Ethan and Emma had finally crossed the Harrowing Dessert by the fourth day and reached the nearest Human settlement around noon.
It was just a small town and, at most, Ethan estimated that there were only around a thousand people in it.
Upon arrival, they instantly noticed several Wizards and Witches from the other academies who must have arrived before them.
Of course, among those students, the pair recognized the uniforms of the academies of their rivals. These people looked at Ethan with wary gazes.
Ethan knew that there was a possibility of a fight breaking out, so he didn’t lower his guard.
The residents instinctively knew that these people were foreigners.
Their clothes and their presence were very different from theirs, and they also spoke a different language.
Despite these Foreigners speaking a different language, they were able to communicate with them without too much trouble.
It was as if there was a translation mechanism within the Legacy Domain.
When the Foreigners spoke to each other, all the locals heard was gibberish.
But every time these Foreigners talked to them, they were able to understand them perfectly.
Suddenly, Ethan and Emma sensed a connection that was moving in their direction.
It was not a single person, but two of them.
They decided to just wait from their spot so that they could reunite with their teammates, boosting their ability to defend themselves just in case a fight broke out.
To their credit, their rival academies were also not in an antagonistic mood, even moving away after glaring in their direction.
Unlike Brynhildr Academy which could only sense each other, their rival academies were able to communicate with each other over long distances.
The reason why they got to have this advantage was because it was achieved through taboo magic.
Magic that required specific conditions, such as ones that involved human sacrifices, to manifest.
For the students of the Dark Academies, the citizens of the Legacy Domain were similar to cattle.
There might be a few of them who were able to use magic, but the majority were Ordinarius or people without Magic.
Of course, even if they were using taboo magic, no one would know as long as there were no witnesses.
However, although they could communicate from great distances, there was only one message that these people had sent, and that was…
“The Mage Slayer is hunting us down!”
Because of this, the students of the other academies had become more wary, especially toward the students of Brynhildr Academy.
They understood that they were not the only ones who were doing the hunting.
They were also being hunted down, and the messages that they received didn’t bode well.
Several of their comrades had already died. One of them was personally killed by Ethan, while the others were killed by the Stone Golems.
It also didn’t help that Ethan looked at them as if they were prey. They had seen how the blue-haired teenager had fought against Cedric in the Grand Arena and understood just how powerful he was.
Although he was at the top of the list of those whom they must kill inside the Legacy Domain, they also knew that they had no chance of winning against him unless they formed a group with strong fighting abilities.
Ten minutes later, two Witches landed several meters away from Ethan and Emma.
They were none other than Nicole and Garnet, the one who went by the name of Scarlet Witch.
Seeing these two powerful allies made Ethan smile. He was certain that with the four of them working together, it would be very hard for their enemies to win in a life or death battle.
“I finally found you,” Nicole said with a smile. “It’s really hard to know who we are going to meet with just our artifacts.”
Garnet also sighed in relief. She truly suffered a lot these past few days. She had met a few enemies as well, but she didn’t dare to fight them alone. Instead, she ran away as fast as she could.
Fortunately, she was lucky enough to meet Nicole along the way. With their teamwork, they were able to drive her pursuers away.
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“Where did the two of you appear?” Garnet asked with curiosity.
“We appeared in the Ymir Mountains,” Ethan replied. “After that, we traveled through the Harrowing Desert, and it took us four days to get here.”
“Is the desert that big?” Nicole inquired. “Why did it take you so many days to arrive here? Did the two of you perhaps take a stroll, while enjoying each other’s company?”
Before Ethan could even answer, Emma beat him to it and explained what had transpired after they arrived in the Legacy Domain.
“After fighting against the students of the other academies, we decided to head to the Abel Plains through the Harrowing Desert because we knew that you were headed in this direction,” Emma explained. “But the desert has some kind of magic field that prevents any flying magic from working. Because of this, we can’t fly across with our brooms. We had to travel by foot.”
Nicole and Garnet looked at their teammates with pitiful looks on their faces. That explained why the two looked exhausted and travel-worn.
“Sorry, I didn’t know,” Nicole apologized.
Ethan only smiled and nodded his head. “It’s fine. The important thing is that all four of us are together.”
Nicole and Garnet nodded their heads. The more of their teammates they gathered the better.
“What do we do now?” Nicole asked. “Where do we go from here?”
Nicole eyed Ethan and arched her eyebrow. She was clearly asking Ethan what he wanted to do at the moment.
Naturally, Garnet noticed this gesture and also glanced at Ethan. They didn’t have a leader at the moment.
But since it was the handsome young man who had shown his exceptional abilities in the Battle of Manors, as well as in his duel against Cedric, the Scarlet Witch wouldn’t mind acknowledging him as the leader of their group.
“I wanted to regroup with Luna as soon as possible,” Ethan said. “She is currently in the Deathseeker Forest, traveling with a few members of Nightfall Academy.”
Nicole smirked as she looked at Emma. “Is she traveling with Cedric?”
When Ethan was still in the Lands of Alastor, Emma was the one who had assured them that he was fine. She also mentioned in passing that she was a Seer, gifted with the ability of Clairvoyance and Divination.
“She is,” Emma replied.
Nicole nodded in understanding. “So what are we waiting for? Let’s go and save your damsel in distress. Who knows? If you are a bit late, another Prince Charming might sweep her off of her feet.”
“Very funny.” Ethan smiled, but this smile didn’t reach his eyes, making Nicole giggle.
Clearly, Ethan was very worried that Cedric might do something to Luna, and this was something that he wouldn’t allow to happen.
After confirming their next destination, the group of four took to the skies.
Ethan rode on Emma’s flying broomstick, while Nicole and Garnet flew on their left and right sides.
Even with their speed, it would still take them two days to arrive at their destination.
Ethan just hoped that Lilian would be able to safeguard his lover from the advances of her Older Brother.
Little did he know, Cedric didn’t even have the leeway to make any advances on Luna.
One of the Boss Monsters, who was supposed to be in the Harrowing Desert, was currently inside the Deathseeker Forest, actively hunting them down.
If this Boss Monster hadn’t left the desert, there was a high chance that Ethan and Emma might have confronted it during their travels.
Fortunately, they didn’t.
However, the people who had to face it weren’t that fortunate.
Nightfall Academy had already lost two of their people, while the rest suffered from moderate to serious injuries during the battle with this powerful monster.
Cedric’s Group, accompanied by Luna and Rowan, was headed to the Northwest portion of the Deathseeker Forest.
Cedric hoped that their other teammates had already arrived at the forest so that they could join forces to defeat the Boss Monster.
What they didn’t know was that the Monster that they were planning to capture was watching all of this from the side and enjoying the show.
Of course, it could have joined the Boss of the Desert to wipe out the students. But this was something that it didn’t want to do.
It wanted to capture the students alive so that it could absorb their powers.
However, it wanted to do that while they were tired, battered, and despairing.
Since someone was already turning them into the state it wanted, the Second Boss Monster was more than happy to watch from the side and enjoy the entertaining show while it lasted.