"Did they find out my movement so early? Is it the Liquidators? Sentinels?" The man wearing a blue coat pondered as he tried guessing the identity of the intruders.

He was Christopher Gates and one of the members of the Order of the Oracle Hivemind. It was the Elite Forces of the Psychic Arts Faction and also one of the most problematic Orders among the twelve.

He was operating against the regulation set up by the Association of the Harmonius Arcane Paths, so he was vigilant about spies or intruders around the tunnel.

Whooshh~

"Hmm? This aura They're not Sentinels or Liquidators. Are they spies sent by the Vessels?" Christopher was confused as soon as he noticed the woman's movement spell.

She moved like a ghost and if he wasn't mistaken, that was the Ghost Step of the Dark Arts Faction.

It is one of the basic movement techniques of the faction, and it can be easily recognized by how they appear like ghosts leaving some afterimage whenever they move.

On the other hand, her male companion moved like he just cast a Wind Haste Spell of the Elemental Faction.

However, he didn't feel any Elemental Fluctuation around him, so he could guess that it was most likely a Mystical Item's effect If not that, then the man was probably a Knight and could just basically move fast because of his natural physique.

'What a weird combination I've never messed with the Vessels because they're one of the most ruthless organizations. How come they're targeting me? Am I overthinking this?' Christopher felt frustrated as he wasn't sure about the identities of his intruders.

It was a pity that they were out of his Magic Zone's range, or he could've easily taken care of them and added them to his collection.

Christopher looked at one of the workers in the tunnel and gave a brief command.

"Tell everyone to continue working until they drop dead."

The poor worker didn't even complain and just nodded to the Arcanist.

"I will inform them, Sir Arcanist."

With that said, Christopher immediately left the place to follow his four Runecasters.

Although those four were quite strong if they worked together, the Members of the Dark Arts Faction were very tricky to deal with, especially if they were Curse Spell Experts.

None of them brought any items that could break hexes or curses, so they have to be very careful if they don't want to die a gruesome death.

***

In the meantime, Vale immediately used his Spell Dispersion to deactivate the Mystical Runes that they had triggered.

This affected the Runecasters' plan as they miscalculated the timing of their attacks.

Vale and Cressida had long fled the area before they even finished casting their Runic Arts.

Nevertheless, none of the Runecasters expressed their dismay as they simply reorganized their position to follow their tracks.

Vale found their actions quite robotic or machinelike.

"Cressida Why are we fleeing? I think that two of us can deal with them." Vale said as he followed Cressida.

On the other hand, Cressida was looking at Vale curiously since she was sure that this young man wasn't using any sort of Movement Spell!

However, for some reason, he was able to match her speed, and he could even talk calmly while doing this!

This shocked her since she didn't expect Vale to use a Movement Spell that was so unnoticeable even if they were moving close together.

It took her quite some time before she gathered her thoughts as she answered Vale's question.

"We can probably kill those Runecasters with their current condition. However, we would be in huge trouble if the Psychic caught us. We will be doomed at our current strength." Cressida replied as she was determined to leave this place.

Her answer made Vale even more curious as she continued monitoring the people chasing them. From their distance, Vale could easily use his Ghost Hands and Shadow Soldier Spell. He can also try and use his top-grade Elemental Talismans to try and disrupt their movement.

"Is he that strong?" Vale curiously asked as he took out two of his Elemental Talismans. He was certainly not underestimating his enemies this time, but he also believed in his current strength.

Anyway, the Talisman that he had taken out was already appraised by Yvaine and confirmed that they both contain Fire Elemental Spells.

Of course, he couldn't understand the spell model drawn on it.

There was only one chance he could tell its content and it was when he triggered the Talisman itself.

"The moment we enter his Magic Zone, we will be in huge trouble. No matter what, don't look into his eyes. Use Dark Mist or Light Absorption Spell to hide from him. If your Dark Manipulation is already at the Intermediate Realm, just use it to cover yourself and run away." Cressida said as she continued using her Ghost Steps She could maintain using it for more than 10 minutes, and after that, she would have to rely on her normal running speed.

They had to put more distance from the Runecasters during this time, so she was now preparing to sacrifice her group of Banshee to deal with this.

On the other hand, Vale couldn't help but feel that the Psychic was just too strong.

'You're telling me that we will be defeated instantly the moment we enter their Magic Zone? Isn't that a bit too powerful?' Vale silently thought as he decided to launch a surprise attack with his Elemental Talismans.

In any case, he has plenty of these Talismans and he didn't mind spending a dozen of them to see how powerful they are.

Without any more hesitation, he tore the first Elemental Talisman and the information about the Fire Elemental Spell came into his mind.

He then obtained the power to control this Spell as he targeted the Runecasters who were relentlessly chasing them.

It was a Fire Pillar Spell and Vale could target an area instead of a person. With only a few seconds of calculation in his head, he targeted the area where the Runecasters would land.

"Take this" Vale muttered as he released the Spell. He also focused his attention on the four Runecasters as he wanted to see how they would react to this type of attack.

To his surprise, the Fire Pillar Spell didn't stop the Runecasters from moving even after being hit!

They were like machines that couldn't feel pain!