Chapter 23: Reunion (IV)

Altak is an important military region in the northwest of the empire and a key part of the northern defense line stretching from Altak to Gron to Galik. The entire region has a population of hundreds of thousands, yet there are surprisingly few cities—only a handful—and structures similar to imperial towns are even rarer. After all, this is the frigid Altak; unlike other regions, the local food mainly comes from hunting or imperial supplies. This has led to a highly concentrated population in Altak, allowing for quick organization of hunting parties or timely distribution of imperial supplies.

As for crops, don’t expect anything to grow in Altak’s soil, which is as hard as stone due to the cold. When supplies fail to arrive in time, the meat of the Maltz snow wolves in the mountains may be the only food available to the locals.

The people of Altak are fierce and brave, making them one of the empire’s best sources of soldiers. Having lived in such harsh conditions for long, Altak’s soldiers possess combat prowess unmatched by those from other parts of the empire. Before the orcs appeared, the barbarians in the north were the empire’s greatest threat. Though they appeared to live in peace, they would occasionally launch raids southward. Such incidents mostly occurred in winter, as the extreme northern lands where the barbarians lived were even harsher than the empire’s northern regions. Their relations with the dwarves were also poor, and they had to guard against giants from even farther north. Food scarcity was the biggest constraint on their tribes.

Before the orcs appeared, the empire regarded barbarians as soldiers with the strongest individual abilities. It tried to ease tensions between the two groups by forming a small army of barbarians, but their performance in organized battles was poor, as they refused to follow orders. Their fighting style involved charging forward and killing relentlessly until their opponents were defeated or they themselves were killed. To the empire, accustomed to disciplined military units, these were soldiers who could not be controlled.

Moreover, the barbarians possessed a power called “rage,” which allowed them to maximize their combat abilities through emotion. Strength, stamina, speed, and physical resistance—all enhanced by rage, which functioned like a magic spell that strengthened them without consuming mana, far surpassing ordinary enhancement spells.

Once, it was believed that when mages were almost on a par with gods, surpassing all other professions, a warrior’s “rage” might be the only ability capable of resisting them. This showed just how terrifying barbarians could be when they mastered “rage.” Placing an army of such barbarians deep within the empire was like planting a bomb—hence, such an army was disbanded shortly after it was formed.

It is worth noting that human warriors first learned about “rage” from the barbarians, but they were unable to wield it as effectively as the barbarians, perhaps due to genetic differences. “Rage” thus became an important means for northern humans to withstand the cold and invaders, especially in Altak, where every soldier was required to master it.

This was precisely why Altak received such attention from the empire and why it was able to repel barbarian invasions time and again.

A week later, Thos finally saw what truly meant “snow-capped mountains stretching for miles.” He had no desire to go to Altak, though he himself didn’t quite understand why. On the other hand, Dia didn’t say much, only repeatedly reminding Thos to be careful. Although, with Thos’s hidden strength, almost no one in the world except Argus could defeat him, Dia still couldn’t help but worry.

Besides Allen and Thos, the group heading to Altak included the vampire Ulric and Thos’s soldier puppet, Soges. Allen’s guardian, Uncle Argi Eiden, who used to be a legendary knight, was sent back to Operelles by Allen to bring his newlywed wife, Lisa. Allen planned to use the Vandel Conference in half a month to reunite with his old companions. The newly appointed bishop, Bon Hamsworth, was left in Vandel by Aibel—perhaps that witch from Vandel wanted to gauge the strength of the Church, as the empire was currently facing internal and external threats and needed to be wary of the Church taking advantage of the situation.

As for Thos’s soldier puppet, Soges, during the three years Thos spent far away in the Church, he had reverted to his original puppet state due to a lack of mana from his master. That’s why Thos brought him along—after all, in his memory, the king puppet Cain, evolved from a soldier puppet, was also a formidable force. Before the final battle against Argus, he had to be fully prepared.

And so, the four of them set off for Altak… no, two people, a vampire, and a puppet.

