Every bone in Ezel's body had been shattered. He lay unconscious at the bottom of the crater, limp as a sack of jelly.
"That was rather brutal. Poor thing," Ultear remarked without a trace of sympathy.
Sawyer looked toward Jellal. "Are we taking him back to the guild?"
Jellal considered it for a moment, then shook his head.
"Macbeth can use illusion magic. Let's see if we can extract some information about Tartaros first."
The journey back would give Ezel's allies plenty of chances to interfere.
If they could question him here, even a little information would be better than none.
"Understood."
Macbeth climbed into the crater and crouched beside the unconscious demon. He placed a hand on Ezel's head and quietly activated his magic.
A boundless illusion engulfed Ezel's confused mind. His barely open eyes gradually lost focus and became empty.
Macbeth immediately asked, "Tell me Tartaros's plan. Why did you kill the councilor?"
Ezel's vacant eyes opened wider.
"To destroy Ishgar… then use the opportunity to relocate to the northern continent…"
His voice came out in broken fragments.
Macbeth frowned and prepared to press him for more, only for an explosion to erupt beside them.
"Watch out!"
Everyone shouted at once.
Sawyer, the fastest among them, had already placed himself in front of Macbeth.
A broad-shouldered man in a black robe appeared from nowhere and rushed toward them like a ghost.
A horrifying blood-red demon mask concealed his face.
Sawyer launched a kick straight at the attacker's head.
The man made no attempt to dodge.
Sawyer's foot struck him squarely—and his head burst apart like black smoke.
The seemingly solid body dissolved into a cloud of dark particles, yet continued surging toward Macbeth without slowing down.
Macbeth reacted instantly. He activated his Distortion Magic and bent the destructive energy released from the man's hand away from himself.
Ezel was not nearly as fortunate.
The mysterious attacker's blast struck him directly.
He died on the spot.
"You—!"
Macbeth's eyes widened.
Did Tartaros seriously have someone whose job was to silence the people sent to silence others?
How many layers did this operation have?
Then again, these demons possessed some kind of resurrection system. From their perspective, "rescuing" a comrade by killing him was apparently perfectly reasonable.
At the very least, it certainly prevented him from leaking information.
"Six-Star Barrage!"
Jellal circled behind the masked man and fired a spread of Magic Power from one hand. Six powerful projectiles spiraled toward their target like artillery shells.
The mysterious man remained intangible.
The attacks passed uselessly through his body as he repeatedly dissolved and reformed.
Jellal frowned.
"Are you another officer of Tartaros?"
A low laugh came from beneath the blood-red mask.
"Do not compare me to those inferior creations."
Jellal paused, unable to immediately understand what he meant.
Before he could think any further, the enemy attacked again.
Boom!
The masked man punched the already weakened crater, blasting it several meters deeper.
The surrounding layers of sand collapsed completely, burying every member of Crime Sorcière beneath them.
'What monstrous strength…'
Jellal quickly pulled himself free from the sand and immediately retaliated.
Familiar golden lights appeared beneath the black-robed man's feet—the formation of Grand Chariot, the same spell that had broken through Ezel's defenses.
"Naive."
The masked man grinned beneath his disguise.
His body suddenly expanded, releasing an overwhelming torrent of black particles in every direction.
The silent dust grew denser as it drifted through the air.
The instant Jellal breathed in the contaminated atmosphere, his expression changed drastically.
He covered his nose and mouth and retreated at full speed, desperate to create some distance.
Grand Chariot's formation faded before it could activate.
The enemy's ghostly body seemed to dissolve into the very air around them, becoming an invisible beast that tore at their internal organs with every breath.
"My Magic Power is…"
Jellal felt his organs beginning to convulse.
His Magic Power rapidly weakened, and even breathing became excruciating.
To a mage, Magic Power was as essential as blood.
Losing too much of it—or having its flow severely disrupted—could quickly become fatal.
Darkness crept into the edges of Jellal's vision.
He turned toward his companions and saw that they had also been caught in the rapidly spreading black mist. Each of them was showing varying degrees of distress.
Ultear forced herself upright despite the deterioration taking place inside her body and activated her Time Magic.
The black mist covering the area began flowing backward toward its source, temporarily reducing the concentration around them.
"Sawyer, get everyone out of here!"
Ultear shouted through clenched teeth.
Sawyer slapped his trembling legs hard and forced himself to activate his acceleration magic again.
He lifted Meredy onto his back and started carrying her out of the contaminated zone.
Watching them struggle, the mysterious man let out a contemptuous sigh.
"My body is composed of Magic Barrier Particles."
"They directly corrode the organs and tissues of living creatures, causing suffocation and organ failure. Against mages, they also disrupt the circulation of Magic Power."
The masked man was kind enough to explain his ability to the barely standing Ultear.
Then he sneered.
"That is the difference between demons and humans. Creatures like you, who depend upon Magic Power, can so easily have your lives stolen by Magic Deficiency Disease."
Ultear no longer had the strength to answer.
Behind him, veins bulged across Jellal's forehead. He forced himself to stand and drove a fist into the masked man, trying to stop his advance.
His attack only scattered the man's body into particles.
"Tch…"
The mysterious attacker glanced back at Jellal in annoyance.
He slowly raised one hand, preparing to finish off the man who was already suffering from both Magic Deficiency Disease and the physical destruction of his organs.
Then his hand abruptly stopped.
"Hm?"
For some unknown reason, he abandoned the attack entirely.
Instead, he kicked Jellal far across the sand.
"You've been granted another chance at life."
The masked man swept a cold gaze across the members of Crime Sorcière before dissolving into black mist and flying into the distance.
Jellal gritted his teeth in frustration.
He hurried to Ultear's side and took over for the nearly unconscious woman, using the little Wind Magic he knew to push the remaining Magic Barrier Particles away from the group.
...
Not far from them, within the raging desert storm, the mysterious man's body reassembled.
He silently fell into step behind an elderly man walking ahead of him.
"August, why did you stop me from killing them?"
His muffled voice rumbled through the storm.
The old man possessed a gentle face, yet naturally carried an imposing dignity. He tapped his staff against the ground.
"Bloodman, His Majesty would not permit us to act against Ankhseram's companions without authorization."
Bloodman fell silent.
The old man named August continued through the storm, leaning on his staff.
His ancient voice drifted through the desert winds.
"Our task is to ensure that Tartaros carries out its plan successfully, so they can draw our true target into the open."
"Until then, do nothing unnecessary."
"And do not attract His attention."