Leon followed the two Mystery-ranked magicians down the narrow, dark corridor. The sound of their footsteps echoed through the passage.

Jerdin, the leader of Unit 9, and Pauline, the leader of Unit 10, led the way without hesitation. Their mission was to eliminate all the blood magicians in this hideout, so their steps showed no sign of reluctance.

Ten magicians, including Leon, reached the end of the corridor, where they encountered five blood magicians standing in wait. As soon as the extermination squad arrived, the blood magicians turned their heads in unison.

“Were they expecting us?” Leon wondered, but the blood magicians' formation appeared irregular and disorganized.

Jerdin and the other nine magicians quickly stepped forward, maintaining a formation that would block the blood magicians' movements. Meanwhile, Pauline prepared a high-level spell in the back, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Leon also moved into position, becoming part of the formation.

In an instant, the five Advanced Special-ranked blood magicians charged at them like the wind. Though their eyes were vacant, the red magic flowing through their arms was ferocious.

The blood magicians rushed down the corridor with superhuman speed, ready to attack.

The magicians quickly layered defensive spells, forming shields of light one after another.

Boom!

One of the blood magicians swung his arm, fiercely striking their shield.

The shield wavered but held, barely managing to withstand the blow.

"Hold it steady!" Jerdin shouted, layering an even stronger defensive shield with a flick of his hand.

The barrier created by the Mystery-ranked magician was solid, holding firm without further shaking.

Meanwhile, Pauline continued preparing her high-level spell from behind.

“Move back!” Pauline shouted, and at her command, the magicians quickly retreated in a well-coordinated manner. They had rehearsed this beforehand.

From Pauline’s fingertips, thousands of bubbles burst forth, filling the space where Leon had been maintaining the formation.

The moment the tiny bubbles touched the blood magicians, they exploded.

Boom! Boom!

A chain reaction of small explosions created devastating power. As the smaller explosions combined into a larger one, the entire corridor trembled.

“Attack now!” Leon and the other magicians unleashed their attack spells, bombarding the area where the blood magicians had been.

All five blood magicians collapsed, and silence returned to the corridor. Leon considered absorbing the core from one of the bodies but decided against it. He didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention while part of a unit.

“The primary goal is blood magic, after all,” he thought to himself, catching his breath.

A magician spoke up, breaking the silence.

“What should we do with the bodies?”

The five blood magician corpses remained relatively intact, unlike the completely disintegrated bodies dealt with by the Seventh Elder.

“Our goal isn’t to collect spoils…” Pauline trailed off, glancing at Jerdin. Despite both being Mystery-ranked magicians, Jerdin, as a personal disciple of an Elder, had more authority.

Jerdin approached one of the bodies, searching through it before shaking his head. Leon, watching, couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed as well.

“There’s nothing here.”

“Not even a spatial pocket?” Pauline added, puzzled.

The magicians cleared the bodies to the side and discovered that the corridor split once again.

“It looks like they copied some ancient magicians’ lair,” someone commented.

“Crazy fools who worship ancient magicians as gods,” Jerdin muttered, shaking his head.

The corridor now split into two paths.

“It’s too dangerous to split up further. Let’s explore them one by one,” Jerdin suggested, and Pauline agreed.

The walls of the passage were damp with age, and patches of mold were visible in places. The air was thick with a sticky stench.

A magician walking beside Leon grimaced at the smell.

“I’ll never get used to this stench,” the man, named Lucas, said. He was a personal disciple who had worked in the Valley of Souls and had been teleported away during the beast invasion to call for reinforcements.

Leon remembered hearing rumors of Lucas being accused of treachery, though it seemed that misunderstanding had since been cleared up.

Turning to Leon, Lucas said, “Right?”

Although Leon and Lucas hadn’t interacted before, Lucas approached Leon with surprising friendliness, similar to someone Leon knew from Vidia—Aaron, who also happened to be a traitor.

“Could it be…?” Leon thought but responded politely as they continued down the corridor.

At the front, Jerdin raised his hand, signaling them to stop.

Everyone held their breath as they halted and looked beyond Jerdin’s position.

Another door appeared before them, guarded by two blood magicians. These were Advanced Special-ranked blood magicians and thus not much of a threat.

The blood magicians were caught completely off guard by the intrusion. As they delved deeper into the hideout, the likelihood of finding anything important dwindled.

Blood magicians, as persecuted and hunted beings, wouldn’t leave crucial clues in such an easily accessible place.

Jerdin swiftly eliminated the two blood magicians and opened the door. Beyond it was another prison, similar to what they had seen on the first floor.

