Chapter 348: Trouble (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Leo
The three sat down again and they all ordered hot coffee.
White steam rose from the three glasses and they looked like three smoking cylinders standing on the white table.
"Time is up. I think Reyline is not coming." Hikari checked her pocket watch.
Stigma grabbed his glass and took a sip. "It’s fine. Let’s get to the point. I have a favor to ask. Although we’re friends, I’ll still pay you well."
Angele held the glass in his right hand and spun it several times.
"What do you want us to do? Just say it, Stigma. We survived the trip to the central continent together. Although fair trade is the first rule for the wizards, you don’t have to pay me well," Angele said.
Hikari looked at Stigma without saying a word.
"I’ll tell you later. The situation is… complicated," Stigma stopped for a second and continued, "It seems like Reyline won’t make it."
"What are you talking about?" a calm male voice came from the entrance.
The three raised their heads.
It was a man in a silver armor with a black cloak on his back, stepping into the shop. His shiny blonde hair and handsome face were eye-catching. It was Reyline—he did not age at all.
Reyline’s footsteps were loud and deep, it seemed like his armor was heavy.
He walked to the table and sat down by Stigma. Reyline glanced around and his sight fell upon Angele.
"Alright, since we’re here, I think we should pay Morrisa a visit, what do you think?" Hikari advised.
"Sure."
"Let’s do it."
Angele and Reyline agreed.
Stigma shook his head. "Morrisa is enjoying her peaceful life after she got married. Her husband’s family used some secret technique and helped her get pregnant. The child was born without any problems, but she lost half of her mentality. Her child is already 10 years old now. I’ve visited her once, but she just looked like a middle-aged local woman that you can see anywhere." There was a bitter smile on Stigma’s face.
"She’s not one of us anymore, but she probably made the right decision." Hikari looked a bit depressed after hearing the words.
"Alright. Let’s get back to the topic. What do you want us to do? I thought we were going to explore ruins," Angele interrupted, "I don’t have much time."
Stigma took a hit for Angele and almost died back on the airship. Although Stigma did it for the team, it still left a deep impression in Angele’s mind.
"It’s simple. I want to solve the problem completely," Stigma started explaining, "There are five strongest wizards in my family. I can fight two of them by myself and I want you to help me deal with the rest."
"You want us to kill them or just capture them?" Reyline questioned.
"Capture them if possible, but you can kill them if you have to." Stigma chuckled.
"When do we start?" Angele sipped some coffee from the glass.
"Tomorrow morning." Stigma finished the coffee and slammed the glass on the table. "It’s a bit earlier than my original plan, but the situation is getting worse. My sister is considered a traitor to the family and she’s being tracked down by the assassins."
He stood up. "Let’s go, guys. I’ll kill anyone who tries to touch my sister."
"You saved my life once and I’ll treat your sister like my own." Angele clinked his glass with Reyline.
"Well, yeah, he’s right." Reyline realized he never liked the man named Green after clinking the glasses with him. Reyline’s expression changed and he stared at Angele.
Hikari shook her head and chuckled.
"I can find some wizards from the potion master’s guild to help us. Also, the guild can easily give your family some pressure. What do you say?"
"Well, I can summon a team with a maximum of 100 formal wizards and 2000 experienced soldiers. Tell me the location. We can set a barrier around your family’s territory. No one can stand against the will of the wizard’s guild." Reyline glared at Angele.
Angele rolled his eyes. "Why are you looking at me…? My organization is weak so I don’t have a team of wizards or something like that."
"Don’t bother the wizards from your organizations." Stigma opened his mouth, looking a bit surprised. It seemed like Hikari and Reyline were doing well in their organizations.
"Five rank 2 wizards. I think we can win the fight just by us."
"Alright, let’s move. It’ll take us some time to reach my family’s territory." Stigma put on the black hood and covered his face with a mask.
******************************
Surrounded by tall yellow grasses dancing in the gentle wind, a brown wooden house sat quietly in the center of the plain.
Stigma was sitting opposite an old woman with white messy hair inside the house. He was wearing a long black robe.
"Mother, tell me what happened to my sister." He stood up and walked to the window as he questioned.
"Nothing happened." The old woman shook her head. "Did you pack up all your belongings? Just leave. I don’t care if you go to the Bass River area of the Molten Lava River area. Don’t stay in the family. You’re their next target." The old woman’s voice was deep and hoarse.
"Leave? Haha…" Stigma’s expression turned serious. "Don’t worry about me. I’ll deal with it. Alright, mother, there’s no time to waste. Tell me the location."
The woman raised her head. It was the first time Stigma talked to her like that. The young man’s gentle smile was replaced by a cold expression. She never saw Stigma spend any time on learning the spells or meditating. Sadly, Stigma’s mother was a mortal, and she did not notice that Stigma was no longer hiding his mentality.
"I’ll find the location myself if you don’t want to say anything." Stigma put on his hood and left the wooden house.
