Chapter 575: Rescuing the Naga (2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Link, do you think he’s really coming to discuss important matters?”

Celine walked up to Link as soon as he returned to the Mage Tower. She stayed at the top level during Link’s meeting with Bryant, aiming her big fire gun at the Magician. No matter what Bryant did, she would fire as soon as she felt danger.

She wouldn’t be able to kill Bryant, but she could at least affect his power.

However, she didn’t observe or sense anything abnormal. Bryant seemed to have really come to discuss the portal.

Link found it strange too. Prophecies were always a bit iffy. They made nice reminders, but there would be problems if one completely relied on prophecies.

From the interaction, he believed that Bryant was up to something. However, he wasn’t sure how he would rescue Katyusha or if he was here for another reason.

After thinking, Link said, “There’s no hurry. He gave me the drafts now and will stay in Scorched Ridge for three days. If we wait patiently, he’ll expose himself.”

Celine shrugged, a bit confused. “That’s too troublesome. He’s not your match. Why don’t we just capture him and interrogate him?”

Link shook his head immediately. “Celine, you’re too confident in me. Bryant is still quite powerful. If we fight, I’ll have to kill him. I can’t capture him.”

For someone like him, capturing him alive was 100 times harder than killing him.

It was easy to kill Bryant. Link could activate Lily and attack, ending Bryant in a few moves. However, if Bryant fought back before he died, the entire Scorched City could be destroyed.

Scorched City was Link’s camp. He couldn’t do something so risky.

“Alright. I’ll continue watching him.” Grasping the big fire gun, Celine returned to the Mage Tower’s balcony. She could see the entire city and also had the magic seal for protection. It was the best place for spying.

Link took out Bryant’s draft for the portal matrix and started revising it. Of course, he was only getting rid of some flaws.

…

Sewage system under Scorched Ridge

Merna swam through the sewage tunnel. In order to avoid having her aura sensed, she used her physical power. All her movements looked like a regular snake.

The sewage system was as complex as a maze, but Merna had shocking memory. She also had a great sense of smell. She could smell her own scent even in the dirty water.

These strong points paired with her acute sense of direction helped her reach the outside of the Mage Tower’s foundation after around two hours.

There, she ran into a new problem.

The Mage Tower’s defense was abnormally dense. Even the foundations underground were practically seamless. Merna circled it many times but couldn’t find any flaws.

Even the drainage hole had a very detailed detection matrix. If she swam over, it would be activated immediately. She stared at it for half an hour without finding any defects. It was so sophisticated that she felt helpless.

The material elsewhere was extremely sturdy too, at Level-9. The critical parts reached Level-11. If she wanted to force her way in, it would cause a big commotion.

Who built this tower? Is he crazy? Would it kill him to leave a crack? Merna was frustrated.

Not willing to give up, she swam aimlessly, circling around the tower three times to no avail. Sneaking in from underground wasn’t going to work.

Merna could only backtrack. After returning to the yard, she used the foliage for cover and slithered back to Bryant’s room.

Bryant was lying on a chaise and reading. Two magic puppets stood behind him. One massaged him gently while the other held his drink.

“Stronger, lower, ah yes. Feels good.”

“Let me drink again.”

The servant walked over and gently spooned him the drink. All Bryant had to do was slightly move his head. He was in paradise.

Seeing this, Merna almost exploded in anger. She’d swum in the disgusting water of human feces for hours and had even accidentally swallowed some of it. But this guy was here enjoying everything. Feeling the difference, anger rose up in Merna. She rushed over and bit Bryant’s calf, injecting poison.

Crash! Bryant almost fell from his chair in fright. Stinging pain came from his calf. Looking down, he saw that it was bruising at a speed visible to the naked eye. There were also two fang marks.

This was extreme poison.

Bryant hurriedly drank some Elf Nectar to push the poison down. Then he looked to the two magic puppets. They stared at him, confused, but didn’t do anything abnormal.

He let out a sigh. Feeling Merna go inside his robe and wrap around his arm again, he said to the magic puppets, “Okay, I want to rest. Go out.”

They turned and left the room.

Finally, Bryant muttered, “What? What did I do?!”

Merna huffed. “I risked my life to investigate the Mage Tower, and I was annoyed to see you like this, so I bit you!”

