Chapter 378

It wasn’t that Nick didn’t expect something to go terribly wrong; he had known it was only a matter of time, based on his past experiences in a dungeon.But even that hadn’t been enough to prepare him for the sheer violence unleashed by the Hones’ team, as they deliberately aimed to separate them and hunt them down.

More projectiles flew past him, skating by a condensed . He had to give up his attempts to shield the entire team because each time he did, the hail of bolts resumed, and he faced a real risk of backlash if he kept pitting his magic against someone who could so easily break it.

“Stay together!” Raphael snarled, warping space to bridge the gap forming between him and Willow, and preventing her from being overwhelmed.

The others attempted to comply, but each time they tried to retreat, more masked men surfaced from the foggy swamp, scattering them.

Nick unleashed a barrage of to his left, hitting two enemies who were pushing his fellow apprentices a bit too hard, and tried to think of something, anything, that could improve the situation.

As it stood, if he tried to unleash a more powerful barrage of spells on the enemy, he would leave himself vulnerable to retaliation. While he had managed to survive so far, it was only by focusing on his own defense.

It also hadn’t escaped him that the man was only attacking when Nick stepped up, preferring to leave the grunt work to his people.

But while staying low and helping his teammates when needed was a good tactic when they had the advantage, it couldn’t work when they were under so much pressure.

Movement from behind forced Nick to reinforce his once more, but the real attack came from the side.

Fire exploded all around him, raging and consuming him entirely, attempting to feed on his defensive magic to expand further.

Nick was forced to completely ignore the massive salamander shifting behind him and focused on channeling all his frustrations into the wind around him, making it opaque and giving it a spiritual quality that went beyond what the fireball could handle.

The hostile mana sputtered out, deprived of its fuel, and if he hadn’t been in a life-or-death fight, he might have smiled at the success.

Unfortunately, the boosts he’d gotten from the Greater Ritual he was working on just weren’t enough to close the gap with the mysterious man who’d been hunting them down.

“Come out, coward!” Nick roared, thrusting the Shard forward and striking another masked enemy with a bolt of electricity that crackled a dangerous red, responding to his anger.

But nobody answered him. The fight just kept going all around, gradually pulling him away from his teammates, despite their efforts to stay together.

The only reason Nick didn’t go all out and try to take down every enemy was that he knew his magic would affect his companions, but the further he was pushed, the more tempting that idea became.

Before that thought could turn into action, however, another hail of spells was sent his way. Then another, and then another, forcing him to hunker down and put everything into shielding.

The barrage persisted for several minutes, and although no single spell was strong enough to truly threaten him, the sheer amount, combined with his blurred senses, made it impossible to counterattack effectively.

Only after the last lance of stone shattered against his defenses was he finally able to regain some control, but by then, the damage had been done.

“Fuck!” he shouted, noticing that his teammates had been driven out of his limited range. Nick could still vaguely hear sounds of battle, but they were fading, and the swamp’s very nature made it impossible to pinpoint their origin.

Meanwhile, the intensity of the assault on him decreased markedly, allowing him a chance to breathe and look around.

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About a dozen men and women, all dressed in the same dark uniform, were cautiously watching him. They looked exhausted from sustaining the barrage that had kept him pinned down for so long, and he could sense genuine surprise that he was still alive.

Yet, there was no worry in their minds. They knew he was far more powerful than any of them, and they didn’t fear for their lives. That could only mean one thing.

“Are you finally coming out?” he called, straightening his shoulders and standing tall.

A chuckle echoed all around him, but this time, there was a clear note of approval that he only now realized had been missing before. “I have to say, I didn’t expect you to last this long, young man.”

Before he could respond, a shape started forming from several darting shadows, forcing him to look back and forth to follow the growing form. Eventually, it merged into a person, who stepped out of the fog with a careless walk.

Nick narrowed his eyes. He was sure he’d never met this man before, but he could easily see the resemblance to the person he’d spied upon back in Last Thaw.

The same easy confidence radiated from them, along with a noticeable ruggedness in their jaw and eye shape, making it clear that, if not siblings, they were close relatives.

He didn’t say as much, not one to reveal anything unless absolutely necessary, but he started to put two and two together.

“Perhaps you are weaker than you thought,” he eventually shot back.

That caused a ripple of annoyance through the crowd, but the leader only seemed more amused.

“That might be true,” he said. “It has been a while since anyone put up this much of a fight with us. Usually, anyone that strong is either already an ally or, in the rare case, too powerful and not our target.”

