THE LORD IS TOO OVERBEARING

Anthony smirked at Basil's comment and then retracted his sword. He furtively glanced at the people who had crossed the small trench and warned, "Just know that I made this choice, not as Anthony the King but Anthony the Mage."

'Anything that may happen to you in the future,' went unsaid, but the people already got it. Despite so, they didn't rethink their choice; they believed Anthony would be able to make a good judgement no matter what his status was.

"I can't tell who is in the wrong or right either—I just stand on the side that is more favourable," he added, earning a nod of understanding from the people.

"Very well, I think 'tis time for us to resume our escape," Basil said. "He is rapidly moving here."

"Darn it! That monster has really awakened!" Edward exclaimed.

"I would like to ask you where you knew about him but I will keep it for later," Anthony commented. "Gosh, I don't know what to feel seeing that my sons are more knowledgeable than me."

Edward and his siblings merely smiled wryly. After all, all of them knew of the information because they were told by Aldrich, who had suggested they should lobby August to secure the throne and sovereignty over the people.

Shaking his head faintly at his sons' reaction, Anthony motioned for Basil to lead the way. The Pacifer, along with his girlfriend, immediately jumped onto Deacon's back and then instructed said Beast to run.

The people immediately followed, either by using their Teleportation Artefacts or their special Arts. Deacon was running fast, so there was a gap between him and most of the people; it was clear that Basil would leave those who were slow behind.

Kimberley, who was observing the situation from the sky as Acacia, her mount, flew through the sky, clicked her tongue bitterly. "Tsk. It is unsavoury, but I can't just help them and risk myself getting killed."

She knew how bold and brave Basil was, so noticing the urgency in his tone shied her away from behaving like a saint.

The Basil she knew had killed a Dragon, which was a Mythical Beast that people had thought had been extinct, so she couldn't imagine how terrifying the individual chasing after them was for him to make Basil feel alert.

"I pray the best for you," she intoned.

Acacia the Unicorn smiled at the decision her Master had made. Her Master had learnt many things over the past two years and she was proud of it.

"You have matured," Acacia remarked.

"Well, I have learnt that being kind to yourself is first and foremost."

Nothing happened for a couple of minutes and no civilians were blocking the way. Due to how smooth-sailing their escape was, however, the people began to worry.

Basil himself was also frowning; unlike them, after all, he could tell precisely where August was. The old monster was already close and, therefore, they were all on the edge of a cliff.

"We shall arrive in another minute. He shan't be able to reach us before it."

Luckily, they were already close to the hiding place he had prepared, so he wasn't too worried about August catching up to them. 'In case he managed to, we shall race against time.'

Basil was sure that a miracle wouldn't happen, so the moment August caught up to them, all of them were bound to die. As a former Ninth Circle Mage himself, he knew how terrifying and unpredictable one was.

Boom!

Unfortunately, even before a minute passed, the monster that the people dreaded made his presence known. He bathed them with his terrifyingly immense Mana Pressure that caused the weaker ones to immediately drop dead.

"Darn it! This old bastard is not joking, isn't he?" Anthony muttered sarcastically.

He was shielding his wives and his sons from the Mana Pressure, so he felt the burden the most. His heart raced as he thought about what it would be if they fought against the monster.

"Ku-Ku-Ku … Look at these mice running away from this one," watching the people running away from him, August sneered.

He had no interest in other people. He just wanted to see which one was the famous Basil Pacifer, which was the reason why he didn't bother to announce his return and immediately went to chase after Basil.

"Ah, that lad hath a different presence. He hath to be the one."

Upon landing his eyes on Basil, August immediately sped up. His feet moved so fast that they looked no more than a blur.

Knowing that the old monster they dreaded was getting too close for comfort, the people were sweating profusely. They wouldn't normally think of it, but they were envying the people who had dropped dead.

"Ku-Ku-Ku! They are all afraid—as they should." If any of them were to see August's smirk, they would always see it in their nightmare every night.

As the distance between the slowest person in the group and August was getting closer, the fear the people were emanating became stronger. Just as some of them thought to abandon the idea of surviving, however, Deacon slowed down.

Taken aback, August also slowed down and waited until Deacon was behind the slowest person in the group. In the next moment, Deacon abruptly stopped, prompting him to also do the same.

"Oh, thou hast surrendered already?" August asked in amusement.