“Alright, alright… How’s the situation?” Bryant did feel that he’d crossed the line, but Ferde’s magic puppets were really nice. They were beautiful, had soft voices, gentle movements, and served extremely well. If he wasn’t scared of being laughed at, he would take two back to the Isle of Dawn.

“The defense is very dense. I can’t break through by myself. I need your help.” Merna sighed. She’d underestimated Ferde.

“That bad?” Bryant was shocked too. He’d personally experienced Merna’s espionage skills. If even she was helpless, Ferde’s defense was really something.

Thinking, Bryant said, “How about I go out? I can definitely find an apprentice that will take you into the Mage Tower… Of course, you have to change your appearance, like a parrot that can talk or a white rat. Or another animal that people won’t be scared of.”

Merna sighed. “Fine. I’ll do as you say.”

The two immediately started acting.

Merna started changing her appearance in a hidden corner while Bryant walked out and wandered down the street. He walked until six at night. When he returned, there was a mouse the size of two fists in the room. The mouse was extremely fluffy and white. It was adorable.

Bryant petted Merna, praising, “Perfect.”

Then he sat down and sighed. “Merna, my plan won’t work.”

“What now?” Merna felt depressed. The two large eyes on the cute mouse face glinted red. She’d spent the entire afternoon transforming, and now Bryant said this. It made her want to go crazy.

Stomping, she yelled, “You’re a Legendary Magician! You’ve lived for almost 400 years, and you can’t fool some 20-year-old apprentice?”

“Of course I can, and he would take you in, but from what I’ve observed, Link has a powerful Tower Spirit in the Mage Tower. She will detect all organisms brought in. If it isn’t verified, the spirit will activate the alarms. So…”

“So none of our plans will work?” Merna was about to explode.

“Yes.”

So Merna exploded. She jumped around on the table, yelling, “Link is crazy. Is he going to think a cockroach is an invader?! He should just die!”

“Actually, yes. I manipulated a cockroach into climbing in through the door. One second later, it was killed by a Level-0 spell.”

Merna was speechless.

After a long while, she said, “Katyusha can survive two more days at most. After that, we will have failed our mission. You must think of something.”

Bryant had a headache too. “Don’t worry. We still have two days. Tomorrow, I’ll go out again. I’ll find something. I must!”

Chapter 576: Rescuing the Naga (3)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Main Mage Tower, a magic laboratory in the fourth basement

Purple magic runes crackled in the air like electricity. The runes were arranged in circles. Like soldiers in the vanguard, they charged towards a dark red glow in the center.

Three crystals as big as a human’s brain were placed in a triangle around the dark red glow. They were the source of the purple magic runes.

Beyond the crystals stood two Magicians—Eleanor and Vance. The two of them were intently observing the crystals’ power input. Should any anomaly arise, they would immediately step in to rectify it.

“How’s it going?” Link asked. He had come to check on Katyusha’s conditioning.

“Everything looks to be in order. But something strange happened a while ago,” said Vance, a confused look on his face.

“Do tell.”

Vance pointed at the white energy flow pouring out of the Mage Tower. “It happened just last night. The energy flow here had always been stable. We never had an issue with it. However, since one in the morning, there have been three small consecutive Mana outbursts, as if something’s disturbing the energy flow. What’s strange is that Eleanor and I have inspected the surrounding Mana channels. But there seems to be no sign of anyone tampering with them.”

Link was stunned. The first thing he thought of upon hearing this was that this must be Bryant’s handiwork!

The energy flow that was used to break through Katyusha’s defenses came from the Mage Tower’s Mana core. Link had personally overseen its construction and regulation. Every Monday, he would come by for an inspection to make sure that the Mana core was functioning properly. His last inspection had been two days ago. It was still working normally back then.

Also, Link would be able to sense the presence of any foreign power interfering with the Mage Tower’s energy flow from a hundred miles away. However, nothing seemed to stand out in the vicinity at the moment.

“I’ll go check on the main tower’s Mana network.”

He was now feeling a bit anxious. Bryant had been staying in the Scorched Ridge for the past few days. Celine had reported that the man’s behavior seemed suspicious. He might have found a way to gain entry into the laboratory.

Link began checking the main tower’s Mana system, starting from the laboratory, then along the conduit pipe, all the way to the Mana core. Still, he found nothing.

Everything seemed normal. There was no sign suggesting that an outside force had invaded the place, which meant that the disturbance was not man-made.

