Rise of Myriad Magic Emperor

Chapter 163: Hunter and Prey

"Today, You shall not leave"

Upon hearing those words in a familiar voice. The heartbeat of Garfield, Valdi, and Tabran started to increase till the moment they can't hear any other sound aside from it, their lips trembled and all their senses were taken over by the sense of crisis and fear.

Unwilling, they slowly turned their heads and saw the face of the person they least wanted to see.

The third most powerful person, and the strongest light magic user on the continent.

Chaotic magic power surrounded his entire body that glowed in white brilliance influenced by light attribute magic. His magic power surged and pulsated with power, making his loose golden dress and white beard wave with the rhythm.

His clean sharp green eyes were gazing straight at Garfield and his fellow Archbishop with only anger inside them.

One day ago, he had received an emergency message from the Empress of the Oman Empire as well as the Emperor of the Chaos Empire.

He was quite astonished to see that both of the emperors will send a message through the emergency channel that is only used to share important information. The last time it happened was three months ago. When the Oman Empire had told them about the resurrection of the Undead Emperor Yakto.

But after reading the message, he couldn't believe that such a conspiracy was going on under his nose and he did not even have a single idea about it. The organization called Golden star-cross, and their motive to control various continents forces from behind the scenes.

In the message, the Empress of the Oman Empire had also mentioned the connection between Archbishop Garfield and his relationship with Count Adwin. The more he knew the Angrier he became.

'To think that they made such a fool out of me'

Those were the only thoughts that were going inside his head yesterday night.

After that, he made a plan and wanted to execute it secretly. With the help of neutral Archbishops, he called Archbishop Fardin and Martin to create a situation where they will show their real colors. It went as planned, their true faces were exposed. The only unexpected thing was that the believers and the public started to fight, which was supposed to be an act.

'Hopefully, those fellows will be able to take care of them'

Thinking so, Josif focused his entire attention on the three Archbishops before his eyes. His lips curled as he looked at them with a wicked smile.

"Did you think that you could run away from me, in my own territory, right under my nose without me noticing?"

He started walking towards them, one step at a time. With each step, the magic pressure that was spreading from him increased making the three Archbishops feel suffocated. 

They were trying to resist gradually calming their minds. Though, they were caught off guard due to the sudden appearance of Josif. Slowly they were getting control over their thoughts while trying to resist the magic pressure with their own early-stage Magic Champions of level two and tree.

However, they still struggled to stand up. This was the first time they were witnessing the depth of cultivation of one of the oldest monsters that lived close to one thousand years.

The difference between an early-stage Magic Champion and half step Saint expert was too big.

The chaotic magic power started to intensify, making the wind surges inside the treasury stronger, to the point of making it harder for the three of them to stand still before the crushing might of Josif cultivation.

"Emperor Josif, what are you doing here! Don't you know? This is the treasury of the Radiant Sun God Church, only people associated with the Church are allowed to enter!"

"Yes, Emperor Josif. The rules must be followed, even if you are to the ruler of this land" 

Hearing that desperate shouting of Garfield and his group who were trying to act righteously. Josif felt even more disgusted about them.

'These guys are still trying to act. Even after knowing that all of their deeds are exposed, they still ask such questions without a bit of remorse or penance in their hearts'

Making Josif lose focus with the questions, they created a small gap enough for them to cast their magic.

"Chains of hell binding"

A Rank 6 light attribute binding magic that temporarily restricted the target.

Brilliant white chains of light raised from the ground binding Josif.

That gave them enough time to break away from the influence of the magic pressure. One after another they quickly entered the hidden tunnel without looking back.

Josif looked at the chains binding him and the tunnel in which Garfield and his friends had escaped to and smiled.

'Foolish, I gave you the chance to kill me, instead, you guys simply used binding spells. What can you fools do? Those guys only teach binding, barrier, and healing type light magic to non-members of their family' Thought Josif and used his own spell. Ten golden swords appeared floating around him, he used them to break the chains. All this time his expression remained indifferent.

'Let's see if you can exit the tunnel first or will it turn into your final resting place'

Josif walked to the entrance and looked towards the ceiling, he used his hand to press one of the bricks and entered the tunnel.

[Inside the tunnel]

The passage was dark and narrow with only torches on the wall, dimly illuminating the tunnel. Garfield and his fellow Archbishops moved through it with the constant sound of winds and footsteps ringing in their ears. With each passing second, they ran faster and faster, trying to escape from Joseph's hands.

They are well aware that their binding spell will not be able to stop Josif for long. No, it was of no use against an opponent like Josif. The gap in strength between them is too great. They can only run, run as fast as possible and try to get out of this tunnel and find a way to hide in the outside world.

