After she retreated, the mage had joined up with Kolt and his troops but he was too tired to pursue Zach and the others at his full speed. Even if he had been in his top condition, there was no guarantee that he would have been able to catch up to them since they were travelling on trucks which didn't utilize any magic or physical ability. As such there was a high possibility that the mage would have exhausted his magic before catching up to the trucks. Even if he did manage to reach Zach, he would have been too tired to attack them in order to halt their progress.
Therefore, when his lord asked him to move ahead to stop Zach and the others, he could only tell him the truth regarding his condition which annoyed Prince Kolt as it put his entire plan in jeopardy.
"Then you are of no use to me in your condition. You might as well have died trying to kill that slut who caused this." Prince Kolt yelled at the mage as if it was his fault that he was exhausted.
The mage could only take it all in silence since he had no other choice but to work for Prince Kolt. As soon as he outlived his usefulness, he was sure that Prince Kolt would discard him like a used tissue paper.
"I will give you a choice. You can be completely useless in this moment of need and disgrace yourself later which will no doubt have some bad implications for yourself and your family in the near future. Or you can upgrade your mage rank to S class and capture that slimy bastard before he makes his escape." Prince Kolt sneered as if he knew what the mage's response would be in advance.
Seeing that the mage seemed to be unsure of himself even after he told him how he could be useful, Kolt whispered in his ear like the devil incarnate.
"Think of your poor daughter. If I were in your position, I would have already accepted the deal considering your family circumstances. You should know by now how kind-hearted I am. I can ensure that your family will be taken care of till the end of their lives should you choose to obey my order. But if you choose to do otherwise…then you already know the consequences don't you? Make your choice carefully."
Kolt used the stick and carrot approach like a skilled manipulator in order to force the mage to do his bidding.
The mage on the other hand already knew that there was no other choice as soon as Kolt ordered him to upgrade his strength. The choice was an illusion that Prince Kolt had carefully crafted in order to make him feel like he was choosing to carry out such a self-harming order.
The mage was too familiar with Prince Kolt and was positive that the only reason Kolt had given him a choice was that he had his leash in hand and was sure of obtaining the result he desired.
Kolt didn't even give him time to consider as he brought out a bottle that looked like it contained shimmering ruby colored potion that was akin to viscous blood. The potion was in fact a poison that had been named the upgrade potion. The reason for that was one of the side effects of the potion that increased the rank of the mage by one level after ingestion. Although the momentary power was beyond anything any mage could imagine, the other side effects more than made up for it in terms of the disadvantages.
If a mage consumed the upgrade potion, he was likely to experience a permanent decrease in his original strength. Other than that, the potential of the mage would be consumed in return for the amazing amount of power which meant that the mage would never be able to advance his strength in the future no matter how much he tried. The ability of the body to handle the mana would be crippled in return for the momentary increase in strength.
Therefore, all mages only resorted to this inhumane method in order to save their lives in crucial moments but Kolt forced his escort mage to ingest the very same poison in order to bring Zach to him.
Despite knowing about the plethora of side effects, the escort mage was bound to obey Prince Kolt's will due to his daughter. As Kolt knew all too well, his daughter had been suffering from a serious disease ever since she was a child. No doctor all over the empire had been able to treat her. The mage knew that because he had travelled all over the empire and had consulted all the renowned doctors only to be disappointed in the end.
Finally someone told him about the skill level of the royal doctor who was responsible for the well being of the Norman family. As a result he had ended up in the service of the Prince just to make sure that his daughter would survive her fatal disease that was waiting to eat her up because he could ensure that the royal doctor would continue to treat his daughter.
The mage had therefore always given his best to protect the prince since his daughter's life depended upon it. And it was for the same reason that he couldn't disobey this order from the prince even though he knew that he wouldn't be able to live the same kind of life after this.
Just as he took the potion, he felt as if something broke inside of him. He felt like a part of his very soul was being consumed to fill him with vigor and strength far beyond he had ever felt before despite being one of the most skilled mages in his rank.
But the changes were hardly limited to increased strength alone. His body started to change its shape due to which he had to suffer intense pain of his bones being broken and reformed. Even though his skull changed its shape, there was no damage to his brain or his mental acumen.
Instead he felt that his brain was functioning faster than normal. It was so fast that the other things around him looked as if they were moving in slow motion compared to him.
All his senses were heightened but that only increased the degree of pain he felt during the change. Due to the increase in pain sensitivity, the pain he felt during the transformation was several times the normal range. He could hear his bones being broken. Every crunch not only sent him rolling in pain but also caused his soul to tremble in fear anticipation of the next bout of pain that awaited him after the first.
Thankfully, the process wasn't too long as it was finished within one or two minutes and the thing that stood in the place of the mage as a result was neither completely human nor beast. It was something in between; something monstrous.
Prince Kolt didn't wait around to find out if the process of the transformation reached finalization or not as he had to pursue Zach who was increasing the distance between them with each passing second.
Not long after he left, a flash of light passed above his head with a shocking speed. Prince Kolt smirked to himself as he waited for the signal from the lightning fast figure of the mage.
…
Zach on the other hand could not comprehend what kind of abomination had been sent after him to destroy the trucks in order to stop him from escaping. The thing that stood in front of him was an amalgamation of human and beast.
It looked like a bipedal black panther that was completely made of dark ink. The shape was distinct but sometimes it looked as if the body was made entirely out of ink that was flowing constantly to keep its human shape intact.
Standing amidst the explosion with billowing flames all around him, the panther human remained unfazed by the heat of the flames or the burning sensation as if he couldn't feel pain.
Zach tried to understand what it was and in that he couldn't react appropriately. Meanwhile, Diana was too concerned for Zach's safety and led the Special Forces team to launch a combined assault on the monster. Hundreds and thousands of bullets were fired in that short duration for which the monster remained stagnant as if in a daze but not a single bullet managed to penetrate the thick exterior of its skin. There was something akin to a force field made of ink surrounding the monster that bounced back all the bullets intended to cause it harm.
The only result of the all out assault was that Diana and her people managed to royally piss it off. The panther kicked its leg slightly behind it in order to accelerate and the very next second it disappeared from the view of all the soldiers. Even Zach was unable to spot it no matter how hard he tried.
"Aaarghhh~"
A scream echoed all around in the very next second. The soldier that was the closest to the monster had been nabbed by the monster and in one swift motion it snagged his neck as if to keep him under control. The soldier tried to pull himself free but the difference in strength between the two was too apparent for all to see.
The soldier only had time to pull the pin on a grenade that he had been carrying with him before the monster could kill him.