Link was now puzzled. Strange indeed. Could it be that Bryant’s using a technique even I don’t know about? If that’s the case, what’s he sticking around here for?

Still trying to figure out how Bryant did it, Link decided that he needed more data. He began observing the Mage Tower’s energy flow. He had also set up a Memory Crystal in order to record the next energy outburst when it happened.

He had only just started looking at the numbers when an hour later, another Mana outburst occurred.

This time, Link saw with his own eyes the disturbance in the Mana current. An abnormal tremor appeared in it, affecting the whole thing. The sensation Link had at that moment was that of a giant rocking the entire Mage Tower about, trying to tip it over.

When the tremor occurred, due to the continuous flow of Mana, tiny chaotic eddies began to form in it. They might not have much effect on low-level magic, but they presented a serious threat to the Legendary-level Hidden spell that was keeping Katyusha subdued. These tiny disturbances were able to cause the spell to lose its effect!

Link immediately tried to suppress the sudden disturbance in the Mana channel. He noticed that Vance and Eleanor were also trying to do the same thing.

Four seconds later, the eddies disappeared. Everything was back to normal.

Link took a look at the high-quality Memory Crystal he had placed beside him. It had recorded the whole thing down as it happened.

Link then watched the disturbance unfold again and again on the Memory Crystal. Each time, he would look at the numbers he had jotted down and then make all sorts of calculations with them.

He had completed the entire evaluation process after watching the Memory Crystal at least 12 times. However, his anxiety only intensified as he scanned the formulas and intensity curve of the tremor he had scribbled down in his notebook.

All signs indicated that in order to set off such a tremor in the Mage Tower’s Mana system, the disturbance needed to be global in scale.

In other words, this disturbance needed to encompass the entire realm.

Just what kind of power are we up against, to have such an effect? Could it be the appearance of another divine gear? Link frowned.

When the Dark Serpent first descended on the mortal plane, Link’s power was only at Level-6. He was still so weak at the time that he did not sense any disturbances in the realm and so never experienced anything like this in the past.

This did not mean that others were oblivious to the ripples sent out by the Dark Serpent’s appearance.

After thinking for a while, Link sent a telepathic message to Lily the tower spirit. In an instant, Lily conveyed the message to Evelina, Elovan, and Milose.

When the Dark Serpent first appeared, the Isle of Dawn must have kept a record of the changes brought about by it across the realm.

Five minutes later, the three Legendary High Elves arrived at the main hall of the Mage Tower. As one of Ferde’s chief Magicians, Evelina walked in front, followed from behind by Elovan and Milose.

“My lord, is there something wrong?” asked Evelina. The two High Elves behind her were also looking curiously at Link.

Link was about to explain what was going on when suddenly he stopped. He then raised a finger and whispered, “Try to feel the Mana flow in the Mage Tower.”

A new tremor had appeared, this time even more intense than before. There was even a sudden fluctuation in the brightness of the overhead magic lights.

Of course, ordinary people might not be able to perceive these changes. But to a Legendary master, these changes were as clear as day.

As soon as he sensed the Mana current growing even more turbulent, Link immediately tried to bring it back under control until it returned to normal. He then looked at everyone and asked, “Did you all feel that?”

The three High Elves nodded.

Evelina said, “This disturbance is most unusual. Even my Elemental Pool was affected by it. I was just about to report this to you. It felt like someone was barraging the city with Level-10 offensive Legendary spells from the ocean a hundred miles away.”

Link nodded. He looked at Elovan and Milose. “What do you two think?”

Elovan said, “I am of the same opinion as Evelina, but judging from the direction of the disturbance, it seems to be coming from the Isle of Dawn.”

Milose was about to say something but then closed his mouth.

“If you have something to say, say it now. This is a mission of sorts. If you’re able to provide valuable information, you will be rewarded with Magic Points,” said Link.

Milose jerked up and then said, “When the Dark Serpent appeared, I was stationed at one of the Isle of Dawn’s watchtower. From the watchtower, we would watch for any energy disturbances in the Firuman realm through a magic net powered by Nature power. The commotion we felt just then was a lot more intense than the one caused by the Dark Serpent itself.”

“Oh?” Link was surprised to hear this. He then asked, “I also sensed that the energy disturbance this time was coming from the north-east, which is where the Isle of Dawn is. What do you think?”

“Yes, that’s what I was thinking as well.”

“What about you two? Anything you’d like to add?” Link looked at Elovan and Evelina.

