Chapter 537: Descendants

Stratford scanned the large crowd that had gathered in the middle of the Weeping Woods. He could see five other Magi and hundreds of mortal town residents, excluding Adam.

"Hmm?" The werewolf's brows furrowed as he gazed at these mortals. He could feel a subtle connection toward them, something that originated from the depths of his very being.

"I see," he said flatly. "So all of you are my descendants."

The following moment, his crimson eyes narrowed and he coldly muttered, "Although you all have my blood running through your veins, neither of you has the venom!"

He turned his head and gazed at Adam. "Your doing, I suppose?"

Adam got to his feet, solemnly looking at the werewolf. What he had feared had come to pass. He had involuntarily drawn the fight here.

Damn it, the youth cursed inwardly. There are bound to be some casualties among the civilians now. But as long as they can buy me a little bit of time to prepare my final trump card...

Stratford shifted his gaze toward the mortals standing right in front of him. They were trembling in absolute fear, unable to even breathe.

"All of you are useless!" With that said, he raised his sharp claw and swiped it at them. SLASH!

Instantly, dozens of innocent mortals had been dismantled by his attack. Blood and flesh splattered on the people behind them as they could only helplessly stare at the monster brazenly killing them.

They had nowhere else to go. They were completely surrounded by weeping trees from all sides.

"Die!!" Stratford raised his hand, aiming to dismember yet another one of his descendants. But right as his claw was about to cut the person's body, Adam silently appeared before this person, blocking the attack with his gauntlets.

BAM!

Once again, the youth flew away into the distance, destroying one tree after another.

Seeing such a futile attempt at saving an innocent life, Stratford sneered in ridicule, "Instead of running away, you try to save this pathetic waste of space. How naive of you-"

The words got stuck in his mouth when he lowered his head, gazing at his palm. There were small wounds on his wrist, but that wasn't what shocked him.

It was the wolfsbane in his injuries that did!

That kid... was this his goal all along? He thought in alarm.

The last two times, Adam was only able to slightly injure him, but through these injuries, he was able to inject the wolfsbane directly into his system.

Wolfsbane was a highly lethal poison to a creature of the night such as Stratford.

However, he wouldn't immediately die because of it since he was a Rank 3 Magus and also because the amount of poison in his system was very minuscule.

However, if kept unchecked, it could pose a great danger to him.

Finally, Stratford was able to understand Adam's state of mind. Usually, if a Rank 2 Magus came across a Rank 3 Magus in battle, their immediate response would be to flee and never look back.

However, Adam decided to stay behind and fight him.

Stratford finally understood where the raven-haired youth's confidence stemmed from- wolfsbane!

I need to kill him immediately! He thought.

Right at that moment, the space in front of him trembled ever so slightly, causing him to instantly go on alert.

Teleporting right in front of me? How foolish!

His lips curled up into a wide grin as he readied his claw and thrust it in front of him. His attack would land on Adam as soon as he teleported.

Just as Adam appeared in front of the werewolf, he saw an enormous claw covered in blood enlarge in his vision. He only had a split moment to defend.

Thanks to the Sphere of Resonance working at maximum capacity, his reflexes were quick to the extremes as everything around him had slowed down.

Instead of defending against the incoming attack, however, he chose to do something else. His eyes glowed with a brilliant white light and he disappeared once again!

Stratford's attack ended up hitting nothing but empty air. He was astonished to see Adam display such mind-boggling reflexes.

SLASH!

Adam teleported right behind the werewolf and viciously slashed his furry back, embedding the wolfsbane dripping from his gauntlets deep inside Stratford's blood and flesh.

BAM!

Stratford swung his hand behind him, delivering a ruthless backhand slap to Adam, hurling him into the distance once again.

"Ugghh!" The werewolf grimaced in agony.

Although the small injury itself on his back didn't cause him any pain, it was the wolfsbane wreaking havoc inside his body that caused him to feel slightly weakened.

He wiped the blood seeping from his maw and then looked in the direction where Adam just

shot.

That teleportation spell of his is turning out to be very bothersome, he thought.

But how is he able to teleport without using any magical components? That's unheard of...

Unless he's using a magical focus! But I don't see anything in his possession.

The next moment, Stratford recalled that every time Adam teleported, his eyes would glow brightly for a brief moment.

Could it be... that the focus he's using is inside his body?! If this is so... there has to be a limit to how

long he can use it before the magical focus is rendered useless.

But I can't afford to wait for that long. I must get rid of him as soon as possible!

Right at that moment, the space before him suddenly trembled yet again, indicating the

arrival of Adam.

Stratford pretended to attack the area in front of him, but immediately after he turned around

and reached out his claw behind his back.

"Acckkk!" Adam's neck was firmly grasped by the werewolf!

"Did you think I would fall for the same trick twice?" Stratford's tone was filled with mockery

and killing intent.

Adam glanced at the man with an amused look and replied, "I was... hoping... you wouldn't..."

Stratford's eyes narrowed. "What-"

Adam threw a crystal vial onto the ground. As the glass shattered, light-brown colored smoke surfaced and enveloped the both of them.

Immediately after, the sounds of violent coughs originated from within the smoke.

When the dust settled, Stratford could be seen half-kneeling on the ground, while Adam was standing on his feet, drinking a mysterious potion.

"This tranquilizing dust was made by a Rank 3 Magus from the Wood Spirit Clan," said Adam after consuming the antidote. "It took me quite a lot of time to convert it into a smoke

bomb."

He paused for a moment and added, "Although it won't put you to sleep, it will at least leave you vulnerable for a few moments."

Stratford was desperately struggling to keep himself conscious. His eyelids felt extremely heavy and his heartbeat had slowed down considerably.

Damn it, how did it come to this?! He roared inwardly. What is this smoke?!

Adam took advantage of this opportunity, coating both his gauntlets in a layer of mana and stabbing them straight into the werewolf's chest.

Then, he released a large amount of wolfsbane straight inside his body! "AAAGGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Stratford roared helplessly as purple smoke wafted from his maws.

Adam, with his hand still pierced inside the werewolf's chest, turned around and winked at his

squad members.

"Hang in there for a minute. Reinforcements have almost arrived," he said with a faint smile.

The next moment, he disappeared...

Along with Stratford!