No one there had imagined that while they were still planning how to deal with the traitor, Adam had already come knocking at their gate. Still, anyone who could hold the seat of city lord counted as an elite of the family, and they did not lose their heads at the sudden turn of events. The moment the orders went out they began chanting spells, while that Magefoe apprentice named Dawn summoned a bizarre two-headed, three-legged bird, flung it upward with both hands, and the bird beat its wings and flew inland.
The bird had barely finished its first wingbeat when a burst of negative energy smashed it into ground meat.
The Magefoe apprentices went pale at once. They had just joined forces to prepare a large-scale spell, hoping to kill Adam in a single blow, but the stability they could barely hold together was thrown into chaos by this abrupt surge of same-source energy. Stability was the most vital thing in any magic, and ancient magic had always been weak on that front; now their spiritual power was reeling, the negative energy backfired on them, and their hearts filled with doubt and alarm.
"Negative-energy magic? Has a traitor appeared in the family?"
Before they could even check themselves, a ghostly wail rose at their feet: "Master! Wait—your most loyal servant is still in danger over here!"
"Thunder Domain."
Adam's cold voice rang out across heaven and earth. Rune light lit up the town in the dusk, rolling thunderclouds gathered in the sky, and the lightning churned through the dark clouds like giant dragons, fangs bared and claws spread.
