Baston did not move immediately after the explosion.
He remained standing among the guests. His face was pale yet composed as if the devastation were nothing more than a distant thunder.
Still, his inside thoughts were in disarray.
The first punishment from the old book had nearly shattered him because the pain had not merely attacked his body. It had pressed into his soul and it had reminded him that the book was not a guide nor a friend.
It was a judge and that judge did not forgive him for repeated failure.
If the quest to kill the dark wizard ended in failure, Baston did not dare to imagine what form the second punishment would take.
His survival instinct tightened around his heart.
Together with Harry and several elders, he looked outside to inspect the aftermath. There were also other guests with them since their curiosity was wrestling against their own fear. With Harry
Xavierius at present, most assumed that they were safe.
Eventually, they were wrong to feel comfortable because the estate grounds looked as if a meteor had struck.
A massive crater tore through marble tiles and sculpted gardens alike. The stone pillars had collapsed and several decorative mana lamps lay shattered like broken teeth across scorched earth.
The air still shimmered with residual heat, bending the light unnaturally.
Baston's breath was caught by such devastation.
It was no wonder his puppet had been obliterated instantly. The explosion dwarfed anything he had witnessed at Prius Academy.
This was not a reckless spellcasting because this was more like sacrifice-level destruction.
After that, he scanned the field carefully.
Angus stood upright despite his tattered robe while his mana was still faintly radiating around him. His defenses had held but barely unlike several elders who were less fortunate. Their complexions were pale with their soaked robes in blood where shrapnel-like fragments had pierced the flesh.
Still, none had died because the magic barrier had preserved their vital organs. Even though so, the survival did not mean safety.
The silence that followed the explosion felt unnatural. It was not the kind that was born from shock but the kind that came after something had gone wrong.
Several guards began scanning the perimeter. Their eyes were darting toward the tree line. The protective wards carved along the estate walls were flickered faintly, reacting to a lingering dark mana in the air. A thin residue clung to the atmosphere like ash after a wildfire.
The explosion had not been random since its center had been calculated. The crater was not directly beneath Harry nor Angus. It had been positioned where the collateral damage would be maximized.
Perhaps, it was just for testing or escaping. The thought surfaced quietly in his mind.
He glanced at Angus, and even from a distance, the great wizard's expression was not relief but contemplation.
That unsettled Baston more than the crater itself.
Because if Angus was pondering more, it meant this attack did not fit a simple narrative. And if it was not simple, then the book's quest might be quite complicated in the end.
The dark wizard had failed her objective but she was also still alive.
The thought tightened Baston's throat.
He desperately wanted to chase her but ignorance was dangerous. If she had already fled beyond the estate's perimeter, the quest might fail automatically. Such failure meant punishment eventually.
"Wait…" Baston muttered under his breath as he slipped behind a fractured pillar, "Let me check first."
He opened the old book discreetly, showing that the quest remained active.
His heartbeat slowed, thinking that she was still nearby and there was still an opportunity to finish it.
Without hesitation, he summoned his remaining puppets.
It took the form of a bird and soared north while another moved south. They scanned the estate's outskirts from above, widening their scope in coordinated arcs.
At present, there was nothing. There was no suspicious movement and trace.
Baston then redirected them to east and west. At there, he spotted a small sign.
A figure was stumbling through sparse woodland beyond the western boundary.
The bird puppet quickly landed silently atop a tree branch, monitoring the target.
Below, the dark wizard leaned against a trunk with her ragged breathing. Half of her robe had burned away and the flesh along her side looked charred plus twisted. The explosion surely had cost her dearly but she was alive.
Even though so, her eyes were filled with venom.
"Damn it…" she panted while the dark mana was pooling weakly in her palm as she attempted crude self-restoration, "Fighting a great wizard in such condition was really impossible…"
Her lips twisted, "Just wait… When I recover, I will slaughter you. Every last one of your family will meet death."
There was no madness in her tone since there was only certainty.
The dark wizards were not impulsive killers because they were patient revenants.
