps back, but it was too late. The leader had noticed his presence and raised his hand, bringing all the Thormods to an immediate halt. When Rangar could see a massive fountain of fire in the distance, in all likelihood started by Cale, he now finally became nervous as well. <"What are you doing?">

<"Rangar!">, Luc shouted in the next moment, as the leader approached the High-Magician with increased speed. Surprised, Rangar dodged to the side with a leap, but the Thormod still hurled his sword at Rangar in one fluid motion.

<"Get out of here, or they'll spot you too!">, Rangar commanded the 6th seat, parrying the leader's attack with his whole arm. The Thormod, however, pulled out a second sword, which was tied at his hip, and rammed it into Rangar's chest. A metallic crunch was heard as the sword struck Rangar's hardened skin and ricocheted as if it were made of stone.

"Cursed High-Magician. I guess you're second seat Rangar Castero then."

"In flesh. I am honored that you know my name", Rangar countered, slamming his swords away from him with his hands before taking a few steps backward. He hadn't felt such a powerful blow in a long time, which made him realize that the leader in front of him was far above what he had been allowed to see from the Thormods up to this point. So far, only Cale had ever managed to put such pressure on him that he could really feel it, despite his Igrikum.

His attention didn't linger on the Thormod in front of him, however, but wandered to the chairman, who stood at some distance from him, silently contemplating the scenario.

"Where are you looking?", the Thormod spoke up, appearing right in front of Rangar's eyes. The blade appeared seconds later at the level of his neck, forcing Rangar once again to block the attack with the help of his arm and Igrikum. The momentum built up, however, wrenched the ground from under his feet and he was flung to the side. Rangar did not get a chance to stand up. The Thormod teleported right over him again and shot the tip of both swords at Rangar, who rolled to the side at the last moment.

<"The leader here can teleport">, he immediately informed all his allies as he sped towards the Thormod with his fist. However, at the last moment, the Thormod disappeared and reappeared behind his back. Rangar sensed this immediately and turned backwards, only to have to block the attack again. He felt like one of the training dummies that young mages used to practice. He just didn't get a chance to attack.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

In the corner of his eye, Rangar saw the Thormods start to move as well, so he began to curse. What was he supposed to do now? He was powerless against a Thormod that could teleport. His only luck at that moment was that his Igrikum could absorb the attacks and thus not harm him. But how long could he withstand it, and what about the other Thormods coming straight for the capital? Were there more of them?

<"Caleb!">, Ranger therefore shouted in his mind and flung the Thormod away from him before setting off at a sprint. He was not to be left standing here. <"The damn chairman is here, and a leader who can teleport. What are you up to?">

<"Caleb?">, the Eldest also interfered, but the 12th seat did not answer. Rangar could pretty clearly feel Cale's mana, as it was literally flooding the entire landscape, but why wasn't he answering anymore?

<"I can't connect to the Apostle Caleb Leuen">, announced a female voice that Rangar immediately recognized. It was the dragoness Chioni, who was responsible for allowing everyone to communicate with each other in thought. <"Just as the apostle Aaron Thopas.">.

<"Did they kill him?">, Rosalie spoke up in surprise. The fear in her voice was clearly audible.

<"Impossible, I can feel Cale's mana here...">, Rangar barely managed to get out as the leader appeared above him. Like a predator, the Thormod chased Rangar and shot his weapon towards the High-Magician. Reflexively, Rangar ducked through it and kept running, but the Thormod continued to pursue him, accompanied by a massive mass of other warriors. One of these Thormods used water magic and caused a massive wave to appear, which caught Rangar with full force and swept him away. Immediately, he counterattacked, harnessing the floodwaters to shake off his attackers. Practiced, he turned backwards and hurled the water back, followed by a tremor that knocked quite a few Thormods to the ground. Rangar sank their feet into the ground to restrict their movements before attacking them with fire. However, one of the Thormods stood forward and easily blocked the fireball that came straight at his group. For a moment, Rangar saw only a wall of fire as the Chairman calmly stepped through and dropped his expressionless gaze on the High-Magician.

The leader knocked Rangar to the ground in the next moment and hurled his swords at Rangar, who grabbed both weapons with his bare hands and was now in a single power struggle with the leader. From the Thormod's grim, strained gaze, Rangar could tell that he was visibly struggling to counter Rangar's mere muscular strength.

"Quell", Chairman Hosik calmly spoke up, causing the leader to look up at the man with a jerk. "Step back."

