At the crime scene.
Spell exchange between Patrol Officer Robert and the rationalist necromancer was in white hot stage. More and more dark mages were forced to expose themselves to shield from the aftermath of their clash.
Civilian mages who were close to them had already suffered casualties because of this. Russell and his teammates were bitterly trying to contain the criminals as they were aware that strong reinforcements were already on the way.
The clairvoyant sisters also threw out some magic scrolls and used powerful cross realm arcane artifacts from the safety of the rear to assist at opportune moments. Their young age doesn't mean they lack combat experience.
Necromancers from Death Abyss, lycanthropes from Million Beast Mountain, and curse practitioners from Nightmare Fortress had been forced into the open by this point.
There were about thirty people gathered at first and nearly half of them were dark mages so one could easily imagine the pressure these police officers were facing at the moment.
They were outnumbered by double!
Those who were still unexposed were warily glancing at the battle situation between Robert and his opponent while dodging and moving about to prevent themselves from being targeted by unsuspecting dark mages of other factions.
Clearly, those two were the highest arcana realm present on the scene and they heavily influenced the possibility of whether they could escape first before more police officers arrived.
As long as that dark mage could force back the officer in defense for a few rounds then they could disregard any potential harm and make a break for it without looking back.
The reason why most of them hadn't managed to leave was that first they were scared that Robert would throw a spell at them disregarding the opponent when he saw them fleeing. Taking a hit would undoubtedly take their lives and they dare not gamble who would be the unlucky one to be targeted first.
Secondly, a Patrolman with hawk-like eyes kept constraining them alongside the exposed dark mages with one Air Wall scroll after another as if he had an endless amount of such expensive magical items.
If not for the fact that their identity hadn't been exposed yet and they had some confidence on their disguise spells then they all would have thought whether this officer was doing this intentionally.
Since they didn't understand the reason they only attributed it to bad luck and kept increasing their distance from the exposed ones lest they were forced into a desperate state alongside them.
"Strange! Why are they the first one to arrive instead of the police? Proximity?"
Russell followed the distant sound of hurried footsteps and saw ten people wearing snow white robes rushing over to this place.
They were mages from the local military garrison!
As soon as they got close enough they unceremoniously attacked the exposed dark mages with zeal.
"Thorn Shower!"
"Water Blade!"
"Rock Cannon!"
"Flame Blast!"
All sorts of high damage elemental spells were casted in synchrony. If one were hit with a fire elemental spell then an earth elemental spell would follow behind and if one got hit by a water elemental spell then nature elemental spell soon followed.
A lycanthrope with tiger-like parts on his body was first struck by the Water Blade. Even though he hastily used a defensive ability to harden his skin the residue of water elemental ether lingered around him which in turn made the Thorn Shower spell that was following behind display sudden changes.
The thorns previously the size of nails rapidly grew in size by absorbing the water elemental ether before becoming the size of a kitchen knife each, their speed also saw a great boost thus taking the lycanthrope's life by forcefully breaking his tough skin head-on.
Any bloodline abilities also had its own upper limit before it would be broken!
A curse practitioner waved her cursed item, a stick wrapped in intestines, and used a curse magic spell to summon a tormented soul she personally created from one of her victims.
The tormented soul had an ethereal body, it was crying and screeching constantly before rushing forward to take the Flame Blast in place of the master.
It shrieked in pain but before it burned to death a slight smile of relief could be seen on its face. It finally got to enter the afterlife instead of being tormented endlessly at her hands!
Before the curse practitioner could feel distress from losing a tormented soul she had put so much effort and resources on to create, several brick-sized rocks followed after the Flame Blast. Influenced by the fire elemental ether, Rock Cannon spell transformed into lava covered rock with soaring speed.
Her wicked life ended under the pulverizing of such devastating spells that was unlike what a Novice Mage realm should display.
By taking advantage of the enhancement effects between certain elements the coordinated attack from the military made the dark mages feel overwhelmed and some of the hidden ones also had to step out due to the spill over from the sheer amount of elemental orchestra that played on this place.
Russell was amazed by the military's prowess.
It was not without a reason that military officers in this kingdom always disdained the police. After having received intense training to be able to effortlessly cast coordinated attacks in combat the simple brutes could never be on the same level as them.
He thought that if he also had undergone such training then he wouldn't be an exception on looking down on others as most of the officers were indeed just coasting through life and lacking in self-discipline as well as motivation for improvement.
It was at this moment that a vast pressure descended making both the arcane and dark mages pause in their movement. Two streaks of light appeared at the same time in the sky.
From the way they abruptly paused midair both seemed to be startled by the other's presence. At the next second, one of them attacked first. The entire sky atop the conflicting mages were filled with blood clouds. A torrential rain of blood poured down.
The other magic light in the sky retaliated!
Before the blood rain could fall on the mages an overwhelming gust of wind swept through. It cleared out the blood clouds in the sky and also precisely hit the exposed dark mages on the ground, flinging them over a thousand feet high in the air to fall freely towards the ground.
