Those time travelers that year

“Without fusing with demonic flesh and blood, the final ritual simply cannot be initiated.” Sharl looked towards the top of the cavern. “This is a demiplane modeled after Hell. Those lava rivers aren’t just for summoning a bunch of Middle Eastern camels; they’re used to store energy…”

"The essence of demonic power?" A bright smile appeared on Charles's face. "Me..." Fel fire ignited in his hands, then spread back and engulfed his body...

"But we don't need that kind of inferior demon bloodline at all!" A pitch-black mist enveloped Charles's body, and huge black wings spread from his back. Dark green flames mingled with the mist, and countless wails echoed throughout the cavern.

The black mist spread out, enveloping the space that still shone with light despite the glow emanating from the lava. In an instant, all the light vanished.

Black mist and ominous black matter coalesced on Ciel's body, forming a jet-black keratin layer. His hands, shoulders, feet, and calves were covered with something resembling armor. Dark green patterns extended from his black trench coat, converging at the chest.

“The power of the [Demon Wizard].” Charles gripped the dark red crystal tightly in his hand. “It’s mine now…”

…………

……

...

.

"What's going on?" In the academy's hall, the four high-ranking mages presiding over the ceremony looked out the window with surprise and uncertainty at the burning sky in the distance.

"This is... the dean? How is this possible?"

"Is this an enemy... invasion?"

"It's the Chaos Ritual!! What? Could it be that some Radiant heroes have invaded?!"

"That's impossible. Who would dare to do that? Aren't they afraid of starting another world war?"

"but……"

"..."

Just as they were wondering, a deep blue portal opened in the center of the hall, drawing the attention of the four high-ranking mages back to reality.

"A portal? Is the trial over?"

"You initiated this attack... wait, who are you?"

Charles, dressed in a black trench coat, stepped out of the teleportation portal, immediately surprising the high-ranking mages. Those with quick minds immediately realized something was amiss. Euryd was supposed to have gone in for the trial, so why was a stranger here?

Is it...

Intruders...

"Shut up!!" Charles raised his hand with a cold smile.

"Ah ah ah ah..."

"What's this……"

……

The four high-ranking mages cried out in panic. Blue light spots continuously surged from their bodies—their magic power. Furthermore, their life force also transformed into green light spots, violently being extracted from their bodies.

"Ahhhhh..." X4

Amidst screams, these high-level mages, without even a chance to resist, had all their magic power and life force drained away, collapsing to the ground lifeless.

"I didn't expect it to only delay things for so long!?" Looking out the window at the burning sky in the distance and the magical energy emanating from it, Charles muttered, "However, I didn't expect my pre-prepared backup plan to actually work..."

The entire academy was thrown into chaos by the strange events in the distance. A semi-transparent magical barrier appeared in the sky above the academy and gradually enveloped it.

"Time to go!" Glancing at the magical barrier about to close in the sky, Charles looked once more at the fiery red sky in the distance. "...Later, there's still one more [Hero's] soul waiting for me to harvest..." With that, black mist enveloped Charles, then drifted out of the window, and Charles vanished without a trace.

After Charles's body disappeared, a furious shout echoed throughout the entire academy.

"You damned thief! You deserve to die!!!"

112. Gadin's Death (Part 2)

"Damn thief, despicable, shameless, vile thief!!!" Using the teleportation scroll and the tower spirit's location, Gadin quickly returned to the academy. He then immediately used his authority as the academy's headmaster to learn what had happened. This also revealed the outsider's identity and… purpose.

Enraged, Gadin unleashed immense magical power, even more so after returning to the academy and receiving its blessing. However, it was all in vain; the thief had escaped just before Gadin's return, taking advantage of the academy's defensive magic not yet fully activated.

"Trying to leave with the power of inheritance, you damned thief!" Gading said through gritted teeth. "You won't succeed! You won't!" Standing in his original laboratory, Gading angrily swept aside everything in his way, whether books or instruments, and then walked to a geodesic instrument. "Tower Spirit, locate the thief's position for me, find the thief's trail."

