Fredrick reduced the width of his spell to increase its length.
With ease, he spread his spell's range over Rowan's body.
But he could no longer see what was going on between Motavu and Ilyon.
Fredrick used the spell's senses to analyze Rowan's body and found that, as he had assumed, Rowan didn't have much time left.
Multiple organs had failed and he was bleeding out by the second.
Fredrick didn't normally do this because people would immediately feel a foreign mana on their bodies, and Rowan would surely also feel it.
But he was unconscious and critically wounded to do anything about it.
Still though…
'Let's just end it here'
Fredrick felt that he should kill him just to make sure, but just as he wanted to trample Rowan's mana, his instincts rang out.
And because of that, he halted his actions immediately.
His instincts had saved him more than once. The fact that it sent him warning signals meant that there would be trouble if he followed through.
Even then, Fredrick couldn't help but wonder…
'What could it be?'
Thankfully, Fredrick had 'seen' Rowan's internals by sending tendrils of mana into his body, so he was sure…
'If no one interferes, he should die any minute now'
With that, Fredrick's worries lessened significantly. All he needed to do was wait for Rowan to die.
At the same time…
"You b*stards! Hurry up!"
Ilyon's voice rang out and forcefully pulled Fredrick's attention.
He had been screaming before, but Fredrick had only taken notice at this moment.
Then the voice of the separate parties under Ilyon and Motavu rang out, causing Fredrick to furrow his brow as he wondered why they hadn't entered the mountain yet.
To find out, he moved his spells' range from Ilyon and Motavu, and stretched it in a straight line allowing the spell to just barely reach the necessary range.
It wasn't ideal, but it'll have to do. Especially when Fredrick's head was pounding and his brain was hurting from keeping the spell on for too long.
Nevertheless, it was still bearable for him.
But what he 'saw' made him furrow his brow.
Snakes were running in a frenzied manner towards the mountain.
It wasn't that unusual, but Fredrick knew of only one thing that could make a snake like that.
'The snake lover potion'
If so…
'Did someone else bring snake lover potions?'
Fredrick doubted it. The snake lover potion wasn't used by most because it was considered a failed potion and most potion sellers couldn't sell their stock, which was why Fredrick easily bought so many.
Fredrick also remembered the snake lover potions he had dropped right before he was smashed into the mountain.
'Hmm…is it possible? But it's only usable for two minutes before turning into waste, or is there something else?'
Fredrick just kept being baffled by the series of events. The snakes he could 'see' were far more than one. And all of them were heading towards the mountain with frenzied expressions.
While Fredrick couldn't see much further, he knew that there were probably even more further out.
Then there were the parties under the two guild masters that were fighting and killing each other while the others were being attacked by some snakes.
It was at this moment-
*BOOOM!*
-that Motavu's punch landed on Ilyon's smaller figure, generating a shockwave right after, causing dust to rise and cover the surroundings like a smoke screen.
*BOOOM!*
Motavu's punch landed on Ilyon, hitting him away as the sheer force caused the remaining part of Ilyon's right arm tear off. Ilyon's body smashed into the mountain with a BANG!
His body directly broke through the mountain and fell inside it on his back with his right arm - which was now stump - bleeding out excessively.
The shockwave had also pushed back all those incoming subordinates by at least ten feet. Some even feel backwards. The closest snakes and the mages were the ones who suffered the most because of their weak physiques.
Even Fredrick felt it, but he didn't see it as something life threatening.
That said though, Fredrick looked to his side.
At his side was a wall dividing his pathway from the one beside it, while in front of Fredrick's cavern was the boulder that fell along with the snake's exit.
And what do you know, the part of the mountain that Ilyon had smashed into was the cavern beside Fredrick's.
Without a moment to waste, Fredrick punched the wall and smashed it, making a sizable holes that was big enough for him to pass unhindered.
Here he found Ilyon lying on the ground with his stump bleeding heavily while he coughed repeatedly.
Ilyon was coughing blood and his skin was growing pale by the minute because of how much blood he was losing.
While Motavu's blow was strong, it wasn't enough to insta-kill someone a rank above him.
