Chapter 31

“Look! Look!” Mich shouted, throwing Morik to the floor, then grabbing him by the hair and putting him on display for everyone to see.

“It really is him! Morik Fasan! In the flesh!” came a voice from the crowd.

“Ugh, what a pathetic sight,” a woman’s voice said.

“How did he even get in here?! What is this filthy worm doing here?!” another voice followed.

Yan froze on the spot. This had not been part of his plan.

“Morik Fasan?” Zaur said in surprise, stepping forward. “Was last time not enough for you?”

“He is clearly… too old… to remember… the consequences of his previous… antics,” Sapphire mumbled, even though he himself could not even see what everyone was looking at.

“What are you doing here, old man?!” Mich roared.

“I-I… I came…” The sorcerer looked around helplessly and met Yan’s eyes.

The rogue was trying to force his way through the crowd toward him. Lekh and Mekh were far too conspicuous, and Julius was too far away.

“I-I just wanted to watch… the performance,” the mage replied, careful not to give away either Yan or anyone else. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a party like this.” The old man smiled cheerfully.

“And you never will again,” Svono suddenly rasped, looming over the mage.

Mich immediately stepped back. His Master was furious.

“You miserable, useless piece of shit!!!” Svono roared across the entire hall, grabbing Morik by the scruff and lifting him off the ground so that absolutely everyone could see him. “It’s not enough that you disgrace this Academy with your very existence and your idiotic magic!! You also dare defile with your presence an evening attended by guests from other worlds!” The supreme mage was beside himself with rage. “And for that, you will pay with your life!”

Svono clenched his fist, and a savage orange flame burst from it. It engulfed the old mage’s body as easily as dry brushwood catches fire.

A scream filled the guest hall. The smell of burning flesh spread through the air.

And then…

The mage’s blackened body, charred almost to the bone, fell to the floor.

Yan forced his way through the crowd with a shout.

Sovt, Lekh, Mekh, Khad, and Julius froze, unable to believe their eyes. Chadun was shouting something from the upper floors.

Everything seemed to turn upside down. The hall, which only moments ago had been filled with applause and cheerful noise, fell silent.

Yan dropped to his knees before Morik’s body.

Or rather, before what was left of it.

“Oh no…” Eric rasped, his voice gone cold as he looked at Flint.

The representative of the Vault was pale as the moon. Zolotoros stared in shock first at his old friend, then at the crowd of mages led by Svono, Zaur, and Sapphire.

“We need to run,” Flint mouthed. “Eric!”

Something changed in the reception hall.

An invisible presence had suddenly appeared in their midst.

“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Mich suddenly loomed over Yan, grabbing the rogue by the collar of his shirt. “What, you knew him or something?! Did you two decide to ruin our celebration together?! Who the hell are you?!” the fire mage shouted, trying to punch Yan in the back of the head.

But his hand was caught in midair.

“Who am I?” came the reply in a voice that made Mich’s legs tremble. And made every other mage around them take a step back. “What do you think?”

And then two large red eyes looked at the sorcerer.

Filled with hatred.

“RUN!!!” Eric’s thunderous voice suddenly boomed across the entire hall, reinforced by powerful magic. “RUN, YOU IDIOTS!!!”

But it was already too late.

The rogue’s hand had already torn straight through Mich’s body, clutching his still-beating heart on the other side.

“MY NAME IS VIKTOR IRRE FARADAY!!!” thundered across the hall, and a wave of furious energy shattered every single window and pane of glass around them.

Mich’s body collapsed beside what had once been Morik.

Yan raised the hand holding his heart before the stunned mages, who kept unconsciously backing away in terror, and said:

“I CAME HERE TO RIP THE HEARTS OUT OF EVERY MAGE IN THIS ACADEMY!”