Chapter 148: Imperial Package

Words : 1129 Updated : Sep 23rd, 2025

Chapter 148: Imperial PackageHal quickly jumped off his motorcycle and sprinted toward the city under the confused gazes of the two women. However, as the engine cut off, Helena and Lynn both paled, now clearly hearing the horrifying cacophony of combat. "Hal!!" Helena screamed in terror as she struggled to stand, only to be held back by Loki and Lynn. "L-Let go! My son!" "Helena! Get a hold of yourself! Hal is a wizard!" Only then did the terrified mother calm down slightly, though her body still trembled as she watched her son disappear through the open entrance with no guards. She could only pray for his safety. ** * Dashing through the wooden archway, Hal’s brows momentarily raised before furrowing in confusion, realizing that the town was barely damaged by the battle. At the very least, the citizens were fine and were only hiding inside their homes, protected by nothing but their locked doors. But this might be because the battle was happening elsewhere, so he quickly proceeded to continue looking for the source of the chaos. Bunroon Town was quite huge, and only after running past two streets did he finally locate the ongoing skirmish. As expected, given the sounds of clashing metal and furious cries, there were no monsters or beasts involved. The undamaged homes were another clear giveaway. The battle was between two opposing parties of humans. One side clearly had more people, dressed in somewhat ragged clothing and mismatched armor, carrying makeshift wooden shields and metal pikes. There were also five wizards stationed behind their frontliners, one of whom was noticeably better dressed and better armed than the others. Hal concluded that this cruel-faced man was the leader. On the other side stood the town’s militia, clearly more battered and bruised than their enemies. They were defending this specific street, with four wizards positioned behind them. It was evident, however, that they were losing, perhaps because the enemy warriors appeared more seasoned and ruthless than the town’s defenders. But the main problem was that they had fewer wizards than their opponents. The street was already littered with unconscious bodies, some of which were likely corpses, and the surrounding buildings were damaged beyond repair. Fortunately, this was the town’s commercial area, so no civilians had been harmed so far. "Men, wipe the monkeys out. We need the package before more wizards from the guild return," ordered the blonde, fairly muscular, middle-aged wizard leader of the invaders, his lips curled in an icy smirk. "Soren, you bastard! You think the Imperial Wizard Guild will let you get away with this?!" shouted the red-haired, middle-aged wizard from the militia, apparently a member of the Imperial Wizard Guild. "Hahaha, come on, Flanner. We both know that you idiots have been trying to take my head for the past five years. But has the guild ever succeeded? Sure, you’ve captured a few of my men now and then, but your little brains aren’t enough to take me, the leader, out. Besides, I make sure my name isn’t notorious enough for the guild to bother sending a high-ranking wizard after me. So, how about you just hand over the package, and we’ll never invade Bunroon again. Hmm?" "F*ck you and your promises, Soren! You think I’m stupid enough to trust the words of a bandit leader?!" Hal frowned at the exchange. Apparently, this man named Soren was an elusive bandit leader who had terrorized the citizens of Bunroon in the past five years. The bastard didn’t even fear the retaliation of the Imperial Wizard Guild. ’Hoh, so if I can take this bastard out, Mom and Aunty Lynn would be safe from harm, right? The bandits wouldn’t dare invade a town with militia and wizards without the guidance of a cunning leader, after all...’ he pondered. It would be stupid for mere bandits to take over the town, as that would simply be playing with the empire’s wrath. Perhaps raiding this commercial street, where the Imperial Wizard Guild’s outpost was located, was the extent of their operations in Bunroon. They likely struck only when most of the guild’s wizards were out on missions and believed they could handle whoever remained. At least, that was what Hal deduced from the conversation. The battle soon resumed. The high-morale bandits charged into the weary lines of the town’s defenders, steadily pushing them back. Meanwhile, the wizards fought their own battles, with two of the guild’s wizards each engaged in a two-on-one skirmish against enemy rogue spellcasters. Flanner inevitably found himself dueling Soren. The wizards didn’t target the mundane warriors, at least not when their own men were still fighting, as even the bandits didn’t want to kill their own. Nonetheless, the dastardly invaders were drawing closer and closer to the Imperial Wizard Guild’s outpost. ’Damn it! How did these bastards even know about such an important package?!’ Flanner couldn’t help but suspect that someone influential had hired Soren and his bandits to do the dirty work. Somehow, word must have leaked that the package would be passing through Bunroon to avoid detection, only for the plan to backfire and be discovered by the opposition. Flanner himself didn’t know what the package contained, but the one who delivered it had made it clear that it must not fall into anyone’s hands except the next imperial courier. ’Damn it! Damn it all!’ the red-haired, middle-aged wizard cursed, blasting apart Soren’s Aqua Serpent with a well-aimed Fireball. His comrades were losing. Plus, the darned bandit leader turned out to be equal to him, who was a C-ranked wizard, in terms of combat prowess. Their formations would soon crumble, and the bandits would be free to raid the outpost and take the package if nothing changed. But then, something did. One of the rogue wizards firing projectiles across the street suddenly let out a brief scream before slumping forward and collapsing to the ground with a thud, a lethal shard of ice buried deep in his chest. The unexpected fall caught everyone’s attention, bringing the skirmish to a momentary halt and prompting both leaders to glance around in slight bewilderment. Before the bandit leader could even process what had happened, a translucent purple magic circle appeared beneath another of his subordinates, latching on and holding the panicked man in place. A flaming tornado then burst into existence beside him and consumed the rogue in an instant. "Elmer! Gollo!" Soren shouted in a mix of confusion and disbelief. Just as the furious bandit leader began looking for the culprit... "Sir Flanner, correct?" a voice called out from behind the invaders’ formation, prompting everyone who heard it to turn. "Please hold this bandit leader off while I deal with his subordinates. We’ll finish him together afterward."

Chapter 148: Imperial Package

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