"Reno, how dare you!" Eris's voice chilled, a blue light twinkling as a portal opened beside Nathan. "Little junior brother, escape now!"
Without hesitation, Nathan stepped into the portal.
Behind him, Reno let out an angry roar.
In the next second, the surroundings shifted dramatically, and Nathan found himself on a street outside.
A carriage from the Intelligence Bureau was parked at the curb.
The coachman, startled by Nathan's sudden appearance, quickly opened the carriage door for him.
Nathan saw the tiger-striped lion cat sitting on the seat, meowing at him.
"Clever little thing," he thought, climbing into the carriage and instructing the coachman to head towards King's Avenue.
As the carriage sped through the dimming streets, no pedestrians were in sight, only armored guards marching in formation in the distance.
The carriage raced down a street, but as it turned a corner, it came to an abrupt halt.
In front of the carriage, an old man holding a door stood in the middle of the road.
Nathan peered through the carriage window and his eyelids twitched in recognition.
This was the level 4 warrior who had been guarding the entrance of the Intelligence Bureau during the day.
"You..." the coachman began to speak.
But before he could finish, the carriage shook violently!
Before they could see how the old man had moved, a door plank had already smashed onto the carriage.
The coachman didn't even have time to scream as he and the horses were reduced to a bloody pulp.
Panicked, Nathan thought quickly and flung open the carriage curtain, preparing to flee.
At that moment, the tiger-striped lion cat wriggled out of his embrace and slowly walked towards the old man.
As the cat approached, the old man's expression grew more solemn.
"My lord, I mean you no harm. I only want the boy," the old man's voice was hoarse as he pointed at Nathan.
However, the tiger-striped lion cat continued to advance towards the old man.
The old man looked down and drew a longsword from his waist, swinging it horizontally in front of him.
However, the tiger-striped lion cat let out a meow, raised its paw, and swiped through the air, sending four transparent ripples towards the old man.
Seeing this, the old man's expression changed dramatically. He attempted to retreat but found the space around him constricted.
Just then, a voice emerged from the shadows at the roadside: "Soullock!"
Accompanying the voice, a rectangular piece of paper appeared abruptly in front of the transparent ripples and burst open with a snap.
The tiger-striped lion cat suddenly shook its head, then, as if realizing something terrifying, turned tail and ran.
The transparent ripples it had released also vanished.
At this moment, a tall magus in a black robe and hooded cloak emerged from the roadside shadows, approaching Nathan.
Nathan noticed a purple gem embedded at the collar of the magus's robe, emitting a star-like faint glow.
The ground vibrated with the sound of hoofbeats.
City guards, densely packed, completely sealed off both ends of the street.
A towering figure in black armor, wielding a long spear and mounted on a warhorse, approached from the twilight, its presence commanding.
The horse's hooves clinked crisply, picking up speed.
The spear's tip scraped the ground, creating a grating sound.
Nathan saw that it was Valentine, the deputy commander of the city guard, reputedly a level 5 elite warrior.
As Valentine charged faster and faster, raindrops suddenly began to fall from the sky, growing more numerous and heavier.
Nathan felt a chill in his heart, wondering what kind of bad luck he had encountered today to be caught up in all these events.
He slowly backed away, ready to flee at any moment.
In the center of the street, the black-robed magus stood behind the old man, who turned his blade towards the knight.
In the next instant, they collided!
The long spear and sword clashed, emitting a humming sound!
Outmatched, the old man staggered backward.
Valentine charged again on his horse,
This time, the old man retreated, spitting blood.
The rain intensified, the warhorse charging through the storm for another attack!
Wiping the blood from his mouth, the old man, with trembling arms, raised his sword again.
Then, the black-robed magus behind him softly uttered two words: "Wind Barrier!"
As a card burst open in mid-air, an invisible umbrella seemed to unfurl overhead.
All the raindrops slid off its curved trajectory to either side, forming a rain curtain covering the entire street.
With the disappearance of the rain, the air seemed to solidify.
Nathan, standing at the street corner, stared in astonishment.
The teleportation scroll in his hand had burned halfway before slowly extinguishing.
