Chapter 272: Time and Again

CRACK!

Almost at the same instant the wine glass hit the floor, an arrow shot from the back of the restaurant, piercing the back of the Zombie Lord’s head, which had just been baring its fangs at Ron. The sharp arrowhead penetrated its rotten flesh and bone, the cold glint of its tip emerging from the creature’s open mouth.

The hairs on Henry’s neck stood on end—he could see it clearly. The arrow wasn’t pointing anywhere else; it was aimed right at his heart!

’If that arrow had just a bit more force...’

The Necromancer subconsciously glanced toward the arrow’s origin. Over there, an interracial couple had now stood up. The female Elf had produced a longbow from somewhere and was firing a rapid volley of arrows, scattering several Undead Creatures.

The man didn’t seem like much of a threat, but when a few thugs tried to advance on the Elf, he pulled out a Pan Flute. A strange melody drifted around the brutes, and faint, near-invisible threads entangled their limbs and joints. They were forced to dance to the man’s music, unable to make any other move.

However, that wasn’t what terrified the Necromancer the most.

Ron’s shattered wine glass was like a switch. The moment it hit the floor, led by an elderly Half-Elf, nearly every customer in Baka Restaurant stood up! They silently drew shortswords or daggers from their clothes or boots, staring expressionlessly at the thugs and Undead Creatures on the floor.

It seemed that with a single word from Ron, they would rise up like a pack of wolves and tear their enemies to shreds.

"This... Baka! What the hell is going on?!"

The Necromancer looked at his old friend in dismay, only to find that this old crony of his, an expert at making ’acquaintances’ out of strangers, was even more panicked than he was. His hand, holding a sharp knife, trembled so much he could barely keep his grip.

"I-I don’t know! Weren’t you the one who told me to deal with them?!"

"Dammit!"

Henry cursed, grabbed his old friend’s arm, and in an instant, the two of them vanished from their spot and reappeared at the door.

A blue light flashed in Ron’s eyes, but his counter-Magic ultimately failed to stop the more powerful Teleportation Array.

"Brat, you think this is enough to corner me? Dream on—Death Cloud Magic!"

As the Necromancer chanted, a toxic, yellow-green fog with a radius of over six meters billowed out and spread through the restaurant. While Ron tried to use Magic to neutralize the indiscriminate attack, the restaurant’s thugs, one after another, collapsed into pools of their own blood, bleeding from all their orifices.

The effects of this toxic fog, created by Magic, were far beyond what any ordinary Alchemy Potion could match. Even if a creature held its breath or didn’t need to breathe, it would still be affected. Without the help of a Priest or another Caster, any ordinary being caught within it was doomed.

"He’s killing his own men in his frenzy!" A sacred, emerald light flared around the Goblin Hunter. "Ron, hurry! They’re about to get away!"

"Don’t worry, he won’t get far," Ron said, stirring up strong gusts of wind in the restaurant to gather the Death Cloud Magic into an empty corner. Victoria’s chanting then caused the stone floor in that corner to sink several meters deep. Since the mist from the Death Cloud Magic was heavier than air, it all seeped into the newly formed crevice in just a few moments.

But a number of the restaurant’s thugs, and even some of the helpers Sred had brought, had already fallen to the ground, never to wake again.

"Sacrifices are necessary. A Caster’s Magic is limited. Since he dared to do this, he’ll have nothing left for a last-ditch struggle against us." The Half-Elf butler showed no remorse for the deaths of the men he had recruited. He hopped onto the stomach of a corpse and looked up at Ron.

"You don’t seem very worried. Are the arrangements ahead sufficient to stop him from escaping back to his Mage Tower?"

"I’m sure of it," Ron nodded. "You hand-picked these men, didn’t you?"

"They’re all rats from the gutter. No family, no friends, the kind of scum who live day to day," Sred said, keeping pace with Ron as he walked out. "Don’t worry, I wouldn’t bring anyone with other uses—Lord Hendrix has his own interests at stake."

While Ron and the others casually strolled along the Necromancer’s escape route, Henry and Baka weren’t having such an easy time.

"Still not working?!" Baka looked at his Mage friend in a panic. Henry once again pulled a Scroll from his pocket, but when he tore it, a blue light flashed and the Magic failed again.

"It’s no good! There must be a Caster lurking nearby!" the Necromancer said hatefully, panting for breath. "We need to run farther!"

"Dammit! Where the hell is that hidden Caster? And how do they know what Magic I’m about to use?!"

The Necromancer and his butcher friend fled for their lives down the empty street. He would occasionally toss out some Arcane Magic, like Fireball Magic or Dark Magic, and no one would stop him. But the moment he pulled out one of his few remaining Teleportation Technique scrolls, a counter-Magic would invariably hit him. At this rate, running on their own two feet, the short distance from the restaurant to the Mage Tower was long enough for them to die several times over!

"If they’ve set up a few assassins here, the two of us will have a hard time—"

Just as Henry Robertson paused to catch his breath, a nearby window burst open. A figure in black and another in white leaped out. Without any preamble, the two assassins lunged, their gleaming weapons striking at the pair’s vital points.

"Fear Magic!"

A shimmering, unstable phantom immediately appeared before the Necromancer. The two assassins were confronted with visions of their greatest fears. Overwhelmed by sudden, intense terror, the assassin in black instantly dropped his weapon. The other assassin, after a brief clash with Baka, also fell under the influence of the Arcane Magic. He dodged several of Henry’s rays before grabbing his partner and forcing a retreat.

"Let’s go!"

With no time to give chase, Henry and Baka, this pair of unlucky brothers, supported each other and quickly fled the scene. However, perhaps the fight had given away their position, for just as they reached a three-way intersection, a patrol squad conveniently appeared to block their path.

"Baka! We’ve received a report that your restaurant is connected to several missing persons cases. We need you to come with us!"

"And you, Mr. Henry! You were just released, and you’re already casting high-level Arcane Magic in the city again? Do you have some special attachment to the Public Security Bureau? Come on, you can extend your stay with Mr. Baka for a while!"