"Huff huff huff huff" 

They were running without any sense of time until their legs began to ache, but no matter how much time passed, there was no end in sight.

They ran without feeling the time until their legs began to ache, but no matter how much time passed, there was no end in sight.

Archbishop Valdi and Tabran began to grow weary and tired.

"Lord Garfield...are you sure.. these tunnels really lead to the outside of the Joisin city? Are we already running for more than one hour?" asked Archbishop Valdi in confusion as he looked at Garfield.

"Yes, I have heard Saintess talk about it and so I have come to check them personally many times in the past. That time it only took me half an hour to leave the city through this tunnel"

Listening to him, both Valdi and Tabran looked at him with doubt. They were running away from Josif for at least two hours but they still have not seen the light, and he is telling them that the tunnel is just half an hour long.

"Lord Garfield, you must be joking right!? We are already running... running for two hours?" shouted Tabran.

Tabran couldn't help but sigh. He was regretting joining Garfield and Valdi. Just for the power and authority promised by Garfield after they will kill Saintess and Garfield will become the pope. Thinking about the good times when he was also part of Fardin's side.

'Just how foolish was I? I didn't think about Emperor Josif and how he would react. On top of that, we failed to kill her and let her escape'

At this point, his mental balance started to break down. Josif was after them and they couldn't find the way out of the tunnel which made everyone confused.

He couldn't think straight any longer.

Quite unexpectedly, two golden swords appeared, one pierced his heart from behind, and the other chopped off his legs. Tabran was not even able to react as he looked at his fellows and fell on the ground, his eyes wide open with a dumbfounded expression.

Both Valdi and Garfield were shocked by the sudden change of events.

Seeing the red blood flowing from the lifeless body of Tabran, the heartbeats of both Valdi and Garfield began to quicken as they ran without looking back. The last sense of reasoning was completely stripped from their minds, replaced by endless fear of death.

Suddenly, another golden sword cut off Valdi's legs who was running a few meters behind Garfield.

Valdi's expression turned pale, cold sweat began to flow from his forehead, he felt a sensation of burning pain in his legs. As if they were on fire, his legs were roasting from the inside out.

When he looked at the old figure, that approaching him step by step, fear gripped his heart, he even forgot about the pain he felt and began to crawl, but Joseph walked in front of him.

Looking at the despair in Valdi's eyes, Joseph smiled, and two golden swords cut off Valdi's arms and legs.

"Ahhhh!!!! I can't.. die here.. please spare me..spare me. Emperor Josif"

Josif shook his head "You must know very well. In Josif life principles there is no forgiveness for traitors and criminals. So rest in peace" he spoke, then turned around and walked away.

"No.. no.. you can't do this to me. Josif you can leave me to die here.. Josif!!!"

Valdi's voice resonated throughout the tunnel but nobody was there to reply to him.

At the moment, Garfield was running as fast as possible.

He could hear the voice of Valdi crying for help, but he didn't care.

BANG

He was shocked beyond understanding and didn't want to believe what he was seeing.

"How can there be a wall here? It wasn't there before. Where did it come from?"

Shouted Garfield with anxiety, not understanding what was happening.

Then he heard the sound of footsteps, turning around he saw Josif's face.

There was neither mercy nor kindness in his face. The look in his eyes made Garfield's heart and body tremble with fear.

"You were saying that you have heard about this tunnel from Saintess, right? Well, while we at it, let me tell you something before you die. This place is an old maze and long ago it was used as a prison for the most dangerous criminals during the time when the Radiant Empire was just a kingdom. Upon which this Church was created. But it's also an escape route, only if you don't start the mechanism of the maze"

Hearing that Garfield was astonished and looked at Josif in horror.

"You.. you..you..knew.. about it from the start," said Garfield as he started to laugh like a mad man. He couldn't believe that he was getting played by Josif all this time.

Hehehehehehehe 

"It's not funny, I was born here Garfield. Did you really think that I don't know about this tunnel?"

Josif smiled and looked at him "It's time for you to die"

"Hahahahaha you really are an old monster, but do you really think that you can kill me so easily? " said Garfield as he started casting his magic.

Suddenly his expression changed and he looked at the face of Josif with horror.

"Oh! Finally, did you notice? This entire tunnel is covered with restrictive law rune. Meaning you can't use magic here without meeting certain criteria. But I am not going to explain it, a dead man like you already knows more than enough" said Josif. Four golden light swords appeared and pierced Garfield's arms and legs. Pinning him to the wall.

Then a golden sword appeared in his hand as he slowly walked towards Garfield and smiled. With a single strike, he pierced his neck void of any emotion and stepped back to look at Garfield for the last time, then turned around to return back to the entrance of the tunnel.