Baston did not rush, observing her breathing pattern first. It was uneven but controlled.
Her left shoulder twitched occasionally, likely a nerve damage from the explosion. Her mana pool fluctuated unpredictably, spiking when she attempted the restoration.
She was injured but not broken to a hopeless being.
If he attacked too recklessly and failed, she might flee beyond his puppets' detection.
If he hesitated too long, she might stabilize eventually.
He weighed the risk versus the consequence. Failure meant punishment and success meant escalation.
Neither path was safe but at least, he preserved his life tonight.
The bird puppet soon shifted slightly, adjusting its angle while the second puppet waited deeper within the trees, concealed from the surrounding.
He would not repeat the mistake of the direct confrontation.
This would not be a duel since it would be an execution.
Baston had already made his decision.
If she escaped, the quest would fail. If she recovered, she would return stronger.
If she learned something about the estate's defenses, he could not allow it.
The flare magic quickly gathered within his puppet and a pillar of flame soon erupted from beneath her.
She reacted instantly, leaping aside despite her injuries. Her robe ignited partially before she extinguished it with a violent sweep of dark mana.
"WHO IS THERE?!" she roared, "WHO DARES…"
The puppet dropped from the tree without a word.
The fireballs were launched in rapid succession, making the forest flickered in orange color.
The dark wizard raised a distorted barrier of condensed shadow. The flames struck but did not penetrate deeply.
Baston frowned. Even she was gravely injured, she could still defend at this level. The rank difference was suffocating.
Before he could adjust his strategy, she retaliated with invisible pressure that crushed toward the puppet which was a mental assault.
The puppet staggered theatrically, clutching its head.
The dark wizard's eyes sharpened and she approached slowly, savoring her control.
"You thought to ambush me?" she sneered, "Fool…"
The puppet trembled convincingly.
When she stepped within the arm's reach, it suddenly lunged. It was a point-blank flare burst that was detonated directly against her face. The flame quickly engulfed her features and her scream tore through the trees.
"AHHHHH—!"
Half her face blackened instantly and Baston felt grim satisfaction. After all, the mental attacks were useless against the puppets.
If he had confronted her personally, his mind would already be shattered. Thankfully, the puppet always replaced him in front fight.
She stumbled back with her rage that was eclipsing the pain.
"You—! I will kill you—!"
The dark needles manifested in midair, thin as hair yet sharper than blades. The puppet dodged frantically. Unlike the mental pressure, these were tangible.
One of it soon pierced its arm. The control feedback surged through Baston like static and its movement became heavier.
The puppet's leg was struck next and its mobility decreased sharply. It launched another fireball but it was ineffective. It hurled flare cannon but it was also deflected. The difference in experience and strength was obvious.
The forest around them seemed to hold its breath with crackling embers that fell from the scorched bark.
The puppet's movements became deliberately erratic, not from malfunction, but to create illusion.
He let her to believe he was struggling. He wanted to let her believe that she was regaining the control.
The confidence was the easiest weakness to manufacture.
The dark wizard's breathing steadied slightly as she advanced. Her expression shifted from rage to anticipation. She wanted him conscious when she killed him and she wanted him aware the punishment for burning her face.
That was her flaw because if only she had ended it immediately and if she had chosen the efficiency over the cruelty, she might have survived.
However, the expected cruelty slowed her and Baston needed only a few seconds.
She cornered him gradually with dark needles that began forming like a cage.
"Run…" she hissed, "Run all you like…"
The puppet stopped and it was expressionless with silence. She enjoyed such fear but he showed none unexpectedly.
The suspicion flickered in her remaining eye but she had no time to analyze.
She raised one final needle and pierced the puppet's leg completely, making it fell to one knee.
"Any last words?" she asked, smiling through burnt flesh.
"Boom…" the puppet whispered.
"What?"
"Boom..."
Her instincts screamed and another presence suddenly descended from above.
The second puppet slammed into her from behind, locking her arms.
She reacted instantly, stabbing backward with dark needles, impaling it, but at that same second, the first puppet grabbed her from the front. Two bodies restrained her completely.
