Chapter 31 0033: If you want to kill me, you’ve been paid too little

With a roar, a ball of flame burst forth from Kurt’s hand, hurtling directly toward the nearest masked man. The two closest masked figures dodged out of the way, unwilling to be set alight. The remaining six assailants closed in from all directions, launching their assault.

They were well aware that Kurt could wield fire with only two hands; by attacking from all sides, they aimed to overwhelm him, exploiting the inherent vulnerability of mages who required protection to cast spells effectively in battle. The more powerful the spell, the more complex the arcane formula required, leaving the caster exposed and easily interrupted during execution.

But these masked men had underestimated the true might of Kurt’s flames. In their minds, a yellow-robed mage was hardly a threat—capable of manipulating a single element, perhaps, and only within a limited range, making him easy to counter. What they didn’t anticipate, however, was that Kurt’s fireball could expand—so much so that even when they thought they had evaded it, the flames still caught their garments, setting them ablaze. This was thanks to the formula Chu Yun had just given to Kurt; the flames he conjured far exceeded the range the masked men expected from a yellow-robed mage.

As the hems of two masked men’s robes ignited, Kurt intensified the flames on their bodies. Where there was fire, a fire-element mage could always do more. The two men, seeing the flames roaring up their bodies, nearly engulfing them, tore at their burning clothes in panic.

“Don’t let him cast!” barked the lead masked man, realizing that Kurt’s flames were far more formidable than anticipated. He lunged forward to break Kurt’s concentration, not giving him a chance to incinerate his companions.

Kurt, forced into a retreat, could no longer focus on amplifying the fire on the two burning men. He had to keep hurling flames from his palms at the six masked men closing in on him.

The two men whose clothes had caught fire managed to rip them off before the flames reached their upper bodies, though their skin was left raw and scorched in places. Glancing at each other, their eyes flashed with ruthless intent, their murderous gaze toward Kurt intensifying as they rejoined the fray.

With the lesson of their burning comrades fresh in mind, the eight attackers no longer dared to press too close. Instead, they circled Kurt, probing for an opening with feints and cautious assaults.

Defending himself as he retreated, Kurt shouted to Chu Yun, “Go! Get out of here!”

He knew what they were planning—waiting for his magic to be exhausted, for the moment when he was powerless to fight back. Kurt had hoped that revealing his identity would be enough to drive them off, but the eight attackers showed no hesitation. Each of them possessed the strength of an eighth-ranked warrior, making the situation all the more perilous for Kurt.

As soon as Kurt bid Chu Yun to escape, two masked men blocked the way. “Going somewhere? No one's getting out of here alive!” the lead masked man roared. Seizing a moment when Kurt was distracted, he landed a punch squarely on Kurt, sending him staggering back. The others pressed in, raining blows upon him until Kurt coughed blood and rolled to the ground.

“If you dare, show your faces! No matter who you are, the Mage Guild will be your enemy!” Kurt shouted, sitting up warily and glaring at the eight men.

“We’re in the business of killing, not flaunting identities—isn’t that asking for death?” The leader looked down at Kurt, then made a slicing motion across his throat, signaling for his men to finish Kurt off.

Two subordinates stepped forward, pinning Kurt’s hands to the ground so he could not cast. One drew a knife, ready to slash Kurt’s throat.

At that moment, Chu Yun flicked away his cigarette butt and stood up. “Your target is me. Are you not ashamed to waste your time on a useless scholar?”

Among warriors, mages were often seen as bookish weaklings—relying on knowledge and trickery, but feeble in close combat.

“Don’t worry, you’ll die too. Blame him for interfering; now both of you must go,” sneered the two masked men blocking Chu Yun’s path.

Chu Yun looked at Kurt and said, “Honestly, you couldn’t even hold out for the length of a cigarette. That’s just embarrassing. It’s going to be hard for you to convince me to become a mage at this rate.”

Kurt, incredulous that Chu Yun could still joke at a time like this, nearly coughed up more blood in anger.

With no other option, and for the sake of the continent’s future, Kurt humbled himself, pleading with his captors, “You’re killers for hire, right? Name your price—I’ll pay it. The Mage Guild has more than enough money.”

“Are you insulting us?” the masked leader scoffed. “We kill for money, but our profession is sacred. We don’t take payment twice for one job!”

“I beg you, spare the boy,” Kurt pleaded, turning to the leader. “Take my life in exchange for his.”

Chu Yun’s eyes grew complicated as he heard the old man’s words.

“Old man, I don’t like owing people,” Chu Yun interjected, then turned to the eight assassins. “I don’t know how much you were paid to kill me, but I can tell you this—you settled for far too little.”

The leader laughed. “It’s enough. Killing a first-rank warrior with no ability to fight back is easy money—why wouldn’t we take it?”

“It was the Fan family who paid you, wasn’t it?” Chu Yun asked.

The leader replied, “You think I’d tell you? We’re professionals.”

Chu Yun sneered, “I’ve met professional killers before, but never ones who talked this much. Let’s see if you can keep it up.”

With that, Chu Yun suddenly lashed out at the two killers blocking his path, sweeping his leg in a whirlwind kick and sending both men flying. They spun through the air, crashing hard to the ground.

The remaining six killers, led by their boss, immediately attacked. Chu Yun kicked one in the chest, sending him sprawling, then met the leader’s charging fist head-on.

A resounding crash rang out as their fists collided, and Kurt, witnessing the scene, could hardly believe his eyes—the leader had been sent flying.

In the next instant, Chu Yun caught the fists of two more attackers, twisted with force, and with a sickening crack, broke both their wrists.

Their screams, muffled by their masks, left no doubt as to the agony they were in.