Adventurers dressed casually, with no strict guidelines dictating how one should appear based on their profession. In the warm climate of the Qihar Mountains, some still donned heavy cloaks that completely concealed their figures.
Among them was a slender individual who caught Fars's attention, shrouded in a loose cloak that obscured their entire body, with a wide-brimmed hat casting a shadow over their face. The reason they went unnoticed by the crowd was likely due to their consistent appearance; they had grown accustomed to it, making it less suspicious.
Every time this person passed by other adventurers, they acted as if they were hastily dodging potential spells that might rain down from above. To those around, it might not have seemed unusual. Even when they shifted to another location, it didn't raise any eyebrows. However, in Fars's eyes, this individual was one of the most active figures in the chaos, while everyone else was desperately trying to bring Fars down from the sky. This person, on the other hand, was continuously distancing themselves from the fray.
Initially, they had not drawn anyone's attention. But once they had moved hundreds of meters away from the center of the chaos, they began to make their escape, quietly and swiftly. Fars's primary target was the female thief, and this individual's behavior led him to suspect they might be the one he had been searching for all along. Could they be hiding among those who were pursuing her? It wasn't out of the realm of possibility. At least for Fars, this individual trying to slip away amidst the turmoil was the most suspicious.
Having identified his target, Fars decided not to linger with the others any longer. He took to the skies, leaving them behind. After a considerable amount of time spent evading, those who had been unable to catch him could only curse his retreating figure in frustration.
Not everyone chose to vent their frustrations by cursing Fars. A few more astute adventurers noticed something amiss. The mid-level mage who had initially revealed Fars's identity seemed to be a strategic thinker for their group. Leaning in to whisper to their leader, the captain's expression changed dramatically. He quickly gathered his team, counting heads only to find one missing.
Everyone had witnessed Fars's magical attacks, which seemed erratic and without pattern. Aside from a few unfortunate souls who had been injured, no one had been killed. What was Fars's objective? Was he merely toying with them before making his escape? They all understood the destructive potential of a high-level mage, especially one positioned safely out of reach of their attacks. If Fars had intended to kill someone, no one present would have dared to claim they could escape unscathed. Yet, it had devolved into a farce.
The captain, realizing one of his men was missing, began to suspect a connection to the female thief. Why would the notorious vampire assist her in creating chaos to escape? That remained a mystery.
With only twelve members in his team, the captain understood that pursuing her alone would be tantamount to suicide. While the thief was adept at evasion and concealment, she had not demonstrated any formidable strength. However, the vampire who had unleashed spells without pause for half an hour was certainly not someone they could handle. Connecting the dots, the captain wondered if the thief had fled to the Cold Pool because they were in cahoots. The mere thought of this possibility prompted the seemingly resolute man to share his suspicions and the current situation with the leaders of the other teams.
With a formidable enemy at hand and the thief needing support, it was clear that no single team could claim her as their prize. Even the pair with over twenty subordinates realized they couldn't capture the thief and eliminate Fars on their own.
Moreover, with Fars's head carrying a bounty of fifty thousand gold coins, if they could complete the tasks of capturing both the thief and Fars, the reward would be substantial enough to benefit all fifty-plus members.
To be the leader of an adventuring group, one must possess strength to command respect, but they certainly weren't fools. Since they couldn't monopolize the bounty, they considered whether any of them held deep-seated grudges against one another; cooperation might not be a bad idea.
With more people involved, sometimes it became cumbersome. Among the fifty-plus adventurers, there were more than a few skilled trackers. Since they were now in a cooperative relationship, a small team of eight thieves took the lead, followed closely by the core strength of their group—over a dozen individuals who were at least level six or had achieved higher ranks. The remaining twenty or so lagged behind.
At this moment, Fars had the opportunity to strike back at the trailing group. However, he had already experienced the thief's remarkable skills; the dense thicket and thorny underbrush of the forest posed no obstacle to her swift movements. She danced through the obstacles like a butterfly flitting through the trees. Fortunately, Fars was pursuing her from the air, avoiding many of the hindrances. Though her figure was occasionally obscured by thick foliage, he never lost sight of her for long.
