Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 151: Ambush on the hill!

“Of course not~ Watching from up here is not exactly fun, you see~” a voice echoed throughout the steep slope.

In the next second, an old man in white robes appeared in front of Rufus, who did not even bat an eye.

His speed was so fast that most of the Mages could not even catch a glimpse of where he came from. However, Rufus was also a Rank-8 Mage. It wasn’t a big deal in his eyes.

The old man had silky and completely white hair with a small beard. His hands were crossed behind his back as he appeared so calm in this situation that the mercenaries almost thought that they were going to have some tea party.

He would’ve looked like an old man that was about to die of old age, but his posture alone was enough to prove otherwise.

Although he had a small smile plastered on his face, Rufus stared back with a cold expression. He looked as if he wouldn’t be happy until he tore apart that old man in front of him.

“Well, Look around. We do have a party here! You’ve brought quite some people, didn’t you, my old friend?” The old man spoke with mirth.

.....

“Don’t call me as your friend. Not to mention, speak for yourself! Heh, I am still not as old as you are.” Rufus snapped. Without letting the old man reply, he added, “You don’t have any fewer people.”

“Hohoho~ Easy, my friend. It’s not like we are enemies here-... Oh, nevermind. We actually are!” The old man suddenly stopped in the middle and thought for a moment before replying.

Just as he said this, a few more Rank-7 Mages appeared behind Rufus and the man in white robes.

“I must say, I didn’t expect to see you here,” the man in white robes said.

“Neither did I,” Rufus said in response. At this point, a weird pressure and tension had started to generate in the air because of the heated debate of these two.

Even though their tone and words almost made it seem like they really were some old friends, the tension in the atmosphere shattered that image in others’ minds.

“Well, it was a good thing that I had some business, so I tagged along with this team. Because if I wasn’t here... it seems like you had set up a pretty good trap~” The old man said in a teasing tone.

He was pleased with his decision to follow the team in this mission. If he weren’t here today, the whole team would have been annihilated by Rufus!

“Tch! It would help if you had stayed where you were. Your old bones might start to wear out too soon,” Rufus spat with annoyance.

“To be honest, you really did have a good plan, and I admit that I did not think that anything was off. Pity that your luck is still as bad as before, hahaha!” The old man started to laugh crazily.

The mercenaries were all confused while hearing their conversation. But the smart ones could make out the gist of the situation from the bits and pieces of information that they could gather.

And the conclusion made them really furious when they realized that all of them were hired just to be used as bait!

They were hired as a front so that the enemy let their guard down. And when they attacked, Rufus would show up to annihilate enemy forces that would deal a huge blow to them.

Although he was not sure of the details, Ozul could figure out this much already when he thought of why the Royal Family needed some mercenaries to escort their important guests. Sometimes, he thought that people were foolish. How could someone even fall for a trap like this!?

‘I guess the opponents aren’t as smart either...’ Ozul thought while shaking his head slightly.

Even with both sides’ stupidity, it turned out that they now confronted each other with almost the same forces.

Both sides had a Rank-8 Mage while the Rank-7 Mages seemed almost equal in numbers as well. Of course, that was not counting Ozul in it since he would really like to stay out of it.

He had thought that it would be something huge, but as it turned out, it was the usual struggle between life and death from both sides.

At this point, Ozul only stayed here because he knew that Rufus was informed of some other plans for him. He wanted to see what the Emperor was up to, and sticking together with this was his only way to find out.

Everyone was nervous since a fight was about to break out, and the chances of dying were all-time high in this type of battle.

The fight had not even started yet before Ozul uncaringly walked to the side with a slope still going upwards. It was cold up here, but the other side of the mountain contained a huge desert. At this time, they were at the side, which showed the jungle instead.

Of course, Raven and Blaze followed right behind him. Just as some other Mages were about to do so as well, the mage covered in all black from head to toe got into his posture to cast Spells. This made others keep from trying to run out as well.

“I just have one thing to say; have some consideration of the terrain,” Rufus cautioned. He wanted his opponent to refrain from using Spells that could destroy about half of the entire hill!

“Of course! But you see... a little chaos won’t be trouble, right?!” the old man laughed again while straight-up denying his request to take anything into consideration.

But unlike his words, the old man did not really go all out since he valued his subordinates. These subordinates were the future of their organization. How could he let them all get annihilated?

Humidity increased before the clouds suddenly turned dark. When one looked at the old man in white robes, they would notice how his eyes glowed with blue color.

Rufus acted as well and hurriedly created some giant rocks to throw them at the old man.

“Let me chant my spell first, will ya?!” The old man snapped with his eyes burning in a fit of fury. It seems like he truly did not like being interrupted.

Following them, the Rank-7 Mages started throwing their respective spells. The situation got chaotic really quickly. Just a second before, the room was calm, and everyone was anxious to realize that their lives were in danger now.

Some Rank-7 Mages surrounded Clara together with Venessa and Hanry since she was the main target of this ambush. Emperor Luthien wanted those people to have a taste of their own medicine by ambushing the people who were here to assassinate Clara, but the whole plan was ruined just because that old man wanted to take a stroll out.

Rufus and the old man in white robes started out with weak spells, but even those much were enough to destroy giant boulders. Each spell struck the other and canceled each other but generated compressed shockwaves that even shook the very ground on which they stood.

The people clad in black from head to toe tried to kill Clara, while the Mages brought by Rufus all tried to defend her from their spells. The Rank-7 Mages from Rufus’ side were all on the defensive, which created a difficult situation for them.

Meanwhile, the only two Rank-8 Mages, Rufus and the old man, did not care about any of that. Somehow, their old rivalry had woken up during the fight, and now this had changed to a battle between them instead of protecting or harming Clara.

“Are we really not going to participate?” Raven asked after a while. Her hands were really itching to take part in the battle of Rank-7 Mages even when she had yet to cross that last step to this rank.

Blaze turned his head towards Ozul, staring at him with a face full of expectations and sparkly eyes like that of a baby who wanted some toy.

‘I think it’s my fault for being too nonchalant of almost everything...’ Ozul thought when he noticed how these two seldom took their situation seriously. He thought that it might have been because of him.

His nonchalant attitude towards everything might have influenced Raven and Blaze to form this trait.

“If you want to take part in it, go ahead. Do whatever you want. However, don’t expect me to come to rescue you if you are in a difficult situation,” Ozul reminded before allowing them to go.

Ozul thought that his presence might have some part in this as well. Maybe, they unconsciously thought that they wouldn’t need to worry about things since he was with them.

Unfortunately for him, his attempt to scare them off did not work as the duo excitedly stood up with smiles on their faces.

*Sigh.*

“You do realize that they are a whole different stronger than you lot, yeah?” Ozul asked with a calm voice. His tone almost sounded too unwavering as Raven immediately it as well.

“Yes...” X2 – Both of them replied while nodding their heads.

“And you do realize that going there to fight would seventy out of hundred percent result in your death?” Ozul again asked. This time, the duo realized that they were going to get scolded.

“Yeah...?” X2 – They nodded their heads again, but this time with a little uncertainty.

“Then why did you both lost your minds and started to test your skills in such battles where the odds are so against you? I taught you to be unyielding, not stupid!”