Harvey was utterly confused. Since when has Ervin had this invisibility ability?
Why did he just let the beast attack him without any warning?
Just why does Ervin look so calm about the situation?
As these thoughts tortured Harvey's mind, Ervin wiped off the blood, and brain fluid glistening across his magical sword.
He then turned his attention to the fallen, battered figures.
Ervin kicked off the lion's corpse while his hand began to glitter a strange red light. Blood wildly splashed out as the beast's claws were finally out of Harvey's chest and its teeth left Harvey's neck.
Harvey was an utterly horrific sight right now. That bitten part of his neck showcased his gross wriggling flesh with blood constantly flowing out of it. Nearly his entire chest was busted open, exposing the ruined flesh and beating organs.
Ervin may be used to killing others. But even this gore-filled sight still caused him to feel a bit queasy.
Harvey couldn't even fully register the pain. His eyes were completely drawn to the glittering red light within Ervin's hands.
That item in his hand was exactly the same small red orb they had seen with Cyan!
"I-I..." Harvey struggled to speak. A suffocating sense of dread began to overwhelm.
Ervin didn't bother with any words at all. With the Demon Orb glittering in his hand, Ervin thrust it straight into the open flesh of Harvey's chest.
Ervin's hand was strong enough to tear through the layers of flesh blocking him.
He soon enough reached his destination. Blood continually splattered onto Ervin's face as his hand soon reached Harvey's heart.
"Ah!" Harvey's gurgle voice tried to roar in anguish, though it came as mush with all the blood pouring out of him.
The Demon Orb was settled deep into his heart. Once there, the Demon Orb began to violently pulsate, pushing out waves of Demonic Mana that flooded Harvey's entire body.
Harvey's life was rapidly slipping away from him. His dying eyes showcased betrayal, fear, and above all, absolute hatred towards Ervin!
The hatred flowing out of Harvey's mind caused his very soul to produce these wisps of energy he was unaware of.
The Demon Orb instantly absorbed these wisps of energy. With the intense emotion of hatred causing his soul energy to wildly fluctuate, the Demon Orb began to brightly glisten!
It was rumbling at a ferocious intensity. There was an irresistible magnetic force now flowing out of the Demon Orb.
All of Harvey's blood, Mana from his magical veins, Magical Space, and his red magical core itself flowed into the Demon Orb.
Everything Harvey has ever worked for was being taken away right before his eyes.
With hatred fueling every inch of his being, Harvey somehow managed to croak out, "Why..."
Ervin didn't bother answering the question. This Harvey was just another average person who was completely uninteresting to Ervin. His life or death never mattered to him.
As for this being considered evil or a heinous crime, Ervin never cared about being a good person or an upright Mage Enforcer.
There's barely any desire in him to fit into society, have some kind of nice and happy family, make friends, or get into a relationship, so why bother limiting himself with the morals other people consider to be the end-all?
Even as Ervin knows in the future, when he goes against more superior people, his reputation will garner more and more hatred.
But as long he can explore the depths of magic, that is enough for Ervin to live life to its fullest.
The Demon Orb absorption process didn't take long at all. Merely a few minutes passed until all of Harvey's blood and Magical essence was absorbed into the Demon Orb.
There was no blood, nor any trace of magic left within Harvey's corpse. His skin nearly withered completely, and his hollowed-out eyes amplified the creepiness of his death.
As Ervin pulled his hand back, the Demon Orb brightly glistened a majestic crimson glow.
Wild pulsations of Magical Energy rippled out of the Demon Orb. A near hypnotic sensation began to fill the atmosphere, forcing anyone who comes close to here to lock eyes directly onto the Demon Orb.
Ervin quickly put the Demon Orb into a spatial pouch, curious to see what this would give him.
Looking back down, Ervin was pleased with the state of Harvey's corpse. The massive beast's claws left on his chest and broken flesh on his neck perfectly indicated that this was the tragic fight of a Demonic Beast. The wrinkled skin could also be explained by Harvey using all of his Mana before dying.
The Demon Orb itself has no specific magical principles to track so that was not a concern for Ervin.
Leaving Harvey's corpse would be a more troublesome option as he knows there are Mage Enforcers meant to track down bodies for grieving families or if the corpse had valuable items on them. Ervin didn't want any connection of Harvey's death linking back to him.
Ervin believed he should be fine to fool his superiors that his team was wiped out by strong Demonic Beasts, but he decided to add extra insurance to his story.
By tearing his Mage robes and scaring his flesh with the demon tiger's claw.
The scaring genuinely caused Ervin anguish, making him grit his teeth as the razor-sharp claws tore through his flesh with utter ease.
Ervin groaned, his body nearly shaking from a sudden influx of pain. Nothing about the anguish dissuades Ervin from stopping.
To get even further along the path of Magic, experiencing pain and torture was inevitable when walking this extreme road.
Ervin was soon finished a few minutes later. He then took Harvey's corpse into his arm while spraying more repellant sprays around him. Naturally, he lied about there being one can left.
It was only now that the trip was smooth sailing. His swift speed brought him towards the city gates.
There, he spotted the current Mage Guards narrowing their eyes on him. Puzzlement flashed on their faces before their eyes widened from horror.
The sight of Harvey's gruesome corpse and Ervin's battered form sent a slight chill down their spines.
"Guards, we need help. Something...disastrous swept through our entire team." Ervin managed to choke out when getting close to the city guards. His tone was somber, being able to easily fake his current calm emotions.
"No shit. Just what the hell happened?" One of the city guards could barely take his eyes off Harvey's mangled corpse still oozing with blood.
Gruesome scenes happen all the time in the line of Mage Enforcers, though it does not make looking at such scenes any easier.
"Forget what happened. They need treatment now. Medics!" The other city guard called out.
In an instant, several other Mage Enforcers, all dawning light green robes stepped out from the resident safe area. Each of them exuded a calming presence, generating a magical aura that genuinely made Ervin relax his tensed body as they got near.
Ervin gave these green robe Mages curious glances.
There were different paths one could take when becoming a Mage Enforcer. Either being a weapon crafter Enforcer, a spirit formation Enforcer, a medic Enforcer, an alchemist Enforcer, and a variety of other professions.
Among them all, medics are highly sought after for obvious reasons. Injuries, extreme injuries that would seem irreversible happen all of the time.
With the power of Life Magical Energy, nearly all kinds of injuries can be mended. Broken limbs can be healed a new, large gashes can be closed right back to perfection, and higher medics have the ability to do godly healing feats. Such as regrowing limbs, curing any sickness, curing any disablement, and even re-attached body parts.
There was obviously nothing left that could be done about Harvey. But appearing injured, the medics knew they had to treat Ervin.
"Come. Follow us." The leader of the medics politely smiled.
Nodding at the city guards, Ervin followed behind the medics to heal his 'injuries'.
...
The entire healing process went along smoothly enough.
Ervin's superiors came in to ask him some questions after he was healed to at least get a somewhat estimate on what had happened.
There was no need for Ervin to bolster his words or say anything extra. Harvey's corpse speaks for itself.
Naturally, Ervin left out everything about Cyan, only talking about the supposed Demonic Beast ambush that got them all.
By the end of it, the general solemnly nodded at Ervin, commending him for being a courageous Mage Enforcer still willing to save his partner's corpse.
The general had suggested for Ervin to stay behind when Harvey's family arrived.
But Ervin didn't want to be bothered any longer. He gave a reasonable excuse of being mentally drained from all the deaths and left the Mage Enforcer estate.