Elovan thought for a moment, then said, “If what Milose said is true, then it is possible that the Isle of Dawn may be working to activate the World Tree’s power as we speak. Such a thing has only happened twice in the past. The first time was 2300 years ago when the Calamity Dragon King Ira invaded the Isle of Dawn. The High Elves had activated the World Tree to trap the Dragon King within an impenetrable Eternal Time Ward. The second time was 800 years ago, when the God of Slaughter, Dalas was attempting to descend on the realm of Firuman. Though he had been thwarted, he had left a huge crack in the realm. The High Elves had used the World Tree’s roots to seal up the crack. The two times the High Elves used the World Tree’s power had left permanent changes on the entire realm. Even now, the Tree’s effects can still be felt. If the Isle of Dawn is activating the World Tree right now, there is a high chance the High Elves’ target this time is Ferde. My lord, we need to prepare ourselves immediately!”

Link was stunned. He had known for a long time that the World Tree possessed incredible power. But now he learned that it was even capable of fending off foes like the Dragon King, Ira and the God of Slaughter, Dalas, both of whom were terrible presences closer to divinity than anything else in the realm.

Link now had a clearer picture of its power.

The World Tree was a force that stood on the pinnacle of the Firuman realm. Outside the Isle of Dawn, Link might be untouchable, but if he dared come within shooting distance of the island, his body and soul would probably be disintegrated on the spot.

Link then asked, “Is there no way at all to deal with the World Tree?’

“There may be a way,” replied Milose.

Raising a brow, Link asked, “Let’s hear it.”

“The World Tree’s power may be the pinnacle of the realm, but it is also way too powerful for any mortal being to handle. Not even the High Elf queen could wield its power alone. For 1000 years, the World Tree has operated according to an innate set of rules. One of those rules was that it should never be used to attack those who possess Nature Power. Even if those with Nature Power were to attack the World Tree, it would only seek to defend itself and drive its aggressors out of the Isle of Dawn.”

Elovan added, “The rules governing the World Tree are not that complicated. Besides not attacking its own people, the World Tree’s rules also include protecting those with royal High Elf blood. Under its shade, royal High Elf members will not be injured by attacks from the outside and are also prevented from hurting each other.”

Hearing this, Link looked at Evelina. She was a High Elf princess. Though her blood was impure, royal blood still ran through her veins.

Evelina shrugged. “Basically what they said, but I would just like to correct what Elovan said. In truth, the royal family members can attack each other. To do so, the High Elf elders must first deliberate with each other before activating a judgment magic seal. After being granted permission by the World Tree, the elders would then remove all Nature Power from an offending member of the Royal High Elf family in order to pass judgment on him or her.”

Link fell silent, ruminating on something. Half a minute later, he said, “Evelina, I would like to study your bloodline power.”

High Elf customs had always been an enigma to him. He decided to go to the Isle of Dawn one of these days to probe even further into this.

“It would be an honor…” Evelina gave Link a bow, but before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a sudden explosion.

The explosion had come from the North. The impact was so great that they could feel a violent tremor running through the Mage Tower.

Startled, all four of them quickly rushed to the window. They saw a white ball of light with a diameter of more than 20 feet rising up from behind a hill.

Evelina shouted in surprise, “My god, it’s a Level-9 Blazing Sun spell!”

The Blazing Sun spell was one of the most potent fire spells in the mortal realm. If the ball of light exploded in the middle of the city, everything in it would be wiped off the map.

This should not have happened. Lily the tower spirit had been keeping watch for any energy anomalies in the city all this time.

If the spell were to go off in the outskirts of the city, the explosion would engulf everything in a sea of eternal fire, and there would be more than 1000 casualties as a result!

Chapter 577: Rescuing the Naga (4)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The might of Level-9 destructive fire spell Blazing Sun was practically at the peak of mortal power. After it exploded, the huge blast spread in all directions, sweeping through the entire Ferde within seconds.

Under the light of the giant surging fireball, the entire Scorched City sank into terror and chaos. Looking down from the Mage Tower, one could see people scurrying around on the street for somewhere to hide. Link had great hearing; he could hear shocked cries from all over.

Even the Mage Tower fell into an uproar.

Many apprentices wandered like aimless flies. Faced with such a change, most people were dazed; they had no clue what to do.

