Primordial Sage: Plight of Immortality

'From now on, it should be easier every time. However, I need to get a grasp on its control as soon as possible.'

Illyan was in deep thought as he sprinted towards the cave's exit while staring at his right hand.

He was trying to clench his hand into a fist, but it took longer than expected since his entire arm was tingling from the aura usage.

It was because the aura was completely out of control. He barely managed to manifest it, but the control was difficult.

Fortunately, the aura itself wasn't that dangerous to the owner, so his hand didn't suffer any serious injury.

After a minute or so, the tingling quickly faded as Illyan welcomed the daylight coming from the exit.

'I will think of the aura training later. Now, I need to quickly find the Galdur Mountains where I supposedly 'died',' Illyan thought amusedly.

However, just as he almost stepped out of the cave, he quickly grabbed the edge of the cave to stop his momentum as his body leaned slightly forward.

Looking down, he saw a deep chasm. If he were to fall all the way from here, it wouldn't be a pretty sight.

Illyan raised his head and looked around. He was very close to the clouds as he could see the rays of light passing through them.

'Damn it, where the heck am I?' Illyan cursed in his heart.

This had to be one of the higher mountains around Faruin City.

'Hopefully, at least. If it was somewhere too far, then my plans would go to shit.'

In the end, he could only grit his teeth as he looked for the easiest way to climb down.

'But considering that the troll climbed all the way here, it must mean there is either a place where it can rest or there is a certain path within the mountain from where the troll came.'

Illyan thought as he hoped it was the latter reason.

If not, then he would have a very long way to go…

'Anyway, I should get going…' He sighed as he found a firm rock extrusion, which he grabbed onto while entrusting his whole weight to it…

……..

Several hours ago in the citadel.

"T-the opening!" Mufa, who was breathing heavily after exhausting his stamina from running for too long, saw the gate leading outside and yelled in relief.

His wife, whom he had to support, also sighed in relief as they were only a few meters away from this nightmare.

It was at that moment when one of the big chandeliers adorned with all kinds of colorful metals fell from the ceiling after the entire citadel shook especially hard.

Swish

Neddard, who ran alongside them, quickly dragged them away as the chandelier fell on the place where they had been a second ago, with the metallic ornaments ricocheting from the ground all around the place.

One of those ornaments hit Neddard's thigh because he was too close. He stumbled and almost fell to the ground, but he regained his balance as he gritted his teeth and growled.

"Don't let your guard down!"

"Hmm…" Arun, who was exhausted to the point of being breathless, could only huff at Neddard's words as his legs wobbled.

Ironically, despite being the youngest, his stamina was worse than that of Tami.

The reason for that was his weak constitution, which was also why his father forced him to become an academic instead of a knight.

However, no one was in good shape. Even Neddard, who recently revealed that he was actually trained in a breathing technique, wasn't feeling good.

The group that went inside the citadel was tired.

Right after their failure to get the key, the entire citadel started to crumble with them still inside.

If they were just at the entrance, it wouldn't be such a problem. Unfortunately, by the time the key was taken, at least half an hour had passed.

It didn't seem like a lot, but considering that they had to run at full speed, it was a miracle they kept going.

The reason for that wasn't just strong willpower. It was mostly the negative emotions they had accumulated during this trip.

The time and effort they spent in this damned city were beyond their expectations.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

And for what?

In the end, someone came out of nowhere only to reap all the rewards without doing anything and put them into a deadly crisis.

Clench

Sounds of teeth grinding against each other could be heard as Vanda, who was silent the entire time, started to weave her mana strings only to tie them around the waists of others.

Then, with a pull, she threw them out of the gate as she herself used a spell that made her faster as she lunged towards the gate.

The moment her petite body left the darkness of the citadel, her eyes were blinded by the light from the outside.

Clank

Just as her body fell to the ground, she heard the sound of the door closing.

With a bang, the door, which had been opened after many years, finally closed down once again as the hidden locks clicked back in place with the cogwheels returning the entire mechanism to the starting point.

Vanda, lying on the ground, stared at that expressionlessly without moving a muscle.

"Mistress!" Gordon, who was waiting for anyone to leave the citadel, ran up to Vanda the moment he realized it was her.

However, when he leaned over to see her condition, she raised her hand and slapped him hard.

Gordon, who was hit by her so strongly that his head turned to the side, was silent as he bowed in silence.

His cheek was red and swollen, but it didn't matter to him at all.

"How many passed through here?" Vanda said emotionlessly. She already knew someone stole the key, which meant they had to get through the gate.

"Ugh…" Gordon bowed even deeper as shame could be seen in his eyes.

"Just… just one. We tried our best to stop him, but even that was easily thwarted by the enemy. I fear… that he is probably at the Mind Eye stage," Gordon said with hesitation.

