Chapter 18: Return

As the demonized Kolvar disappeared into the black hole, the crimson star in the sky dimmed before eventually disappearing.

Immediately after witnessing the death of Kolvar, Zaos distanced himself from the area. He didn't know if the Arch-elf city lord who was two ranks above him, would be able to sense his presence with invisibility activated.

He had only moved a few hundred meters away when he heard the voice of the city lord.

"Why in such a rush…" The calm voice of the city lord sounded.

Just as the words left his lips, an invisible force tugged at Zaos from behind, pulling him in the direction of the city lord.

[F*ck!] Zaos gazed behind him and found that, at some point, the black hole in front of the city lord had been positioned in his direction.

Zoas deactivated his invisibility as he frantically tried to negate the effects of suction.

"Oh?" The city lord raised his eyebrows as he felt the effects of his elemental weave diminish slightly.

"How peculiar…" he muttered as he watched Zaos' desperate attempt to escape.

Despite his efforts, Zaos could not escape the pull of the black hole. His expression was warped as his mind raced.

[I can't negate the effects of his elemental weave; he is too high-ranked for me! Maybe I can try something that targets me instead?] Zaos suddenly had a burst of inspiration.

He willed the void mana in the surroundings flooded in his Edict Rune.

[Come on!] Zaos desperately channeled void mana into his Edict Rune, the distance between him and the City Lord decreasing with each passing second.

"I guess you have run out of tricks…" The city lord smiled as he watched Zaos' figure inch closer to him.

[Come on!!] Just as Zaos was on the brink of despair, his Edict Rune produced an intense radiance and his figure disappeared.

The simile on the city lord's face froze as he lost sight of Zaos.

"Gone?" He briefly searched the area with his aura before addressing the stupefied city guards behind him.

"Search the area, find him at all costs!" He commanded as he left the scene.

"Yes, sir!"

The guards quickly responded before splitting up into multiple teams, they planned on combining every last inch of the city if they had to.

***

Zoas re-merged a few seconds later. He looked around blankly as he thought to himself in a daze.

[Did I succeed?] He noticed he was no longer surrounded by buildings and he wasn't being rapidly pulled by an invisible force.

Instead, he was standing on an elevated rocky terrain. Zaos remembered seeing this place on his way to Grandum City.

"Hahaha! So teleportation is possible!" He exclaimed in joy. At the time, when he was being pulled towards the city lord, Zaos had thought of creating an elemental weave to teleport himself out of the range of his opponent's attack. He used his power of negation to negate the distance between him and this location, successfully performing a type of forced teleportation.

His laughter was brought to a halt when his entire body was enveloped by an unnatural sense of weakness.

[Did my teleportation burden me to such an extent?] Zaos was startled, he recalled that some more complex elemental weaves drained the user faster than others. These elemental weaves caused the user to exhibit symptoms of mana overuse with just a few activations.

[I can't collapse yet!] Zaos dragged his weakened body to a nearby cave on the rocky elevation and collapsed within it.

After an unknown amount of time, Zaos opened his eyes. His vision remained hazed for a few seconds before he could finally perceive the rugged outline of his surroundings.

He got up slowly, feeling a throbbing headache.

[How long was I out for?] He walked outside the cave and cast his gaze at the sky.

The stars still shone in the dark sky of the Ever-night Continent.

[Is it still night?] Zaos guessed, unable to accurately tell as he lacked a timepiece.

[I guess I should return now…] Zaos decided and commenced his return journey.

On the way, he could help but reflect on the events of the night.

[Kolvar ostracized the death of Zaos' parents. This was beyond my expectations.] Zaos had at first thought that the original Zaos' parents had fallen out with Vundin over some issue and were killed in the process.

[So where is Vundin now? Did they help him escape?] Zaos thought about it for a few moments before shaking his head.

[I'll leave finding him to the investigator.] He decided.

His expression turned peculiar as he remembered the main event of the night.

[What exactly was that? Why did Kolvar suddenly turn into a monster?] His thoughts raced as he kept on running.

[Was he influenced by the crimson star? But, why hasn't something similar happened before? Also, why did the crimson star suddenly appear and disappear?] Zaos speculated with a deep frown.

When Zaos was searching for knowledge on his elemental property, he had read some other books containing basic information on the common occurrence on Krulon, and coupled with the knowledge he inherited from the original Zaos, he had never come across anything similar to what happened tonight.

Thinking of how ominous the illumination of the crimson star felt, he couldn't help but shudder slightly.

[I'll have to consult the library once more, I can also ask Ronik. An information broker like him should know something.] Zaos continued traveling at a relatively fast pace. He then shifted his attention to his encounter with the city lord.

[My run-in with the Grandum clan's leader today was dangerous. My elemental weaves had little-to-no effect on him.] His expression warped as he remembered how he was almost swallowed by the former's elemental weave.

[I can kill a high-elf if I catch one by surprise but I'm unable to even handle a single move from an Arch-elf.] Zaos' expression turned increasingly grimmer.

[Faster! I have to grow faster! Or I will be killed by some random occurrence in this world!] Zaos resolved himself as he increased his pace, trying to save as much time as possible for his future training.

After a few hours of traveling, Zaos finally saw the mercenary city on the horizon.

[Finally back.]