At Gadin's command, the academy's tower spirits began to operate, unleashing various language and location spells to search for all creatures within a large area centered on the academy. Soon, Gadin's target was found; a point of light illuminated on the geodetic scale, indicating that the academy's tower spirits had pinpointed Shar's current location.

Anger had begun, slowly eroding Gadin's consciousness. Although as a spellcaster, Gadin knew how dangerous it was to lose composure in a spellcaster's battle, being tricked out of the academy, leading to its invasion, the theft of the heroic legacy left within, and the deaths of four—no, five—high-ranking mages—was a provocation against the entire academy and even against himself. The lingering pain in his left shoulder further fueled his rage.

So after finding the thief's location, Gadin immediately had the tower spirit locate that place, then took out a new teleportation scroll and unrolled it.

In a flash of teleportation magic, Gadin disappeared from the room once again.

……

The Secret Annihilation Academy's defense mechanism was extremely troublesome to Sharl. Of course, the trouble wasn't its defensive strength, but rather its interference and restrictions on various teleportation spells. Even before the defense mechanism was fully deployed, Sharl, who left using [Apparition], was easily disrupted, so much so that he had to escape from [Apparition] after running only a short distance.

However, the situation was similar for Xia Er, who had now completely left the Secret Annihilation Academy. Nevertheless, the interference still existed, and unless he was absolutely certain, Xia Er felt it best not to use [Phantom Shift] within the interference's range, unless he wanted to teleport and inexplicably lose some part of his body.

However, for Sharl's plan, the distance was not very far, but close enough that the Secret Annihilation Academy could assemble a pure spellcaster legion and then join their dean in besieging Sharl.

If it were just that Warlock hero coming alone...

As he ran, a smug smile appeared on Charles's face. He glanced back at the distant castle, knowing that thanks to the intervention of his backup plan, the 'target' was probably catching up in a rage by now.

But isn't this better?

——————————Divider Line——————————

The teleportation scroll sent Gadin outside, where he quickly spotted the thief who had orchestrated the riot.

It was a boy who looked quite young, with delicate features. Black hair, black clothes, and a pair of striking dark gold eyes. He looked like an innocent passerby who seemed harmless, but upon seeing this person, Gadin could clearly sense the energy contained within this seemingly young boy's body.

This is a very dangerous opponent.

But rage extinguished Gadin's reason; all he wanted now was to brutally kill the thief before him. Although he knew that this enemy had obtained the legacy of the [Demon Wizard], and that he had seen this boy through a mirror image recorded by the tower spirit when he returned to the academy, where the boy had extracted the magic power of those high-ranking mages and then killed four of them with some unknown evil spell.

However, Gadin did not consider the person in front of him to be his opponent.

"Oh dear! Old man, you must be the dean of the Mysterious Annihilation Academy!" Charles said, feigning surprise. "What's wrong? A dignified Warlock hero, coming to this desolate wilderness to find a... traveler like me? Is there something you need?"

"A traveler? Hah, I think he's just a despicable thief!" Gadin angrily slammed his staff on the ground, his tone filled with sarcasm and suppressed rage. "A thief who uses despicable means to sneak into someone's house and steal their wealth...!"

“Don’t say that, old man.” Charles spread his hands. “Instead of letting the legacy rot at home, wouldn’t it be better to give it to someone who can use it?” As he spoke, Charles looked at the furious Gadin. “Besides… you just cast a very powerful spell. How much power do you have left?”

"Hahaha, young man! I must say, you are indeed the most outstanding young man I have ever seen." Gadin sneered. "But... don't underestimate an old man... I assure you, as an elder, I will tell you what reality is."

"That……"

Before Ciel could even respond, Gadin, whose anger had reached its limit, launched an attack without hesitation.

