Perspective: Dale

Location: Rezhuo

Even though I was in the right, I still got a stern talking to from a few friendly faces and was forced to swear that I wouldn't steal anyone's kill in the future.

I could only accept that. A good man doesn't compete with women; that's one of my life philosophies.

However, I also benefited greatly from this. Perhaps it's because this isn't the Lost Continent, but taking down that guy this time gave me a lot of experience and I jumped straight to level 70.

Honestly, why did they have to make me level up so quickly when the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility? I'm not even interested in fighting. Isn't that kind of thing better left to machines?

The next thing to do is much simpler - rescue all the people trapped here.

The number is truly staggering. When we finished counting, we were truly shocked by the quantity.

In total, these two mountains held 569 people captive, and there was even a place beneath the valley that seemed to handle corpses, showing just how twisted these two mages were.

However, aside from the mages we eliminated, the other two seemed to have disappeared, one of whom was Black Domi's teacher.

But Black Domi, after seeing all this, didn't seem to have much of a reaction. She just kept staring blankly at the people making their way down the mountain.

"Hey, Mary."

I said to Mary next to me, who was still directing the people down the mountain.

"Why don't you go talk to Black Domi? From the looks of it, she might be on the verge of a breakdown."

"Me?"

Mary pointed to herself.

"Are you kidding? Why don't you go yourself? I'm not exactly great at comforting people."

"If you're not good at it, then I'd be even worse."

I said with a wry smile.

"Besides, weren't you a teacher before? Isn't counseling others your specialty?"

"Being a teacher... was just to keep up appearances..."

Mary glanced at Black Domi, thought for a moment, and sighed.

"Such a hassle... fine, since we're comrades."

With that, Mary reluctantly walked over to Black Domi.

Well, there's nothing I can do in this situation. If I had to counsel, it would probably backfire.

After all, not everyone is like Silvantes, who's been so excited since just now, tirelessly helping the trapped people down the mountain, as if he's not afraid of heights.

...

I wonder if he's really forgotten or...

Oh well.

But speaking of which, where did Fran go? We haven't seen him since the battle ended. He's quite a peculiar fellow.

It's a shame that the other two guys got away too. After all, they were also involved in this, making them quite dangerous people. It's unsettling that they managed to escape.

Oh well, most likely another evil mage will emerge soon enough, and we'll deal with it then...

Even if we don't, there should be someone who can handle it.

Thinking like this, I calmly headed towards the nearest house.

"Well, no matter what, let's loot the spoils first."

Perspective: Third Person

Location: Unknown

The passageways winding through the mountains were like a giant python swallowing people alive, with countless individuals in the caves being squeezed of every ounce of their worth like livestock.

And then becoming bones in the valley.

However, if Dale and the others carefully searched, they would be astonished to find a secret room in one of the empty cells along this passageway.

On the interior wall piled with debris, there was a one-meter-high passage. At this moment, the passage had been opened, and panicked gasps could still be heard from inside.

Following the passage to the end, which led deep into the valley, there was an ordinary-looking thatched hut, except the dilapidated appearance gave no indication of anyone living inside.

Not until now.

"Ha!... Finally... finally escaped."

An old man in tattered robes crawled out from the underground passage beneath the thatched hut, looking like a refugee who had been fleeing for a long time.

Of course, this attire was not by choice, but rather a reflection of his state after spending a long time conducting research in the laboratory.

Having secluded himself for research had completely detached him from a normal life, hence his unkempt appearance.

But it was precisely this attire that made him less conspicuous among the fleeing crowd, allowing him to escape from the group of people and find his way into this passage.

"Damn! Who on earth came to ruin our good work!"

As he spoke, the old man headed towards the nearby stone wall.

"It shouldn't be from the Magic Association; if those guys came, they wouldn't care about these people's lives and would simply blow us up, as they always do."

Muttering to himself, the old man reached the stone wall and took out a wand from his ring.

A wand made from a complete human head and spine!

He muttered something, and the mountain before him trembled slightly, slowly opening up.

"Thank goodness I have an alternative laboratory. I need to pack up and leave quickly. It's a shame. It's all because of those two idiots, focusing on experiments and creating such a disturbance! That's hundreds of people, it's truly unbelievable!"

As he spoke, the old man began collecting items from the room into his ring, one by one.

"Ah, yet another place to find. I wonder when I'll find a stable location."

"There's a place that suits you well, the Abyss~"

As soon as those words were spoken, the old man felt a purple sword tip protruding from his chest, while his strength seemed to be instantly drained, causing him to kneel on the ground weakly.

"Who... who are you..."

Grasping the wall for support as he looked back, the old man saw a young girl.

While he didn't know who she was, he identified her instantly through the weapon she held in her hand.

"You! You're a necromancer too!"

"That's right~ It seems you haven't lost your eyesight~"

Fran said with a smile, extending her staff towards the old man.

"What are you doing! As a necromancer, you should know! As long as we aren't killed, we'll live forever, why would you..."

"Persecute me?"

The smile on Fran's face never faded.

"Well, not quite, I'm just upholding justice, exterminating heretics~"

"Although you're also..."

"Well~ from a friend, I learned this - doing bad things as a bad person is immoral, but killing bad people to loot their possessions is acting for the greater good, you understand, right?"

With a thicker smile on her face, a black light appeared on her wand.

"You..."

"Stop struggling. The dagger on you will absorb all the dead energy from your body. It's truly terrifying how much dead energy you've accumulated. Look, even my dagger has turned pitch black."

As she spoke, Fran pulled out a dagger and let the black energy from her staff cling to the old man's body.

The old man let out a painful scream, writhing and rolling on the ground.

"Well, it's precisely because of the heavy dead energy in you that I discovered your whereabouts. But don't worry, I'll help you achieve your wish."

While talking, Fran collected the other items in the room.

"Seems like you've accumulated quite a few treasures, interesting. Since the undead magic hasn't progressed, you can help me. Also..."

Fran turned around, looking at the old man who had stopped struggling on the floor, and smiled.

"You wanted immortality, right? Don't worry, you'll live forever as my slave~"

With those words, the old man's body moved, using his wand to slowly stand up.

But at this moment, he was completely black, resembling a dried corpse; however, his bright red eyes looked exceptionally eerie.

"Mordau, that name is too troublesome. From now on, you'll be Old Mordau. Let's go. Let's go home."

The undead knelt down, then, turned into a black mist and vanished into the air.

"As expected~"

Fran, who had left the stone chamber, stretched lazily.

"Taking down evil forces is always satisfying!"