CHAPTER 63: FATE

The part about ’not having any mana’ was a fact. The necromancer had used up a lot of his mana to defend against the attack. Although Zephyr was unsure if the necromancer still had enough mana to kill the villagers, he had reasons to believe he succeeded in saving them.

One of which was...

Zephyr pointed at his back.

"Do you see it?" He asked.

"What?"

"That’s the point. You can’t see it on me."

"The sword!" Suddenly, the necromancer raised his eyebrows and looked at the group of villagers standing far away.

Gale’s sword was thrown onto the black stone floor of the temple. It lay next to the villagers.

Subtle mana pulses were flowing out of it, increasing in intensity every second.

"What are you doing?" The necromancer asked, staring with wide eyes.

"Duh! Saving the villagers."

"Wasn’t the sword your trump card? Weren’t you going to use the mana Gale stored in it to attack me?"

The necromancer didn’t go into close combat, fearing the sword. It was a weapon once used by a master knight, and he knew about the mana stored in it. Thus, he knew the threat it posed was greater than Zephyr himself—or so he thought.

"No." Zephyr shook his head. "Why did you think that?"

"..."

The necromancer didn’t reply. He stared at Zephyr, his expression complex with emotions.

Zephyr was always one step ahead. Even after all that, he still had another set of plans he didn’t know about. The way the young man fought was truly unprecedented.

After grinding his teeth, the necromancer raised his head and asked.

"What are you going to do with the sword?"

"You will see..."

The moment Zephyr said that, the sword lying on the ground trembled. A flicker of light appeared on its surface as the mana in its core pushed against its shell.

The necromancer’s face darkened.

But before he could respond, the mana in the sword created a radiant dome around the sword, expanding outwards.

The speed at which it expanded was similar to that of a shockwave traveling from an explosion.

Within a second, it covered all the villagers standing over to the altar’s side.

The sudden flash of light and a bit of warmth drilled into their bodies like X-rays, for barely a second before disappearing.

The villagers closest to the sword trembled like leaves and fell to the ground instantly. The rest took a few more seconds to react. But they fell similarly to the others.

Watching it, Zephyr smiled.

The fallen villagers were opening their eyes one by one. This time, there was clarity in them.

"I call it the dark mana eradicating pulse," Zephyr said casually.

"YOU!"

The necromancer was too shocked to speak. His voice cracked at the end as he gazed at the villagers.

One by one, they were breaking free from his parasitic mind-controlling spell and were standing up.

The necromancer never thought a defective mage like Zephyr could do something like that. So, he was not at all prepared for the villagers gaining their freedom.

"Cough. Cough. Cough."

The necromancer held his chest, coughing out blood and saliva in anger.

"YOU!" He shouted again and coughed.

Meanwhile, the villagers who woke up looked around in panic. Despite being captured and controlled, they were conscious the whole time. Which meant they knew everything that happened up to this point.

"Escape..."

"Run, everyone."

They began to shout and run away.

The necromancer raised his staff in panic. They were his precious sacrifice material. He needed their life essence to hatch the godspawn in the temple.

However, Zephyr took a few steps forward and stood in front of the necromancer.

"What are you doing? Do you think you can stop me?" With an enraged voice, he asked.

Zephyr shook his head.

He knew how bad his situation was. Releasing the mana stored in the sword, converting it to a light pulse, was the last trick he had. He had saved it as a backup plan if he failed to kill the necromancer with a railgun strike.

But later, through the battle, Zephyr realised the difference in strength. The initial estimate he had of the necromancer’s mana pool was wrong.

That guy survived the railgun unharmed. This meant he hadn’t yet used the protective item that he was supposed to have. After all, an intermediate mage without a protective life-saving item was as rare as a unicorn in this world.

Therefore, there was no point in using the sword against the necromancer, Zephyr concluded mid-battle.

The mana stored in the sword was external, and Zephyr could not focus it into an attack strong enough to kill the necromancer. Thus, he had kept it as a backup plan to save the villagers in case he failed.

And he failed indeed.

So, he was forced to use the sword and free the villagers.

The light pulse released by the sword spread radially, uncontrollably, to break the villagers out of the dark mana’s influence.

Now, they were free to escape.

However, the necromancer would not let them walk away that easily.

Zephyr knew this would happen and stepped in front of the necromancer to buy a few more seconds.

"You failed." He began to speak.

"The Azure sky won’t turn red, nor would you let anyone learn what pain is. This is the end for you."

Zephyr said, lifting his index finger and pointing forward.

"You are a failure." He added to infuriate the opposing party.

The necromancer wanted to shout and scream. Anger was clouding his mind as he witnessed his entire plan crumble before him.

"I...I.." Like a broken record stuck in a loop, he began to speak gibberish.

Zephyr watched what was happening and jumped back.

An unknown feeling of dread swallowed him.

’Something’s wrong.’ He thought, turning back to run.

But he was too late; a tentacle-like mana appendage sprouted out of the necromancer’s back, capturing him in seconds.

The mana was beyond threatening. The nefarious, baleful aura it exuded was entirely different from that of a human.

Dragging Zephyr back, the tentacle brought him near the necromancer.

Suddenly, he felt the necromancer’s voice speak from behind his ear.

"Yes, he is indeed a failure."

The voice agreed. But Zephyr instantly knew it was not the necromancer speaking.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Someone you are going to work for." The chilling voice spoke again.

Zephyr slowly turned around, disregarding his instincts, which screamed at him to stop.

"Work?"

Zephyr squinted as he came face-to-face with the necromancer.

The mana tentacle holding him down tightened as he squirmed.

"Yes, I am going to turn you into the most powerful person in the world. In return, you are going to work for me." The necromancer’s master spoke.

"An interesting, competent, strong child like you deserves to be treated with respect. Let me turn you into something that can rule the world and gain respect." He said with a pleasant smile.

Then, bringing Zephyr closer to his face, he added. "I always wanted to understand how your trait worked. Now seems like an appropriate time to delve into it."

Hearing it, Zephyr felt his heart stop. At the same time, a flicker of relief washed over his face.

Now, he knew why the original Zephyr turned to a chimera. As he thought, the master of the necromancer was the culprit.