Although he had heard Ravia mention Altak more than once, the desolation of Altak far exceeded Sos’s expectations. In the first four or five days after entering, they didn’t see a single city, town, or even the smallest village. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but white—sky above and snow below. Especially when heavy snow was falling, it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began, as if all colors had vanished from the world. It had to be said that living here required an extremely strong will—not only due to lack of food, but sometimes even just the monotonous whiteness was enough to drive one mad. For example, Ravia’s most hated color was white, especially the color of ice and snow. Another two days passed before Sos and Allen finally saw a city. It must be said that this city was no smaller than any city Sos had seen before—not in terms of prosperity, but in terms of sheer size and population. After being questioned by the Altak soldiers at the city gate, Sos and Allen were allowed to enter. To be honest, Sos had thought Altak to be a vast but sparsely populated region, but the actual number of residents greatly surprised him. As soon as he entered the city, he felt as if he had stepped into an ocean of people, as Altakians in furs were everywhere, all appearing very strong. According to statistics, Altak men averaged over two yards tall, with some even taller. They were defiant, unruly, aggressive, and fierce—the strongest soldiers in the empire, yet also the most troublesome for commanders. They revered force, despised the weak, and harbored extreme xenophobia. It wasn’t for any other reason; they simply looked down on the weak. Thus, in Altak, the weak had very little status. To gain respect from others, one first had to earn the title of man. Don’t think this is ridiculous—it’s actually extremely difficult. First, Altak girls generally had no status, no matter how noble their background, like Ravia. And boys were treated as children until they turned fourteen.

Whenever the boys of Altak reached the age of fourteen, the Altak people would gather them for a rite of passage. The rules were simple: each boy had to bring a dagger and a piece of cured meat, then enter the snow-covered mountain range and live there alone for a week. Upon returning, they had to bring back the head of a Manz snow wolf to be considered successful in the trial.

The Altak women, usually the mothers, would knock out all the teeth from the mouth of the Manz snow wolf head and string them into a necklace, which the boy’s father would then put around his neck, signifying that the boy had accepted manhood and become a true Altak man.

This was the Altak version of a rite of passage, with conditions that could be described as extremely harsh. Not only did they have to live alone in that harsh mountain environment for a week with just a piece of cured meat, but the mountain was also full of hungry Manz snow wolves. A single mistake could turn them into prey for those wolves.

Worse still, the Manz snow wolves were social animals—resilient, cunning, and possessing low intelligence, which was why they had been regarded by barbarians since ancient times as their most valuable companions. The Altak rite of passage was inspired by the barbarians’ customs, with one difference: instead of finding a mother wolf with only one pup, the barbarians would kill the mother wolf, swear the most solemn oaths before her death, bury her, and take the pup back to raise.

In return, the pup was considered an irreplaceable companion by the barbarians, even more important than their own lives. According to their custom, a barbarian could have only one Manz snow wolf as a companion for life. If that wolf died or was killed, the barbarian would be removed from the ranks of warriors and relegated to serve as a support member of the tribe.

It could be said that half of the strength of the barbarians came from themselves, and the other half from their trained Manz snow wolves—especially those that had reached adulthood, which were as strong as calves and enough to frighten ordinary people just by sight.

Perhaps this was the way of life in the north. Periodically, Altak boys who had reached the age of fourteen would go to the mountain range with daggers and cured meat to “face death.” Yes, you read that right—face death. It was a place with a survival rate of less than 30%. And this was only for the Altak people. If people from other places entered that mountain, they might turn into skeletons torn apart by wolves within a single day.