In Link’s room, Evelina, Elovan, and Milose were all floored. They gaped at the burning white ball in the distance. The three High Elves couldn’t imagine that someone dared to use such a spell in Ferde. Did that person not fear for their life? Or did they not fear Ferde’s power?

Their minds were in a mess. However, some were still calm.

Link recovered immediately and ordered, “Lily, upgrade battle mode!”

In the battle mode, Lily would be given the biggest authority. She would be in charge of a range of ten miles around the Mage Tower. Within this, she would kill anything that didn’t follow the safety rules!

“Mode changed. Currently in battle mode!” Lily’s voice used to be gentle, but as the mode changed, it became cold and murderous.

Whizz, whizz, whizz. The defense matrixes in the Mage Tower cluster were all activated. Under the various dazzling flashes, a 20-centimeter-thick golden crystal shield appeared on the walls. This was a Level-11 defense spell—Crystal Enchantment. It was very sturdy.

Not only that, a thick magic door appeared before each critical entrance in the Mage Towers. The critical zones were locked and impassable.

While following these commands, Lily also sent commands to the Magicians of different levels in the Mage Tower.

“All apprentices must stay in place and keep quiet.” This was what the apprentices received.

“All official Magicians, converge on the second-floor hall… All official Magicians, converge in the second-floor hall and await further instruction.”

This was the alert for all Magicians under Level-6. The passageways were locked, but they could go through with their badges.

The message for Magicians above Level-6 was different. They were the elites of Ferde and only numbered to around 30. They were told to converge on the third floor. When they all reached the location, they saw that Magician Eliard was already waiting for them.

Eliard quickly assigned tasks. He sent a Magician to watch over each node in the Mage Tower to ensure that the tower would operate normally.

When each Magician who received their task hurried to their location, two magic puppets would follow closely for protection. These magic puppets weren’t only servants. When needed, they could be powerful Warriors equal to Nana, the first magic puppet.

On the other hand, Link gave orders to Evelina and the others. First, he looked at Evelina and said quickly and powerfully, “Eve, protect the Mage Tower’s core!”

“Uh…yes!” Evelina finally recovered.

Link turned. “Elovan, Milose, your authorities have upgraded. Go immediately to the secret room underground. Ensure that the ‘weapon’ transformation won’t be disturbed!”

The weapon was Katyusha. Link had a feeling that this crisis was for her.

“Understood!” The two High Elves turned and ran towards the underground room.

After these orders, white light flashed around him. He disappeared, and an instant later, he reached the balcony. Celine was watching Bryant there.

Even with this great and sudden change, Celine still wasn’t disturbed. After all the wars, her mind was much stronger than those High Elves. No matter what happened, she wouldn’t even blink if Link was still alright.

Right now, she still had her eyes on Bryant.

“How are things?” Link asked.

Celine’s eyes didn’t leave from the lens. Knowing that Link was here, she said, “Bryant is still in the yard. He looks normal.”

“Oh?” Link activated a Spatial Lens and saw Bryant through the distorted light. The elf was reading in his room, unaffected by the chaos outside. His movements didn’t even change. He was just reading page after page.

“I’ve been watching for a few days, and he’s always like this,” Celine says. “It looks like he’s patiently waiting for you to finish designing.”

Link watched closely but didn’t find anything strange. He couldn’t keep watching. As the lord, he had to hurry to the suburbs and take care of the explosion.

Thinking, he said, “Keep watching him and call Lily if anything is wrong, then fire. Don’t give him time to react! I’ll teleport back immediately.”

“Understood.” Celine nodded. She rubbed her reddening eyes and continued watching Bryant.

Seeing her like this, Link cast an Essence Vitality on her. Celine felt the power surging through her and smiled at Link. Link smiled as well. Then he activated the transmission spell again, hurrying to the suburbs.

When he got there, it was empty. Link could sense Jacker bringing many soldiers here. They were fast, but they couldn’t compare to Link’s spell.

The explosion site was around five miles from the Mage Tower. It was at the border of Scorched City, and the buildings were sparse. The Level-9 spell only destroyed around 30 houses. Link circled in the air and got an estimate of the casualties. Around 100 had died while close to 1000 were hurt. This was much better than he’d expected.

At this time, Jacker arrived with 1000 Sunlight Warriors above Level-6. Link descended.

“Lord!” Jacker ran over and saluted. The others followed suit.

