Supreme Magus (Web Novel)-Chapter 3580: A Beautiful Friendship (Part 1)

With his life on the line and Thrud’s minions hunting him down like a priceless treasure, Phillard studied magic like never before and his brain helped him along the way. Nightmares of his head mounted on Thrud’s wall and the reports of the tragic end of her victims fueled him with endless willpower.

He learned Spirit Magic at an astounding speed that reinforced the trust and confidence the Lindwurm bloodline had in his abilities.

By the end of the war, Phillard’s contributions were so great that the Kingdom offered him a fief and a noble title. The Lindwurm proved smarter than Morok and turned the offer down, preferring gold over power accompanied by the invisible shackles of duty.

As a self-Awakened, he was freed from his apprenticeship as soon as peace returned. Surviving the conflict and mastering Spirit Magic in life-or-death battles were proof enough of the Lindwurm’s skill and wisdom.

Phillard had learned the importance of money the hard way and gotten too used to a warm house and good food to go back to living in the wilderness. He had used part of his gold to build the Twin Axes palace where he currently lived.

He had also become a mercenary at the service of Baron Crank Zaseer of Mirana. He liked the Divine Beast’s no-nonsense attitude, and the two had become good friends while fighting the same campaigns in the War of the Griffons.

The Hyperion considered Phillard a crazy but harmless buffoon and the Lindwurm returned the feeling in spades.

’Beasts understand each other and this idiot doesn’t annoy me with etiquette and formalities.’ The Lindwurm thought.

Being a mercenary worked wonders for Phillard. He could take missions from the Kingdom to amass merits and be dispensed from taxes or accept private missions from nobles and Awakened to fund his lavish lifestyle.

He was an accomplished killer who left no trace of his work behind, mostly because he always ate his victims’ mutilated remains.

Phillard’s name was well-known and respected in the black market and among the mercenary guilds. There was never a shortage of work for him and he could afford to be picky when choosing his next assignment.

"Really?" Phillard’s eyes narrowed as he heard an offer that was too good to be true. "All this money to capture a magicless human woman?"

"Yes." Sigmur Blackhand, a broker of the black market, answered a bit too quickly for the Lindwurm’s taste. "But she’s worth every gold coin. The difficulty of this mission doesn’t lie in her abilities but in those of her protectors.

"If you can take her alive, that sum will be just your advance payment. The client is willing to pay you with two powerful Adamant enchanted axes for your services. Here’s the mark’s full file."

The black market dealt only in ink and paper, making their documents easy to destroy and impossible to crack through the communication amulet network. After all, no one was stupid enough to think the Royals wouldn’t put a few safeguards in the communicator’s standard blueprints.

Phillard looked at the details of the woman’s protection detail and immediately assessed the payment was far from generous. He was about to demand way more when he flipped the page and looked at the picture of his mark.

The Lindwurm shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and then slapped himself a few times, confirming beyond all reasonable doubt he wasn’t dreaming.

"Elina Verhen? You want me to kidnap Elina Verhen?" Phillard remembered her from the days he had spent protecting Lith’s family from the shadows in exchange for dimensional magic lessons and two enchanted axes.

Lith had scammed the Lindwurm back then, and Phillard had sworn revenge after discovering the youth had imbued the weapons only with the most basic enchantments.

"Yes." Sigmur nodded. "The client chose you because they know you are familiar with the Trawn Woods, the Verhen house’s defence arrays, and the Queen’s Corps routine. Consider the opportunity to settle the old score as a bonus."

"I’m not stupid." Phillard snarled. "She’s not the real target. She’s just leverage to make Menadion work for your client."

"Indeed, but that just makes your reward more alluring." Sigmur gave him a sly smile. "Think about it. You don’t have to provide the materials and will have axes crafted by the First Ruler of the Flames."

"Sure, but why should I give the woman to you instead of doing the blackmail myself since I’m the one taking all the risks?" The Lindwurm snorted.

"Because your task is just to grab her. The client will be the one handling the negotiations and taking all the risks dealing with Verhen entails. You are just a courier.

"The client will also take care of securing a clear exfil path for you and an airtight alibi for the time of the kidnapping. Verhen will never trace it back to you. Think about it. All this money and two priceless artifacts just to go from point A to point B."

"It sounds good when you put it that way." Phillard pondered. "And I’d love to wipe Lith’s smug grin from his face. The bastard beat me to a pulp more times than I can count, treated me like a slave, and then had the gall to trick me!

"Yet, as I said, I’m not stupid. According to Council rules, I’m bound to Verhen. Your client might frame me for something once I’m done with the job, and get rid of me and Verhen in one fell swoop since I’m his responsibility.

"This way, I wouldn’t be able to rat your client and Verhen couldn’t seek revenge for long."

"Are you refusing the mission?" Sigmur frowned.

"No, I’m just setting more conditions." Phillard was the one with a sly smile now. "No anonymity. I want to meet the client. This way, if they try and backstab me, I can expose their sorry ass.

"I won’t be anyone’s fall guy ever again."

"This goes against the rules of the black market." Sigmur objected. "Anonymity is key to protect the client in case of failure. You are the one getting paid. Either you accept the terms of the deal as they are or nothing."

"Rules?" The Lindwurm sneered. "There has never been a Supreme Magus before. I doubt there is any rule about dealing with him. And how many times has the black market brokered a mission against a Divine Beast?

"No names, just give me a number."

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Sigmur remained silent.

No one had ever accepted a mission against a Magus, let alone a Supreme Magus. A few clients had commissioned things like stealing a Divine Beast’s egg or a specific treasure, but no mercenary had ever accepted them either.

"See?" Phillard’s maw curled into an amiable smile. "We are breaking new grounds and this kind of thing requires more flexibility. I can’t trust your client having my back if they are too scared to even show their face.

"Tell them I want a piece of Verhen as much as they do. If my word isn’t enough, they can find themselves another Awakened and we’ll never speak of this ever again. No harm, no foul."

"I’ll pass the message and let the client know." Sigmur replied.