The Archmage’s Fall

“Hahahahaha! Didn’t expect this, did you? Even if you’re a grand archmage stronger than me, you’re still sprawled before me like a dog!” Bo Aibiyi roared with manic laughter, scrambling to his feet in a surge of exhilaration.

He then spat a mouthful of saliva at Mr. Hake, who lay prostrate on the ground. If only his leg wasn’t injured again, Bo Aibiyi would have stomped on Mr. Hake’s face, humiliating this archmage who was once mightier than him.

“D-damnable… When did…?” Unable to control his body, Mr. Hake couldn’t even cast the simplest spell.

He could only glare at Bo Aibiyi, his eyes blazing with fury.

A pang of regret pierced Mr. Hake’s heart at that moment. If only he had realized sooner that this heartless bastard would commit such an atrocity, he would have killed him outright.

His carelessness had led to this predicament. Staring at this vile wretch, who was clearly spiraling out of control, Mr. Hake feared he would cross every conceivable line.

No, what this madman was doing now already knew no bounds.

“That’s right! A day ago, I poisoned the lake water in your village. The poison is colorless and odorless, and its effects are delayed—timed perfectly for now! What a coincidence, isn’t it? My savior? Mr. Hake? Esteemed Archmage?

Do you feel now that I am favored by the gods? Do you regret saving me? But… it’s too late! Ahhh! Ahhh!” Bo Aibiyi yanked the Ice Blade from his thigh.

He used it as a crutch, limping over to Mr. Hake’s side.

“Archmage, don’t look at me with such angry eyes. I find it rather irritating, so… guess what I’m going to do next?” A twisted smile spread across Bo Aibiyi’s face.

He then raised the Ice Blade high with both hands, aiming it at Mr. Hake’s abdomen.

“You… you… Urgh!” Mr. Hake showed no fear, his furious gaze still fixed on Bo Aibiyi.

But in the next instant, the sharp Ice Blade pierced Mr. Hake’s abdomen, eliciting a cry of pain.

“Ha… ha… How… Archmage? How does it feel to have a magic you created pierce your own body? Speak… speak!” Bo Aibiyi panted heavily, exhausted as his leg wound bled profusely from the exertion.

He twisted the Ice Blade embedded in Mr. Hake’s abdomen, shouting as he did so.

“Don’t… don’t hurt anyone else… I’ll give it to you… I’ll give it to you… Please spare Mr. Hake, I beg you… I beg you…” Though Jing’s body remained immobile, her eyes could still witness the horrors unfolding on the podium between Bo Aibiyi and Mr. Hake.

Watching Mr. Hake’s abdomen churned by the Ice Blade, his blood spilling across the floor, Jing felt as though her own heart was being violently ripped apart. She struggled to control her body, pushing the [Transparency] in her hand forward, signaling her willingness to surrender her blade to Bo Aibiyi.

Bo Aibiyi heard Jing’s sorrowful cry and slowly turned his head. He watched as Jing desperately pushed the long blade, glowing with golden light—the very weapon that captivated him—towards him.

Though he couldn’t understand Jing’s words, Bo Aibiyi clearly grasped the meaning she conveyed. He laughed, an exceptionally joyful sound.

“Hahahahaha! Hahaha! That’s right, that’s exactly right! This is what you lowly commoners should do! Jing, you should have done this sooner. If you had, not just you, but your grandparents, Mr. Hake, and even the entire village would have been safe!” Bo Aibiyi released his grip on the Ice Blade in Mr. Hake’s abdomen, spreading his arms wide as he roared with laughter.

“But now… it’s too late. No one can stop me now. No one dares to stand against me anymore! Not only will I take your precious treasure, but I will also slaughter every single commoner, every ant, every piece of trash in this village! Including you, Jing!” Bo Aibiyi suddenly reverted to a gentle expression, speaking softly to Jing.

“By the way, Jing, do you know? Although I wasn’t interested in your body from the start, only the two weapons behind you, if you had simply loved me obediently from the beginning, none of this would be happening now.

If you had just willingly become my s*ave, surrendering your body and everything you possess to me, how wonderful that would have been. And perhaps you don’t even know the true value of the long blade behind you, do you?

Let me tell you, it could even surpass a Sacred Artifact! In this world, women like you are not qualified to possess such a thing. But I did offer you a chance to be great among the powerful and commanding the masses. Whose fault is it that you didn’t seize the opportunity to curry favor with me?” Bo Aibiyi shrugged his shoulders, speaking to Jing with a hint of helplessness in his voice.

“Enough… enough… Bo… Bo Aibiyi… Don’t you… fear… General Baro’s… reprimand…?” Blood continued to well from Mr. Hake’s mouth, but the intense pain had somewhat restored his body’s sensation.

He spoke to Bo Aibiyi in a broken voice.

“Huh? General Baro? Oh, hahahaha! Mr. Hake, perhaps you don’t know, but it was the lord of Morgan City, the great General Baro, who ordered me to come here and seize those two long blades!” Bo Aibiyi turned his head, smiling as he looked at Mr. Hake lying on the ground.

“Of course! General Baro only cares about those two long blades. As for lowly trash like you, even if you all die, General Baro would never blame me. However, I’ll give you a chance, my esteemed Mr. Hake.

