Chapter 129 - Withdrawal

"Let's get out of here," Thompson whispered to everyone.

None of his party member answered him verbally. However, they were already drawing their Qi. They were ready to leave this place.

"Now, now, now. Mage's inability to detect Qi is a stereotype, you know?"

The Knights of Hauler felt like a thunder had just struck their head. They knew the man was a Mage by the lack trace of Qi in his body. This was the reason they didn't try so much in hiding the utilization of their Qi.

Nonetheless, if the man was saying the truth, the outcome would be the same either way.

The already quiet room, became even quieter than before. The only sound everyone could hear was the man's raspy chuckle. However, the silence didn't last long. Someone finally broke the silence.

"For a mole, you are quite daring to meet the people from above."

Everyone turned their widened eyes to the speaker, Basil. They were completely horrified by his word. The aura the man was exuding was terrifying enough already. However, Basil still decided to provoke the man.

'Has he lost his mind?!' They shouted in their mind.

The man turned his eyes to Basil, before laughing. "Hahahaha! There is always a gold nugget in a lump of dirt, indeed."

Contrary to their expectation, instead of being offended, the man was laughing in glee. Still, they couldn't determine the meaning of his laugh.

"I am aware of my identity as a mole." The man caressed his long white beard. "However, this is my home; you are intruding my home. So, meeting me is not that surprising."

He pointed his finger toward Basil. "But! I am a good host." The man smiled eerily. "So, I welcome you to my humble abode."

The man bowed dramatically, before raising his head, then looked at the people. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come in!"

Of course, no one moved forward. They were stepping backward, instead. The man's word was enough of a red flag already.

While the Knights weren't too aware of what was going on, the Mages knew the situation well. The man had a terrifying amount of Mana surrounding him. He was a fearsome opponent that they could never beat.

Whitney gulped, then turn to Basil. Seeing that Basil remained motionless, he lowly exclaimed, "Basil! What are you doing?! Let's go!" Basil gave no particular reaction to it. However, he did answer. "It's useless. He had us already."

When Whitney was about to ask what Basil meant by his word, the mysterious man smirked, then flicked his finger.

Flick!

Nothing happened for a few seconds. However, everyone soon felt a pulling force on their body. It didn't take long, until they were lifted from the ground, and flew right at the man.

"Ahhh! What is this?!"

"Kyaa! I'm flying!"

"Gahhh! I am being pulled!"

The reaction was varied. While there were some people like Basil, who kept calm; most of them were bewildered by the development of the situation.

By the time they were a few steps away from the man, the pulling force disappeared, and they were sent rolling on the ground. Of course, there were also some people like Basil who kept his ground.

Everyone was in a state of high alertness. Therefore, they quickly stood in their ground, and distanced themselves away from the man.

However, before they even managed to look back at the exit gate, the ground trembled.

Rumble!

Then, they heard they heard something that sealed their fate entirely.

Bam!

The opened gate was now completely closed. Their heart sunk to the bottom of their stomach. The fight hadn't started yet. However, they were already sweating. Many things caused it: the man's heavy pressure, despair, and fright.

Luckily, their wild thought was put in an abrupt stop, by the time they heard Thompson's shout.

"Assemble!"

They were too familiar with his instruction; their body moved unconsciously, forgetting its previous inability to move. Quickly enough, the Knights of Hauler got in their usual formation; their weapons were on full display.

Thompson turned his head to Basil, and hummed to himself. Basil, followed by Whitney and Cray, were the closest people to the mysterious man. While Whitney and Cray were calm but tense, Basil was bordering nonchalant.

Thompson couldn't understand Basil. At this point, everyone should be aware already who the mysterious man was: a Kinslayer. Crippled or not, the man was undoubtedly a Ninth Circle Mage. He was too strong for them to stay nonchalant.

"I get what you think about: 'Even if he is a Ninth Circle Mage, he is crippled.' Right?" While Thompson and the others got even more tense, the Kinslayer laughed in glee. "Ku-ku-ku. So many misconceptions happening in the outside world, indeed."

The man moved his gaze to Basil. "You have attracted my attention, boy. You have been fending off my Mana Wave ever since entering this place. I wonder what kind of secret you are trying to hide." The man smiled faintly.

"Two thousand years don't make you turn stupid. I was merely protecting my privacy."

Thompson lost the color of his face; no, everyone did. Basil had been testing the patience of the Kinslayer ever since the beginning!

"Hahaha! You are saying the right thing." Luckily, the man reacted the same way as before. "But, the weak has no right to behave in front of the strong; don't you think so?" The Kinslayer caressed his beard.

Basil replied, "He, who fears, hasn't." Pointing Kusanagi at the Kinslayer, he continued, "Do I look like one?" The Kinslayer merely smiled. "No, you don't."

Then, a clash occured.

Flash!

Basil and the man disappeared, before reappearing in the middle. Basil swung Kusanagi at the man, and the man swung his hand to fend it off.

