The Prince Of Magic

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The first Hadrian saw were Medusa and Arturia, who were soon closely followed by Scáthach, Yan Qing and Arash. His retainers immediately saw him and made their way towards him.

Hadrian's attention, however, went to Yan Qing, who looked over his shoulder briefly and threw a magically powered sphere at a tall, dark and menacing creature (which he would assume as a spawn of the Spider's) that was about to pounce on him.

*BAM*

The attack landed and caused the alien to fly back, crashing into the mutated trees and some of its brethren.

The alien spawn screech, obviously annoyed by the attack.

"HAH! EAT SHIT, YA F.U.C.KS!" The younger assassin taunted, smirking triumphantly.

The smirk was wiped off from his face and he ran with a yelp when a few alien spawns replaced the one he had forced back earlier.

It was fortunate that the servant had already entered the boundary line.

Otherwise, his moment of victory would have been for naught as the spawns quickly followed after him and the rest, only to be stopped by the bounded field that Hadrian had prepared around the area to delay the creatures.

Speaking of the creatures…

The closest Hadrian could describe about the spawns' appearance would be that of a Spider's.

His grandfather had provided him of the Spider's image in the past, and it really was, in truth, quite similar to a arachnid's.

Except, the Ultimate One was forty meters tall, capable of shifting its form to something similar to a UFO and has an outer skin that was superior in any substance found on earth.

In contrast, the spawns were smaller compared to their sire but taller than a grown man, has a dark exterior, but no less aggressive.

Their incessant screeching and murderous auras made him winced though, not expecting the spawns to be that powerful.

The info he was provided with about them clearly didn't do them justice. He could only imagine how strong their sire was.

Things took a turn for the worse when Arash got delayed by one of the creatures.

His retainer was close behind Arturia and was about to enter the boundary line when one of the spawns unexpectedly blocked his path before surrounding him on all sides.

Arash appeared startled and surprised, clearly not expecting to get caught in a trap nor for the spawns to be smart enough to spring it up on him.

Arturia, who had just entered the boundary line, sensed something was amiss, causing her to look over her shoulder and notice Arash's predicament.

"STRIKE AIR!" The swordswoman shouted before she attacked.

The wind she called forth pushed two spawns away from Arash, clearing the path for him to escape.

But, before he could, one of the spawns came up behind as soon as he turned around. In one blow, one of the spawn's appendages hit the bowman on the back.

The end of the spawn's leg was sharp and it slashed vertically on the retainer's back, causing Arash to cry out in pain as blood spurted out.

The force behind the attack was enough to send the retainer down on the ground, unconscious.

Hadrian's heart stopped for a brief moment as he watched his loyal retainer get dragged away by his assailant by the heel.

"ARASH!?" Astolfo and Charles shouted from behind him.

The young mage stepped forward, angry but more concerned for Arash's safety.

Two hands grabbed both of his wrists, forcing Hadrian to shift his attention to Arturia and Scáthach, who were standing beside him.

The two women gazed at him with alarm and concern in their eyes.

"Let go!" Hadrian demanded.

But the two didn't, firming their grips instead.

"You can't go there, Master! It's too dangerous!" Arturia argued.

"Even so!" Hadrian insisted, grimacing slightly.

"Be reasonable!" Scáthach scolded, brows furrowing.

"I am, now let go!" Hadrian growled.

When the two still didn't budge, Hadrian was forced to improvise.

In addition to the five, the young mage activated fifty of his magic circuits, letting the od course throughout his body.

His bright cyan eyes shifted into a deep crimson, glowing with fatality as a neutral expression settled on his face before he teleported out of their hands, startling Arturia and Scáthach when he vanished in a beautiful display of blue, silver and gold particles.

Hadrian reappeared outside of the boundary line, a few meters away from the bloodthirsty spawns banging their sharp arms on the barrier.

"MASTER?!" Astolfo and Charles shouted in shock.

"BOSS! WAIT!" Yan urgently called.

"IT'S DANGEROUS!" Medusa warned, her voice was tinged with concern.

An unusual reaction from the normally calm and collected statuesque woman.

Nevertheless, Hadrian ignored their calls and he ran deep into the crystal forest before the spawns behind him could sense his presence.

He could still feel the contract with Arash, which meant that his retainer was still breathing. However, it would not be so if he received too much damage.

Or worse, eaten by the spawn.

The bodies that his grandfather made for the servants might be stronger and on a different level (almost akin to a human in peak condition, or that of a first rank homunculi), but it was still made of flesh and has its limitations.

Just like when Arash got hit, he was rendered unconscious, proving that he was in the bounds of human limits while in a mortal vessel.

If he received another fatal injury, it might possibly damage his spirit core and kill him.

Killing Arash while in his mortal body would end the master-servant contract, something that Hadrian was high-bent on preventing.

The issue would not have been so dire if Arash managed to stay awake after receiving that blow.

The bowman could have simply turned into his astral form to save himself from such a scenario, but it did not turned that way.

Hadrian only had himself to blame for giving the retainers such an order. He was, after all, the one to urge them to venture into the island in their mortal forms.

'And now… I'm paying for it!' The young mage thought, angry at his own incompetence.

He shook his head, ridding his mind of thoughts of self-doubt and blame.

He would have plenty of time to do that later.

Granted, the others would probably teased him about him sulking in his room again, overthinking things and on what-ifs, but he will deal with it later.

Now, the others need his help, especially Arash, and Hadrian would prefer to do it without such ideas in mind.

Distractions would only hinder him right now rather than help.

With his body reinforced with prana, Hadrian made haste to chase after the looming figure of the spawn that had knocked out Arash, which was also dragging the unconscious retainer on the ground. It was not difficult for him to find the two as he came upon them a few moments later.

The spawn had one of its long spider-like legs raised above Arash's head, obvious in its intent to finish off the unconscious servant.

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