Under the sound of bubbling liquid, there was a man focusing keenly on a couple of small vials. His intense focus was of course not without cause, alchemy was no joke.

This laboratory built just past the mountainous range of the Galeburst dynasty was dedicated to alchemical pursuits. They had generations upon generations of knowledge stacked and compiled for all alchemists of all levels and ranks to make use of.

That was of course assuming that they were part of the laboratory. This laboratory was primarily staffed by branch members of the Galeburst dynasty. There was only one exception to the rule.

The man focused on watching the small vials was this exception. He was considered a genius by many, and that included the dynasty's ruler. He was granted the family name Zephyr given charge of this laboratory at the edge.

This happened at least 20 years ago and by now, the man had created potions out of many exotic ingredients. For such an experienced man, creating new potions out of new ingredients was a piece of cake.

The only issue such a man could encounter was getting the most out of each new ingredient. How could he ensure that the potion he was making was the best thing that could be made with that particular ingredient?

It was impossible, but the old man was nearing his late fifties and he still carried the vigor of youth. No one could tell him something was impossible!

At this moment, the observant man could no longer fight the urge to blink.

He missed it.

One of the small vials had turned a frosty color and started to exude a cold impenetrable feeling. But he had missed the process.

"RRGH! DAMN IT!" He was pissed. Zahid Zephyr was a calm and patient man, but that didn't mean he couldn't curse to let off some steam. If only the apprentices and assistants of the laboratory also saw it that way..

They knew this was just the start of a mad tirade.

"Stupid eyeballs!" It always started so simple and innocent. But the man would lose his filter with every new word he uttered.

Before he could get to this point, one of the apprentice alchemists noticed a change of color in another of the vials.

"Professor! Look! Another hit!" An apprentice said, referring to Zahid.

"Huh?" The professor was stunned. Another hit?!

As previously stated, knowing what ingredients would make for the best possible potion when combined with a new ingredient was impossible. Nevertheless, there was a way to know the potential within the available ingredients.

The professor would make solutions containing different ingredients and introduce the new ingredient to them, testing for a reaction.

Most of the time, there would be at least one reaction. This first reaction highlighted the path of the potential potions. The professor always made sure to pick very distinct yet generally encompassing solutions.

That was why he had not expected a second hit. Now they could try gauging for more reactions in the other two branches.

"Hahahaha! I f*cking missed it again!" The professor was so happy about knowing the ingredient had potential that he cursed. But the professor was a professional, he quickly relayed an order to one of the nearby assistant alchemists.

"Contact the Flamewood estate, tell them we'll have their potion soon!" With two paths for the ingredient, how could they not come up with something?

***

Back in the battlefield just outside the capital, the god of death, Azrael was looking at the spells hurling towards him with excitement. Based on his original plan, Samuel should have been dead by now, but.. wasn't this much better?

There was now excitement, there was suspense, there was.. there was risk and danger! He was one of the few assassins that secretly hoped to fail their missions, although he always carried them out to the best of his abilities.

It was worth mentioning that he wasn't always like that, only now was he a blood-crazed maniac.

Azrael's body became enveloped in a dark sphere. The myriad spells landed on his figure at this very moment, causing him to tumble and skid back several meters. Nonetheless, the shadowy sphere never let up.

Not until a slash split upon a hole, anyway. Samuel was still very much in the fight. Regardless of how blurry his vision, there was no way he would miss a dark ball in the middle of the day!

But Azrael was an assassin, which meant he was agile. He dodged and weaved past the few spells that entered through this small opening. In fact, Azrael abandoned the full-blown sphere entirely and now only manifested it in the spells' trajectories.

At first, this manifestation of the shadowy death element was loose and weak. Any spells that hit it would break it and allow the one behind to break past, but with Azrael skirting around, they didn't allow it anyway.

The funny part was that Azrael could have taken the opportunity to leave the trajectory of this barrage entirely, but...

"I see, it makes more sense this way" He came to understand something. He was curious about how Samuel extinguish his arrows so easily earlier, but if it was like this..

The darkness solidified, almost seeming like a physical object. Not just that, but the speed at which Azrael cast it increased, and could now be mistaken to be phasing in and out of existence.

"Hahaha!" Azrael's face now held a maddened grin.

An ear bursting clang then rang out.

By the time Samuel's next slash came, Azrael was ready to block it. The sound of the collision was like a loud drum that reverberated the battlefield and signaled the tipping of the balance in this battle.

A swoosh then sounded out. This swoosh was followed by a swish, which was followed by another swoosh. Consecutive strikes!

The sword of Samuel turned into a green flurry. The wind-coated blade continued to shoot out long and visible wind slashes that were both relentless and speedy.

"Urgh! Argh- Wha-" Azrael who had started to grasp Samuel's casting technique suddenly found that he couldn't keep up with his sword. The deathly shield he prepared was unable to block everything!

His mana was running dry and some slashes were even starting to cut past and leave both large and small gashes on his body. The death element would stitch these injuries, but Azrael had instantly been thrown into a passive position.

To make matters worse, Samuel was readily approaching with each swing of his sword. At first, he would take one step with each swing, but now.. he was walking over while shooting out this unbelievable barrage of slashes.

With the distance closing, it became near impossible for Azrael to react fast enough to block anything anymore.historical

It finally happened.

Samuel grit his teeth and mustered some mana for a sudden burst of power! His swings which were originally a blur appeared to have stopped for a single second shocking anyone that happened to observe the happening.

Azrael's pale complexion did not hide the white of his eyes as they rolled to the back of his head.

The man fell back with a thud.

"Huff huff.." Samuel was left exhausted. He swept away beads of sweat off his forehead and finally lowered his sword.

The mages who were assisting Samuel quickly shifted back to the battlefield after seeing the situation being handled. That was, except for the duke himself, who approached the weary Samuel from a distance.

"Need water?" He asked extending out his hand. There was a sphere of water floating above it.

Samuel looked at the duke and then back at the sphere of water.

"You don't-" Before the duke could tease Samuel further. Samuel stole his sphere of water using the wind and actually dared drink it.

"Wow, I didn't think you were actually so thirsty" The Duke commented.

Samuel only dared do it because the Duke dared tease him. Every once in a while, it was important to respond contrary to the Duke's expectation.

"You try swinging your sword more than 100 times in the span of less than a minute" Samuel said in response with a rather generous estimate of his feat.

The Duke chuckled but said no more. They both then turned to look at the corpse of Azrael.

Samuel's expression suddenly changed.

"No good!" He shouted before grabbing hold of the Duke and shooting off into the air.

A loud bang burst apart the body of Azrael shooting off blood and guts seemingly everywhere.

"Huh?" But..

"That wasn't the assassin" Samuel said looking at the bits and pieces. The person he beat WAS Azrael but the assassin took the liberty to swap himself out with an exploding corpse right as they took flight.

"Where.. where is he then?" The Duke asked flustered in a rare break of character.

"You've made a big mistake, Samuel" The familiar voice of Azrael said from a further spot on the battlefield. Samuel shot a glance in the direction and narrowed his eyes. The man had to be part cockroach monster.

"Right, I didn't slice you into pieces" If he knew the enemy this time was so troublesome he would have put their body through a blender.

"Your mistake was challenging me in my holy ground!" Azrael continued as darkness seeped out of his body and entered those of the deceased from both sides. The people who were still fighting closely couldn't help but become shocked.

Zombies!