A few hundred metres away from Deacon, Anthony and the others also stopped running upon realizing Deacon was no longer running. They turned around to look at what was happening and noticed two notable things.

First, August's gaze was piercing their souls. Second, Basil was smiling faintly, which was both relieving and worrying.

Getting down from Deacon, under the people's eyes, Basil walked behind the Beast. He showed his face for the first time to August, stunning the old monster.

"This gaze…"

Even with the power he had, August felt small the moment he stared into Basil's golden eyes. The Pacifer Seal shining in gold in the middle of Basil's forehead made him gulp involuntarily as someone's visage overlapped with Basil's.

"Thou art the Fated Child, art not thee?"

"Who knoweth?"

August couldn't help scoffing. "Thy speech—maketh me think thou art people of mine age."

"What maketh thee think I am not?" Basil smiled faintly.

"Easy. Lad, thou art weak; none of us is."

The atmosphere became so thick that might cut through it as the two gazed at each other with a solemn gaze. Their Mana Pressure burst out of their bodies in the next moment, blasting everything that wasn't rooted in the ground around them.

Deacon and Iliana who were completely shielded by Basil's Mana Pressure barely felt any impact of the clash between the two people; however, Anthony and the others who were spectating from afar were brought down to their knees.

The Mana Pressure of the two people was absurd, so the clash was naturally fearsome. Basil was losing out—it was clear—but the fact that the people didn't immediately die upon being exposed to August's Mana showed how well he held it back.

"For a Sixth Circle Mage, 'tis not bad, lad. However, still, thy defeat is ensured!"

Boom!

Nine Magic Circles made themselves known to the world after 1700 years. The pressure August was exuding became even more unbearable, but the people were too astonished by the nine Magic Circles floating behind him to care about the pressure.

They felt like they were in a dream. Their curiosity about the nine Magic Circles defeated their fear of getting killed by the person who had them.

"Ah, how nostalgic," Basil remarked as he looked at the nine Magic Circles.

He was unbothered by the appearance of the Magic Circles. His mind and soul weren't fazed before their pressure, but his body couldn't withstand it, so it couldn't help shaking.

"Well, I think it is time for me to move."

Smiling softly, he took out the handle of Death Howl's Sealing Sword.

"Thou shalt not think this one will let thee!"

August knew what Basil would do, so he immediately ripped the space apart to prevent Basil from doing what he was about to do. At that same moment, however, Basil and the people behind him disappeared.

"Bollocks!" cursing out loud, August hit the space fabric, forcing the tear to close. "Smart lad. He knoweth how to cheat the Space Magic."

[Teleportation] allowed the caster to pass through a certain canal hidden in the space. When the space was torn, the canal disappeared, which was why [Teleportation] was impossible.

The only way for Basil to make the impossible possible was by creating an alternative space canal using an Alternate Dimension. Only Eighth Circle Mages and above could do it, which made Basil even more amazing.

"I will pay you back, Basil Pacifer!" August shouted.

The people who had already entered the Dungeon heard his shout and looked up. They were far from the surface but they were still able to hear it; they worried if the Dungeon would be able to save them.

Since they were still shaken up by the previous encounter, they couldn't help becoming even more shaken by the thought. They needed comfort, so they looked at the person who had taken them into the Dungeon—Basil.

"That [Teleportation] was weird. It felt like we were jumping into another dimension," talking to the person in question was Iliana.

"It indeed was the case." Basil nodded lightly. "Using a usual [Teleportation] was risky considering what that bastard is capable of, so I decided to use this method. It was quite a hassle to prepare the Dungeon's Alternate Space, but it was worth it."

Instead of creating an Alternate Dimension which he couldn't, Basil used the Alternate Dimension that was attached to the Dungeon where he had set his [Checkpoint] at. That was the reason why he had stalled for time by talking to August.

Turning around to answer the people's gaze, Basil motioned with his head. "Follow me."

After Deacon shrunk himself and perched on his shoulder, the people approached him. He then walked through the dark hall, which was part of Death Howl's Dungeon.

The place was already like his second home. He had done quite a lot of things in the Dungeon for the past two years; it was one of the most important parts of his major plan.

"Out of the 78 Dungeons we have marked that lass hath only unified 8 of them," Basil muttered to himself. "Well, as long as I can see my Warriors, it doth not matter, I guess."

After a few minutes of walking, Basil and the group found a gigantic gate before them. Basil opened them without thinking twice, allowing the people to know why they made the right choice.