Link nodded and ordered, “The attacker has escaped, and this place is safe. Go help the affected citizens… Oh, leave a dozen to help me. I will investigate the explosion site.”

“Yes, Lord.” Jacker immediately turned. “You, you, you, you guys go help the lord!”

The chosen Warriors were all excited. Puffing up their chests, they walked forward in unison, yelling, “Understood, general!”

Link waved. “Come with me.”

“Yes, Lord!” they replied together. They were so excited that they were as tense as robots.

The group hurried to the heart of the explosion.

…

While everyone in the upper level of Ferde was in a flurry, Bryant was still reading in his room. He looked calm. Fifteen minutes had passed since the explosion. During this, he seemed to have flipped through 20 pages. He actually hadn’t comprehended any words.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Merna had successfully infiltrated the Mage Tower. However, she seemed to have disappeared, having not said anything after all this time.

She didn’t even send their signal, let alone show up.

Bryant looked out the window. The Mage Tower loomed before him. At this time, it glowed with dazzling magic light. Less than three seconds after the explosion, the entire Mage Tower completely closed off. The magic seal was very powerful—at least Level-11.

His reaction is too fast. Merna can’t break through the magic seal with her power. I hope she’ll be okay.

Bryant was very anxious. Honestly, if Merna wasn’t Nozama’s daughter, he would have left immediately after seeing the Mage Tower’s transformation. This place was too dangerous. Trying to rescue someone from the tower was no different from suicide.

I’ll wait for four more hours. If there still isn’t any news, I’ll find an excuse to leave Ferde! Bryant decided inside.

As for the rescue plan, Bryant didn’t think about it. The Isle of Dawn and Army of Destruction were only temporary allies. There was no need to die for each other.

At that time, Merna was going crazy inside the tower.

With the detection earring from the God of Destruction, she had a vague sense of where Katyusha was. Thus, she went straight to the underground room after entering the Mage Tower.

She was very fast. Within two seconds, she was on the first underground level. She ran into trouble when she tried entering the second level.

Just as she was about to get through the entrance, a magic door appeared in the previously open passageway. Surprised, she retreated immediately but found that it was blocked behind her.

Even more shocking was that the magic door was very powerful. It was impossibly sturdy, and the runes on it were past her understanding. She couldn’t even break through forcefully, let alone undo it.

Thus, she was stuck in the first underground level. She couldn’t walk as wished either because there were detection runes all around. Many were hidden in unnoticeable corners too. She would be exposed easily if she wasn’t careful.

This damn Mage Tower is scarier than the Abyss!

The only thing she could do was hide in a corner and wait patiently until the other lowered their alert. Then she would find a chance.

However, Merna didn’t notice that there was a painting of King Charlie on the wall behind her. The king’s eyes were so detailed that they seemed to be real.

And now, they were staring at Merna’s back.

Chapter 578: Rescuing the Naga (5) (2/4)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Mage Tower, Mana core

“Where’s Link?” Eliard had been looking for Link, but found Evelina instead.

“He went to check on the explosion and left me in charge of the Mana core. Is something wrong?” Evelina did not turn around to face him. She had to maintain control of the Mana core.

“Nothing really, just that I found something quite interesting on the first basement,” said Eliard. He then raised his voice and gave the tower spirit Lily a command. “Lily, open up mirrors 13 and 17.”

“Command received,” replied Lily. There was a whir. Then, a two-sided magic mirror materialized near the Mana core out of thin air.

The first basement was where the Mage Tower’s storage rooms were. All kinds of magic materials, food and wine were kept inside them. There was enough for a thousand people to survive for at least ten years.

The magic mirror displayed a corner of one of the food storages. The left side showed a pile of potatoes, while the mirror’s right side showed a row of oaken wine barrels.

Evelina looked at the two displays. Finally, she gave up, shaking her head. “I don’t see anything.”

Eliard chuckled. “You can’t see it here. It’s hiding in a blind spot between the two detection runes.”

Evelina asked curiously, “Then how did you find it? The tower’s Mana network didn’t pick up any unusual activity.”

“If I’m going to tell you how I found it, I’ll need to start from the time the Mage Tower was still in construction. Back then, I had overseen its entire construction process. I was even there when they began laying out its foundation. In the first basement, there, in mirror 17, do you see a mural on the wall?”

Evelina looked at where Eliard was pointing and nodded. “Yes, though it looked a bit crude. The scribbles of a High Elf child in the Isle of Dawn would have looked much better there.”