[Hidden Words]

Ordinary spells are hardly effective in battles between heroes, and Gadin didn't know whether this young man before him already possessed hero-level power. However, he was certain that Shar, who had inherited the legacy of the Demon Wizard, was far beyond the reach of those high-level mages.

So they went straight for the kill.

“I must say, old man!” A layer of twilight-colored firelight rose from Charles’s body, blocking the reddish-brown curse runes outside his body. “Using curses against me is not the right thing to do. Fortunately, I am least afraid of curses!”

"Really? How about this then?!" Seeing that the curse spell had no effect on Sharl, Gadin angrily raised his staff, and then a green light shone from his body. The slightly dim ruby ​​on the staff began to burn, emitting a dazzling flame. A huge amount of magic power began to rise, and a runic magic circle of fire appeared in the sky.

For Charles, the spell Gadin used was the kind of magic that could absolutely kill him, far surpassing any enemy he had ever encountered before. Charles had no doubt that when that spell struck, he would have absolutely no defensive spells that could stop it.

This is a spell capable of destroying a city; it can be described as a forbidden incantation. Moreover, this spell begins to operate without any prior incantation or preparation.

Therefore, when faced with a power that was already enough to threaten him, Charles's expression changed instantly.

However, it wasn't fear, nor was it solemnity, but rather...

A smug look on his face.

"The Staff of God refreshes the big one?!" Charles exclaimed. "Unfortunately... I'm a step ahead!!"

"Aaaaaah!!" Suddenly, Gadin cried out in pain as a strange black object extended from his left shoulder and tore open his wound.

"The power of the abyss isn't so easy to eradicate!!!" Charles laughed loudly.

The magic circle that had already taken shape in the sky collapsed with a crash amidst Gadin's cries of pain. The spell, which was powerful enough to cause fatal damage to Sharl himself, collapsed before it even reached its completion.

The staff fell from his hand, and the sharp pain brought Gading back to his senses instantly. The strange changes on his arm and the torn wound made Gading think of many things.

【witchcraft】

Xia Er pointed at Gading, and a golden beam of light struck Gading. Then, to Gading's disbelief, Gading suddenly transformed into a giant frog.

[Mana Absorption]

Blue magic flowed from Gading, who had turned into a frog...

Once the effects of the [Witchcraft] spell were automatically removed by Gadin himself, the once imposing [Warlock] collapsed to the ground. His magic power had been completely drained by Sharl.

"This, this is impossible..."

"Times have changed, old man!!!" In a flash, Sharl appeared in front of Gadin, grabbing the [Hero] by the neck. "You didn't think that after receiving the [Demon Wizard]'s legacy, I only learned one spell, did you?"

"That's an ordinary person, not me!!"

"Unfortunately, I learned how to use the hero spells of the [Demon Wizard] in one go."

"Including, this..."

Dark red lightning appeared in Ciel's hand. In the desperate eyes of Gadin, who was being choked and unable to speak or breathe, Ciel threw him away. Immediately afterwards, dark red lightning burst out from Ciel's hand and struck Gadin in mid-air.

The Finger of Death

The renowned Warlock hero, Gadin Kell Darrow, was torn to pieces mid-air by the terrifying energy within the dark red lightning of the Finger of Death.

"The first drop of blood!!!!!"

"Even if it's a Warlock with a powerful staff, it's not hard to kill if you plan well, right?!" He reached out and captured the dead Gadin Caerdalon, looking at the soul stone that had condensed in his hand.

“Oh, right, there’s something else, the spoils of war…” Looking at the corpse of Gadin Keldaron lying on the ground, Sharl reached out his hand towards the one who had used [Soul Drain].

For the heroes of this world, soul equipment, with the exception of a few that drop upon the death of their original owners, cannot be taken away without the original owners' consent; even if the original owners die, the soul equipment will vanish.

But this is not reliable for Charles.

Soon, a golden staff with a blue gem inlaid at the top and a crystal ball that was constantly spinning with green magic appeared in Charles's hands.

Aghanim's Scepter...

And the refresh ball...