Apart from courage, the Altaks place even greater emphasis on resilience and perseverance—things like seeking caves to hide in to survive or even lighting fires for warmth, which are undoubtedly self-destructive acts. To survive, an Altak boy must immediately find an excellent hiding spot, dig a pit to bury himself in, leaving only half his head or even just his eyes exposed, and maintain this position around the clock, waiting for a lone Manertz snow wolf before launching a sudden attack. Perhaps only the Altaks, who almost all master the art of controlling their anger, can do this; ordinary people would freeze to death just from maintaining that position, let alone fighting against snow wolves. Thus, in Altak, “man” is a very serious and honorable title, equivalent to that of a warrior. On the contrary, those who refuse to undergo the initiation ceremony or withdraw halfway in order to survive are labeled cowards, ostracized by others for life, and may even have their rations taken away by others—unless they leave Altak, they can only die in misery. Additionally, the Altaks have a fierce culture; from daggers to long swords and spears, almost everyone carries a weapon, which shocked Ulric when he first arrived here. To be honest, vampires who value beauty don’t particularly like this place where strength reigns supreme. “Don’t get into conflicts with the locals!” Allen warned jokingly, but his expression didn’t seem like a joke. Thos understood what he meant—after all, he too felt that the looks the Altaks gave him and the others weren’t kind at all, but rather full of provocation and contempt. This was how the Altaks treated outsiders. Meanwhile, Allen had already taken out the wolf tooth necklace from his armor and hung it around his neck. Seeing it, the Altaks gave him approving, kind looks, with some even nodding as a greeting—while Thos and Ulric clearly didn’t receive such favor. In Altak, there are three most famous cities, where the population is most concentrated: Tav, Breu, and Vil. They symbolize [Resilience], [Courage], and [Willpower], respectively, and are crucial symbols in Altak’s ethnic traditions. The city where Thos and the others were now located was one of these three—Tav, representing resilience. It can be said that anyone who tries to cause trouble here will meet a terrible death.

Ignoring the stares of the Altak people deliberately, Thos and Allen found an inn. After all, they had been eating dried food throughout the journey, and now that they had finally reached a city, it was time to treat themselves.

It must be said that the moment they stepped into the inn, Thos was almost overwhelmed by the strong smell of alcohol. Although he had heard that people in the north drank strong liquor, he never expected it to be so pungent just from the smell.

Glancing at the Altak men with bare chests whose faces were red from drinking, Thos and Allen went straight to an empty table. Strangely, no one came to ask them anything after waiting all day.

“Hey, where’s the owner?” Allen asked, standing up after sitting there for a long time, growing impatient.

Suddenly, the noise in the inn stopped. The drunk Altak men glared at Allen fiercely, but when they saw the wolf tooth necklace around his neck, their expressions softened slightly.

A drunk man staggered over, patted Allen on the shoulder, and laughed loudly, “You’re not from around here, are you, kid? But you’re a ‘man.’ I heard foreigners are rich. Just pay a couple of gold coins, and you can eat as much liquor and wolf meat as you want!”

“Hey!” Allen smiled oddly, took out two or three gold coins, and placed them in the man’s hand, saying with a smile, “We need to keep going. Please hurry up!”

“No problem!” The man nonchalantly put the gold coins in his pocket and then staggered toward the kitchen. Soon, he returned with a large plate of food and liquor.

To be honest, it was indeed a large plate, filling the entire table, along with those two bottles of strongly scented liquor.

“If it’s not enough, go get more yourself!”

After saying that, the man ignored Thos and Allen and continued drinking with his friends.

Glancing at Thos and Ulric, who were somewhat stunned, Allen shrugged and said with a wry smile, “Wolf meat, a specialty of the Altak… Don’t be polite!”

“I’m not being polite…” Ulric said strangely, looking at the large plate of wolf meat. “But where are the cutlery?”

“Cutlery?” Allen gave Ulric a half-smile, then reached out and grabbed a large piece of wolf meat and stuffed it into his mouth—this was the best answer possible.