“I’m sure it was hard to face resistance from a bunch of teenagers,” Nick replied in a mocking tone while he studied the man’s etheric presence.

Calling it slippery was an understatement. The only non-prestige being he’d ever met that was as difficult to pin down was Changer, and that guy was famous specifically for his skill in avoiding notice.

This man, whatever his true identity, was obviously a professional, and his power—what little Nick could perceive—reminded him more of the men working under Duke Alluria than anything else.

The good news was that he wasn’t Prestige. The bad news was that he was probably more than twenty levels above Nick and experienced enough to have worked on his stats, significantly lessening the advantage Nick usually had in this kind of situation.

A precise assessment was impossible, but he could infer that the man was probably strong enough to require going all out. That meant holding nothing back if he wanted to survive, and even then, he’d only have about a fifty percent chance, since this wouldn’t be a fair fight.

“That is a scary face you’re making,” the man said casually. “I understand we haven’t met under the best circumstances, but surely you realize fighting now wouldn’t be worth it? Even if you’re hiding something big, the chances that it’s enough to get away from us are slim. I am a reasonable man; we can reach an agreement if you’re willing.”

Nick immediately dismissed the possibility that this was a genuine offer. He couldn’t be completely sure, not with the way he lacked access to the man’s thoughts, but his gut told him this wouldn’t end well.

Still, just because he didn’t believe him didn't mean he couldn’t draw the whole thing out while he worked on a little surprise.

Even as he slowly began to collect the intense emotions resonating through the ether, both his own and those of his opponents, who were experiencing varying degrees of anxiety, bloodlust, anger, and even frustration, he maintained the act. “What kind of agreement?”

The man’s eyes were shadowed by his thick brow, but Nick had the feeling they were shining anyway.

“House Hone is a mighty power, and not just in the Sunlands. I won’t ask you to betray your friends or mentor, of course, but I promise that if you can just look away for the next few days while we finish our work in the dungeon, you’ll be rewarded handsomely.”

That wasn’t a bad pitch. The man had effectively understood Nick’s nature and recognized that asking him to join them directly would have failed. Simply stalling their progress wouldn’t put him at odds with Tholm, and he already knew that House Hone was truly on the rise.

“Captain Vane, do we really need to offer that much to a kid? We could get rid of him now and be done with it,” one of the men asked, his frustration boiling over as Nick’s nudges began to take effect.

The man, apparently Captain Vane, didn’t seem to like that. He made a sharp gesture, causing the offending subordinate to choke on his next words.

“I apologize for that. It’s so difficult to find willing recruits with even a hint of decorum these days,” Vane said, even as the other gasped for breath, his hands reaching for his throat in an effort to break free from the invisible grip.

Strangely enough, it was that which convinced Nick that the man was suffering from psychic backlash. Anyone above level thirty, especially if they had a physical class, could go for quite a while without breathing. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but there would have been no need to struggle as if they were an ordinary human.

It was just a passing thought, not really worth pursuing given the serious danger Nick was still facing, but the fact that it even occurred to him showed he was finally back in full control of himself.

“I’m sure,” he said drily.

Vane opened his arms as if to welcome him. “Then, what do you say? We can discuss repayment in more detail, but I assure you, House Hone’s pockets are deep.”

The other masked men stirred, seemingly ready to hear his answer, but in reality, they were gripped by an inexplicable sense of danger.

Nick’s spiritual influence had a twofold effect, likely due to the psychic implants. The interaction between the two energies generated natural friction from their opposing origins, yielding a significantly better result than he had expected.

But he held back for a moment longer. “I will give you my reply, but I need to ask you something first. I understand wanting to control the dungeon for its resources. Hell, I even get wanting to get rid of us, given the two Archmages’ enmity. But why interfere so recklessly with the ritual the Guardian is crafting?”

Vane tilted his head, something in his demeanor revealing that he’d realized his offer wouldn’t be accepted, but he still didn’t attack. Instead, he hummed, pondering how much to say, before shrugging. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. The Well isn’t just a powerful artifact, you know? It is a Point of Ascension. Anyone who drinks from it shall have their chains removed, and once it is complete, it will enable even those stuck in the mortal realms to grow beyond.”

The reveal was quite shocking, and if Nick hadn’t been expecting it, he would have missed the subtle signal Vane gave to his men as he processed the shocking information.

Fortunately, he had been waiting specifically for that, and instead of the men uniting to attack him all at once, their minds reached the breaking point under his influence, and they turned on each other.

Chaos erupted.