Caiden, the leader of the group, was unable to speak as he clenched his teeth in anger… He already had a bad feeling inside the interrogation room… He was even planning to leave the city as he didn't feel right about this mission.
However, after they were treated with meals and decent accommodation while they wait for Faviona, he thought that he was just overthinking.
After all, even the Union Head and other Tower Masters weren't able to tell that they have already pledged allegiance to the Black Magic Organization.
As long as they deny their involvement with the Organization, there shouldn't be anyone capable of telling otherwise considering their status as an Alchemist as well.
They also met with a few knights and staff inside the Tower and they didn't feel any form of hostility at all.
They were truly caught off-guard by the sudden activation of the Formation Art.
Caiden carefully observed the Reception Hall and confirmed that there were only 15 of them inside.
"Calm down… Find out what type of Formation Art is this…" Caiden instructed after realizing that no one is answering their cries for help.
As soon as they heard his order, the others immediately worked as they pulled out their Magic Tools…
As expected of the Alchemists from the Union, identifying things wasn't difficult for them…
"I can't exactly tell but this is a Killing Formation… It uses Sword and Blade Formation... It is still inactive so there might be more. At the moment, it's only using the Trapping Formation…"
One of the Alchemists suddenly announced and the others had similar answers.
"Good… Find the Formation Core and deactivate it…" Caiden ordered but as soon as he finished speaking, the Sword Formation suddenly activated!
Thousands of Swords made of Mana started forming above them!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Soon, the swords started rotating like a grinder as it slowly closed in!
"Defensive Formations! Don't panic! Those swords are just made of mana!"
The Alchemists may have focused on their field for a long time but it doesn't mean they were weak Mana Practitioners.
As a matter of fact, most Practitioners with incredible Fire Elemental Mana Arts are Alchemists. After all, being able to control fire is one of the core requirements of an Alchemist… Without being able to control fire, they would have a bleak future in the profession.
Soon, the whole reception hall was covered with fire and smoke.
Boom! Booom! Boom!
The Sword Formation and Fire Elemental Arts collided as the whole place started trembling…
Vincent, who was watching from another place smiled in excitement…
'It resisted without any damage!'
The Sword Formation wasn't destroyed by the Alchemists' attack! Furthermore, this is just 50% of its power!
Once the rotation got faster, it would be unstoppable!
Vincent then looked at the leader of the Alchemists and realized that he wasn't panicking at all. It seems that they still have a card up their sleeves…
"Increase the intensity!" Vincent ordered the magicians who are currently controlling the Formation Cores.
"Yes!" The magicians answered.
This powerful Dragon Slayer Formation has to be controlled by a total of ten Mana Arts Practitioners. Without their guidance, this formation would only be considered a strong Trapping Formation.
As the Rotating Sword Formation got stronger, the Alchemists no longer held back as dark energy started creeping up their bodies…
"Destroy the Formation Art and sent the signal to the rest of the team!" Caiden announced as he tried sending a signal to the people they left in the airship a while ago, but it just failed because of the formation.
They need to destroy the formation first or at least put a hole in it before they can send a communication signal to the other team.
'Here it is… They can really use Aether…' Vincent said in his mind as he watch them expend their Aether…
Using his Eyes' Sensitivity, he was able to tell that the Aether inside their bodies wasn't some kind of renewable energy… Each time they use or release this energy, the Aether in their bodies would be gone without any form of replacement.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
The Sword Formation started getting destroyed.
Although the practitioners who are controlling the Formation tried to remake the broken swords, the speed of destruction was just too much… A fingernail size of Aether was able to destroy two swords at the point of contact and it would spread to at least 30 more swords before completely dissipating…
"Abandon the swords. Activate the Blade Formation."
"Yes, Commander!"
As soon as Vincent gave the command the remaining swords dissipated into thin air. Soon, thousands of Blades replaced them…
This time, the blades didn't try grinding them into dust but rained upon them!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Numerous blades would head their way every second injuring half of them in an instant…
Nevertheless, as soon as they realized the change in the formation, they immediately changed their tactics. They swiftly created a barrier to be on the defensive mode.
"Stop! Why are you doing this to us?!" Caiden shouted in anger. Although they still have some trump cards, it would also damage them and they didn't want to do that unless truly necessary.
If possible, he wanted to negotiate and leave this place!
"Don't listen to them… Continue." Vincent spoke as he noticed that the Magicians are looking at him.
Since he already confirmed the existence of Aether among them, there was no way he would allow them to leave with their lives.
Ssaak! Ssakk!
A couple of alchemists were beheaded as they failed to stop the blades aimed at them…
"Y-you!" Caiden was shocked as he saw the deaths of his subordinates…
"We will die at this rate… Release everything now! We will escape from here!" As soon as he said this, their bodies started mutating and Vincent even took a step back in surprise.
He recalled the disgusting transformation of the werewolves as he ordered the magicians to increase the intensity of the Blade Dance.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Alchemists who were turning into a black demonic creatures stopped the blades from damaging their bodies!
After a few more seconds, their transformation was completed and Vincent was perturbed after seeing the scene within the Reception Hall…
These people were only lacking horns and they might be considered demons!
"Ggrrrr… I don't want to use this because of the terrible penalty…" Caiden grumbled with his demonic voice as he looked at the place where Vincent and the rest are hiding!
Vincent saw his dark red eyes and realized that they could pierce through the defensive formation!
"Luna! Take care of them, hurry!" Vincent announced as he sent the Celestials inside the Formation Art…
He also jumped in to help since he wanted to familiarize himself with these creatures.
"Gahaha! You're fighting us now with this form? Stupid!" The 13 Demonized Alchemist laughed in disdain after noticing that a few female Knights entered the formation…
"Kill!"
Caiden ordered as he tried grabbing the nearest female knight… Although this is his first time doing this transformation, he had seen others use this power and easily kill high-level Magicians… Even Grand Knights and Aura Knights wouldn't be a match against them while in this state…
Pah!
To his surprise, the female knight just slapped his hands away! He then saw a sword about to pierce his throat at the same time!
"Humph!"
Caiden jumped back in hurry but he was still grazed by that sword…
'Female Grand Knights? No, they're probably Aura Knights since I can't properly sense their energy…'
"Aaaccck!"
While he was assessing the strength of the woman in front of him, he heard the cries of his subordinates as they were easily injured by the female knights…
Nevertheless, they weren't in despair as their bodies were easily healed by their natural regeneration! While they were in their demonized form, they were unkillable!
"You're going to pay for this!"
The Demonized Alchemists suddenly changed their battle style as they tried locking the Celestials with their bodies even if they get injured!
It was a very dangerous move but it is certainly effective against the Celestials who rely on close combat.
Vincent then saw that the Celestials weren't comfortable because of the existence of Aether in the surroundings… Although they could slice the bodies of these Demonized Alchemists, they would just reform their bodies and will continue to do so until all their Aether was consumed.
"Alright… Gluttony, let's see what you can do…"
Vincent said as he summoned the Tome of Gluttony from his inventory.
"The enemies are those dark creatures fighting against the Celestial Beings… Take care of them…"
[ I understand. ]
As soon as the Tome replied, its pages started to open mid-air…
Two blank pages suddenly glowed with a bright light before forming a ray of light targeting two of the demonized alchemists.
Whoom~
This attracted a lot of attention but Vincent didn't mind it.
"Hmm?" Vincent raised his brows after seeing the light.
Normally, the tome is capable of imprisoning 50 people at the same time. However, it seems that because of the strength required to capture the Alchemists, it can only capture 2 of them at once.