Staring straight at the plate of wolf meat, he swallowed hard. Ulric sighed as if helplessly, hesitated before picking up a small piece of wolf meat and putting it in his mouth. After chewing once, his eyes lit up as he praised, “It’s a bit rough, but the taste… is really good!”
“Yes!” Allen said indistinctly as he chewed the wolf meat loudly. “Although wolf meat is the only meat that’s relatively abundant in Altak, it’s indeed delicious, especially when you’re cold—eating it helps keep you warm…” With that, he unscrewed the cap of a bottle of strong liquor, sniffed it briefly, then turned his head away. After sneezing a few times, he shook his head and said, “It’s still so pungent… How about some? It’s very effective for boosting your spirits when it’s cold!”
Ulric leaned in and sniffed it briefly, his expression changing drastically. He shook his head repeatedly and said, “No… forget it. I’m not afraid of the cold…” Vampires indeed weren’t afraid of the cold, but more importantly, they probably preferred low-alcohol red wine or fruit drinks.
“What about you, buddy?” Allen asked, looking at Thors.
Frowning at the pungent smell of the liquor, Thors shook his head and said, “Liquor is the blood of the gods… I’m not afraid of the cold either!”
Indeed, it would be ridiculous to think that a fire mage would feel cold.
“Hey, it’s been three years—your excuses have gotten a lot better, huh? ‘Liquor is the blood of the gods’!” Allen joked, pouring himself a glass before taking a sip under the watchful eyes of Thors and Ulric. Unexpectedly, he sneezed repeatedly from the stimulation.
“Huh,” Allen exhaled deeply, holding his glass. “This liquor is really strong. Aren’t you guys going to have any?—Hey, Ulric, didn’t you say you wanted to try all the delicious foods and wines in the world? You won’t find such strong liquor anywhere else in Altak!”
“But this can’t really be called a fine wine, can it?” Ulric tried to decline with a wry smile, but Allen poured him a glass anyway, and Thors got caught in it too.
It had to be said that Altak’s strong liquor was extremely potent. Just a small sip made Thors feel as though his blood was burning all over his body, and his internal organs seemed to be roasted by fire, as if his entire body was filled with scorching fire elements. While it might be uncomfortable for others, for a fire mage like Thors, it was undoubtedly a great sensation.

On the contrary, after taking a small sip, Ulric shook his head repeatedly, insisting he would never drink again. After all, he was a vampire, and fear of fire was their weakness. After drinking this strong liquor, he felt as though he were being roasted by flames—it was pure torture for him. Thus, aside from Ulric and the soldier puppet Soges, who didn’t eat anything, Thos, persuaded by Allen, and the two of them drank through a large bottle of liquor one after another. Gradually, Thos also began to enjoy the feeling as if his entire body was filled with fire elements. Around that time, a dozen people wearing light gray travel cloaks entered the tavern and chose two tables by the side to sit at. Just like Allen and the others before them, they also faced the awkwardness of being ignored. “Hey! What’s going on in this tavern?!” Seeing that no one came to serve them after a long time, one of the men shouted angrily, slapping the table. The Altakians drinking there quieted down and glanced at them with a hint of contempt. After all, Allen wore the Wolf Fang Necklace, a symbol of being an “Altakian man,” so the Altakians held him in some respect. But these people had nothing of that status. It wasn’t until the man slapped the table angrily for the second time that the entire tavern fell silent. The owner, who had just served meat to Allen and the others, stood up and said in a defiant tone, “I’m the owner here. So what?” “So… what?” The man was stunned, clearly confused. Which tavern would ignore its customers and just let them drink by themselves? Seeing the hostility in the owner’s tone, the man stood up and frowned, asking, “What’s the problem here?” No sooner had he finished speaking than he was pulled back by another person—a young man who seemed to be in his twenties. “Don’t cause trouble!” the young man whispered, then stood up and said to the owner, “We need some food…” After staring coldly at the young man for a long time, the owner replied absentmindedly, “I only serve men. You little brats with no hair yet—go find something to eat outside!” “What did you say?!” Almost everyone at the tables stood up. Meanwhile, Allen, who was a bit drunk, gave Thos a wink, pointing at the golden armor visible beneath his light gray travel cloak, as well as the emblem on the armor showing a knight holding a long spear and sword, standing still to hold back his horse, with a sly smile.

