Release That Succubus

To onlookers, it appeared that the two mages were evenly matched, but the reality was that the water mage was completely on the defensive. He owed his survival to the fact that his water magic was constantly weakening the momentum of Luna's fiery attacks. If not for this, Luna's first strike would have been his last.

With each swing of Luna's blue sword, the water bubbles surrounding the mage's body grew smaller and more unstable, threatening to burst at any moment. Despite this, the water mage persisted, using more and more of his mana reserves to keep himself alive.

But Luna was relentless. Her anger at Sosis family, who had dared to attack her master, fueled her determination to defeat the water mage. She swung her sword with precision and power, her attacks draining the water mage's mana reserves and leaving him increasingly vulnerable to her flames.

Luna seethed with annoyings at Raisman's attempt to attack her master. Though she couldn't take her anger out on Raisman directly, she unleashed her fury on the water mage, who was nothing more than a lackey of her master's enemies. She swung her sword with reckless abandon, depleting the water mage's mana reserves with every strike.

Despite being a rank weaker than Luna, the water mage did his best to defend himself. But it was a losing battle. Luna's attacks were too powerful, and he couldn't keep up with her relentless assault. Finally, after just ten seconds of fighting, the water bubble surrounding his body burst with a loud explosion.

The resulting mist filled the air, obscuring the battlefield from view. Luna emerged from the mist, panting heavily but victorious. She lowered her sword, her eyes fixed on Raisman and his cohorts.

The water mage flew backwards like a kite with its string cut loose and hit a tree and left a deep gorge in the sturdy tree trunk. The front of his body looked badly burnt while his arms were charred black since he had used them to block the brunt of the explosion.

Luna on the other hand didn't even have a scratch as she walked back towards her master. The sword in her hand vanished as if on cue.

Frederick was shocked to see Zach's companion walking out of the mist completely fine with not a hair out of place. A chill spread throughout his body starting from his spine that left his whole body tingling.

Zach found Frederick's current expression extremely funny. He felt that if Frederick had been one of those cartoon characters from his previous world, his jaw would have definitely struck the ground by then.

Zach looked at Frederick with a smile that was clearly not a smile but a naked threat; a show of his power.

Frederick gulped and it seemed as if he managed to calculate several things in that very moment. He didn't even need to look at his subordinate to know that he was in a miserable condition. The only reason he was still alive was because the enemy didn't intend to kill him in the first place. This kind of elemental control had reached the realm where one didn't need to worry about the weakness of the elements at all. Moreover, he was sure that the fire mage was definitely stronger not just in terms of control but also in terms of magic level and experience.

Zach gave the victorious Luna a heartfelt smile that indicated his appreciation for how splendidly she had performed. She had not only defeated her enemy without suffering an injury but had also done it in the shortest possible time which was quite a blow to the Sosis family.

Zach felt that this much was enough. He had managed prove his point to Frederick and there was no point in continuing to be aggressive against an enemy that had already lost to him. It would only make him look petty.

"Since this is settled, I would ask you not to pressurize the Luther family based on the previous engagement between your son and Diana. I will however not claim to be entirely free of fault in this situation since Diana did in fact have a prior engagement to your son and I fell in love with her despite knowing about it. My actions may seem immoral in the eyes of the society or the high families of this city, but they aren't so in my eyes.

I pursue the things that I want and I obtain them no matter the cost. However as an apology for my actions that may have caused harm to your family reputation, I would send a gift to your Sosis family in two days as a means of reparation between the two families. Hopefully you will forget wh…"

"Aaaarrghhhh~"

Zach's monologue was interrupted by a bestial roar that erupted out of Raisman's mouth as he thought of Diana in the arms of this dark mage. He was not content with just letting Diana go. Even if he had to kill Zach to get her, Raisman was willing to do so.

Thinking that both Zach and his companion were magicians, Raisman thought about calling on the most powerful swordsman under the Sosis family in order to take care of them. After all in terms of close quarter combat, there was not a single mage that could guarantee a win going up against a swordsman.

No matter where it was, balance existed in nature. While mages received a great boost in their mana control due to the constant practice of their magic, their physical bodies tended to be very fragile compared to warriors of equivalent strength.

The warriors on the other hand trained their physical bodies to near perfection but on the other hand did not have the opportunity to or lacked the talent to train their mana to an acceptable level.

The powerful swordsman that Raisman was thinking of calling was one such trump card that the Sosis family had to deal with troublesome mages who were unbeatable at the same level or had troublesome magical talents.

"Father, we don't need to hear this bullsh*t. Are you going to let them go just because of one match that wasn't even fair to begin with?" Raisman looked at his father in disbelief as he had never expected his father to give in to the dark mage so easily.

Frederick looked at Raisman as if he was looking at a fool who was unfamiliar with how the world truly worked.

"Maybe I have pampered him so much that he has lost sight of the big picture. He is too focused on a tiny little thing when there is a possibility of something greater through collaboration." Frederick thought to himself with a slight regret.

Before Raisman could do something irreparable, Frederick held his arm in order to keep him in check.

Raisman tried to put in some force but he was still a powerless kid in front of his father who was strong beyond his imaginations.

"Father let's have another match between that mage and one of our subordinates. This is not fair. The fire mage was definitely a rank higher than our participant. Let's have his participant fight our swordsman who will act like a mage. Wouldn't it be wonderful to let them have a taste of their own medicine?" Raisman whispered in his father's ear in a voice that was too low for either the fire mage or Zach to hear.

Frederick on the other hand acted as if he was facing continuous disappointment from his son. He shook his head at his son in order to forbid him from making useless moves that might deteriorate their relationship with Zach even further than it already was.

"I respect your courage in being able to pursue your love without caring about the societal norms; not all the men your age would be able to do such a thing even when facing similar odds. Even though our meeting might not have taken place with the best of intentions, I would be extremely happy to make your acquaintance as a friend rather than a potential enemy. After all, one doesn't meet people with potential like you on a daily basis." Frederick said with a cheerful smile this time that seemed to be saying, "Let's forget about the past and make a new start towards a happy and fulfilled life."

Frederick thought that he was acting sincere enough but Zach could only think of those child traffickers who acted like the friendly neighbors before kidnapping the innocent kids who got caught unaware. He didn't buy a single word that came out of Frederick's mouth because he was sure that the moment that Frederick thought that he could take on Zach on his own, that would be the day that Zach would end up with a knife in his back.

Frederick noticed Zach as he got lost in thought thinking about the offer that Frederick had made him for a friendship that might turn out to be more beneficial to both the parties. Therefore, he decided to sweeten the pot a little.

"My family's power and influence and your strength as a dark mage, we can easily become the sole rulers of this city if we join hands; you in the shadows and me in the light. I can even help you stay out of trouble with the little influence I still have in this city so that you can go around places normally without being wary of any attack."

"I am not a dark mage. I have been repeatedly stressing this point but not one person seems interested in what I try to tell them."