"LET ME GO—!"
"BOOOOM!!!"
Baston ignited both puppets simultaneously.
It was self-detonation, manifesting such explosive magic with flare magic. The forest quickly vanished in light and the flame devoured everything within the range.
Her scream fractured into static then eerie silence. The connection with the puppets soon also snapped, creating the backlash that echoed faintly through Baston's mind.
Even though the puppets were just a tool, their destruction created a hollow sensation like threads that were being severed one by one.
For a brief second, he felt blind and alone.
The part of the forest vanished and the sensation of distance collapsed. He exhaled slowly and steadied himself.
There was no triumphant surge of power. There was only a loomed silence. It was the kind that followed the irreversible action.
He waited for ten full breaths before reopening the old book.
If she had survived and if even a fragment of her soul escaped, the quest would not complete.
The last page soon shimmered before the word appeared. It was perfect, and only then, he did allow his shoulders to loosen.
Baston inhaled sharply since the matter finally ended.
*****
In the meantime, the smoke began to rise in the distance. It was visible from the estate grounds and such occasion made the guests murmured.
Angus narrowed his eyes and ascended into the sky to investigate. Several elders also followed while Harry remained nearby to ensure the guest safety.
Eventually, Baston closed his eyes and the relief washed over him. The result before already meant the dark wizard was truly dead. Finally, such hard quest had been completed.
Still, something bothered him. The old book would surely expect more at next time. The job might be harder, sharper, and crueler than present quest.
Angus returned later, confirming what Baston already knew.
The body of the dark wizard was charred beyond the recognition. There was only the residual dark mana which confirmed the identity.
No one knew who delivered the killing blow because the only clue he got was the dark wizard was scorched by flare magic.
Something bothered Angus but he did not say it immediately. Instead, he described the battlefield situation in detail only to the family.
"There were no defensive formations," Angus murmured, "There was no ritual circles and no drawn arrays. Whoever attacked did so quickly."
Harry frowned, "Who is it? A passing traveler?"
"It was unlikely…" Angus replied, "The timing was too precise since the detonation occurred before she could stabilize her mana."
Alicia leaned forward slightly, "What it means?"
"It means…" Angus said slowly, "Whoever killed her had been watching from the beginning."
The atmosphere fell silent. The word lingered, indicating someone was watching from the start just to end the person personally. This event made Harry's fingers stopped moving.
"If someone was observing from outside the estate's wards…" he began.
"They are either very skilled," Angus continued calmly, "Or very close."
The implication crept quietly through the surrounding. Alicia's gaze lowered briefly, not in fear but in thought.
At the outside, several servants were already repairing the shattered lanterns. The guests were safe inside the room while the workers quickly arranged themselves to fix everything.
The estate returned to normalcy, but inside that chamber, something had shifted.
They had survived an attack yet none of them knew who had protected them. And protection without identity was sometimes more frightening than the enemy.
That detail unsettled the meeting that followed
*****
Back in his room, Baston reopened the old book once more.
He turned to the previous notes he made about the town, about the potion, and about the mayor. The clue of the dark wizard started from there and he wondered if there was a connection between what had happened at present.
His breathing slowed down and he began thinking deeply.
The unfolded events were chaotic. The town's siphoned the vitality by using the potion while the attack today tried to make a chaos out of nowhere.
It was a different scene on the surface yet he felt it was connected beneath.
The old book had not only rewarded him. It had shown him something and Baston understood one terrifying truth.
He had not eliminated the threat. He had interrupted the design and such design surely had architects.
The thought lingered like a shadow that refused to fade.
If there was an architect, then today's dark wizard had merely been a piece on a larger board. The maid was just a disposable piece.
His fingers slowly closed over the edge of the book.
If the dark wizard had been sent, then someone must now know she had failed. And if they were observant enough to design such layered operations, they would begin searching for the reason.
For the variable and for the interference.
A quiet chill ran down his spine.
Today, he had killed a dark wizard.
But somewhere in the dark, someone might have just noticed him.