An earth shaking explosion shook the rocky pass, but Leon did not let down his guard. He had not gotten any kill notifications, so that only meant that they were still alive. Before he could think more on what might have happened to them, he felt a fluctuation in space some distance away. It was a bit far, but it was still within range of his senses.
‘Teleportation. Space magic?’ Leon hummed and turned in the direction of the fluctuation he felt. He lifted off from Fenrir’s backside and took to the sky where he could get a better view of the surrounding area.
‘Found you!’ Several miles away, he could spot the area with the most turbulent mana. His sudden attack had disrupted the casting of the teleportation spell, and forcing the teleportation had made it much more difficult to hide their tracks.
Boom!
A loud sound echoed against the cliffs and valleys as Leon suddenly shot in the direction of the group. His summons followed right behind him as he went, turning into a wave of black that rushed over the rocky land.
On the other hand, Nasir was starting to panic. The interruption in his teleportation spell had caused a nasty backlash. Not only had he left traces, but the distance was also cut short. The backlash had also left the mana within his body in disarray.
While it was not too hard for him to get it under control, it would be difficult to cook up another teleportation spell in short notice. His talent with Space magic was limited, and he had been unable to rank it up to Advanced grade in the many years that he had been a mage. This problem reared its head at this moment, making him feel even worse.
“Argh, dammit!” Behind Nasir, Lance swore as he emerged from the side of the damaged carriage. Even though Nasir had managed to force the teleportation, some damage had still been dealt. Luckily, it was only superficial and affected the carriage. It had burnt up the side of the carriage, creating a gaping hole, which was naturally exposed for all to see.
“Stay back!” Nasir warned as he felt Leon approaching. In mere seconds after that, Leon stopped in the air above them. Already, another spell was brewing. Nasir prepared himself to fight back when Leon suddenly stopped.
“Hold on… Lance?” Surprise laced Leon’s tone as he lowered his arm. The blond boy peeked his head through the hole in the side of the carriage. Faced with the Undead skeleton floating in the air, he only felt confusion. But then, something strange began to take place. Out of nowhere, flesh grew to cover Leon’s bones, and then his form became familiar to Lance.
“It’s you!” Lance recognized Leon at once. How could he not recognize his own rival in the race for Elena’s heart?!
“Hehe, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me you are supposed to lead the Demons in their conquest on the Central Continent?” Leon chuckled as he let his human form fade away, revealing his true form once again. He also remembered Leon, the weak little Demon who was jealous of his friendship with Elena.
“C-conquest? What nonsense are you talking about?” Lance stuttered, flinching back with surprise.
“Don’t give me any of that shit.” Leon’s aura flared and surged forward, but was cut off by Nasir flaring his own aura. “You will come with me, and you will tell me what you know.” Leon said with a steely tone.
“And do you think I will let you do as you wish?” Nasir had been bidding his time since Leon arrived, and with a moment’s notice, he appeared behind Leon, his curved knife pressed against Leon’s neck, ready to slice off his head, but then he suddenly felt another knife against his neck.
Before he could react, a sense of weakness overcame him and Leon spun around, his bony knuckle smashing into Nasir’s cheek and sending him barreling down into the ground. When he hit the ground, the rock suddenly wrapped around his limbs, and the gravity weighing on his body multiplied, pinning him down. With the weakness from Leon’s Curse Eyes, he found himself lacking the strength to break out from his bindings.
“I will give you a choice now.” Leon turned back to Lance. “You can either come with me now and live freely as long as you don’t try anything funny, or you can come back bound and live in my dungeon until I decide to let you go.” Leon grinned in an evil manner.
“…I always knew you were despicable…” Lance gritted his teeth. “We will come with you…” He sighed.
“No-!” Nasir tried to speak up, but his mouth was sealed shut by a wind barrier forming around his head. Leon had already noticed that Nasir’s earlier actions served to protect the people in the carriage, and Lance’s presence meant that he was someone worth the protection of an A rank. So that meant Lance would probably have more say than Nasir.
“It’s fine, Nasir. He won’t kill us.” Lance said as he kept on glaring up at Leon. At this time, the other summons had surrounded the area.
“Good.” Leon nodded and lowered himself down. Then he walked over to the carriage. As soon as he reached it, though, a burst of fire suddenly blasted out of the carriage as the two C rank coachmen tried to put up some defense. Lance had already given them the go-ahead, hoping to catch Leon off his guard when he came closer.
But it was all for nothing as Leon easily blocked the attacks and knocked out the men.
“Hmm, did you think that would work on me? Well, you can just follow me back in chains, I guess.” Leon shrugged and reached out his hand. The gravity around the boys suddenly multiplied, pinning them down to the ground. Leon them proceeded to use simple earth magic to make bindings for each of them.