Bahyun once again found himself featured in the news, though not as the main headline, but rather tucked away in a corner of the local news pages. Nonetheless, it gathered attention due to its captivating content.
The headline read: “Overnight Disappearance Sparks Questions: What's the Purpose Behind Clearing the Garbage Site?”
The article, penned by the same journalist who speculated he was a wizard, now posited that the individual behind the wizard incident and the garbage site clearing were one and the same, while at the same time, provided detailed interviews from a few professionals, offering readers a different perspective
“A journalist with great potential, presenting a headline without clickbait and with well-structure content…they might soon be overlooked, though, as people nowadays prefer clickbait titles filled with gossip and conspiracy.” Bahyun shook his head with a hint of smile, acknowledging the accurate assumption made in the professionals’ suggestions. A professor from a university speculated that a wizard might be testing newly invented magic at the garbage site, possibly involving magic related to waste management and recycling. The professor connected the dots with another news report stating that hundreds of batteries had gone missing, linking it to the news piece where a wizard spotted carrying a bunch of unknown object flying across the city. The professor boldly guessed that the wizard was utilizing a form of energy difficult to control, storing it into batteries. Such energy, they hypothesized, was effective in cleaning up garbage.
However, the journalist drew two assumptions to address their doubt – either, “the wizard is a well-intentioned individual hoping to contribute to the environment”, or “the wizard could eliminate garbage now, but who knows what the wizard might target next.”.
Well, that’s not entirely wrong, as it would undoubtedly cause chaos if the dark energy fell into the wrong hands…Bahyun mused as he flipped to another page, though this world may seem happy, jolly kids show with magical girls and magic, assassination and murder have occurred throughout history and in the news. It still a world with greedy and malevolent humans.
He dared not imagine what would happen if the power that could bring good in his possessed were to fall into someone else’s hands.
Seems like I can’t continue my tests in this city for the moment. Bahyun thought to himself, feeling troubled as he need to find another way to deal with the other eighty-plus batteries, having managed to empty less than twenty yesterday. He noticed the batteries were wearing off while casting the runes. It was not reversible, and he expecting that the other batteries would be completely worn off in a month if he couldn’t resolve the issue. An explosion with a huge mushroom cloud* would eventually occur in his tiny apartment.
However, to his surprise, he soon encountered an opportunity to test out another method he had planned to use the dark energy for: a dark beast emerged near his apartment. Witnessing the portal tear wide open right in front of his French window in the living room, above a road junction, he saw a huge insect-like dark beast emerge.
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He hesitated at first, as it was too close to his location. Taking action might attract the attention of the authorities. Although there was no evidence to support his fear that the authorities would capture and harm them, he dared not provoke them, all in an effort to avoid drawing attention to Almandine’s existence. His plan was to gather as many trump cards as possible to keep Almandine safe from the authorities, openly and without resorting to magic battle or fleeing. Dealing with waste management using dark energy was one of the trump cards he had prepared. He expecting that both he and Almandine would be placed under surveillance and experience a certain loss of freedom if only this one trump card was revealed. However, he believe it was preferable to being dead or dissected.
The dark side of humanity from his previous life had deeply ingrained itself in his mindset. He had read numerous accounts from victims and studied history, particular about the atrocities of WWII. He dared not hold high hopes for humanity in this world and preferred to be prepared for any circumstances.
However, he had no time to hesitate, as not one, but a total of sixteen dark beasts were crawling out from the portal!
“Wait…How…There’s too many of them!” Bahyun’s hand pressed hard on the rail of his balcony, his eyes wide open in disbelief.
Almandine, unaware of his concerns about the destruction the dark beasts were about to cause, gazed at them. They were temporarily stunned by the sunlight, as they hadn’t seen such abundant light in the dark realm. She spoke coldly, “They are stronger than the one I encountered last time.”
Bahyun turned towards her in shock, “You mean each one of them is stronger than the one you defeated last time?”
“Yes, probably double or triple.” Almandine replied, her eyes fixed on the dark beasts as they began to moving around. Subconsciously, she pressed her hand against her chest, “If my stone were intact, I’m positive I could bring down three of them. But now, only one.”
If Almandine could only handle three at her full power, then the five members of the Precaria Gem Squad, who were supposed to have similar power levels, should be able to handle fifteen in total, leaving one beast…No, that was a wrong estimation. During the battle between Precaria Gem Squad and Almandine’s team, they had received additional assistance to secure victory, making it 7 vs 5. It would require at least 7 Mages at the scene at this moment to eradicate these dark beasts! Though the Precaria Gem Squad should have gained more experience over the years, they were reported to be ending their service soon due to feeling rejected by the FayOra stone. Therefore, their battle ability would be a question if they were to face these dark beasts.
Considering all these factors and the fact that the Mages had not yet arrived at the scene, Bahyun feared that things would worsen if he did not take action. He hurriedly brought piles of batteries to the balcony. As he busied himself, the dark beasts, having adapted to the brightness of the light-filled human world, began wreaking havoc.
“Almandine, could you help me out?”
Almandine noticed that he asked with a smile, not forcing her to accept his request, but inquiring to see if she was willing to help. She learnt this gesture, she know Bahyun respected her decision, unlike her master in the past who had ordered and demanded pleasing results without considering her thoughts or well-being in battle.
She knew she should respond with a warm smile to show her appreciation for Bahyun’s respect. However, her smile seemed eerie and bloodthirsty, resembling that of a serial killer or a maniac, likely due to her default setting as a villain.
“Sure, no problem.”
A smile on her face, with gritted teeth and sharp-looking eyes, as if she were about to assassinate someone.