Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

"Aren't you afraid of the law enforcement wizards of Cletam City by making such a commotion?"

Bernal said something indifferently, then casually took out a soul atom and tapped it down to relieve the pain in his soul.

The lead wizard smiled contemptuously upon seeing this, "We've bribed all the law enforcement wizards around here; they won't show up on this street. They'll come out and clean up the mess for us after we've succeeded."

Bernal was startled by what he heard, and silver rings flashed in his eyes. In an instant, a huge phantom of a silver tree appeared in the sky behind him, but it was covered with black spots that looked like insect bites.

A thick branch extended from the illusory image of the silver tree and lashed straight at the face of the leading wizard. The leading wizard, who was directly in front of him, changed his expression slightly and subconsciously raised his hands to block in front of him.

"boom!"

"Click~ Click~~"

A huge, dark green metal shield appeared before the youth, creaking under its weight.

The shattered metal shield crashed down, revealing the young man's somewhat unattractive face. On his hand, a beautiful ring had been shattered into pieces.

"Let's do it!"

The leading wizard gave a low shout, and the people behind him immediately sprang into action, causing the energy in the air to fluctuate violently.

Bernal took a step forward without any change in expression, and appeared in front of them like a ghost.

"Swish swish swish swish~~~~"

He pointed his wand forward, and the phantom of the silver tree sent down a shower of silver leaves, which flew towards the wizards like silver daggers.

As the silver leaf dagger slashed through the twilight, tiny glints of silver light suddenly rose in the air.

It crashed straight into the crimson fireball condensed at the tip of one of the wands—the magical light was sizzling and burning, and the distorted heat wave had baked the surrounding dust into dancing golden light.

The moment the blade cut into the fireball, there was no earth-shattering explosion, but rather a crisp sound like shattering glass, before it turned into thousands of fireflies that fell in a flurry.

In their astonished pupils, the silver leaf throwing knife continued its trajectory without slowing down, and the cold radiance flowing from its blade suddenly surged, drawing a semi-transparent arc of light in mid-air.

The next second, the arc of light slammed into the red shield in front of the wizard, causing it to cave inwards, and the runes that appeared on the surface broke apart layer by layer like a spider web being crushed.

The shield trembled and emitted a muffled thunderous roar. Cracks spread wildly from the point of impact, and the red light dimmed at a visible speed.

When the tip of the silver leaf throwing knife completely pierced the shield, the entire barrier collapsed with a roar, and the spells and protective shield of the wizards were cut into pieces as if they were made of paper.

"Don't think you're the only one with a soul seal."

The leading wizard shouted, energy patterns lit up on both sides of his cheeks, and raised his hands, while a small hurricane phantom appeared behind him.

He pushed forward with both hands, and a powerful hurricane roared forward, giving all flying sand, grass clippings, pebbles, and wood chips a powerful forward momentum, causing massive impact damage to everything in its path.

Bernal's black-spotted silver tree rapidly expanded in front of him, transforming into a giant tree phantom several meters tall, shielding him from the damage of the howling hurricane and also protecting the family castle behind him.

The hurricane's energy collided with the silver trees, and everywhere, compressed energy particles exploded into invisible ripples. Bernal let out a muffled groan, and his powerful body seemed to tremble slightly.

At the same time, two figures emerged from behind him, one on the left and one on the right. One of them emitted a large amount of energy fluctuations that coalesced into a fireball, scorching the air as it swiftly moved toward Bernal's location.

The other wizard's palm produced a glowing yellow crystal ball, an activated high-level magical artifact that emitted beams of bright yellow light. It landed on the ground, carving deep furrows and continuing to advance.

Bernal gritted his teeth and forced the silver tree to split into two branches. One branch knocked away the yellow crystal ball, and the other directly shattered the fireball. However, its movements seemed to have become much more sluggish.

"His soul seal is collapsing and shrinking! He's dying."

The lead wizard's eyes lit up, and he shouted loudly. A sinister look flashed across his face, and the black thorns on his thorn headband stabbed fiercely, drawing blood. The hurricane phantom that was originally clashing with the silver giant tree suddenly intensified its power.

The hurricane phantom emitted a blinding light, and the terrifying energy aftershocks swept away everything in its path.

A muffled groan rose from the swirling dust, followed by hurried footsteps, and finally all noise subsided.

"Slap~ Slap~~"

The leading wizard gently smoothed out the slight wrinkles in his robes, brushed away non-existent dust, wiped the blood from his head and face, straightened his collar, and then slowly walked over, stepping over the broken and chaotic ground.

At this moment, Bernal's ribs were visibly collapsed. He lay on the stone steps of the castle gate, barely alive, his silver robes completely stained red with the blood seeping from beneath.

"My name is Deren."

He walked up to Bernal, bent down, and whispered something.

"Did you remember?"

He reached out and gently patted Bernal's cheek.

Bernal was like an old wolf just pulled out of a trap, covered in wounds, surrounded by indifferent hunters one after another, while he only had the strength to gasp for breath.

The leading wizard, Dren, had somehow acquired a strange black dagger. Runes shimmered on the dagger, and its blade was serrated, covered with tiny, curved barbs.

He said calmly, "Bernard, who was once at the height of his power, is now like a dead dog at my mercy. This is the consequence of offending the Thorns of Pain."

Deren walked up to Bernal and waved the black dagger in front of him. "Hand over your family's ancestral seal obediently, and you might not have to experience the pain of this dagger. It can amplify your suffering five to ten times."

Bernal squinted and spat at him with a look of disdain.

Deren dodged the attack by tilting his head, and without saying a word, he plunged his knife into Bernal's abdomen!

"snort!"

Bernal trembled violently, and veins bulged rapidly on his neck and cheeks. Sweat soaked his hair and clothes almost instantly.

Strangely, no blood flowed from the spot where he was stabbed by the black dagger.

After the black dagger pierced Bernal's body, the runes on the dagger immediately lit up, and then the young wizard Dren, with a contorted expression, gripped the hilt with both hands and pulled it upwards.

During this process, the flesh on Bernal's abdomen was pulled and rolled up by the fine hooks on the dagger, but what truly caused him pain was the soul-crushing sensation, a pain he had experienced before and did not want to recall.

Some invisible souls that were almost intertwined with his flesh and blood were being forcibly pulled out of his body.

That dagger seemed to forcefully pierce the veil between reality and the spirit world, striking the soul directly and inflicting pain on both the soul and the body.

This pain was magnified several times over at this moment, making it unimaginable how soul-crushing the agony was, to the point that one couldn't even scream, only able to open their mouth wide to breathe.

Bernal's body went from trembling to convulsing, then to numbness and deathly silence.

With his hands gripping the dagger tightly, Deren's cheeks flushed slightly from the immense pleasure of revenge.

Just then, a beautiful figure rushed out of the castle gate and pounced on Bernal.

She cried out loudly, "I said, please stop hurting my brother!"

Deren laughed menacingly, "What a reckless little wildcat! I'll turn you into a little dead cat in a minute."

After saying that, he raised the Pain Dagger high with both hands, ready to plunge it into Serena's back and let her experience the pain it brought.

Just then, Bernal rolled over and shielded Serena with his body, taking the blow from Dren for her. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans dripped from his extremely pale face.

He looked at Serena with a wry smile and said, "Don't be silly, sister. You are just a lowly apprentice wizard. Your weak soul cannot withstand the damage of the Pain Dagger. Don't make a pointless sacrifice. I will bear the burden of the Krogg family's suffering."