“Let’s retreat.”

Chris, the shaggy-haired mage, made the decision without hesitation upon hearing that magical beasts were also flooding into Areas A and B.

“But…”

Someone began to protest, but Chris shook his head firmly.

“If we delay any longer, the defensive magic circle may be breached and we could be surrounded.”

“Isn’t support coming soon?”

In response to someone’s optimistic remark, Chris let out a deep sigh.

“In that case, we can deal with the magical beasts then. Right now, we cannot guarantee our safety.”

Listening to their conversation, Leon silently put the large spatial pouch back into his robe. If they had decided to retreat, there was no need for him to show all his golems.

With Chris leading, all the mages turned to leave. Though anxiety surged, they knew that without anyone to hold off the beasts, the defensive magic circle wouldn’t last long, prompting them to make a quick decision.

The mages gathered their thoughts and hurried toward the location of the teleportation magic circle to escape the Valley of Souls. However, upon arriving, their faces instantly fell in despair.

“The teleportation magic circle…?”

Someone sighed and pointed to the damaged magic circle. It was already ruthlessly destroyed. The intricate patterns engraved on the floor had deep cracks, and the magical light had long since faded.

“Who did this…?”

When another voice filled with anger spoke up, a mage cautiously raised a question.

“Could it be one of those who went to request support damaged it?”

“A traitor, you say?”

“Wasn’t it Lucas? He’s been suspicious for a while now, and he’s been close to the Pigmelin faction.”

Chris shook his head with a serious expression.

“It’s unlikely that they would resort to such shallow tactics. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“Then what about support?”

“Is that even the issue? We need to worry about our lives right now.”

“We need to hurry and escape before the defensive magic circle is breached…”

The voices of the mages became a tangled mess.

At that moment, a strong tremor shook the ground. The distant howls of magical beasts echoed ominously.

“Did the defensive magic circle… breach?”

“Damn it!”

“Are we all going to die here?”

Some mages turned pale.

And rightly so; there were hundreds of beasts in Area C alone. If the breach extended to other areas, even more beasts would be converging.

“We can’t hesitate any longer! Let’s escape before we’re completely surrounded!”

Chris shouted in an urgent voice.

His mind raced as he formulated an escape plan.

With the teleportation magic circle damaged, they had no choice but to fly to Astellia. The problem was the distance; it would take at least three days of non-stop flying to reach there.

Leon and the other mages hurriedly followed Chris out of the building. But was it already too late?

Almost a thousand beasts were converging on Chris and his group. The moment the defensive magic circle was breached, the beasts rushed in with ferocious speed, surrounding them.

The mages, who had maintained their composure until now, paled at the sight of the beasts, revealing sharp claws and teeth.

One mage muttered in disbelief.

“Where did all these beasts come from…?”

“Even in the Valley of Souls, it doesn’t make sense for this many beasts to inhabit here.”

“Were they hiding their strength?”

“Didn’t we keep track of their movements?”

“True, we have neglected the deeper areas.”

Conversations mingled with tension and fear.

What could be done to turn the situation around?

Dividing the party to fend off the beasts from different directions while breaking through the encirclement was one option. But Chris found it hard to voice such a plan.

Suggesting that someone hold off the beasts while they escaped was akin to sacrificing that person.

At that moment, Leon spoke up.

“It would be better if my golems held them off while we escape.”

“Is that really okay?”

Chris looked at Leon with surprise.

He knew about the 70 golems wandering in the Valley of Souls. He also understood how expensive golems could be. Using 70 of them was something Chris couldn’t easily demand.

“It’s fine.”

From Leon’s perspective, the golems were created to help him become accustomed to magic anyway. While the cost of the materials was regrettable, it wasn’t worth saving in this situation.

“Thank you so much.”

Chris bowed his head in gratitude.

Leon began to retrieve golems from the large spatial pouch. With each gesture, massive golems appeared. Their numbers quickly exceeded 70, climbing towards 100 and then 200.

“…”

Chris was left speechless as he watched Leon’s golems appear. One golem could be considered a luxury, but 200?

No, the number of golems was even beyond that.

The count of golems surrounding the 50 mages approached 400. At this point, the enormous golems densely surrounded them, blocking their view.

“This is….”

Someone muttered incredulously before quickly shutting their mouth. They didn’t want to offend Leon even slightly.

Leon calmly said, having summoned 400 golems while leaving 100 behind just in case.

“Let’s leave this to the golems and break through the encirclement.”

Leon issued a command with his consciousness, placing only Neo, who had walked over to the teleportation magic circle, into the spatial pouch, then took to the air. Other mages used levitation magic as well. Their robes billowed in the wind.

They resolved to break through the encirclement of the griffons, which were magical beasts that also inhabited the shallow areas of the Western Beast Forest, making them manageable for the mages.