"Those idiots behind me still haven't caught up," Fars grumbled internally, frustrated with the slow-witted adventurers who were lagging behind the thief.
Given the thief's speed and her understanding that true escape required avoiding Fars, she chose a winding route. The pursuers could easily track her with so many thieves scouting ahead, making it simple to find a closer path to hunt her down. However, because they were wary of Fars potentially launching a surprise attack, they hesitated to distance themselves too far from the main group. As a result, Fars and the thief gradually pulled ahead.
If they couldn't catch up, so be it. Fars intended to use their presence to keep an eye on the thief for a while longer. In the meantime, he could sever their escape route by eliminating the slower, weaker members at the back.
Now was the time to show his intentions and temporarily collaborate with those adventurers. Fars truly believed that once he detained the thief, those who managed to catch up wouldn't hesitate to pursue the prize that was within reach. At that point, he could allow the thief to escape, letting her lead the group further away, giving him the chance to "clean up" behind them.
Detaining the thief wouldn't be too difficult; after all, she couldn't shake off Fars, and the mage's attack range was extensive. He unleashed a series of low-level binding spells he hadn't used in a while. These minor spells weren't expected to harm her; they only needed to slow her down, forcing her to expend more time and energy. Bone Cages and Bone Spikes were cast, occasionally supplemented by powerful Fire Explosions. Danys's ice spells came into play once more, enveloping the area around the thief in chilling air, naturally slowing her movements.
With Fars's "strong assistance," the adventurers he deemed ineffective finally caught up. Witnessing the "falling out" between Fars and the thief, they seized the opportunity to capture both.
After successfully drawing the others in, Fars let the thief go. Without his restrictions, and with the team now incomplete, the pursuers—composed mostly of thieves and archers—could not form a proper encirclement. The thief, having escaped once more, saw through Fars's intentions but had no choice; to survive, she had to flee desperately. As long as she could escape before Fars returned, she still had a slim chance of shaking him off.
The adventuring groups found themselves powerless against Fars, and the thief clearly couldn't contend with him either. They were forced to follow the script that Fars had written. Calculating the distance between the pursuers and the rear, Fars grinned wickedly, spreading his wide wings and diving toward the delectable prey.
Everything was unfolding smoothly. The pursuers trailing the thief couldn't return in time, hoping instead that their teammates would suffer minimal losses before they arrived. Among the twenty to thirty level four or five adventurers, many were resilient warriors with thick skin. In truth, a high-level mage couldn't inflict fatal damage on them in a short time.
But Fars was not merely a mage; he had Danys, a formidable weapon. The evil vampire wielded a massive sword crafted from the Ice Phoenix, slaughtering his foes like a lion among sheep. Fars faced no real opponents; those who fell to his blade were swiftly reduced to mere bones, their souls devoured by Danys.
Such a terrifying fate unfolded before the eyes of the twenty-plus adventurers, sending chills down the spines of both the bold warriors and the enigmatic mages. Fear took hold, and they could no longer stand against Fars. As more fell to his sword, the remaining adventurers were gripped by terror. Once fear set in, some began to flee. Fars even deliberately allowed the first to escape, and once one person broke ranks, the others quickly followed suit.
With no effective resistance left, it became a one-sided massacre. In the end, Fars, concerned that the remaining adventurers might lose track of the thief, spared the few stragglers, leaving behind a terrifying silhouette as he took to the skies.
In a matter of moments, Fars had decimated half of the original fifty-plus adventurers. Those who had been so confident in their pursuit of the thief could never have anticipated such a tragic turn of events. The lack of a commanding presence among the twenty-plus mid-level professionals, who were temporarily allied, contributed to their disarray.
This was the harsh reality; news of the near-total annihilation of the rear guard was communicated to their captain via signal flares by those who managed to escape. They never expected the situation to devolve into such a tragedy, and the faces of several adventuring group leaders who had maintained their composure turned pale.
"It's a trap!" One man, unable to contain his fury, blurted out as they exchanged glances.
Realizing the situation had changed, they decisively abandoned the pursuit of the thief, regrouping to prepare for a potential ambush from the vampire.