Eliard looked offended. “It was me. I painted it in my free time. When I was still practicing the Stoneshaping spell, Master Grenci told me that painting murals was the best way to master the spell. That’s not the point. The point is, I spent a lot of time on the eyes. Do you notice that the eyes of King Charles on the mural here seem to be gleaming?”

“It certainly does. Does this have anything to do with what you’re saying? There doesn’t seem to be any magic at work in those eyes,” said Evelina, still confused.

Eliard shrugged, then said disparagingly, “Evelina, I’ve been telling you that your thinking has always been rigid. I’ve already given you a hint, and still, you can’t see the secret behind the mural. If Link was here, he would have immediately known what it is.”

Evelina kept her calm. She had heard such talk from Eliard far too many times during their discussions. If she had let his words get to her, she would have been driven mad by him a long time ago.

However, no matter how closely she looked at the magic mirror, she still could not see what she was supposed to be seeing. “Where is this secret you’re talking about?”

Eliard said to Lily, “Magnify mirror 17, focus on the mural’s eyes.”

“Magnifying…”

The image was slowly expanding. Throughout the magnification process, the mirror’s image maintained its definition. When the image was magnified tenfold, Eliard shouted, “That’s enough. Evie, look at the reflection in the figure’s eyes. There, do you see it? It’s a white-furred mouse.”

Evelina had already seen it when the image was only magnified fivefold. Deep down, she admired Eliard’s observational powers, but she would never be caught dead admitting that to him out in the open. She glanced at him and said with a huff, “Alright, I admit you have quite a keen pair of eyes.”

“I… won’t argue with you over that,” said Eliard as he pointed at the reflection. “The mouse is a Magical Beast. It’s extremely intelligent, and it’s not as weak as it looks. This little fellow managed to sneak into the Mage Tower when the place was in chaos for at least two seconds. It had slipped into the first basement without even tripping the detection seals in its path. Despite its size, its speed and observational powers are extraordinary. I estimate that its power may be above Level-8.”

Evelina had listened to Eliard’s evaluation of the creature with a solemn face. When he gave his estimation of the creature’s power, she said incredulously, “Isn’t it a bit of a stretch to assume that such a tiny creature has Level-8 power?”

“Not at all. Have you read Magician Opello’s magic book called Big and Small? asked Eliard.

“No, what’s it about?” Evelina felt a bit awkward. Half the time, she did not understand a word of what Eliard said, and this was not the first time. Was she getting old?

“You should give it a read. Opello’s a Level-5 Magician in the Mage Tower. He’s quite imaginative. The book’s filled with all of his wondrous ideas and imaginings. In the book, Opello presented his theory that an object’s size does not have any substantial value. For instance, through spatial manipulation, a person can be shrunk into the size of a peanut, without affecting his strength in the slightest.”

“Alright, I believe you. I’ll read it when I’m free. Right now, what should we do?”

Evelina was aware that new books were being added into the Mage Tower’s library collection every day. Before, she did not really think too much about it. She had always assumed that these low-level Magicians had nothing to offer her since she had surpassed them all in terms of knowledge and power. But now, she saw them in a new light.

Eliard had already thought of a plan. “This little fellow hasn’t realized that it’s been found out. It hasn’t moved from its hiding spot all this time, probably waiting for us to lower our defenses. It must be heading towards the laboratory where the Naga Katyusha is being held prisoner. If that’s the case, we could lay a trap ahead of it through a portal. When the Mage Tower’s defenses are sufficiently lowered, and the magic door is opened, it will walk right into our trap…”

Before he could finish, a white light filled the great hall. Link’s figure appeared when it subsided.

Eliard clapped his hands and said, “Link, you’re back just in time. I’ve discovered an intruder in the Mage Tower.”

Link had just finished inspecting the site of the explosion. The culprit was cautious. He did not gain much information from the scene. At the moment, he only knew that the culprit had used a delayed-action magical spell. It had been triggered using a Level-9 runestone. He had spent half a day searching for other clues, but even with the aid of a Focus spell, he did not find anything else.

All evidence clearly pointed to the fact that the culprit’s method was extremely advanced and was not at all an inferior to Link.

When he heard what Eliard said, his eyes lit up. “Intruder? What intruder?”

Eliard began explaining his discovery to Link in great detail. When he got to the part about the eyes on the mural, Link immediately said, “You were able to spot it from its reflection in the mural’s eyes? Not bad, not bad at all.”

