Chapter 6: Realisation (1/2)
In the future, killing the monsters would become one of the cardinal sins against morality.
During the age of the explosive growth of civilisation all over the planet, all the natural habitats of the monsters got destroyed. In the face of the carpet bombing of the high-tier magic from the aerial units, not even a single being that could pose a threat to humans remained.
But that was only the official reason behind this genocide. In truth, after the ancient disaster that shattered all the magic stones that were ever excavated, the new civilisation was starving for a cheap way of storing and amassing energy. Outside of the several items created by the quickly dying old civilisations before they were completely gone, every single monster in the world was a source for this highly sought-for item.
That was the true nature of this crusade declared by the entire humanity against the monsters. It wasn't aimed at securing the already safe lands of the great cities and nations. It was all about harvesting the energy that those monsters had in abundance.
'Yet, if my guess is right…' Taking a quick glance behind, Layn noticed the look of extreme shock on the faces of his new acquaintances. Turning his head back towards the fiery beast, the archmage could barely keep his hands from shaking. His eyes, filled with intense greed.
'As long as I get to absorb it…' What could appear as a dire threat and a danger for those possible ancient guys, Layn could only see as a pile of free energy that he could freely consume. And it was exactly what he needed to not only recover his strength but also fix this flawed body of his.
'Stop!”
A sudden shout from behind did little to slow down Layn's advance. Without a shred of fear or even anxiety, he approached the beast.
Even though it was clearly not the behaviour that the monster was used to, it quickly took on the offensive. Lowering on its legs, it tensed its muscles only to rapidly jump forward!
'Right into my arms…' Smiling internally, Layn opened himself for the influx of the direly needed mana. But just as the beast was about to let him consume it, a sudden pull forced the archmage out of his stable position.
'What?' There was no way for what just did happen, to happen. Those people were completely empty in terms of magic potential. Even with just a tiny fraction of his power and abilities available for Layn to use, he could clearly see that.
But the speed at which one of the possible ancient moved was simply inconceivable.
”GARE!” Screaming from the bottom of her lungs, Irea pulled at Layn's arm. From right behind her, the leader of the girl's group lashed with his spear at the firedog.
”Excuse me…?” Uttering those words and raising his eyebrows as far as mother nature allowed, Layn observed the moves of those people. Out of all the things, now he was perfectly certain that they had nothing to do with the civilisation he knew.
There was no way for them to be anyone but the ancients.
Moving in quick strides, the leader of the group closed the distance in just a heartbeat. Sliding on his gently bent legs towards the monster, he stapped upwards. Using the momentum of his sudden approach, the tip of his spear cut through the air with a deadly whistle.
A slight, sonic boom shredded the air.
Those people had to be the ancients. Because no one in the modern civilisation would be as reckless and stupid to lash at the magic beast with physical attacks.
Quickly following their leader, the rest of the group quickly joined the fray, showering the firedog with an impressive avalanche of attacks.