Just lower your head and beg me, and perhaps if I’m in a good mood, I might spare you all.” Bo Aibiyi shook the Ice Blade embedded in Mr. Hake’s abdomen.

“Urgh… I… I beg you… I beg you… spare… Jing… spare the people of the village…” The churning in his abdomen made Mr. Hake cry out in agony.

His furious gaze, previously fixed on Bo Aibiyi, now shifted away as he uttered words of supplication.

“Oh? Louder, I can’t hear you! And Mr. Hake, please call me the esteemed Lord Bo Aibiyi. As for yourself, how about referring to yourself as the lowly, humble, pig-and-dog-like Mr. Hake?” Bo Aibiyi said, sounding displeased despite hearing Mr. Hake’s pleas.

“I beg you… esteemed… Lord Bo Aibiyi… please forgive… this… pig-and-dog-like… Mr. Hake… for the offense… I have caused…” Mr. Hake closed his eyes, his voice trembling, as he spoke to Bo Aibiyi.

“Hahaha! Hahahaha! Did everyone hear that? An esteemed archmage is nothing more than a beast, worse than a pig or a dog? However, this creature’s suggestion deviates a bit from mine! So… punishment must be dealt!” Bo Aibiyi suddenly became frenzied again.

He laughed maniacally, waving his arm, and a dozen sharp, forearm-length ice cones materialized in the air.

“The punishment is… death!” Accompanying Bo Aibiyi’s voice, the dozen sharp ice cones instantly pierced Mr. Hake’s limbs, pinning him firmly to the ground.

Nailed to the ground by the ice cones, Mr. Hake gritted his teeth, not uttering a single cry of pain. Instead, his gaze shifted towards Jing.

“Hey? What are you looking at? It’ll be her turn soon, and I was just lying to you. You’ll all die. I’ll send you on your way first, my savior, hahaha!” Bo Aibiyi looked displeased that Mr. Hake hadn’t screamed in agony.

He then pulled the Ice Blade from Mr. Hake’s abdomen and aimed it at Mr. Hake’s heart.

Nailed to the ground by the ice cones, Mr. Hake no longer paid attention to Bo Aibiyi’s actions. Instead, he looked at Jing with eyes full of emotion.

Jing, hearing the dialogue on the platform, had tears streaming down her beautiful face. It shouldn’t be like this… it shouldn’t be like this. Jing’s face should always be adorned with a smile, revealing her two deep dimples, not this expression of sorrow and pain.

It shouldn’t be this way; I failed to protect her… I’m sorry, Jing… Uncle Hake… was too useless… As the Ice Blade in Bo Aibiyi’s hand plunged down, Mr. Hake’s thoughts ceased.

Watching Mr. Hake, who had stopped breathing, Bo Aibiyi seemed uneasy. He pulled out the Ice Blade and stabbed him several more times before finally letting out a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“Hahaha! To think that I, the great peak-level Archmage, would personally slay a noble Archmage! Indeed, I am favored by the gods!” Bo Aibiyi glanced at the thoroughly dead Mr. Hake, then turned around and laughed manically.

“Who else dares to defy me? Who else?!” Bo Aibiyi felt invincible at that moment, shouting boastfully from the podium.

“Pah!” A glob of spit suddenly landed at Bo Aibiyi’s feet.

“You’re seeking death!” Bo Aibiyi felt his face burn. He turned around and glared at Rica, the village chief, who had spat at him.

“Heh, just a despicable, sinister wretch.” Rica lay on the ground, looking at Bo Aibiyi with pity as he spoke.

“Die! [Water Ray]!” Bo Aibiyi furiously unleashed a Water Ray, which pierced the heart of Rica, who still watched him with a mocking expression.

“Your village chief is dead because he opposed me. I’d like to see who else dares to stop me? Now, in this cursed village, I am a god!” Without another glance at Rica, who lay dead with a pierced heart, Bo Aibiyi felt his ego swell boundlessly.

This feeling of controlling others’ lives… it was truly magnificent!

“Pah!”

“Pah!”

“Pah!”

Bo Aibiyi was not met with the trembling bodies and fearful eyes of Balyaas Village’s residents. Instead, he was met with countless jeers and spit.

“You… you… Die… all of you, just die!” Hearing the derisive spitting, Bo Aibiyi could not suppress his rage. His face twisted as he used magic to shoot down villagers one by one.

Facing death, the villagers of Balyaas Village were surprisingly unafraid. Even the most timid among them now looked at Bo Aibiyi on the podium with disdain, utterly unconcerned that the person next to them had just been killed.

“Why force me? Why resist me, trash, trash, trash!” Bo Aibiyi had gone completely mad. He had lost count of how many villagers he had killed with magic, his mind consumed only by the desire to slaughter everyone who dared to defy him.

“Jing… don’t resist me anymore… accept me… use me!” Jing stared at the scene before her, which felt like hell itself. This sight transported Jing back to her former world, where her compatriots were killed one by one, used as test subjects by aliens.

Tears blurred her vision. Why… why was this happening? Grandpa Joseph, Grandma Ila, Mr. Hake, Chief Rica… so many people. Why… The malice that had been suppressed within Jing now surged and churned. At that moment, a strange yet intimately familiar voice suddenly echoed in Jing’s mind.