"Did I arrive too late?" Mardo smelled the faint scent of blood in the courtyard, quickly discerning that it wasn't human.
He breathed a sigh of relief; August hadn't been harmed so quickly.
He then swiftly moved toward August's bedroom door. The front door automatically opened, welcoming him, before gently closing, making barely a sound, not disturbing the silent night at all.
Mardo knew August's house very well. He glided through the living room like a phantom and ascended the stairs in a breath.
The bedroom door also opened automatically, and Mardo entered the place where August was sleeping soundly.
"I'm too late!" He immediately saw the dark figure slumped by the bed. Flipping the body over, he saw the distorted face, and Mardo frowned.
He didn't recognize this person. He knew all the Formal Mages who had emerged from The Umbral Cabal*, but this person had never appeared before; he might be one of those who had been hidden.
Mardo looked at August, who was deeply asleep on the bed, his body occasionally twitching, and his concern grew even deeper.
"A miscalculation!" He felt a tinge of regret; he should have thought of it sooner.
Mardo believed that the people from The Umbral Cabal hadn't noticed August's existence, so he let him return peacefully. However, on his way home, he suddenly remembered that there seemed to be an infiltrator within the organization, and August's information might have been leaked.
The Umbral Cabal's Formal Mages had always been unscrupulous; attacks by Formal Mages on apprentices had occurred more than once.
Looking at the body on the floor and August, who seemed to be having a nightmare and sleeping restlessly, he easily determined what August was experiencing.
"[Soul-Stealing Secret Spell]!" Mardo's tone held a hint of coldness. As a Formal Mage with leanings toward good, he had always detested such evil secret arts.
However, he had no way to help August and wasn't optimistic that August could win this soul struggle against the opponent.
"I will kill him." Mardo decided to eliminate the Formal Mage who had taken over August's body the moment August woke up.
The [Soul-Stealing Secret Spell] was a Formal Mage's spell. Mardo didn't think much, instinctively assuming the dark figure was a Formal Mage, so he believed August's fate was sealed.
After all, though August was exceptionally talented, he was still too weak and no match for a cruel Formal Mage.
He sighed. He had originally planned to make August his apprentice after some time, but it seemed he had to personally end this young man he cherished.
When he was August's age, he was almost identical to him, full of desire for Formal Mage knowledge and longing for Magical Runes.
Even more coincidentally, the job he used to earn money back then was serializing novels in newspapers. It had to be fate, so he believed August was simply his destined successor.
The dark figure seemed a bit impatient, no longer mocking August with words, but accelerating, its body even transforming into a blade, continuously slashing at August.
He was almost hit many times, but fortunately, he was alert enough to prevent the dark figure from succeeding.
"We're here!"
August suddenly stopped and turned to face the dark figure.
"What's wrong? Giving up at last?" The dark figure didn't attack directly but stopped and regained its human form.
"Why don't you come?" August spread his arms as if welcoming, but his expression was utterly mocking.
Finally, he raised his middle finger and beckoned to the dark figure.
"If you want to die quickly, then I'll grant your wish!"
The dark figure also feared changes, but it had no escape. Formal Mages could retreat to their bodies if they failed to devour, but inexperienced ones like him only had one chance: succeed or die, no other options.
The dark figure suddenly lunged at August, unleashing the greatest possible speed in the spiritual world. At the same time, its arm dematerialized and transformed into a broad scimitar.
"Whether it's a bluff or some trick, your outcome today is only one..." It pounced with a sinister grin. "Death!"
"No, you're the one who's going to die!" August suddenly curled his lips, seemingly confident of victory, not taking the dark figure's attack seriously at all.
*Boom!*
The dark figure's vision blurred, and it felt itself violently collide with something, being flung backward with force.
Upon closer inspection, it realized that a primitive-looking stone gate had appeared between him and August at some unknown point.
The grayish-white gate stood tall in the spiritual world, and silently, a pressure fell upon the dark figure.
"What is this?" A sense of fear surged within it; it felt it was better to stay as far away from that gate as possible.
"Are you trying to hide from my pursuit with this?" It thought August was delusional. Although the gate's power was terrifying, it only needed to avoid it. Could August truly use door panels to crush people?
At the same time, it was somewhat excited. This gate seemed anything but simple; perhaps that's why August was different from common Formal Mages. As long as it devoured August's soul, such a wonderful existence would be its own.
But just then, it heard a creak.
The gate burst open, revealing its true form.
A powerful suction emanated from the gate, and the dark figure instantly lost control of its body: "What?!"
In an emergency, it transformed its right hand into a hook and plunged it into the gate panel, narrowly escaping being swallowed by this strange gate.
He looked inside the door, but there was nothing. It was an empty space; he could only see August's slightly sinister gaze through the door behind him.
"You—!"
Then he saw August wave at him in a gesture of farewell.
The suction inside the door suddenly intensified, and the dark figure's claw instantly detached from the door panel, spinning as it flew toward the door.
Although there was nothing, he instinctively sensed that something was wrong. He wanted to escape but couldn't do anything.
Crack!
The dark figure suddenly seemed to collide with something, stopped by an invisible membrane inside the door.
Instantly, lightning flashed and thunder roared. Countless red bolts descended from the sky, striking the dark figure. This unexpected guest, who had intruded into August's spiritual world, spoke no last word before its form shattered.
Large amounts of cloud energy scattered from there, and August's spiritual world suddenly filled with numerous clouds, seemingly about to be completely full.
Unexpectedly, all the mental energy the dark figure had accumulated throughout its life ended up benefiting August, pushing him a great step closer to the bottleneck of advancement.
August finally breathed a sigh of relief. The sudden enemy had caught him a bit off guard, but luckily, he still had his mysterious ultimate weapon.
Originally, his intention was to banish the dark figure to another world, as it had no door and he didn't need to worry about its return for revenge. Who would have imagined that this door apparently didn't allow outsiders in, shattering its soul with lightning?
The dark figure's mental energy dispersed into this space, replenishing August's mental consumption, which excited him a little. Judging by its magnitude, he could probably advance with just two more years of hard work!
But he should wake up first. That guy probably left many traces in the house, and he needed to clean up.
August slowly woke up, feeling refreshed. He yawned and was about to get up, but in his daze, he saw someone sitting in the chair in front of him.
August immediately gasped; he didn't expect the man who invaded his spiritual world to have an accomplice!
He immediately decided to pretend to be his companion, trying to trick him into not noticing him.
Then he heard a familiar voice: "Don't move!"
A golden energy ring appeared around his neck, and several golden chains surged around his body, blocking his hands and feet.
"Tell me, who are you?"