After the initial exchange, it was clear that the first mover was weaker than the other party.
The magic light dissipated showing the true bodies of these mages. One of them was surprisingly Walter, who had finally arrived to reinforce the officers. While the first mover was an old man with long white hair and pale skin.
He had blood wings on his back which moved as he hovered in the air, his two sharp fangs protruding from his mouth.
"A Valiant Mage realm Vampire! I didn't expect Blood Clan to have a pawn like you placed in this town!"
"Hmph! Ignorant fool. Let my clansman go otherwise those ants on the ground would not survive my wrath."
"Absurd! As if I would let a terrorist like you leave with just a few words!"
"A fool indeed… If not now THEN WHEN!"
The old man suddenly roared, giving a bad premonition to Walter. Just as he was about to bring out the ape golem his vision as well as all of his perception fell into darkness. It wasn't just him but the entire sky and the ground of this part of the town fell into an all-consuming darkness.
Alarm bells rang throughout Walter's mind and he felt death closing in on him!
His movements seemed to be affected and the ether reserve on his body had stagnated. Though he was sure to break free from this state in a few seconds but in a higher realm battle those few seconds could become the reason for his death!
"It's over…"
Despair, utter despair! That was all he felt at this moment!
Just as he resigned himself, a violent collision sounded from behind him. His senses also returned instantly. First thing he did was to open up distance and bring out the ape golem next to him.
His heart was trembling as he reeled from the shock and joy of having escaped sure death. Two other figures had appeared at the spot he just left.
A tall and robust figure clad in shadow with a dagger on their hand blocked the translucent sword conjured from a spell by the white robed mage with blonde hair and brown eyes who floated at the distance.
"Assassin from Deliverance Altar? Though your organization hadn't been outlawed by the royal court it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want! Attempting murder of a Chief Constable under the public's eyes! I want to see what you have to say for yourself in the interrogation room!"
More swords fell from the sky and the tall shadowy figure dodged as they retreated. While they chased and attacked, the old man from earlier had already slipped away with the surviving vampires from the Blood Clan regardless of whether they had been exposed or not.
Walter gave a grateful look to the white robed man who was disappearing from his sight in the far distance. It seems he now owed a huge favor to Major Ryan Wilson, the head of the military garrison in this town.
He wasn't reluctant about it since a life-saving grace must be reciprocated properly to not affect one's reputation in the officialdom. Anyways, those were matters for the future. As for now…
Walter glanced at the suspended dark mages still struggling to escape. He simply used the ape golem to seal their bodies and confiscate the arsenals they were carrying on them.
He then descended on the ground to address his subordinates. Maybe there was an advanced order, all the military officers quickly left after greeting him. They however took away the bodies and items of the dark mages they had personally slain.
Walter didn't stop them as it was an unwritten rule between the two sides about loot distribution when cooperating together. Only after they were gone did he finally look at Russell with an angry gaze.
"You!... Sigh! Forget it."
"It's difficult to blame anyone regarding this incident. Later, write a detailed report regarding what happened here for the situation to escalate to this extent."
"Lucia and Allison, continue with the investigation on this dead body. I am very curious to know what reason could possibly draw so many dark mages into one place."
He then thought of something and pointed at Russell as he added with a mean smile,
"According to my late friend, this kid has quite the talent in the field of investigation. Let him learn from professionals like you. He is the type to be unruly when you treat him cordially but obedient when you become stricter. So be sure to treat him strictly."
""Roger, chief!""
Both sisters bowed slightly as they replied.
Walter quickly went back to the headquarters to throw the arrested dark mages into the jail first lest any more variables appeared to rescue them again.
Today's incident had greatly reduced his previously unshaken belief on his safety in this remote town!
Russell, on the other hand, looked at the two streaks of light with a bewildered face. No, what does it mean to let these two young girls be strict on him? Was this his way of punishing him for nearly pushing him to death indirectly?
If that was the case then wasn't it the case of sending a pillow when one's sleepy?
"Though there were many twists and turns, I didn't expect to be able to openly show off my talent like this! This way I can get acquainted with the twins and plan for my career transition better!"
Given the nature of today's incident it probably wouldn't even count as a merit worthy of being rewarded by the prefecture.
Many dullards and civilian mages had become casualties during the first part of the battle. Widespread destruction of properties was also another negative point.
On top of that, quite a few dark mages had escaped under their noses and even two Valiant Mage realm criminals seemed to have escaped so it would instead be a letter of reprimand that would be sent to them soon.
Did he regret exposing them though? No!
"How can great things be achieved without some sacrifices? It would just be some mild disciplinary actions like writing a letter of self-reflection and whatnot. After all, we still risked our lives fighting criminals so it is impossible to be treated too harshly."
"Anyways, after I am done solving this case as the main lead and leaving a deep impression on these two clairvoyants to facilitate my entry to the pavilion it would be time for my ascension to the pinnacle. Heh!"
It was a pity though. He had broken the line of sight on the corpse during the battle so he got to start all over again.
You win some, and then you lose some.
No need to feel annoyed over this.