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Chapter 79: Purging the Sorcerer’s Lair
Chapter 79: Purging the Sorcerer’s Lair
The Assassin’s Guild was bustling with movement as Seraphis, Elowen, and Sylvaine stood before the mission board once again. The scent of ink and leather-bound parchment mixed with the usual musk of metal and blood. The guild had been giving them more dangerous contracts recently, and today was no different.
Seraphis plucked a parchment from the board.
“Another mage,” she murmured, scanning the details.
Elowen frowned. “Again? Didn’t we just deal with one?”
Sylvaine smirked. “Maybe they’re getting scared. Trying to band together.”
Seraphis rolled up the parchment. “That won’t help them.”
Their new target was a powerful mage named Vaelor—a practitioner of dark arts, known for his research into forbidden spells. Unlike the librarian, he wasn’t alone. He had three apprentices.
Seraphis turned to her daughters. “We’re not just dealing with a single target. This time, we take down all four.”
Elowen adjusted her twin daggers. “So… another book-burning mission?”
Seraphis grinned. “Something like that.”
With that, they set off.
Tracking the Mage
Vaelor’s base of operations lay deep in the northern woods—hidden between crumbling ruins that once belonged to an ancient order of sorcerers. The structure had long since fallen to decay, but the mage had repurposed it into a sanctuary for his experiments.
The air was thick with mana, humming with unseen energy. Protective wards lined the entrance—glowing faintly under the moonlight.
Sylvaine studied the sigils. “Layered defenses.”
Seraphis ran her fingers over the runes, feeling the dark energy pulsing beneath them. “Clever.”
Elowen smirked. “Clever doesn’t mean unbreakable.”
Seraphis pulled out one of the forbidden tomes they had taken from the librarian’s library. Flipping through the pages, she found what she was looking for.
A counter-ward spell.
She placed her palm against the runes and whispered the incantation. The sigils flickered—then shattered like glass.
The path was open.
The Sorcerer’s Lair
The moment they stepped inside, the scent of burnt incense and rotting herbs filled their lungs. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with dark tomes, spell scrolls, and strange relics.
Then, a voice echoed from the shadows.
“You came sooner than expected.”
Vaelor emerged from the darkness.
He was tall and draped in a heavy crimson robe, embroidered with silver arcane symbols. His hair was white, streaked with black, and his eyes glowed with unnatural energy.
Behind him, his three apprentices stood at the ready.
One carried a staff crackling with blue lightning.
Another held a dagger infused with dark energy.
The last one chanted, forming defensive barriers.
Vaelor smiled. “The infamous assassins. I was wondering when you’d come for me.”
Seraphis smirked. “Then you know how this ends.”
Vaelor’s eyes darkened. “You assume much.”
Then, he raised his hands—unleashing hell.
The Battle Begins
A shockwave of arcane force erupted from Vaelor’s palms, shattering the stone floor beneath them. Elowen and Sylvaine leapt aside, dodging just in time.
The apprentice with the staff launched bolts of lightning toward them. Sylvaine twisted mid-air, narrowly avoiding the strike before throwing a dagger straight at his heart.
But—his barrier absorbed the attack.
Seraphis moved like a shadow, disappearing and reappearing behind the apprentice with the dagger. She whispered a single word.
Slice.
Her metal cards pierced straight through his back.
Blood splattered across the floor as he collapsed, gurgling.
The other two apprentices staggered back in shock.
Vaelor’s face twisted in rage. “Kill them.”
The Mages’ Fury
The second apprentice conjured black tendrils of shadow, snaking toward Elowen. She rolled under them, slicing them apart mid-motion. Her blade shimmered, cutting through the dark energy.
Sylvaine took the chance—closing the gap in a flash. Her blade found its mark. A clean strike to the throat.
The apprentice gasped—then fell lifelessly to the ground.
Now, only Vaelor and the last apprentice remained.
Vaelor snarled, his patience running thin. He stomped his foot—and the entire room trembled.
The stone beneath them cracked apart, revealing an abyss of swirling dark energy.
“You think you can kill me so easily?” he growled.
Seraphis smirked. “I know we can.”
Vaelor hurled a firestorm toward them.
Seraphis flicked her wrist—her metal cards merged into a shield of spinning blades. The fire slammed into it, dissipating upon impact.
Sylvaine darted forward, her blade aimed for his heart.
At the last second, Vaelor teleported.
But he didn’t see Elowen waiting behind him.
Her blade sank deep into his back.
Vaelor choked, his body convulsing. “I…”
Seraphis walked up to him, staring into his fading eyes.
“This is where your story ends.”
With a flick of her wrist—her cards decapitated him.
His head hit the floor.
Burning It All Down
The fight was over.
The apprentices were dead. Vaelor was dead.
But their mission wasn’t complete yet.
Seraphis turned to her daughters. “Take everything.”
They worked quickly—grabbing every magic crystal, every forbidden tome, every enchanted scroll.
When they were finished, Seraphis stood in the center of the lair, holding a single metal card.
“Burn it.”
Sylvaine tossed an explosive crystal into the center of the room.
Elowen ignited the flame.
The explosion roared, engulfing the entire lair in an inferno. Flames devoured everything—turning the sorcerer’s dark sanctuary into nothing but ash and ruin.
Returning to the Guild
The assassin’s guild was quiet when they returned. The receptionist looked up, raising an eyebrow.
Seraphis dropped four heads onto the counter.
“It’s done.”
The receptionist exhaled. “Damn. You work fast.”
She handed them their reward.
Sylvaine leaned against the counter. “Let us know when you find someone harder.”
The receptionist chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Seraphis glanced at her daughters. They were growing stronger with each mission.