Boom!

Two opposing Mana signature clashed in the air. One of them belonged to Basil, while the other one belonged to the Kinslayer.

Basil's three Magic Circles were on full display. They were shining intensely; exuding a crazy amount of Mana, that shouldn't belong to a Third Circle Mage.

His Mana Heart was aiding him in this endeavor: pumping Mana quickly, and coursing it through his whole body. His already strong body was also Reinforced, strengthening it even further.

The Kinslayer was fending Kusanagi off with his bare hand. However, he looked nonchalant. "Why do you fight, boy?" Basil looked at the man with his now golden eyes. "The same reason as yours."

"Playing around?"

"A play."

The man smirked, then pushed Basil back with a thrust of his hand.

Skid!

Basil wasn't thrown off ground. He stayed in the ground, and embedded his feet to the ground to prevent his body from skidding backward even further.

"Basil!" Whitney shouted. Quickly running to his side, Whitney asked, "Are you okay?" He didn't wait for Basil's response. He quickly inspected Basil.

Albeit faintly, Basil's hand was trembling. It wasn't a good sign, considering how absurd Basil's physical strength was.

Whitney put his hand on Basil's shoulder. "Retreat. I'll cover for you."

Basil slightly glanced at Whitney. "We should tire him out, while finding the escape. It won't be that hard. He hasn't fought for two thousand years; he will be easily overwhelmed."

Basil didn't really mean his word. He had something to achieve, and he didn't have any plan to tell the people what it was.

At Basil's word, Whitney looked at him in bewilderment. "What are you talking about? There is an escape way there!" He pointed toward the gate. "Why should we fight that abomination, if we could get out of here?"

"Do you think he will let us?" Whitney couldn't answer. Basil quickly continued, "Let's get in formation. We will be resuming our role."

Whitney was about to stop Basil, when he disappeared, and clashed against the Kinslayer once again.

Boom!

"Ah, darn it!" Whitney was frustrated. "I bring only two guys with me, but none of them listens to what I say!" When he was about to join the fray, he felt a pull on his sleeve. Turning around, he was met with Cray's determined gaze.

"Let's go." It was a simple word.

However, Cray's gaze and his sure tone managed to spark something inside Whitney.

Am I weak? Not so much. Am I afraid of death? Yes. Am I coward? No. Will I let fear control my action? Absolutely not.

Whitney sighed to himself, before turning his gaze back to Basil. Without looking at Cray, he said, "Don't die on me. Rehearsal Class will be too empty without you." Cray grinned widely, then jokingly replied, "Your wish is my command, Sire!"

Then, Cray dashed toward the man, and joined the fray.

Flash!

Whitney didn't stay idle. He quickly materialized his Grimoire and casted the strongest wide scale Spell he had currently.

"[Field of Shackle]!"

A big Magic Circle appeared on the ground, and it covered the ground below the three fighting people; including the ground below him. It shone intensely, before a film of golden barrier shot out from the ground, and isolated them.

While Basil and Cray felt nothing was happening to them, the Kinslayer felt roughly ten percent of his power was cut off.

"Kuhahaha! What bunch of talented babies!"

Boom!

Still, it didn't affect his power much. His attack was as vicious as before.

"Be careful, boy!" He pointed his finger toward Cray.

"Holy crap, old man! Why is your finger shining?!"

"I just stuck my finger in my arse!" The man replied in humor.

"That is freaking disgusting!"

Despite how humorous the situation looked, what happened next wasn't. A light shot out of the man's finger, and it almost struck Cray in his groin. It hit the ground instead, creating a 20 centimeters deep hole.

"Hey! You can't attack a forbidden area!"

"Hahaha! You are funny, boy!"

The man was given no chance to stay idle. Basil and Whitney had conjoined their attack in that split second he was "fooling around" with Cray. In result, countless of extremely dense earthen bullets powered with high pressure wind were sent at the man.

Boom!

The man merely stomped the ground, and a thick earthen wall quickly surrounded him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Despite how loud the sound the clash produced, none of the earthen bullets passed through his defense.

When the attack ended, the earthen wall submerged to the ground. The man took a moment to locate Basil, before dashing toward him once again.

Surely, Cray and Whitney didn't mean to stay idle. They did their best to aid Basil.

In the other side, Thompson and his party looked at the Mages' display silently. They were simply overwhelmed by their decisiveness.

Here they are, a Knight, who were known by their bravery and boldness; hesitating, despite being already in formation.

Thompson turned his gaze to his party members. "Let's assist them." All of them nodded determinedly. "Sylvia and Effie will try to find the escape, while we are fighting. I hope you can find it as quick as possible."

Gazing them intensely, Thompson continued, "My order is one. Don't die on me!"

He turned his back, then dashed forward with Steven in tow.. Soon enough, all of the Knights entered the golden barrier, and joined the fray according to their given role.