The black-robed magus glanced at him, seemingly mocking.
Fear gripped Nathan's heart.
Meanwhile, Valentine's movements became extremely slow, as if bearing immense weight.
Their weapons clashed again, the warhorse neighed, the long spear fell to the ground, and Valentine was thrown off his horse, with the old man placing the blade against his neck.
This sudden turn of events shocked the armored guards on both sides of the road, who charged forward only to crash into an invisible wall, unable to get closer.
At this moment, the black-robed magus slowly turned around and began walking towards Nathan.
Nathan's heart sank.
Just then, the black-robed magus suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky.
At this moment, the dark clouds overhead had become incredibly dense.
Far from dissipating with Valentine's capture, they grew even thicker, and unknowingly, they had formed a gigantic face covering the entire sky.
As the black-robed magus raised his head, the face in the sky abruptly opened its eyes, gazing down.
This sight, filled with an overwhelming sense of oppression, was like a deity looking down upon mortals, sending shivers down one's spine.
Nathan lifted his head and froze upon seeing the face formed by the dark clouds.
It was the face of Milo Shulin.
The mouth on that face opened, rumbling: "Stellarspeaker, you should not be here! Please leave..."
"Milo, you are too arrogant!" the black-robed magus stretched his hand upwards, pointing a finger, and another card exploded in mid-air.
"Wind Barrier!"
The next moment, the face in the sky twisted bizarrely, as if its throat had been suddenly grasped, its expression slowly solidifying.
"You dare harm him, I will kill you..." A voice filled with shock and rage thundered from the sky.
Simultaneously, the highest Magus Tower in Crystalis lit up with a white light.
The light rapidly flickered and leaped, approaching this location at an incredible speed.
A few breaths later, Milo appeared outside the light barrier.
Her long hair billowed in anger as she slammed her staff against the barrier: "Stop!"
A vibrating purple lightning bolt shot from the top of the staff, striking the barrier.
Like ice suddenly exploding, numerous purple cracks spread rapidly, and the light barrier seemed on the verge of shattering.
"You are too late," the black-robed magus let out a sinister laugh, flicking the card in his hand mockingly.
Then he threw the card towards Nathan: "Blood Burning!"
The card exploded in front of Nathan.
His heart immediately felt as if it was being squeezed, then it began to beat wildly.
It seemed like he could hear the blood coursing through his veins, and his body became unbearably hot.
The next moment, the barrier shattered.
The vibrating purple lightning struck down, and the black-robed magus's body burst like a bubble, leaving behind a pool of blood.
Subsequently, the city guards swarmed in, encircling the old man in the middle.
Milo appeared beside Nathan, holding him from behind.
"How are you?" Milo asked urgently.
"Mentor, I'm okay, just feeling a bit hot," Nathan replied weakly, slowly closing his eyes.
Seeing this, Milo's expression twisted into one of ferocity.
She released a series of spells on Nathan.
Instantly, multicolored lights shone from Nathan's body.
"Burn!" Finally, she cast a spell on the half-burned teleportation scroll in Nathan's hand.
The scroll emitted a white light, instantly enveloping Nathan's entire body.
The next moment, Nathan disappeared from the spot.
After doing all this, Milo walked towards the crowd, waved her staff, and the old man, who had already ceased resisting, exploded into a mist of blood under a purple lightning bolt.
Milo then blinked out of sight, reappearing in quick successions.
In a few blinks, she was above the Clark family's location.
Here, Eris was still entangled in a battle with Reno, with countless mini-tornadoes chaotically flying around, collapsing buildings upon impact.
Eris continuously shuttled between several portals, occasionally throwing out a spell or two.
Just then, Reno noticed a fast-approaching white flash, followed by a purple lightning bolt cleaving down upon him.
"Misunderstanding..." Seeing Milo approaching with an aura of unrelenting fury, Reno's mind felt like it was about to explode as he hurriedly tried to explain.
But as the lightning struck, his words froze in his mouth.
His body burst into a cloud of blood and exploded with a bang, blending into the whirlwind, spinning endlessly.
Milo, without pause, blinked away again.