Fifty mages charged toward the pack of griffons. Various spells erupted, creating a chaotic battlefield. Fireballs slicing through the sky, flashing lightning, and freezing ice arrows flew toward the griffons.

At that moment, a sharp scream rang out among the mages.

“Cough.”

Suddenly, something leaped from within the pack of griffons, piercing the chest of one mage before he could fully comprehend what was happening. The tip of the arm that had pierced his chest glistened with blood.

The creature had deep brown skin, with crimson veins starkly visible, resembling a human form. But it looked more like a walking corpse than a person.

Its blood-red eyes glowed with a frenzied light among the sparse hair.

“Blood…”

A horrible voice, mixed with a metallic clang, escaped its lips.

“I need blood…”

“Get back!”

Chris hurriedly pulled the mages away from the creature.

The creature withdrew its arm from the mage’s chest with a horrific squelch.

It slowly turned its head, and crimson magical energy coalesced around it, transforming into the shape of a spear. Blood-red spears surged randomly toward the mages.

“Ice Shield!”

One spear was stopped by the ice barrier Chris formed, but the others easily pierced through the defensive spells of other mages as if tearing through paper. Screams echoed from all around.

But the creature’s assault didn’t stop there. It launched the spears and then charged at Chris.

Its speed far exceeded that of a body enhanced by magic infusion.

Bang—

With a sound like air being torn, the creature appeared beside Chris in an instant, swinging its arm. Blood-red magical energy swirled around its claws.

Chris’s shield, formed by his glowing robe, couldn’t withstand the attack. With a sound like shattering glass, the barrier shattered, and Chris was flung aside like a doll.

The creature immediately turned its gaze. At the end of its line of sight was Leon.

It had immediately discerned that the next target was Leon.

Leon realized it couldn’t gauge his level and was already gathering his magical energy.

‘Seeing that the shaggy-haired mage blocked the spear, it must be at the advanced special magic level… but its physical abilities must be stronger than that?’

If that were the case, Leon felt confident he could handle it.

“Blood magic?”

While Leon calmly assessed his opponent, someone muttered in a voice filled with fear.

A practitioner of blood magic, considered a taboo, had appeared here.

“Why is a blood mage in the Valley of Souls…?”

The sudden appearance of the magical beast horde. The long-lost blood mage. In the very place they had managed for decades?

Everything was filled with questions.

But they couldn’t focus on the blood mage.

They had to deal with the griffon pack.

As if obeying the blood mage’s command, the griffons ignored it and targeted only the mages of Astellia.

In the chaotic formation.

Leon activated magic infusion while chanting.

“Reveal it.”

At that moment, magical energy surged into his forehead. It was a conclusion reached after realizing he couldn’t gain the advantage in physical abilities through magic infusion.

The scene of the blood mage approaching Leon, swinging its arm towards him, flashed in his mind.

Without hesitation, Leon ducked.

A ripping sound echoed.

The air above Leon’s head trembled as if it were being torn apart. He narrowly avoided the attack.

The next scene continued to play in Leon’s mind. Frowning in pain, he quickly pulled his body back.

A blood-red spear whizzed past where Leon had just stood.

Leon drew his wooden sword. The ominous sword exuded a chilling aura around him.

The blood mage flinched at the sight of Leon’s drawn sword. But it quickly regained its composure and charged at Leon again.

Leon barely evaded the blood mage’s sharp claws, raising his palm.

“Drop!”

With a thunderous sound, a blue lightning bolt struck down from the sky. The brilliant flash illuminated the surroundings.

Surprisingly, the blood mage made no attempt to dodge the lightning. It was hit directly by the bolt.

The scent of burning flesh wafted through the air.

But even more astonishing was that the blood mage’s flesh, blown apart by the lightning, instantly healed itself. It was as if there had never been a wound.

Leon couldn’t help but be taken aback by the scene.

Could such insane regenerative power truly belong to a human?

Before Leon’s thoughts could conclude, a blood-red spear flew toward him. He quickly blocked it with his wooden sword and wiped the blood off the blade with his finger.

Although it was blood formed by magic, it didn’t change the fact that it was the blood of the blood mage.

“Stain it.”

As Leon chanted, black stains spread across the blood. It spread like ink dissolving in water, turning the blood black.

“Cough…!”

The blood mage suddenly screamed in agony. It clutched its arm. While there was no significant change in appearance, it was clear that the blood mage was in pain.

As Leon had anticipated, the Curse of the Black Night had an effect. However, the amount of magical energy it consumed was unbearable.

He needed to reach a conclusion quickly.

Leon immediately hurled his wooden sword at the blood mage.

The sword flew like an arrow. The blood mage, who hadn’t even thought of dodging, moved its body to avoid the wooden sword. More precisely, that scene flowed into Leon’s mind.

Leon’s eyes sparkled.