Inside the iron bars were magicians with terrified expressions. As they saw the extermination squad’s robes, which were drastically different from the blood magicians', they pressed against the bars, begging for help.

“Please, save us.”

“What should we do?” one magician asked.

Most of the imprisoned magicians were apprentices, though there were a few Advanced Special-ranked magicians as well.

“Since they know magic, they could help us in the extermination,” someone suggested.

However, many of the prisoners were in poor physical condition, much like those on the first floor. They didn’t seem capable of fighting blood magicians.

“We should finish investigating the remaining passages and then ask the Seventh Elder before freeing them,” Jerdin replied calmly. No one objected to his decision.

As the squad was about to leave the prison, a voice called out from within.

“Let me out. I can be of assistance.”

The voice came from an Advanced Special-ranked magician imprisoned in the middle of the cell. Unlike the others, he appeared relatively healthy.

All eyes turned to Jerdin and Pauline. After gauging the magician's power level, Jerdin nodded.

“Since we have questions, let’s release him.”

Using the key taken from one of the blood magicians, they unlocked the cell, and the magician slowly stood and stepped out of the bars.

“Ask me anything you need to know.”

“How did you end up here?” Jerdin asked.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ferrick, a magician from the local tower. This forest is right outside our school’s jurisdiction, but we had no idea there was a blood magician hideout here.”

“Were you aware that blood magicians were kidnapping magicians?” Pauline inquired.

Ferrick nodded.

“That’s exactly why I ventured into the forest. I was investigating the disappearances of several magicians.”

Jerdin tilted his head in confusion.

“So your school hasn’t realized the seriousness of the situation?”

“Unfortunately, that’s correct.”

“And you were captured as soon as you entered the forest?”

Ferrick gave an awkward nod.

“I couldn’t match the blood magicians’ physical abilities.”

“That’s understandable.”

By now, the squad had returned to the branching path, and they reported their findings to the Seventh Elder via a communication orb before proceeding down the right corridor.

“The Elder has also encountered a forked path,” someone remarked.

“It seems they’ve designed this place like a maze,” Jerdin commented, turning to Ferrick.

“Do you know anything about the structure of this hideout?”

Ferrick hesitated before speaking.

“I don’t know much about the layout, but I overheard the blood magicians talking while I was in the prison. They mentioned their objective.”

Jerdin raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

“So blood magicians can hold conversations? From what we’ve seen, they seem almost entirely devoid of reason.”

“They drink blood. When they do, their reasoning returns temporarily.”

“Hmph,” Jerdin grimaced at the thought.

“They said that all the beasts in this forest are now under their control. I don’t know how, but they seem to be controlling them.”

Jerdin nodded gravely. He had already heard similar reports about beasts being controlled by blood magicians in the Valley of Souls.

“And they plan to attack the city where our school is located soon.”

“They’re attacking the school?” Jerdin’s eyes sharpened.

Jerdin knew that the number of blood magicians in this hideout wasn’t significant. The extermination squad had been organized based on that information.

“This… doesn’t bode well,” Jerdin muttered with concern.

If the blood magicians had such a goal, their numbers might be larger than anticipated. Perhaps this wasn’t the entirety of their forces.

Jerdin halted.

“We should report back to the Elder first.”

However, there was no response from the communication orb.

Jerdin, now alarmed, called again.

“Seventh Elder?”

Still, there was no answer.

Pauline’s expression grew uneasy.

“Could something have happened?”

“Within such a short time?”

They had only recently communicated with the Elder before entering the passage.

“We should return…” someone began to suggest, but—

“Um, it looks like the path is blocked,” someone pointed out.

Unbeknownst to Jerdin, they had already reached the end of the right corridor. The path was abruptly sealed off.

“It doesn’t make sense for this to be a dead end…”

The moment Jerdin finished speaking, the blocked passage began to ripple.

That ripple soon transformed into a significant change.

Where there had once been a wall, the corridor suddenly opened into the middle of a vast plaza.

The open space reeked of an even more pungent stench.

“This… is an illusion magic circle?”

It was identical to the illusionary magic circle the Seventh Elder had destroyed at the entrance.

Jerdin looked at Ferrick with a confused expression.

“I had no idea,” Ferrick said, looking equally baffled.

As they stood there, a sharp voice, laced with the sound of clashing metal, echoed through the space.

“You’ve made it this far?”

The extermination squad turned their gaze in unison.

From the darkness, a man who had been lying down in an indifferent pose slowly rose to his feet.

