Magus Supremacy - Chapter 714
Capítulo 714: A Disturbing Scene
CHAPTER 714
“Uhm, I should have just listened to Ash, because what exactly is this supposed to be?”
***
After lightly chiding Ash, the Supreme Magus took off, leaving the alchemist behind at the mountain base while he surged through the air like a released arrow.
It didn’t take long before he landed smoothly on the mountain top.
The area above was completely flat, unnaturally so, as if it had been deliberately carved and levelled.
The space was wide, roughly twelve metres across, granting ample room for movement and positioning.
A few metres away, something resembling a cave was positioned at the peak.
It looked more like a temporary camp than a natural hollow, large enough to accommodate nearly fifty men with ease.
The structure dominated a portion of the mountain summit, yet it still left behind a broad clearing where a dozen men loitered casually around the open space.
And at the center of that space was a young woman… or perhaps a girl?
She didn’t appear older than seventeen, maybe eighteen at most.
Her brown hair clung messily to her face, soaked with sweat as though she had been drenched repeatedly in water.
One of her eyes was swollen shut, darkened by a brutal bruise.
Several other injuries littered her body, purple marks and raw wounds standing out painfully against her skin.
Her clothing had been torn apart in awkward places, exposing far more of her body than decency allowed.
Beneath her, a small pool of blood had gathered on the rocky surface.
Worst of all, she was bound tightly like livestock or bundled firewood, ropes digging cruelly into her limbs.
She was barely conscious.
Each breath escaped her lips in hoarse, broken gasps while the men surrounding her spat in her direction intermittently, laughing as if it were entertainment.
The sight filled Grey with an anger so sharp it felt foreign even to him.
His hands clenched into tight fists on instinct, veins subtly bulging as he restrained himself from acting immediately.
The men wore ash coloured outfits, snug and fitted tightly against their muscular frames, clinging to their bodies like a second layer of skin.
Cruel, mocking smiles stretched across their faces as they stared down at the helpless female on the ground.
The moment Grey landed, however, their attention snapped toward him in unison. Eyebrows flared as hostile gazes locked onto the new arrival.
“Hey kid! Who are you? What do you think you’re looking for here?”
Grey said nothing.
His brows furrowed deeply as his gaze swept across the group, his silence heavier than words.
“Are you deaf or something? Didn’t you hear him ask who the hell you are?”
“And what exactly do you want?”
At the raised voices, the woman on the ground weakly turned her head, straining to glimpse whoever the men were shouting at.
She underestimated how badly her vision had deteriorated.
All she could make out was a blurred figure clad in a crimson robe, long crimson hair flowing faintly behind him.
His face remained obscured.
Whether it was the swelling around her eye, the blood seeping into her vision, or something else entirely, she couldn’t tell.
After a prolonged pause, Grey finally exhaled softly.
“Who am I?” he said calmly. “Just a passerby.”
As he spoke, his feet shifted subtly against the stone, releasing a faint ripple of mana that spread silently across the ground and slipped into the cave unnoticed.
‘One… two… ten… twenty… forty men inside,’ he counted inwardly. ‘Two more with higher presence. Plus the dozen here.’
A cold glint passed through his eyes.
‘Hpmh. This will be quite hard to work with especially since I wouldn’t want to harm the woman.’
“A passer-by? Then why don’t you do us a favour and pass away.”
The remaining men erupted into loud cackles, slapping palms together as they high fived the one who spoke, dark amusement glinting within their eyes.
Grey’s gaze drifted away from the men and slid toward the woman shuddering on the ground.
Her fingers twitched weakly, trembling as she struggled against the restraints, nails scraping uselessly against stone as if freedom could be clawed from the earth itself.
When she noticed the stranger’s eyes on her, moisture gathered at the corners of her own.
Her lips trembled, moving soundlessly.
“Help.”
The plea was barely a whisper, too faint for the men nearby to catch, yet the wind carried the fragile word straight into the mage’s ears.
“Are you deaf?” one of the men barked.
“We’ve been giving you a chance to leave since, and you just keep standing there. Do you want us t…”
Grey exhaled slowly and turned around, presenting his back to the group without urgency.
“Alright. I’m leaving.”
At those words, the woman’s expression crumbled, despair flashing across her bruised face.
A heartbeat later, she forced herself to harden.
‘What was I expecting anyway?’ she thought bitterly.
‘How could a lone figure who… argh!’ Pain shot through her body, but she gritted her teeth and focused, attempting to sense the stranger’s strength.
‘He feels like a stage four warrior at best. How could someone like that stand against these men? It’s ridiculous.’
Grey waved his hand dismissively, already stepping away from them.
“Yeah, enjoy yourselves. I’m not in the mood for this.”
Step.
He took a single stride forward when Ash finally dragged himself up the mountain’s edge.
Sweat clung heavily to the alchemist’s face, his breathing raspy as his chest heaved from exertion.
He pulled himself fully onto the summit, panting harshly before glaring at Grey with clear irritation.
“You could have conjured that bird to lift me up,” Ash snapped. “Why did you leave me to climb all this alone?”
Grey shrugged casually.
“Thought you weren’t interested. And after getting here, I realised you were right. It’s not worth the hassle. Let’s go back.”
“Another one?” one of the men muttered angrily.
Ash straightened and slowly turned toward them.
His eyes lingered on their attire.
The moment he recognized the colour and emblem stitched into their clothing, his body stiffened violently.
A low moan echoed through the air, drawing his attention downward.
He saw the woman.
Bruised. Bloodied. Bound.
Ash’s brows knitted tightly as his gaze fixed on her face.
When she weakly lifted her head, he looked past the injuries, past the dirt and swelling, and recognition struck him like a hammer.
His mouth fell open, horror draining the colour from his face.
“Anna?!”
Grey lifted an eyebrow, turning back toward Ash with confusion etched across his features.
“Huh? You know her?”
Ash spun toward him, eyes wide, heart pounding so fiercely it felt like it would burst free.
“She’s Anna!”
Grey frowned, the name doing nothing to spark recognition.
Seeing that look, Ash shook his head quickly, realization hitting him.
“She’s Dame’s sister.”
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A/N: My thanks goes to DaoistBTmnZh Sama for the Golden tickets he bestowed the book.
I’m grateful for the support sire. It fuels my drive to keep on writing knowing that there are people who actually enjoy my work. Thank you 🙇
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