Using mana to shield his body right before Motavu's fist hit him, Ilyon was able to avoid instant death.
Nonetheless, the damage he took was no joke.
With haste, Ilyon accessed the ring on his finger - the space ring he had taken from Rowan's finger after stabbing him - and looked for health potions, which he found ten of and proceeded to drink them.
That's when he caught sight of Fredrick's figure.
Fredrick just stood to the side and observed Ilyon before coming to a conclusion.
'Killing him here would save us unnecessary trouble'
At this moment, something happened.
The small spark of life force remaining within Rowan dissipated.
Rowan had died.
But from within his dead body, a small wisp of yellow light emerged and shot forward.
It…shot towards Ilyon's location!
In less than a minute, it closed the distance and plunged into Ilyon's body.
Ilyon - who was on edge, trying to figure out who the person in front of him was - didn't notice the yellow wisp.
But Fredrick did, and his eyes widened as he thought…
'Is that what I think it is?'
The answer came a moment later as Ilyon's stomach suddenly began aching, and it only grew worse by the second.
From a casual stomach ache, Ilyon felt like his body was on fire and then the fire kept heating up as Ilyon began to scream.
"AHH!"
The pain became far worse as Ilyon realized that it wasn't his body burning, it was something else.
And that thing was causing him pain.
Before long, he felt that it was hot enough to melt iron.
"AHHHHH!"
Ilyon held the side of his stomach as he shrieked with pain.
In the face of such pain, he didn't spare a glance at Fredrick who was watching everything calmly.
He was in so much pain that he wished he could just die.
But that never happened. The heat grew even hotter, before it rapidly cooled like it was never there, granting Ilyon respite as he calmed down, before-
*Puke*
-he puked blood once more.
But Ilyon could feel something. He didn't know what it was, but it gave him a very ominous feeling.
Only after puking did he look up at Fredrick - whose gaze had turned stern - and spoke in a hoarse voice.
"What do you want from me?"
"Nothing" Fredrick replied, intending to leave, when an idea came to his mind.
'Maybe I can use this'
"I felt that you would do as a member of the demon worshippers with the heart that you hold. One filled with black. But as I see things…you have no place beside our spawn" he spoke without turning back and then left.
Only this time, instead of going back through the way he came, he went through the hole Ilyon had created when he smashed into the wall.
Ilyon - who had yet to get his bearing - could only listen as he said nothing, allowing the man to go. He then took out three healing potions and chugged them down his throat.
His bleeding stopped, though not entirely. His body had healed to the most basic level. Only then did he survey his surroundings. His eyes shined when he spotted the droves of mana crystals.
But…
"Ugh!"
He wasn't in any condition to move for the time being.
So he could only hope his guild members would come to pick him up soon.
Also, he could still feel something foreign within him.
'Hopefully it's nothing too bad'
He didn't know what it was, so he didn't worry about it.
Rather, he thought about his next step…
'What do I tell them now?'
How was he going to explain the situation? Especially the fight between him and Motavu.
But…
'I'll think of a way'
He had confidence that he would pull through.
'Like I've always done'
'Let me just…rest…my eyes…a bit'
By the end of this thought, Ilyon had fallen asleep.
He was utterly exhausted from running and fighting both men and beast.
So he slept peacefully, momentarily forgetting his worries.
He would soon realize he had run out of luck.
While this happened, Fredrick had gone out of the mountain and into the fog of dust.
The fog was grayish-yellow and was so thick it literally rendered people blind on all sides.
For Fredrick though, what did all that matter when you had 'Earth sense'?
With it, Fredrick navigated the fog easily, knowing everyone's position. He circumvented them as he picked up all the scales the snake had shed while evolving and placed them in his space ring, before finally arriving at his main goal, the snake's body that lay on the ground sliced in half, and also sucking it into the space ring.
Fredrick couldn't help but be astounded.
'I could get used to this'
The feeling of profiting while others fought.
But then he felt something.
Vibrations.
Subtle vibrations.
The meaning was clear.
'Something's coming'
Who, or what, could it be?
