Meanwhile, the black-robed wizards searching the first floor had turned the place upside down, but to no avail.
The black-robed wizard at the head of the group frowned as he listened to the reports. Fortunately, the last two to arrive brought good news.
"Mr. Adrian, we found a basement!"
"Very good! Let's go over and take a look!" The leader, a black-robed wizard named Adanne, smiled and beckoned everyone to go first.
As they moved, however, there was a scream from upstairs.
"It's Laurens!" Adanne exclaimed, her expression changing. It seemed likely that Laurens had stumbled into some sort of trap, although it was also possible that she had crossed paths with the landlady.
Adanne immediately gave up on the idea of exploring the basement and went to check on the situation.
However, to his surprise, in less than a few seconds, there were a few more wails and curses coming from upstairs. Not long after, the voices gradually weakened.
The black-robed wizards downstairs looked shocked, and Adanne's pupils contracted.
He knew exactly what this meant. Ralph, Laurens, and the others must have been attacked, and the four of them were at a complete disadvantage. It was even possible that two or three of them had been knocked out in such a short time…
Adrian thought he might have underestimated the storekeeper's skill. Ralph and the others were not weak, and even with the advantage of the venue, it was not easy to sneak up on them.
"Cullson, Marge, you stay here. The rest of you come up with me! She must be upstairs!"
Adrian, who was confident in his own strength, did not go up to support them. Instead, he left two men to guard the entrance.
This was done to prevent any misdirection. After all, this was a mother, and she might be prepared to risk her life to keep them upstairs so that her children could escape.
Adanne never underestimated a mother's determination to protect her child, nor did she want to let the brat slip through her fingers…
Unbeknownst to Adanne, the child she was referring to had been standing beside them, wearing the Invisibility Cloak.
Ivan watched in silence as Adarian led most of the group upstairs, then glanced around at the two black-robed wizards who remained on the first floor.
There are only two of them left, which makes it easier to deal with…
It seemed that nothing had gone beyond his expectations, and Ivan smiled.
The trap in the magical kitchen on the second floor was naturally arranged by him.
In fact, Ivan had placed many other Trigger Dark Arts props elsewhere, but they were too cautious to touch any of them.
Only the crystal skull, which could create illusions, played its intended role. Together with the tools in the Wizard's Kitchen and his Bloodline Charm, the Shadow of the Unicorn, it took out four enemies at once!
Now, as long as he dealt with the two people in front of him, Ivan felt that he would not be defeated in a head-on battle.
With this in mind, Ivan slowly moved towards them…
The two black-robed wizards guarding the first floor did not seem to sense the danger, and one of them, a witch, complained uneasily after Adrian took them away.
"If we had known, we would have cut her off halfway. There's something strange about this shop. I wonder what happened to Ralph and the others…"
"That would only mean that Ralph was useless. He couldn't catch the woman with all these people… and he's dead." The black-robed wizard sneered disdainfully. He had long disliked Ralph, and would not have worked with him if they had not shared a common goal.
'What's that?'
As he spoke, the black-robed wizard caught a glimpse of something shimmering in the darkness behind the witch, like two orange gems…
Were those eyes?
The moment he thought of this, the black-robed wizard felt as if his consciousness had been sucked into it.
"That's enough, Brand! Shut up…" The black-robed witch frowned unhappily and was about to reprimand him.
But before she could speak, Brand's eyes glazed over and he collapsed.
The person who was just talking to him suddenly fell to the ground…
The black-robed witch had never encountered such a strange situation before. Her pupils constricted and a chill ran down her spine.
"Brand…Brand?!" the black-robed witch stammered. There was no response. She took two steps back in fear, and a sharp object pressed against her back.
The black-robed witch jerked her head around and saw a thirteen or fourteen-year-old young wizard standing behind her.
With a flash of white light, the black-robed witch fell unconscious.
"Stupefy!"
Ivan gently chanted an incantation, stunning his opponent, and then put his wand away. He had no intention of killing him, as he would be useful to Ivan.
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have used the snake's eye… It takes too much magic." Ivan rubbed his sore eyes and looked at his status bar. His mana gauge was half gone.
Thirty percent was used on Unicorn's Shadow, two Disapparations, and the rest were used up, while the remaining twenty percent was used on the magic that had been devoured when the Serpent's Eye was activated.
Perhaps because it knew that Alicia was safe in the basement, the effect of the Eyes without the Murderous Improvement was much weaker than before.
Even after expending twenty percent of his magic, the wizard he was looking at did not die immediately, but was merely petrified.
BANG!
A series of explosions came from the top of the building, and Ivan's face fell. His Bloodline Magic Unicorn's Shadow had been shattered…
Because of the limitations of her magic, Ivan chose not to use it to repair the unicorn's body, and instead allowed it to dissipate…
"Adrian? They seem to have some skill…" Ivan muttered to himself. The Patronus was connected to his vision, and he had, of course, seen the whole thing. It was Adarian, the leader of the black-robed wizards, who had destroyed the Unicorn's Shadow.
The other party had some brains and was ruthless enough!
After gaining insight into the Unicorn's Shadow's characteristics, the creature attacked one of its companions and destroyed the special Patronus with a large-scale explosive spell.
The poor black-robed wizard was also within range of the Blast Charm. I wonder if he's dead…
It should be noted that Ivan saw Adarian conducting a large-scale bombardment of the second floor prior to the end of the Bloodline Charm, perhaps suspecting that the caster was hiding there…
A few moments later, the explosions above stopped, and the sound of footsteps on the stairs could be heard. Ivan glanced at the pair on the floor, then put on the Invisibility Cloak…