“Do you know those kinds of people?” Thors asked vaguely.
“Royal knights… Hey!” Rubbing his chin, Allen glanced at the young man with a somewhat unreadable smile on his face.
Faced with the seemingly threatening behavior of those dozen or so people, the drunk owner showed a fierce expression, and Altak, who was drinking with him, also stood up.
“What? Trying to cause trouble here?!”
“Sit down!” the young man said angrily, but his eyes revealed extreme dissatisfaction. After glancing at the table where Thors and Allen were, he suppressed his anger and said, “Why can these two brats eat here?”
“Brats?” Allen and Thors’ expressions changed slightly. Under normal circumstances, they might not have cared, but since they were drunk, hearing those words made their faces turn cold.
“Hey!” The owner smiled mockingly, looking down on the young man with disdain. “Though they’re brats, they deserve our recognition. As for you, you’d better get out!”
Frowning at the owner, the young man took out a money bag from his pocket and placed it on the table, repeating, “We need some food!”
The owner looked at the young man in surprise, then at the money bag on the table. He even stepped forward, weighed it in his hand, and after thinking for a moment, shrugged at his friends. After they sat back down, he turned to the dozen or so people, including the young man, and said, “The kitchen is behind. Go get what you want!” Then he put the entire bag of coins in his pocket, leaving those people stunned.
“You…” A few of the men in Royal Knight armor were indignant and wanted to argue with the owner, but the young man suppressed his anger, shook his head, and pointed at two people, saying, “You two, go!”
“Yes!”
Watching those people coldly, Allen nudged Thors with his elbow and said with a half-smile, “Hey, that’s about a hundred gold coins, right?”
“Hmph!” Thors snorted lightly. Being slightly drunk, he couldn’t control the balance of his inner power as well as usual, causing a slight release of dark energy. This minor emission caught the attention of an old man among those dozen people.
A few minutes later, the two of them returned with several large plates of wolf meat and some strong liquor from Altak.

“Where are the knives and forks?” the young man asked with a frown. Seeing the two of them shrug innocently, he waved his hand in frustration and said, “Never mind. Sit down. After we finish eating, we’ll find a place to rest for the night. Once that brat arrives, we’ll head to Breiu!”
So, the dozen or so people temporarily forgot about what had happened earlier and focused on eating the food in front of them.
However, while eating, casual chatter was inevitable. Though it seemed like casual talk, it was mostly complaints.
At first, it was just some curses at Argus and the Royal Mage Council President Jerry Belford. But as the conversation went on, it turned to Heliriox and Operials—complaining that Heliriox’s black mages were incompetent and that Operials’ merchants were opportunistic traitors. Hearing this, Sos and Allen’s expressions grew even darker.
“Hmph!” Giving Sos a wink, Allen went on by himself, “Hey, buddy, did you hear? Another battle broke out over there in Boydel. It seems to be between Operials and the Saxon army…”
Seemingly understanding Allen’s meaning, Sos said calmly, “The Royal Knights?”
Giving Sos a silent thumbs-up, Allen said in a tone full of sarcasm, “The Royal Knights? Hey! What’s that army capable of now? The former commander was killed, and the deputy commander helped criminals escape… Hey, incidentally, the one who escaped was the empire’s first prince, some guy named Theo. I heard he killed his own father. Isn’t that strange?”
His voice was neither too soft nor too loud, just right for the dozen or so people in Royal Knight armor to hear. One of them slammed the table angrily and shouted, “You brat, what are you talking nonsense about?!”
“Huh? Isn’t that right?” Allen asked in a feigned innocent tone.
“You!” That man seemed ready to go teach those two arrogant brats a lesson, but as soon as he stood up, he was pulled back by an old man.
Staring deeply at Sos, the old man whispered, “Don’t cause trouble! — Sit down!”
“Huh?” The Royal Knight looked at the old man in confusion.
“Sit down!” the young man with an angry expression said in a low voice. “Don’t treat him like an equal!”
“Hey!” Allen narrowed his eyes, a cold smirk on his lips, and said calmly, “I heard the wanted criminal is that guy named Theo. The Saxons are offering 10,000 gold coins for his capture. I wonder who could be that lucky!”

