Modern World Warlock
Chapter 374 - 374: Mysterious Soldiers

After Camille's interruption and the takedown of the several snipers targeting Dante, the handler asked the leader of the soldiers once again to identify themselves.

The leader was speechless and perplexed, unsure of what to do in that situation. However, when his phone began blaring with a silly ringtone, his eyes sharpened when he looked at the screen.

"Mhmm, mhmm. I understand…" The man said to the mysterious caller, but instead of hanging up, the soldier extended his arm and gave his phone to Camille.

"Who's this?" Camille asked as soon as she picked up the phone.

Dante couldn't hear the conversation with the mysterious person on the other side of the line, but Camille's wary stance and umbra fluctuations portrayed anger, making him wonder about their talk.

Camille was silent for a few seconds, listening to what the other person had to say in their call, until she loudly spoke up.

"Listen. If you want to break a deal with me, you have to come to me in person. Or did you think I would agree to give you Dante just because you asked?" Camille said, and Dante was starting to get an idea of what was being discussed.

"I don't care who you are. I don't turn in my allies," Camille continued.

As the handler kept talking on the phone, Dante noticed the leader of the soldiers ruffling inside his jacket, and seeing the umbra coming out of his body, the warlock knew that the man was planning to do something.

Dante passed the unconscious Asphodel to Lexia so that she could be taken out of the area, and when the leader finally pulled his hand out of his pocket, the warlock was confused.

He was expecting the soldier to pull out a gun or some sort of weapon, but when he saw a small remote control that was similar to the ones he used for the TV, his confusion was evident.

'This guy's umbra is showing aggression… What does that little controller do?' Dante wondered.

Before the leader could press a button, Dante raised his arm and pointed his palm at the group of soldiers.

Even though he was exhausted from the battle and his umbra reserves were virtually empty, he could use the umbra that the soldiers and his allies extruded from their bodies.

"I don't know what you are doing over there, but I'll erase all of you if you try anything funny," Dante commented, though it was hard to convince the soldiers as he was utterly covered in wounds.

Camille kept talking on the phone and, noticing the standoff, asked the person in the call to order the soldiers to retreat. Nevertheless, the answer she received wasn't the one she wanted.

At that moment, Camille widened her eyes and ducked down as the soldiers started shooting at Dante. However, the warlock cast a quick 'Destro' spell that turned the bullets into dust before they could reach their target.

Dante's spell was also meant to annihilate the bodies of the soldiers, but when the invisible wave of destruction reached them, the warlock was shocked to see his spell crashing against a strange barrier around the soldiers.

'These guys… Can use magic!' The warlock thought, gritting his teeth.

"Dante, we are retreating!" Camille shouted, throwing the phone that the leader of the soldiers lent her.

As Camille ran back, time seemed to slow down in Dante's eyes for a brief moment.

He could see the soldiers were ready to shoot again, but with Camille on the way, it would only be a matter of seconds before she was riddled with bullets.

Gritting his teeth with determination, Dante rushed forward and hugged Camille. Then, he turned around and protected the handler with his whole body, showing his unprotected back to the soldiers.

When the soldiers began shooting, Dante closed his eyes and clenched his fist, expecting to receive dozens of bullets in his back.

"Sacred Art: Aegis," Imera's voice echoed in the vicinity.

A split second before the bullets reached the warlock, a golden, translucent barrier appeared between the soldiers and Dante, wholly protecting them from the projectiles.

"*Phew* Right on time…" Imera said, hovering in the air and pointing her finger down to prevent the barrier from disappearing.

Wolfram, whose soul was inhabiting the body of a petite female android, waved his hand and produced a massive wall of fire in front of the soldiers.

The wall of flames was over ten meters tall, and the length was three times that amount, which gave the Jade Dragons more than enough time to retreat from the area.

With no other choice but to let them escape for now, the leader of the soldiers turned around and placed his hand on his earpiece.

"They are gone, Master…" The leader said.

["I see. Return to base and await future orders…"] The mysterious person on the line replied, using a voice synthesizer to change how they sounded.

In the meantime, while the altercation between the soldiers and the Jade Dragons was happening, Tanya and Dirk had recorded the entire thing from the roof of a building.

Half of the structure was destroyed during the battle with Netherius, but Tanya couldn't pass up an opportunity to record such an event from the perfect angle.

"You see, ladies and gentlemen. The Novarian military was trying to silence our heroes! What sort of future do we have in store for our country!?" Tanya said with a slightly overdramatic tone while talking to the camera.

"Aaaaand... cut!" She continued.

As Dirk lowered the camera, the pair took a deep breath and stretched, feeling the exhaustion of their task finally hitting them.

"Somehow, we survived…" Dirk muttered.

"Heh, we also got the best footage for the biggest documentary ever. Ahahah!" Tanya proudly replied.

"We should probably leave before the authorities reach this place," Dirk continued, and Tanya agreed with him.

When the pair looked around them, they realized that the harpion twins had left them, and they had no other way to climb down the half-destroyed building.

Still, right before they started panicking, the twins returned and grabbed them without asking for permission.

"Ah, thanks! We needed a ride back down…" Tanya said to the twins, but she got nervous when she realized that the kids weren't descending but flying somewhere else.