"Don’t worry, Della, I’ll be the one to protect you this time," he muttered.
Stigma raised his head and saw three people waiting for him quietly on the horizon.
He closed the door and headed to his friends.
**************************
The Abyss Canyon.
There was a deep black crack in the middle of the yellow plain. The crack was stretching endlessly, emitting chilling wind from its depths.
The golden light shined upon the land, but it did not bring warmth to the canyon.
A red dot was advancing slowly on the edge of the canyon.
There were three green dots following after the red dot.
*Squeak*
A shadow soared through the air—there was a black eagle rotating above the red dot. The eagle’s wings were blocking the sunlight from time to time.
The red dot glared at the eagle and kept running, but it was slowing down.
It was a young girl wearing a tight leather suit. There was a complicated V-shaped rune between her eyebrows and her face was pale. Cold sweat was dripping down to the ground from her chin. The girl’s black hair was covered with dust and sweat.
The girl was breathing heavily, glancing at the people behind her. It seemed like her right arm was hurt as her sleeve was soaked in blood.
"Della, Philip went to the Molten Lava River and no one can save you now. Come back with us and hand over the item, otherwise, we’ll kill everyone you love." A young man’s voice came from behind.
Della was not concerned about the man’s words.
"If I give that thing to you, you’ll kill me immediately. Half-body lizard is not the only thing you want. The family leader asked you to kill me and take the item."
"What a waste of time." The young man was enraged. They spent days chasing after the girl and they were all getting tired.
The assassins from the family did not expect Della to travel so fast and only three of them could keep up with her speed.
"Northrend, stop chasing me. I don’t have the item." Della sent the words through energy particles.
"Ha, we’ll capture you sooner or later. Della, you’re a wizard that served the family well and we want this to end peacefully. Listen, you’re a girl and you know what will happen if we successfully capture you. This is the final warning!" the man named Northrend shouted.
"Don’t even try to activate your communication rune. The energy wave released by my enchanted item already blocked the energy flow in the area. Haha."
Della bit her lips—Northrend already knew what she was trying to do.
"Philip will not come back for you on time even if he learns about the truth." Northrend sneered. "Just give up. Someone wants your body and your item. Listen to me. Let’s return to the family together and we won’t hurt you."
"Huh? Who wants Della’s body?"
"The first inheritor of the Sherman Family, Master Oscar. Don’t waste our time. The family gave you all the resources you asked for and it’s about time for you to pay the family back." Northrend’s head was a bit dizzy and he did not realize that it was a different person that asked the question.
Suddenly, Della jumped forward and fell into a young man’s arms. It was a young man with black hair.
"Stigma?" the assassins stopped. Northrend narrowed his eyes and stared at Stigma. "How did you find her location?"
"Well, it’s not important." Stigma raised his right hand and aimed at the assassins. A dark red vortex slowly appeared on his palm.
"This spell…?!" Northrend’s expression changed and took several steps back. "Three…"
*BOOM*
Northrend and the other two assassins were surrounded by the dark red light before he could finish the sentence.
"Brother…" Della was crying in Stigma’s arms. She looked at Stigma. For some reason, she believed that Stigma could help her solve the problem.
********************
On the endless yellow plain.
Angele and Lyn stood in front of four green robes calmly.
"Who are you? Our family is one of the strongest families in the air transportation city and we’re hunting down a traitor." The leader’s left eye was covered by a white eyepatch and there was a black mace in his right hand. The man looked more like a barbarian warrior than a wizard.
"Yeah, yeah. You’re tracking down a traitor and you’re not the only assassins, right?" Angele was not interested at all.
The leader of the green robes pursed his lips. "Who’re you? This is the final warning. We have a strong background. The masters behind us are from…"
"Lyn, go ahead." Angele took a step back. He knew it was just a waste of time.
Lyn nodded and stepped forward. Raising her right hand, she created a red lava ball on the palm. The bright red light illuminated her body.
The high-temperature heat waves were spreading to all angles. The grass around her was drying up quickly and some of the taller grass already perished in the flames.
The four green robes stepped back at the same time as they finally understood the situation.
Lyn threw the lava ball forward.
The red ball exploded in the midair and countless drops of red light dots fell to the ground. Lyn, Angele, and the four green robes were all within the range of the explosion.
The lave dots splashed all over their bodies, but they were blocked by a translucent energy barrier when they were about to hit Angele and Lyn.
It was a feature of the Molten Core River. Although the lava drops would not select the target by themselves, they would not damage the ones who could release the lava ball. Their fire resistance was so high that the flames or lava drops would not do any damage to them.
The best defense is a good offense considering the situation.
The exploded lava ball had a large effective range and the wizards who could release it would not take any damage, but the opponents would have to release their energy barriers.
Blue light dots flashed in front of Angele’s eyes as he quickly checked Lyn’s lava ball’s damage.
‘110 degrees of area damage… interesting. The lava ball doesn’t require any incantation but its damage is still great.’