The Runic Alchemist

Damian met up with people also going down toward the same platform, from which the queen had welcomed them after coming from war. Along the way, he noticed many soldiers guarding the royal family as they descended one by one.

Not all members of the royal house were present, as this wasn't an official gathering—just an execution. Still, Damian could sense Vidalia and a few other elves moving ahead as he caught up with Sam and Einar. Princess Evrin walked with her refined, noble grace, flanked by her two guards on either side.

There were other soldiers but they maintained their distance and Damian could sense even a hidden second ranker keeping an eye on her. Well, she was certainly well guarded.

"Maximus, I thought you already left.." Sam said as he joined them, walking a little away from the trio, Toph resting on his head, the little guy could feel his mood. It was hard to say if he understood the reason, but he was also sad.

"I lost track of time," Damian replied, nodding briefly at Einar, who returned the gesture.

The princess glanced at Damian, but he avoided meeting her gaze. They continued walking.

The reason they gave seems to be sufficient enough, as no noble—whether human or beastman—voiced any objections. However, curiosity lingered about which forbidden ritual was involved. That was to be expected.

Lost in thought, Damian followed the group down intricately carved, zigzagging wooden stairs. The sprawling city stretched below them, the crowd had gathered around a barrier protecting the so-called Divine Tree. It felt weird to call it

'Divine tree'

but that's what its official name was. Damian could see the reasoning with Eldoris people being horny for saving all life and all; the teachings of Astraea. And the element of light, which heals just adds into it.

Very tactfully ignoring the fact that most high level healing spells also require the dark element with light to work.

The crowd wasn't as large or lively as on the day of their return, but it was still 60% of the crowd compared to before. An execution was not something that happened everyday, especially in the city where Astraea's followers lived.

Beneath the platform where the queen had delivered her speeches was another bigger less decorated platform, made for events where the royal family had to just watch from up here. This small platform was where the queen, Vidalia and other elves with their guards were sitting. Damian nodded at his friends and turned to leave for the lower platform where most of the nobles were along with Kazak's hunched over figure.

"You can stay," Vidalia said suddenly.

The other elves looked at her in confusion, except for the queen, who regarded Damian with her usual cold indifference. Not wanting to create a scene, Damian simply nodded and remained beside Einar and Sam. The princess cast him a sidelong glance, but no one objected. Damian also ignored the semantics, his eyes were focused on Kazak.

His hunched, chained figure certainly made him the very definition of guilty. If still any noble had an issue it would be long gone looking at the supposed

'criminal

'.

As everyone settled, the official started giving the official account of how the incident went,

"...The valley of beastmen was besieged by enemies on all fronts, a lone corner of the kingdom facing certain doom. With no other choice, the chief of the Beastmen village, Kazak, turned to forbidden magic. The spell destroyed the enemy but tore his mind and body apart. His sacrifice saved the valley, but the cost is a warning we must never forget…"

"Forbidden magic is a curse, not a gift. Its rituals demand unthinkable sacrifices—blood, will, and soul. The power it grants is fleeting, but the destruction it leaves is eternal. It corrupts the user, warping mind and body into ruin. Those who dare invoke it pay with everything they are, leaving behind only devastation and regret..."

"Huh..?"

"What..?"

"He is.. he is…"

Murmurs broke out as the official continued. But soon, all attention shifted from his speech to Kazak.

He was… flying.

Not exactly flying—his body was suspended in the air by an ethereal, dark purple tiger with glowing red aura and pitch-black abyssal eyes. The beast's semi-transparent form engulfed Kazak in its stomach, creating the illusion of flight.

Damian could not believe his eyes, he could still use his calling of the beast even with chains binding all his power..? What kind of logic-defying spell was this? The aura was there, but it wasn't the same. The Kazak Damian once knew was gone. This new aura… it was different. And there was something more—Kazak now had mana in his body. It was faint and of poor quality, but it was there.

Impossible. A pugilist couldn't possess mana. What the hell is going on?

"Something's very wrong… Vidalia, stop this!" Damian urged, his voice tinged with urgency.

The other elves glanced at him as if offended but stayed silent. This wasn't the time to nitpick over informalities. Vidalia, however, acted immediately, chanting so rapidly that Damian only caught a glimpse of a green runic circle before she unleashed massive air blades aimed at the ethereal beast's core where Kazak was.

But the second the blades struck the tiger, they vanished.

The guards followed suit, hurling various spells at the beastman, but nothing landed. It was as if the tiger's body absorbed everything. Even physical attacks failed. A few swordsmen leaped toward the beast, their weapons coated in powerful auras, but their strikes bounced off as if hitting solid stone.

The strongest spellsword of them, another third-ranker elf Damian barely knew, unleashed a massive aura slash, yet it yielded no results.

One by one, the attacks ceased. And the tiger's bone-chilling roar reverberated through the air, sending a shiver down Damian's spine. But it wasn't the beast that captivated everyone's attention—it was Kazak.

He was no longer a hunched over figure inside the tiger. His eyes were darker than black, his body marked with glowing purple lines. His muscles swelled against the chains that strained to hold him, but it was clear they wouldn't for long.

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