Chapter 28: Layns wishes (1/2)
The culling of Kerren's group didn't last long.
But mindful of what his new friends had to go through because of the man, Layn decided to leave Kerren for the very least. Forcing him to watch as the heads of his comrades and allies fell off their shoulders one by one, the archmage quite enjoyed the clear terror in the man's eyes.
”Please… I beg you… I will never…” Being in control over the formation, Layn could hear the cries of the man, even though he didn't appear to be speaking at all. After all, only once was aware that everything in this realm was akin to an illusion would one strive to overcome it.
Then, Kerren's turn came. As his head lopped out of his neck, the still expression of terror remained perfectly instilled on his now tense facial muscles.
”There is no need to keep everyone tense. I wonder what kind of face Irea will make…” Muttering to himself, the archmage swung his hand, putting an end to the formation.
In the end, his guess turned out to be right. The fact that the air of this world was deprived of the magic conducting element didn't mean anything for the usage of formations! As they derived their powers not from the free-flowing magic itself but its alignment in the world, with the caster pitting various natural powers to make them work in a specific way, they could work even in places heavily deprived of magic energy!
But as happy as the archmage was with the results, with the dispersal of the barrier, the gore scene of the aftermath revealed itself to everyone's eyes.
”Gasp!” Since Irea stood nearest to the archmage, her reaction was the most audible one. As for the others, Layn could only judge their thoughts from their shocked expressions.
Casting a single glance at the beheaded corpses in front of him, Layn lowered his sight at the blade in his hand. While he killed them all by acceding to the laws within the formation, it was still the first time for the archmage to fight with someone completely clueless about methods to defend themselves in such traps.
In the end, this easy fight only left Layn with a bad aftertaste.
”How did you…” Raising her deep eyes from the corpses back at Layn's face, Irea trembled slightly as she asked, only to cut her sentence short. After cutely shaking her head, something seemed to click in her mind as she clasped her hands and lowered her entire upper body.
”As promised, I will fulfil any wish you might have.” Looking at the girl, Layn's eyes twitched when he saw her hands slightly trembling. What's more, after just a moment of hesitation, everyone else in the group suddenly kneeled on one knee before clasping their hands and lowering their heads.
”We will fulfil Senior's wish!” Responding in a single choir, the ancients clearly weren't prepared for what they just saw. Compared to the girl who was at least trying to appear to act normally, the fear in their moves was clearly visible.
'Ah, I get it. Hiding my means doesn't change the outcome. Did I overdo it?' Cracking his brain over the topic, Layn ultimately decided to put it on hold for now. After all, his entire plan of basically buying the loyalty of those people was about to come to fruition.
”Okay then, before we start, I have a normal request for everyone. Don't treat it as my wish or anything. Would you mind helping me out to collect their valuables? It would be a pity to leave it here to rot.” Be it outfits, weapons or even money, everything had its value. After claiming their lives, it was only natural for Layn to claim their belongings as well.