Zakiel’s Familiar, The Truth-Seeking Seer, was not an offensive one.
It was this Familiar’s magic that allowed him to see the future through visions. In essence, despite its non-aggressive nature, it was still an extremely useful Familiar to have.
This was what gave him the name and prestige he had now. In exchange for offensive capabilities, he got the invincible power to peer into the future of others… except himself!
But now, he didn’t need such power. What he needed was a brute force to decimate his target. Unfortunately, none of the said options existed.
“Die… now…” The Demon muttered in its language and launched its sharpened blade toward Zakiel.
“[I-intermediate Lightning Barrier]” Zakiel chanted in reflex.
Thanks to the special effects of his Magic Tools, this Spell’s ability was enhanced. Not only did the Spell go into effect, but the automatic defensive charm he wore on his ring finger also activated, creating an extra barrier.
It was weaker than the Intermediate Spell he had just cast, but the shield was still useful since it required no Mana to use and the cast time was zero!
With both barriers, Zakiel was confident he could block the incoming assault. He just needed to think of a solution to the crisis befalling him.
‘Should I just attempt an Advanced Spell?’
With the barrier shielding him, perhaps he had a shot. His mana wasn’t infinite, and frankly, he only had enough mana for one Advanced Spell.
If he stopped midway through the chant, he would blow it and lose lots of mana. That was why he had to be sure. But, what other choice did he have?
‘I have to try!’ Zakiel resolved internally as he glared at the incoming monster’s hand and prepared to begin chanting.
However…
KRAACKKKK!!!
The double-layered barriers of varying types shattered like fragile glass the moment Kahn’s bladed hands made contact. Two defensive magic fields… devastated, just like that!
Zakiel didn’t even have any time to voice out a word before the hands lunged at him, entering the hole in his mouth and exiting through the end of his skull.
Blood and what seemed to be some portion of his brains splattered out as the Mage met instant death.
“Finally dead, uh?” Kahn mumbled as he flung the dead body without paying any heed to the Magic-User again.
The battle was over, if it could even be called that.
Kahn’s eyes darted over to the other two humans around. Lord Karl and the villager Duruk. The barrier covering them had vanished as a result of Zakiel’s death.
“Eeeek!”
“Y-you monster!”
The plebian and noble shrieked at the same time. Death was only a distance from them.
Kahn’s face turned back to Zakiel and narrowed his eyes. What he had been waiting for finally manifested. Out of the corpse of Zakiel came forth something divine.
It took the form of a golden-like orb that glowed. It was called many names, but one was the most famed of all. Even the Demons were aware of this.
“The Soul…” Kahn mumbled as he stretched out his hands to touch it.
The moment his sharpened claws drew closer to the golden light, it slowly began to flicker. Suddenly, the color started transforming. From the bright hue it had, the ‘soul’ got corrupted and turned into a more sinister black. Purple energy oozed out of it and it became ugly and distorted.
Most would be appalled by the transformation, but not Kahn. Rather, he was pleased by the desired outcome.
The Shadow Demon grabbed the corrupted orb that radiated darkness and did the unthinkable. It swallowed it!
Yes!
Opening his cracked up mouth that split like crackers, his sharpened teeth, which seemed to be one with the black skin he had, showed. In a single gulp, Kahn took in the ‘soul’ of the dead Mage, therefore absorbing his essence.
Of course, no one else could see what had just transpired, except Kahn’s dramatic display. The soul was invisible to the eye. Kahn could only perceive it due to his special constitution.
Now that he had absorbed the corrupted form of a soul, he had now gained greater sustenance. Not only was his magic power restored to an extent, he felt much better physically.
“Now, then, dealing with those two…” Kahn’s eyes once again returned to the humans who couldn’t dare leave their current positions.
But, before he could do anything, Kahn heard sounds coming from all around him. They were sounds of humans, lots of them.
The moment Lord Karl heard these sounds too, relief poured into his face.
‘We’re saved now!’ His mind rang.
He had initially thought Kahn killed all his soldiers, but for there to be so many, they could stand a chance!
No, how foolish that idea was! In the depths of his desperation, Karl had forgotten how Kahn easily killed a powerful mage that none of the current soldiers could match up to.
It was crazy to expect victory!
“Bothersome. Let’s kill them all.”
Before the soldiers who encircled Kahn took a single step forward, he activated a Spell to test out its effects on humans.
“[Dark Magic: Shadow Disks]”
Shadow-like fog rose from beneath him, and just like spinning disks, bigger than the head of a human, many dark disks appeared. They were at least a hundred!
“Kill them all…”
I’m a flash, the disks went to do their job, slaughtering any soldier that drew closer to Kahn’s location.
This gave Kahn the right amount of time to devote to the humans who had hoped for salvation.
In a whoosh, Kahn closed the distance between him and then like it was nothing.
The men shrieked, their eyes begged for mercy. Kahn looked at them kneel, watching them from grovel didn’t bring him any satisfaction. He was not like one of his former colleagues, who enjoyed inflicting despair upon others and took great pride in it.
He was no sadist.
If he felt no need to spare a person, he would just dispose of them.
In that line of reasoning, he pointed a sharpened claw at Duruk and killed him instantly by drilling the elongated sharpened hole into his skull.
Blood spurted out and the poor plebian died instantly, body twitching for a few seconds.
“N-no… N-no…” The Noble was the only one left.
He knew the date that awaited him as well… Death!