The Light and Darkness Spear was sent forward, its threatening aura beckoning anyone in its path to dodge for their lives.
The Soul Formation Cultivator did his best to do exactly that, but his speed was even slower than William's. Even with the help of the Light Element, it couldn't keep up with the spear, so multiple protective amulets appeared and were exhausted of their Mana one after the other as they tried to defend.
The thief wasn't nearly as rich as some of the other enemies William had faced, so after three protective amulets, the nearly exhausted spear pierced through his chest and spread a small amount of Darkness Mana within his body.
The Cultivator easily countered the bit of Mana that entered, but that didn't mean he had won the exchange. William was perfectly content with destroying multiple amulets in one go, especially since he had a few of his own.
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"Was that really a life-threatening attack?" William smirked at the young man. "I have a few amulets myself, but as you can see, I didn't have to use them."
Most Cultivators would have the workings of their amulets adjusted so that they only activated as a life-saving measure, and usually in a specific order from weakest to strongest amulet so they didn't waste their Mana on a weaker Spell.
For his opponent to use every amulet on a single attack, it could only mean two things. Either he didn't adjust the amulets, or his life was truly in danger.
Seeing the nervous expression of the young man, William opted to launch another Light and Darkness Spear. The Mana gathered like before, but this time it was canceled out by a simple Light Spear before William could finish the Spell.
"You may have learned the same Fusion Spell as me, but how can I not know its secrets? You're a hundred years too early to fight me!" the young man shouted as he threw two more Light Spears.
William gave up on trying to use the Fusion Spell and raised a wall of Ice to block the Light Spears. The defense was crude, but it gave William enough time to reposition before the Light Spears broke through.
He slipped into a shadow with Carl from behind a stalagmite, but the young man's senses immediately picked it up. He launched a Light Spear at the first shadow he saw, but it turned out to be a fake, while the real shadow went the opposite direction and descended further into the cave.
"You dare to run after all that? Come back here!" the young man shouted as he chased after William.
A second shockwave that was much weaker followed close behind, finishing off William's Forcefield and sending shrapnel into his back. The wounds healed instantly, and even the shrapnel was ejected from his body as the Regeneration Talent kicked in.
William didn't see the familiar aging message in the System logs, which meant he had successfully prepared enough to survive the blast. He uncovered Carl, who looked back at him with awe. He never expected William to not only survive such an attack, but also protect him in the process.
"You're a true friend." Carl said seriously.
William laughed awkwardly, "Thanks, I guess. You would have done the same for me."
"I don't know, maybe I would have."
"What do you mean, maybe?" William looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow.
"Haha, I'm kidding. We still need to get out of here before the cave collapses."
Just as Carl said it, the entire cave began to shake. William saw with his Navigation Talent as some weaker portions of the cave caved in, isolating them from most of the Thieves' Guild members.
"It's a bit late for that, but don't worry."
William wasn't concerned with the mere collapse of a cave. Cultivators could handle much worse, so he only needed to raise a sphere of Ice to reinforce their portion of the cave while simultaneously protecting them.
The shaking subsided after only a few minutes. It seemed the Thieves had well-reinforced this area, enough to even mostly survive a Soul Formation Cultivator's self-destruction.
William and Carl continued their descent, mostly unimpeded now that the Thieves were isolated from one another. The few groups that they did come in contact with were so few in number that William decided to just kill them outright and forget about trying to take them back alive.
It was too much work for a simple bounty. It was better to collect their bodies and send them in later. Less money, but probably more efficient.