“Slam!” The young man couldn’t help but slam the table hard, as if giving a signal. The Royal Knights at both tables stood up. Just as they were about to teach those two brats a lesson, the old man quickly stood up and said in a deep voice, “Sit down!” Then, he glanced at Thos and Allen with a wary look and added softly, “If I offended you in any way just now, please ignore it!”
“Huh?” The young man looked at the old man in surprise and asked, “What are you talking about, Cliff?”
The old man named Cliff stared intently at Thos with a serious expression and said softly, “Sir, you’re a magician, aren’t you? And a very powerful one at that… If it weren’t for the traces of dark energy you emitted just now, I wouldn’t have known you were a magician…” His gaze grew even more solemn, as only highly skilled magicians could conceal their magical fluctuations.
“Hmph!” Thos snorted indifferently.
“A magician?” The only middle-aged man still seated, who appeared quite burly, turned to look at Thos. When he saw the hostile looks in Thos and Allen’s eyes, he frowned and said in a deep voice, “It seems you two aren’t clueless brats after all. What you said just now was deliberate provocation, right?”
As Ulric kept waving his hands, Allen slammed the table violently and declared arrogantly, “We’re provoking you! So what?!”
That single sentence silenced the entire tavern. Even the Altak people stopped drinking and chatting, watching Thos and Allen with interest. A few even started cheering for them. After all, the Altak people were bold by nature. If someone fought in public, they wouldn’t step in to help but would instead cheer from the sidelines.
“You brat!” An Royal Knight angrily stepped toward Allen, but before he could get close, there was a loud bang, and he was flung backward, crashing hard into the wall. At the same time, Thos lowered his raised right hand.
The old man named Cliff stared at Thos in horror. Although he had sensed the magical fluctuations earlier, he hadn’t had time to warn them because the spell was cast so quickly. What was even more astonishing was that the opponent had used just a fireball—a mere fireball—to send a fully armored Royal Knight flying. What kind of power was this? Cliff thought he couldn’t do such a thing.

“I wanted to have a good meal, but then I ran into you guys!” Allen drew his knight’s sword from the scabbard beside the table, slung it over his shoulder, and with his other hand, he gestured at the dozen or so people, saying in a somewhat arrogant tone, “What’s the matter, Royal Knights? The opponents are just two ‘brats’! — Ulric, don’t get involved!”
Seeing the eager expressions on the drunk Thors and Allen’s faces, the vampire knew it was impossible to persuade them and could only sigh helplessly.
“If you want to fight, go outside! Don’t ruin my tavern!” The tavern owner, who had been watching quietly, pointed outside and then glanced at Thors in surprise, his earlier contempt replaced by respect.
“Fight! Fight!” The other Altakians shouted frantically, waving their arms.
And so, a few minutes later, an “unfair” battle broke out on the streets outside the tavern, attracting a large crowd of passing Altakians to watch.
Yes, it was an unfair battle—after all, Thors and Allen were just the two of them, while the other side numbered over a dozen. Even before it started, the surrounding Altakians began to boo them in contempt, showing their support for Thors and Allen. But what really happened?
Allen was well aware of these people’s backgrounds. That young man was none other than the former First Prince, Theo Bartz Yawood. The burly middle-aged man was Bert Brackley, the former deputy commander of the Royal Knights. And that old man was naturally Cliff Belis, the former mage of the First Mage Corps of the Royal Magic Corps.
To be honest, Allen had always had little fondness for nobles, especially those from Sason. This feeling had become even more pronounced over the years. As for Thors, he was mostly there to back Allen up. Of course, he was also quite upset about the other side insulting Heliorox and calling him a “brat.” After all, no one had dared to use such a derogatory term to address him during his three years in Salonia.
Amidst the crowd of Altakians, Allen, holding his knight’s sword, looked at Prince Theo and said in a mocking tone, “What are you waiting for? Come on!” As he spoke, he mimed the words “Your Highness, the former prince.”
Theo seemed too angry to speak. Bert Brackley, the former deputy commander of the Royal Knights, beside him, frowned and charged forward first, swinging his knight’s sword at them with moderate force—after all, he just wanted to teach those two brats a lesson.