His body emitted a foul odor, but his eyes were sharper than before. He was clearly in possession of his faculties.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

Behind the man, more blood magicians, previously sprawled on the ground, began to rise. There were at least thirty of them.

The first blood magician to rise raised an eyebrow.

“So there was a reason we were told to wait here.”

He was a Mystery-ranked blood magician.

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding blood magicians began to encircle the extermination squad.

The squad instinctively drew closer together.

“If they attack from all sides, we won’t be able to defend ourselves,” a magician whispered, realizing the gravity of the situation.

Fighting off thirty blood magicians was difficult enough, but if the Mystery-ranked blood magician was allowed to attack freely, their chances of survival were close to zero.

Jerdin and Pauline exchanged a glance.

“Hold out as long as you can,” Pauline said before launching herself toward the Mystery-ranked blood magician.

“Hold the formation!” Jerdin shouted, ordering a defensive stance.

But the enemies were too fast and powerful.

The blood magicians moved all at once. Their eyes, filled with madness, were locked on the squad as they charged like wild beasts.

The sheer force of their onslaught quickly shattered the squad’s formation.

The magician standing at the front was torn apart by the blood magician’s vicious swing.

“No! Hold the line!”

As scarlet magic burst into the air, an intense battle erupted between the extermination squad and the blood magicians.

Watching his fellow magicians get swept away by the assault, Leon unwrapped the cloth from his wooden sword.

With a gesture, the wooden sword floated into the air, and next to it, the Mana Assist Crystal, glowing with a radiant light, took its place.

As the Glory of Creation manifested, a golden mark appeared on Leon’s forehead.

In that moment, time seemed to slow down. He could clearly see the next second unfold.

At the same time, he could perceive the flow of mana in its entirety.

The blood magicians, enhanced by body-strengthening magic, were enveloped in red mana threads that wound around their bodies.

Leon saw five blood magicians swinging their arms at him as they rushed in.

“Here.”

Muttering to himself, Leon sidestepped.

Their outstretched hands sliced through the air, barely missing the spot where Leon had stood.

Leon didn’t miss the opportunity.

He directed the floating wooden sword and struck swiftly.

The wooden sword cut through the air, aiming for the abdomen of one blood magician, who barely dodged at the last moment.

Suddenly, a crimson bolt of lightning streaked toward Leon’s position. But as if he had foreseen it, Leon raised his hand.

“Lightning Absorption!”

He created five electric orbs, instantly absorbing the lightning bolt.

Crackle!

With a sharp crack, the orbs shattered, dissipating the lightning into nothing.

Leon immediately conjured more electric orbs, not allowing a moment’s pause.

Dozens of spells clashed in the air, and explosions echoed throughout the plaza.

Leon held his ground, fending off five blood magicians without losing ground.

“Split.”

At his command, the wooden sword split into multiple copies. Ten wooden swords floated around Leon, each flying in different directions to strike at the blood magicians.

The swords moved relentlessly, arriving at each blood magician’s position before they could react.

It was thanks to Leon’s precognitive ability, which surpassed even their superhuman physical skills.

The wooden swords left no openings, breaking through the blood magicians' defenses.

Finally, one of the wooden swords pierced a blood magician’s abdomen.

“Aaaargh!”

The blood magician’s core was absorbed into the wooden sword.

The blood magicians, realizing their attacks weren’t reaching Leon, hesitated, their movements slowing.

Even that hesitation entered Leon’s mind like a vivid image.

Scenes unfolded chaotically before him.

Though his head throbbed, the Mana Assist Crystal ensured he didn’t lack mana.

Leon quickly scanned the battlefield.

Pauline was still fighting the Mystery-ranked blood magician, while the rest of the squad barely managed to hold off the remaining enemies.

Jerdin was focused on protecting the surviving members rather than launching a counterattack.

Seeing Leon scanning the area, one of the remaining blood magicians scowled.

“Die…!”

Four blood magicians rushed at him simultaneously.

But Leon had already seen through all their movements.

With a wooden sword in hand, Leon subtly shifted his body, dodging their attacks with fluid ease. His movements were as natural as flowing water, and he had already calculated his counterattacks.

In an instant, Leon slipped between the blood magicians, wielding his wooden sword with precision.

Blood sprayed as red mana threads dissipated into the air.

One by one, Leon’s wooden sword pierced through their vital points.

After a few intense moments, five blood magicians lay on the ground before him.

“Huff…”

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Leon immediately turned his gaze elsewhere.

The battle wasn’t over yet.

Another enemy was approaching.