"Mind Eye? Does that make sense to you?! Why would such… Ugh!" Vanda finally lost it when she heard that as she wanted to yell before stopping herself.

Thinking about how he easily dodged her mana strings, which were much faster than a regular person, it wouldn't be strange if the man's perception was very high.

"Hmmp… Whatever. Tell me everything that happened outside."

Vanda sighed as she cast a side-eye around.

The ground around the gate was covered in blood, with a lot of bodies and puddles of dark, putrid liquid.

Beyond the boundary made by the stealth magic scroll, even more bodies lay.

These were not the bodies sacrificed by Vanda and the others.

Most of them were the academics who were on this expedition.

Over fifty people were slaughtered in cold blood. The rest of them were captured and tied up.

Of course, it wasn't that easy, since many academics had connections with others in the expedition, and there were always some people who wouldn't allow such slaughter in front of their eyes.

Some apprentice physicians even threw poisons at the soldiers that came too close.

Others were trying to convince the people that they were the ones deceived.

But in the end, they could do nothing. The resisting ones were slashed down, while the ones who submitted postponed their execution until the return to Winterfrost City.

However, there were a few exceptions. The ones who were acquaintances of the gang members or servants of nobles who knew what was going on managed to survive this ordeal.

Terren's group was one of them, thanks to Aurelia's apt interference.

Some people were still staring at them with unkind eyes, but they managed to survive.

"Well, after you entered the citadel, we…" Gordon explained the subsequent events that happened during her absence, including the masterful inciting of the crowd from the gang members' side and the swift attack of the masked intruder.

He didn't miss even a bit of detail as he even explained that the man was resistant to their poison and even had his own poisons that could dissolve flesh.

Vanda's face became distorted as she listened, but as Gordon continued talking, she calmed down.

She gained some insight from all the information she had gotten so far.

'This was definitely that Smiling Devil. It looks like there are just two of them here. One of them is a skilled Acolyte, and the second one is a knight with a very strong body. But how did he survive that cave collapse? Did he manage to escape?'

She mused on this for a second before she heard Gordon talking about the academics trying to rebel.

"Unfortunately, many of them have connections, such as nobles or elders of the Heart Bearer Gang, and we couldn't do anything to them…" Gordon said with a slight bow, as if not daring to meet her eyes.

"You don't need to say anything anymore. The number of kills was enough. In the first place, we can't just murder all of them. We can pressure the Headmaster, but we can't cross the line. This is already being on the edge. He will return soon, so we had to resort to this measure so that he doesn't regain all his influence in the near future. The noble and knight families should be on our side after this," Vanda said with a calm expression.

Then her face scrunched up in annoyance.

"It's just that because of this fucker, it will be difficult to appease these bastards. My brother suffered an injury, while Ezekiel and Brynjar are still at full strength. And now, because of our failure, our standing will be lower." She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

'If only Kaoran was still alive. With his status as both a mathematician and physician, we would still have leverage. But now… No, there is still a chance… It was just a few days… Those stupid guards didn't even go to check on his body. What if he survived?'

Vanda bit her fingernail as her eyes showed a certain obsessiveness that made Gordon feel a chill up his spine.

'It won't take too long to at least look. If he's not alive, then the body will suffice… I need to find him.'

While Vanda stopped her conversation with Gordon as she fell into her delusion, the others from her team slowly recovered from the forcible throw that Vanda had made to save them.

"Huff… Huff…" Wheezing, Mufa held the side of his ribs as he felt the stinging pain from all that running.

Meanwhile, Tami, who had fallen badly, broke her ankle and held it in pain while sitting on the ground.

Neddard was all right compared to the others, but it seemed that even he didn't have any stamina left.

The only thing he did was take the object covered in cloth that he had strapped to his back.

It hadn't been visible until now, but since his bag had fallen off during the fall, it was now loosely hanging.

Thus, he took it down.

Arun, who sat next to him with an empty expression, saw this but didn't care much. He could discern that the object covered in cloth was some kind of blade, but he was too tired to be curious about it or the reason why Neddard had hidden it like this.

In fact, his mental state was on the verge of breakdown. He wanted to cry, but no tears were left after everything.

For a moment, he even blamed his greed for the death of his brother. Then his wrath blazed as he looked at Vanda with murderous intent.

But in the end, he resigned himself with a sigh of desperation.

All of his desire for power, all of it for nothing.

If before, he had moved through the citadel with the power of hope, then now, when they had lost that key, the sensation in his body was leaving him.

The strain on his untrained and weak body made him feel heavy, as he could barely move any muscles.

And now, when his mind finally reached its limit, even his consciousness was leaving him.

But still, there was a small hope left in his heart as he closed his eyes.

'I will get that inheritance… Not just for myself, but for Awur too… At all costs…'