But to everyone’s surprise, Allen blocked Bert Brackley’s long sword with just one hand, saying jokingly, “Huh? What’s the matter with you?”
“…” Seeing the mockery in Allen’s eyes, Bert Brackley’s gaze turned angry as he gradually increased the force in his hand. Yet unbelievably, even when he used all his strength and his face turned red from strain, he still couldn’t push Allen’s knight’s sword down by even a fraction.
How is this possible?!
Watching Allen, who seemed utterly relaxed, Bert Brackley cried out in his heart.
“Yo yo,” Allen said with a disdainful shake of his head, smiling. “Is it my turn?” As he spoke, his expression changed, a flash of red and green light appeared, his arm muscles suddenly swelled, and his gaze held an endless fury that made it impossible to look into his eyes.
[Anger]!
Bert Brackley was horrified.
“Enhancement magic plus anger?!” Cliff Beilis, the former royal mage, stared at Allen in astonishment. Just as he was about to cast enhancement magic on Bert Brackley, a rapidly approaching fireball passed by his face, interrupting his incantation.
Feeling the intense heat in that instant, Cliff Beilis turned his head in shock toward Thos, only to see him slowly lower his right hand and say to him calmly, “What do you want to do? — Come, let’s play a game!”
No incantation… This kid didn’t even cast a spell?
Cliff Beilis’s eyes were filled with shock. Although instant fireballs weren’t particularly rare among powerful mages, the key issue was that the boy before him was far too young.
“…” With a hint of experimentation, Cliff Beilis cast a fireball, sending it flying toward Thos.
But to his surprise, Thos didn’t even try to dodge. Looking at the rapidly approaching fireball, he raised his right hand and sent it flying back into the sky.
Under Cliff Beilis’s incredulous gaze, Thos licked his lips, which felt somewhat dry from drinking, and said calmly, “What’s this?” Then, with a wave of his hand, more than a dozen fiery red vortices appeared in front of him. In just one second, those vortices turned into a dozen fireballs, flying toward Cliff Beilis.
Instant casting?! And multiple spells at once?!

While dodging those fireballs, Cliff Beilis noticed that Bert Brackley, the former deputy commander of the Royal Knights, was also being toyed with by another youth. Who exactly were these two youths? As Mage Cliff was secretly shocked, Allen seemed to have grown tired of this “boring” game. With a single swing of his arm, he sent Bert Brackley flying, then moved at high speed, subduing three or five Royal Knights in just a few seconds. The other Royal Knights who rushed over had their armor shattered by countless fireballs that appeared out of nowhere. What was going on? He hadn’t relaxed his grip on this young mage at all. Mage Cliff raised his head in confusion only to see that while using his right hand to fight him, the other party was controlling those fireballs with his left hand. In just two or three minutes, aside from Prince Theo himself who hadn’t stepped forward, the only one still standing on Prince Theo’s side was Mage Cliff… Watching this dramatic scene, even those onlookers from Altak were surprised. Their previous contemptuous looks toward those dozen or so people were replaced with pity and even more contempt. “Is that it?” Allen, wielding a knight’s sword, looked at Prince Theo with disdain, completely ignoring the fact that the prince’s handsome face had turned ashen. The difference in strength was enormous… Looking at the youth in the strange black-and-red uniform across from him and the Royal Knights knocked to the ground, Mage Cliff couldn’t help but feel a hint of bitterness. Just as Allen wanted to toy with the prince further, he suddenly found his mobility restricted. At the same time, a calm and slightly deep voice came from the crowd in the distance. “Stop it, Allen, and also Thos…”