8. Trap

Approaching the distress signal under the guidance of the system, Luke felt something was amiss along the way. Although it was a possibility that the group had a rough time and didn't have time to ask for help directly from their communicator, Luke couldn't help but suspect something was not right. 

'Am I being too paranoid?' 

Dismissing the idea as he might be too overthink stuff, he continued to follow the route in his holographic screen and spoke softly to Rosemare, "Just to make sure.. Prepare the heat detecting radar all the time. Also, put silencer mode for the gun." 

"[Understood.]" Replied Rosemare the moment Luke's speech ended. 

Contemplating for a moment, Luke continued his order as he kept track of any weapons detection on the corner of the screen, "If, in any case, there's something unexpected happened, I want you to-" 

Before he could finish his sentence, a gigantic snake that was made of combination between earth and flames, was heading to him as it opened its mouth widely. The giant snake was right below him as it was about to reach him tens of seconds later. 

"Sh*t! A mage!" cursed Luke loudly as he put half of the maximum power of his jet thrusters unto use. Not every soldier could be a mage, that belonged to his teammates and many of other divisions as well. Only the elite was a soldier with the capability of a mage as well. But even in the elites rank, there were many who had climbed the rank of elites with pure skills alone. 

A mage was special. Skills could be trained with enough time and comprehension, but to become an expert mage, it only could be described in one word. 

Talent. 

Someone would need to have talent in magic to be approved and registered as a mage. But even in the rank of mages, there's strong and weak. Without enough talent, you would never reach the realm of expert. This had been decided by birth. 

And Luke, was one of the top mage in his generation. 

"You want to fight me in magic?" eyes glowed with bluish hue, torrent of magic power began to flow out of Luke's body. Within a second, an azure coloured magic circle started to form right below Luke's feet. A barrier made of magic surrounded him as the snake tried to bite him. 

Its fangs couldn't pierce the barrier, halted with its mouth wide open. Pointing his handgun to the snake's throat, Luke chanted as he frowned, "ᚹᚨᛏᛖᚱᚠᚨᛚᛚ. (Waterfall.)" 

Pulling the trigger, the bullet shot right through its mouth. Soon, a massive water current burst through right behind the snake's head. The moment the water appeared, Luke chanted once more, "ᚲᚺᚨᛁᚾ. (Chain.)" 

The water began to move as if it was sentient. The massive stream of water started to slither around the snake's body. Rotating around the body from its head until the tip of its tail. 

After that, Luke stretched out his palm to the snake. Then, he clenched his palm as he muttered, "ᚲᚱᚢᛋᚺ! (Crush!)"

The water's grip began to tighten each second. Roaring loudly, the snake started to trash around and made lots of craters on the ground and destroyed a few small buildings in its swipe. 

"ᚨᛒᛋᛟᛚᚢᛏᛖ ᛉᛖᚱᛟ! (Absolute Zero!)" 

After Luke spoke the last spell, all the water around the snake began to freeze in a few seconds. The ice didn't stop until all the water had frozen, but they were spreading and enveloping the snake along. Shortly, the giant snake became an ice sculpture, frozen still with its jaw wide open and pointed at the sky, as if unwilling of its fate. 

Then, the magic circle under Luke began to disappear as a drop of sweat flowed down from his forehead. Shaking his head, Luke smiled wryly as he murmured, "You know.. Connection school magic is not my forte." 

"[Mister Luke.]" 

Rosemare's voice sounded, as a real time view was transmitted into his screen. In that view, a man with a green hoodie and a mask that covered his mouth, clapping in his direction. 

Turning his head to where the man was, Luke squinted his eyes slightly in curiosity as he saw the man start to raise both his hands. 

Flicking his wrist, on the next moment, a megaphone had emerged on the man's right hand. Putting the megaphone in front of his mouth, the man shouted loudly, "Impressive! What a spectacular magic you had shown to me. With that much strength, you are an expert in the connection school magic, aren't you?" 

"....." 

Sighing softly as he had no words for that comment, Luke tried to change his attention and focus more. Frowning, he contemplated for a while as he thought, 'To be able to use a spell of that scale in a place like this.. He's strong.' 

Only the best of the best mages were able to perform a complex spell in Death Zone. Death Zone was not a joke. A mage would be reduced to only able to command elementary spells such as cinder. A spell that was as good as lighting a bonfire. 

'For a mage to chant a flashy spell right in this area, that mage would not be an ordinary expert mage. Perhaps, he was closer to the realm higher than expert. The master realm..' 

Thinking that this would be a troublesome opponent, just as Luke was about to think what he should do to end this farce in a fast way, Rosemare's voice sounded, "[Mister Luke, shall I attack?]" 

Raising his eyebrows, Rosemare's voice reminded Luke that it was yet detected by the enemy as it was still in an invisible state. Contemplating to choose to let Rosemare attack the mage or he should talk with him first, the man began to lower his hands as he flicked his left wrist when Luke was distracted. 

On his left hand, something that resembled a ball was wrapped in black cloth. Staring at Luke, the man chuckled and said, "Are you a companion of this bunch? If you were, I have to tell you that it was late." 

Throwing the thing to the ground in front of him as he pulled open the cloth, something rolled out as Luke's eyes widened in shock. It was a head, severed head, and he knew whose head that was. 

It was the head of his captain, Morlock.