"Chairman", Leader Quell quietly raised his voice and jerked his swords before leaping to the side. Instinctively, Rangar straightened on his feet and went into a defensive stance as Hosik calmly approached him. Something about his demeanor strongly reminded Rangar of Caleb, which is why he couldn't help but feel genuinely afraid. The Thormod didn't seem to see him as a threat at all, just as Caleb did back when they had fought during the trial. As if he was clearly superior to him and was just toying with him. Back then, he had underestimated Cale because of his appearance, but at the sight of Hosik, all alarm bells rang loudly. Hosik was dangerous.

"Rangar Castero", the chairman announced, stopping a few meters finally in front of Rangar, causing all his followers to stop as well. "2nd seat of the Magistrat and member of the Council. Igrikum of the body reinforcement, if I am informed correctly."

Nervously, Rangar swallowed but did not reply.

"If I did not know better, I would believe that you belong to the lowly race of primordial men. I know your history. You have been a friend of the swordmaster Yanan Plus and knew Nakken Paseru."

Irritated, Rangar paused. How did the chairman know about Yanan Plus? That was one of Rangar's oldest acquaintances and one of the people who knew him before he met Raphael, Aaron, and Odin. But Nakken Paseru? Rangar knew of a Nakken Torgersen who had lived with them for quite a few years, but was that the same man the chairman was just talking about?

<"Rangar">, Luc's voice spoke up, and instantly Rangar realized that the chairman was trying to upset him. <"Don't move. I will hold the chairman and the leader with my Igrikum.">

<"Why are you still here? Are you crazy?">

<"As if I would leave you behind? I'm hiding in the shade of a tree. Wait for my command before you start moving.">

<"I won't be able to escape, you know that.">

<"But I can buy you some time.">

<"Luc, if they know about me and my Igrikum, they probably know about yours. If you use your shadows, then they'll immediately realize you're here.">

<"But...!">

"You invaded a village back then, along with Yanan Plus, which was under the care of the current High-Magician Odin Ander. Tell me, where is the swordmaster of Karekama currently?"

"What?", Rangar just threw back in irritation. That... that had to be almost a century ago. How did the chairman know about this incident? How much did he know about him, his past, and the Magistrat's past? If he knew his Igrikum, did he know about the future visions the Eldest had? And what did the sword have to do with the whole situation? What did Hosik want from Caleb?

"Don't be so surprised", the chairman merely countered, pulling out a beautiful silver sword from its scabbard. Immediately, Rangar could perceive a tremendous dominance of mana that this sword emitted.

<"I won't leave you behind. On three!">

<"Wait, Luc!">

<"One">, the 6th seat raised and Rangar could now also feel Luc's mana spreading under his feet. <"Two.">

<"Luc!">

<"Three!">, Luc merely roared and attacked with his Igrikum. At the same moment, Rangar dropped all inhibitions and shot into the sky. He had to get out of here.

But he did not get far.

Seconds later, the leader Quell loomed over him and kicked him back to the ground with his foot, causing Rangar to land back on the ground with a huge thud.

<"Rangar!">

<"Get out of here!">, Rangar shouted as the leader slammed his foot down on Rangar's chest, creating a shockwave. Rangar tried to grab the attacker's foot, but the Thormod teleported out of his reach and stopped next to the Chairman Hosik.

<"That is not a Thormod. The chairman is not a Thormod. I couldn't hold on to his shadow!">

"Look for the High-Magician Luc Darves. He must be around here somewhere", Hosik spoke up, and with a nod, the leader Quell disappeared in the direction Luc was in.

<"Luc, just this once. Listen to me and get the hell out of here.">

"What a waste of time", Hosik muttered as the other Thormods came to a halt behind him.

"Follow Leader Quell", he commanded the Thomord before turning to the rear and letting his gaze fall on the creatures gathered behind him. "And you go to the east."

The retainers disappeared at the instruction, leaving Rangar alone with the chairman. Completely exhausted, Rangar slowly straightened up and got into a fighting stance as the chairman unfastened his cloak and made his sword appear.

"I will finish fast with you", he said.

"If you know so much about me, you should realize that no normal weapon can penetrate my skin."

"This isn't a normal weapon", Hosik retorted, letting the sword's mana slide through his body. At that moment, Rangar saw something he had never seen with his own eyes before. A bright, circular light appeared behind the chairman's body, blinding Rangar. All at once, he realized that the Magistrat had been missing a tremendous piece of information, and Yanan's warning to him echoed through his mind again. The weapon Hosik carried was indeed no ordinary weapon.

It was one of the 3rd legendary swords, the glowing halo Mirajokama.