Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer
chapter-148

"...fuck! Fuck! God damn it all!!"

Neon ruthlessly threw out an attack after another. He looked wretched and furious as he repeatedly slammed his body into the invisible cage they were imprisoned in until it was stained with his blood.

It isn't just him...Demon Prince Tul was in a similar state. In his true form, Demon Prince Tul is a Hawk Demon, yet despite having those fierce wings that could reap lives like wheat, it didn't give him any freedom to escape their predicament.

They're all out of options. They tried all they could but they couldn't escape.

They did discover why their communication was cut-off, it's because there is an invisible cage here that isolated them from the outside. None of them knew when it appeared nor how big it was exactly, all they knew is that, if they want to flee and live, they have to break this invisible cage.

Unfortunately, that's proving to be challenging.

At this point, these two couldn't be bothered to check the state of their comrades. Simply put, they couldn't care less anymore.

Neon and Tul wanted to live. Who cares if their comrades couldn't make it? At the end of the day, living is living, they didn't care if the rest resented them in the afterlife. As long as they live, they could give up everything.

Besides, there has been a tacit understanding, no? Else, why would their comrades send the two of them away if they didn't want to allow them to retreat and live? Wasn't that the point?

But...oh how despairing this was...

No matter how much they tried. No didn't matter which method they used. They're trapped here and there's no going out, whether they like it or not.

"...ah, there you are..."

Chills ran down their spine as they heard that deep and raspy voice. Both Neon and Tul mechanically turned around, only to see the White-Cloaked Reaper marching at a steady pace toward them.

'No way...it hasn't even been ten minutes.' Neon howled in despair inwardly.

Upon seeing him, Neon felt the last plume of hope disappearing within his heart. He choked, feeling suffocated as if Death itself was gripping his neck.

Demon Prince Tul collapsed on the ground, staring blankly at the marching figure. It was obvious that he had given up as well.

"Thanks for making my job easier by the way. You did me a solid. I appreciate that." Ashton chuckled as he dragged his scythe.

To Neon and Tul's ears though, his words and his voice sounded so ominous that they felt their souls shivering from it.

"...I see you didn't manage to break it. My, that's sad." Ashton sneered in disdain, "And to think that your comrades tried to buy you time to escape. You two are really useless. You can't even do such a simple thing."

"..."

Neon and Tul didn't say a word. There's simply no reason to. They're cornered either way. It's not like wasting words to a madman will miraculously give them a way out.

They're not that stupid. They both know that this person is determined to kill all of them today, and no amount of pleading will stop him.

"Well...seeing as the two of you already accepted your fate, I guess I can be generous." Ashton stated, "Do you have anything to say before you die? Do it now while I'm still in a good mood."

"...what did you do to the Dragon Vein?" Demon Prince Tul asked hollowly. It was his last attempt at doing something meaningful as a Demon.

"What Dragon Vein?" Ashton tilted his head and asked in a confused manner, lying as naturally as he breathed.

Neon and Tul were stunned. They both thought to themselves: 'It wasn't him? Who was it then?'

"Hey, I asked you two a question." Ashton shook them out of their stupor. "What is a Dragon Vein?"

In their ears, the White-Cloaked Reaper sounded genuinely curious and confused.

"Hmph. What's the point of telling you? You're going to kill us anyway." Tul sneered. Neon did so too.

Ashton laughed in disdain inwardly. Feeling very proud of himself.

'Yep, they're stupid alright. I can't believe that worked.'

Yes. There's no need for them to know. Let them be ignorant til the day they die. It's better this way.

"Whatever then..." Ashton shrugged. Looking and sounding unconcerned. "Anything else you want to say? Or ask?"

"Why kill us?" Neon asked. "It doesn't make sense to me. Be it you're an Angel or a Demon, why do this? Even if you didn't know what exactly our mission is here, why kill? It's our last day here! Why did you have to go and mess this all up?"

'...wow.' Ashton was mildly speechless. 'Are you for real? They honestly still don't know that I'm a human. Didn't I show them my guns earlier? I also casted several Spells in front of them, yet they still didn't get the clue?'

'Wow...just...wow.'

Ashton truly didn't know what to feel about this. On one hand, he's a bit offended since the freaks truly didn't put humans in their eyes. On the other hand...

'Well, I guess it works this way too. If they didn't know that I'm human, then they wouldn't blame humans for the disaster I caused them.'

'...but still, they did really not think that I could possibly be human too?'

'Ah, it's because I'm speaking their language isn't it? Yeah, that might be it.'

Thanks to his Omnilingual Skill, he could understand and speak all kinds of languages he comes across. The invaders probably never met a human who understood their language which lead to this situation.

"I have no desire to return home." Ashton shrugged, lying once again as naturally as he breathed, "There's nothing for me there. Nobody's left. I grew tired of being a mindless doll for your amusement I suppose."

"Therefore I say...fuck it. Salvation? Eternal Glory? None of those mean shit to me. I'd rather go out with a bang rather than return to being a mindless puppet."

Ashton was talking out of his ass here, but looking at the wonderful expressions that colored the faces of both Neon and Tul, he'd say that whatever he said must've rattled them badly enough that they looked thoroughly offended.

"Heresy!" Neon spat.

"Mhm. Sounds about right." Ashton confirmed semi-consciously. "Anyways, that's enough living for the both of you. Pick. I kill you or you kill yourselves. The timer starts now. Five..."

Neon and Tul looked at each other and nodded. They then ignited their bodies and exploded into bits before Ashton could even finish his countdown.

"Whoa, synchronized suicide. How rare. How nice of them, making my job so much easier." He giggled as he stretched his scythe forward.

The scythe then greedily absorbed their blood while the remains of their corpses were burned by white flames.

Ashton looked around to see the sea of white flames raging around him. A smile appeared on his face as he mused.

'Good thing I set up an isolation zone earlier, else I would've been forced to flee by the Apostle and the Sin Demon.'

The Invisible Cage which isolated the entire Chaotic Warzone was something that occurred when Ashton shot the rocket shell he fired off earlier. More specifically, it's a side effect of that thanks to the formula of spells he used in conjunction with the Mortal Reminder's conversion.

The cage is a fearsome trap that will last for half an hour. It is indestructible and invisible. Only Ashton can come and leave as he pleased, everyone else who was caught up in it will be trapped, whether they liked it or not.

Of course, there are limitations to the toughness of the cage, but since he's only dealing with the 1st Sphere Angels and Noble Demons, then it's more than enough.

He mixed up at least 10 High-Order Spells to make this happen so he was thankful that it worked as intended.

Once the scythe was done absorbing the blood, he sighed in relief.

He then flew like a streak of light to the camps of both Angels and Demons. There was no hiding this time, he didn't care whether he triggered an alarm, everyone was dead anyway so what's the point of being careful?

He plundered the treasures they have. Although they were usable for Humans, he can leave them for Aria to study so that she might improve her skills. Who knows, maybe she can make them usable for humans one day.

Ashton also collected a lot of Angelic and Demonic remains like; halos, eyes, crowns, horns, bones, feathers, etc. Those would be extremely useful so he stored them in his Inventory.

Looking at the Dragon Vein - which took on a form of a Wood Dragon, and Hilda who were both slumbering in his consciousness. He felt at ease.

He fulfilled his promise and demolished the Chaotic Warzone. As a bonus, his identity was never compromised so his actions wouldn't be tied to Humanity.

A job well done, if he does say so at least...

"Alright..." Ashton whispered as he turned his back to the sea of white flames.

"Time to go home."