Chapter 174: Thank you.

Words : 1555 Updated : Sep 21st, 2025

The woman stared at Alex’s mask with a stunned expression, finding Alex’s words hard to believe. The seven members of the Dark Union were dead, they didn’t escape? She had only heard some commotion a while ago, but it lasted only briefly. How could this person have killed all the members of the Dark Union within such a small time frame? She was very aware of the strength of the people that Alex was talking about, after all, she had fought them as well. Archmages were difficult to kill even for a Sage, stopping them from running away after they made up their minds was like trying to get a chicken to cast a spell! So it was more believable to say they had escaped after he attacked them. But she soon realised that Alex wasn’t joking after he stared at her in silence for a long time, which brought her another shock. To kill an Archmage and a group of Master rank mages within such a short time, this person was definitely stronger than a Sage! She didn’t say anything and quietly stood up, her body felt sore but she was slowly starting to feel better now that she could use mana again; although she would still need to be treated before she would return to full health. Both of them left the prison room after the woman stood up. They walked on their way out. Alex was now sticking to the Idea that Mr Chen was a lightning mage, so he didn’t use Blink to bring them out. Along the way, Alex couldn’t resist speaking with the woman so he asked her some questions about herself. The woman had no reason not to answer him since he saved her and was also stronger than her; it would be rude of her not to answer. Alex learnt that her name was Ellie and that she was 25 years old. Alex was surprised when he heard her age, he thought that she was lying to him. After all, how could there be a 25-year-old Archmage in this world? Or could it be that she had a system as well? But after Ellie explained her situation to him, he finally understood that she could be an Archmage at such a young age. So basically, Ellie had a special constitution after she was born and was able to use magic as early as a year and some months old. She has been training as a mage since she was three and her talent was one of the best in her city. Plus, her father was the Dean of a big magic university and fully supported her mage journey so she didn’t lack any form of resources while training. Alex’s mind was blown away after listening to her. ’So she’s one of those characters with heavenly talents and powerful backgrounds with lots of resources, what a cheat!’ he thought to himself. By now, they had reached outside and exited the cave, and a hairy figure blocked their path immediately they came out. It was the huge dog. Right after spotting Ellie, it jumped over excitedly. Disregarding its injuries, it ran around the two of them while wagging its tail. "Fufufu, I’m happy to see you too, Cici." Ellie giggled softly as she approached her dog and hugged its large head. The dog, whose name was apparently Cici, obediently lay on the ground and stayed in one place. "Cici? Why give it such a name?" Alex asked curiously, The dog looked too fierce for such a name. "Why? It’s a female, I think Cici is a good name." Ellie responded. Alex "..." This dog was a female dog?! All this time, he had been thinking that it was a male dog! He watched from the side as the beast and mage shared some happy reunion moments. Ellie released its head after some time and asked if it still had the egg she had asked it to protect. Cici opened its huge mouth while wagging its tail, the egg was resting on its large tongue; covered in suspicious liquid but safe. Ellie beamed with a smile after seeing the egg. Alex was almost bewitched by that smile, but he managed to control himself. Ellie rubbed fur on Cici’s jaw and said, "Good girl, you did well." She then turned to Alex and said. "Thank you for finding Cici, and thank you for coming to help me. I’ll try to pay you back after I wake up." She said in an angelic tone with a charming smile on her face. Alex blinked at her in confusion, what did she mean by when she woke up? However, he suddenly saw Ellie’s eyes roll back into their sockets and her body fell forward. He immediately moved and caught her before she could fall to the ground. Alex stared at her in his arms, and she had lost consciousness. Seems like she had only stayed awake long enough to make sure that her dog and the egg were safe. Alex felt it was normal after everything she had been through. Even if she was a mage, there was a limit to how much stress an Archmage could take. Alex proceeded to princess carry her, he would bring her to Balon City so that she could receive treatment. Cici sat in front of Alex and stared at the unconscious Ellie, Alex could see the concern and worry in the beast’s eyes as it made soft sounds. "She’ll be fine, let’s return to the City so that she can get treated," Alex said before jumping and landing on Cici’s back while still carrying Ellie, he then pointed in the direction of Balon City. Cici didn’t hesitate and leapt forward; they quickly disappeared from the forest. They reached Balon City an hour and some minutes later. It was still night and Union officers who were on night duty were resting in their outpost when they suddenly saw a huge dog approaching the City. They instantly freaked out, one of them immediately tried to contact the Union branch while the others pulled out their magic weapons and pointed them at the dog. Their legs and hands were trembling, and they were clearly afraid, thinking that it was a beast attack. However, before the beast could come too close, Alex’s voice sounded in their ears. "It’s a contracted beast and won’t attack anybody, you don’t have to be afraid." The Union officers were stunned to hear the voice of a human; they looked up at the dog’s back after it was close enough, and they finally saw the owner of the voice. Long black robe, red hair, and a plain white mask. It was Mr Chen! And he was carrying an unconscious person in his arms. "Stand down, it’s Mr Chen!" "Don’t attack the dog, it’s Mr Chen’s dog!" "Thank Goodness that it’s Mr Chen, I thought we were being attacked for a moment." The officers sighed one after another in huge relief as they lowered their weapons, they could hear each other’s heartbeat from where they stood. After getting the officers to calm down, Alex didn’t stop and continued into the City on Cici’s back; he kept commanding it in which direction to go. The sight of a giant dog running across the streets of Balon City caused a great commotion but people soon calmed down after they learnt that Mr Chen was the one riding it. "Where did Mr Chen get a huge dog from?" "Isn’t he a lightning mage? Why is he riding a beast?" "I know he’s powerful, but why bring it into the City? What if it went out of control?" "You think Mr Chen can’t keep a dog under control? Do you know how powerful he is?" Many people had different opinions on the topic of Mr Chen riding a beast into the City. A lot of people had seen the dog due to its size and the news had spread quickly. When a certain Archmage heard that Mr Chen had appeared and had gone to the Union branch while riding on a magic beast, he immediately rushed over. After all, he had been waiting to see Mr Chen since the auction night. He quickly arrived at the Union building in the commercial district, and he froze in shock after seeing the huge dog outside the Union building. Cici slept on the floor with her eyes open, staring at the crowd from a distance and didn’t react. It slept there obediently and waited. "Cici?" However, its head moved when it heard someone call its name. Cici looked to the side and the figure of the Archmage reflected in its large eyeballs. Woof! Cici let out a low bark upon seeing the Archmage, it didn’t get up completely, but its head was now raised a few meters above the ground. "What are you doing here? What happened to you? Where’s Ellie?!" The Archmage threw a barrage of questions at the dog, but Cici just stared back at him. It couldn’t speak. The Archmage suddenly realised something. Mr Chen had appeared riding on the back of a dog beast and he found Cici here, didn’t that mean Ellie was here as well? With that thought in mind, the Archmage rushed into the Union building.

Chapter 174: Thank you.

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