Everyone just looked at the powerful Mage Lord that had just arrived.
Under normal circumstances, this would be an extremely dangerous situation for Shang and the Sweeper, but the ridiculousness of the earlier situation made it difficult to feel any kind of genuine threat.
"Light Bringer," the Ancestral Mage repeated, "the Dawn Seedling has ordered me to kill these two people since they have dared to come close to the Dawn Seedling's training area."
The Light Bringer blinked once without any amusement. "I've heard. What I am asking is what was actually going on. What I have seen just now didn't look like killing someone."
"Light Bringer, my original plan was to follow these two until they left the Eternal Maw's territory. After sufficient distance was put between the Eternal Maw and us, I would have attacked."
Shang took a deep breath.
The earlier situation might have been ridiculous, but if the Ancestral Mage had actually gone through with his actual plan, things definitely wouldn't be funny.
"However, the Dawn Seedling had contacted me while I was following the two of them and demanded to know why I wasn't back yet. I have tried to explain my plan, but the Dawn Seedling refused to let me speak."
"He said that he knows what he is doing and that his judgment is superior. Every second I am not following his judgment is another second of wasted time."
The atmosphere subtly changed after the Ancestral Mage said that.
"Then, he ordered me to immediately attack without letting me speak," the Ancestral Mage said.
"So, I attacked. Due to the Eternal Maw's proximity, I couldn't unleash any powerful Spells, or I would die as well. That's why I had to attack with my fists, but I'm not very experienced in physical fighting."
After that, the Ancestral Mage became quiet again as he waited for an answer.
By now, Shang and the Sweeper finally understood what had happened.
Earlier, they couldn't imagine any possible way this situation could have occurred, but now, it was clear.
They had believed that it was impossible for an Ancestral Mage to make such a stupid decision, and they had been right.
The decision had been made by an arrogant High Mage that hadn't experienced the world before.
After a couple of seconds, the Light Bringer finally made her decision. "Night Soldier, do you know why I am here?"
"Light Bringer, I am not sure, but I think you have been called because the Dawn Seedling thought I was disobeying his orders," he said.
The Light Bringer slowly nodded. "Did you anticipate that this would happen?"
"Yes, Light Bringer," the Ancestral Made said respectfully without any guilt whatsoever.
The Light Bringer narrowed her eyes. "Was this your plan? You wanted to hurt your Dawn Seedling by involving me?"
"Light Bringer," the Ancestral Mage immediately answered. "If there were any other reasonable way to fulfill the Dawn Seedling's orders, I would have done so. The only other option would have been to go all-out from the beginning, dying together with my targets, but that would also endanger the Dawn Seedling."
"Light Bringer, please enlighten me on what I could have done better without disobeying orders," the Ancestral Mage requested respectfully.
The Light Bringer remained silent for a couple of seconds, only looking at the Ancestral Mage.
Shang and the Sweeper felt nervous. They were just standing there, not daring to move.
"The Dawn Seedling told me that he has tried to contact you again," the Light Bringer said.
"Light Bringer, I can't operate a Communication Crystal during a fight. While our fight admittedly looked ridiculous, my life was still in danger. While fighting another Late Ancestral Mage, I can't allow myself to be distracted."
"I've joined the Twilight Dusk Family, and I am willing to fight with my life on the line. However, I am still human, and while I am willing to risk my life, I am not willing to throw my life away for nothing," the Ancestral Mage said with conviction.
The Light Bringer looked at the Ancestral Mage for a while.
"And we wouldn't want you to sacrifice your life for nothing," she said slowly. "It is a fact that the Dawn Seedling has conducted himself in an unbecoming manner. The Dawn Seedling will receive a reprimand."
"Return to the Dawn Seedling and continue protecting him," the Light Bringer ordered.
Surprisingly, the Ancestral Mage didn't immediately leave or answer.
Instead, he raised one of his eyebrows.
"That's it?" he asked, his voice no longer sounding official and respectful but very casual and annoyed.
The Light Bringer narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "This is not your decision. You are a Night Soldier. Your duty is to follow orders, not question them!"
Both of the Ancestral Mage's eyebrows rose in surprise.
Then, he remained quiet for a couple of seconds.
"You know what?" he slowly said.
"Fuck that! I'm not going to work for an organization that treats me like shit!" he shouted as his black and white robes were replaced with purely black ones.
"Here!" he shouted as he threw his robes over to the Light Bringer.
SHING! CRRRRRRRR!
Then, an avalanche of objects left the Ancestral Mage's black and white Space Ring and entered a second one.
A second later, the Ancestral Mage threw the black and white Space Ring to the Light Bringer as well.
Lastly, he put his finger on his head, and a grey cloud came out of it. This was his SKP, his Sensitive Knowledge Partition.
Finally, he threw that to the Light Bringer as well.
The Light Bringer just looked at him with narrowed eyes as all the Ancestral Mage's things hovered beside her.
For several seconds, no one said anything.
The Ancestral Mage only looked with narrowed eyes at the Light Bringer. "I don't remember why I am angry since I just lost a lot of my memories, but I probably had a good reason! I guess I quit instead of being fired, right? I'm not sure. I don't remember."
The Light Bringer's eyes were filled with fury.
Then, she snorted.
SHING!
And vanished.
The Ancestral Mage crossed his arms with a satisfied but irritated expression. "That probably means I quit."
After that, he turned to Shang and the Sweeper.
"You!" he said, pointing at the Sweeper. "You're nearly as strong as me!"
"I need a job! What benefits does your organization have?"
Shang and the Sweeper only silently looked at the Ancestral Mage.
Originally, the Sweeper and Shang were supposed to die.
Then, their fate changed to something ridiculous.
And now, the person that was supposed to kill them was asking them for a job.
Sometimes, it was impossible to predict the future.