Eliard seemed pleased with himself, then gestured at Evelina. “See, I told you Link would understand immediately. You still have a long way to go.”

Evelina’s mouth contorted with irritation.

When Link listened to Eliard’s plan, he pondered it for a while before saying, “I see nothing wrong with your plan. It’s just a bit too risky. You may even alert the Magical Beast’s owner. There’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

“Hmm, let me think it through again.” Eliard frowned, deep in thought.

Link smiled. He already had a plan ready. “How about this? Let’s not try to catch the Magical Beast. Instead, we’ll pull a trick on it.”

“A trick?” Eliard was silent for a few seconds. He then immediately said, “Are you suggesting that we let it find its target and then contact its owner in order to bring him or her out of hiding?”

Link nodded. “It’s still too risky to let the beast reach its intended target. We may be in trouble if its owner has some powerful technique up their sleeve. As a safety precaution, we’ll set up an illusion and fool the Magical Beast into thinking that it’s found its mark. At that point, it will make contact with its owner. We’ll be able to trace the connection back to the real culprit hiding in the shadows!”

Eliard’s eyes were glowing as he listened. He nodded furiously. “It’s definitely a better plan than mine. What are we waiting for? Let’s get started! This guy sure has some nerve, causing so much trouble in Ferde! He’s gonna pay for his actions, big time!”

Chapter 579: Rescuing the Naga (6) (3/4)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Merna stayed in the basement of the Mage Tower for around two hours. Then she heard a soft click. The magic door’s aura disappeared.

They lowered the security! Merna was overjoyed. However, she didn’t hurriedly act. Instead, she remained in the corner. It was most likely a trap.

This didn’t mean that they’d found her. Instead, they didn’t find her yet but wanted to use this to lower her guard and make her come out of her hiding place. Thus, she kept waiting quietly. After another hour or so, she finally snuck out of the spot.

There were detection runes hidden all over the storeroom, but Merna’s body shape was her advantage. She also had great vision. Even the most hidden runes were visible to her.

Carefully, she walked in the blind spots of all the runes. Three minutes later, she successfully got to the second basement floor.

Here, her detection earring vibrated faintly. This meant she was getting closer to her target. It was less than 60 feet away!

Merna was overjoyed. Only a bit more. If I find the right location, I can save her!

Now, another thought appeared in her mind. It’s been more than three hours. We agreed that I’d contact that old guy once I got in. Should I send a signal?

This idea circled in her mind before she scrapped it. The Mage Tower is too scary. There might be other detective methods. I shouldn’t risk it at the most critical part. Let’s figure out the situation first.

Composing herself, Merna continued feeling her way forward. A while later, she was at the entrance to the third floor. Her detection earring was vibrating more strongly now. Katyusha was right before her!

Merna repressed her excitement and continued. After a while, she saw a magic door.

This magic door was different from the ones that had appeared because of the security alert. This one was semi-transparent with many magic runes overlapping on the surface. Looking through the tiny cracks between the runes, Merna saw Katyusha.

The Naga was curled up inside a circular pool, bathed in red light. This red light came from the Spear of Victory in her hand instead of from herself. There were many faint purple runes outside the light. They constantly corroded at the red light, trying to get inside Katyusha’s body.

Even further away stood three Magicians. They guided the Secret runes forward. Under their effort, the Spear of Victory’s red glow was already very dim and at the brink of defeat.

Merna was shocked. It’s Secret magic. Ferde wants to control Katyusha!

She wasn’t a Magician, but she was still familiar with each type of magic so she wouldn’t get fooled by others. For example, she didn’t make a rushed decision after this initial conclusion of the current situation. She started distinguishing the runes carefully. After five or six minutes, she finally concluded that it was true.

Katyusha can’t hold on for longer. I must alert that old guy!

Merna left the magic door and retreated to her safe corner in the second floor. She took out a small silver ring and started adding power in.

Her father had given this to her. It wasn’t that powerful, but it had a unique technology for sending messages. It was very secretive.

Merna sent out everything she’d seen in detail. Because it had to be secretive, she sent the messages slowly. What he didn’t know was that five pairs of eyes in the Mage Tower were watching her every move—Link, Eliard, and the three Legendary High Elf Magicians.

“It’s contacting its owner, but the method is very secretive. I can’t trace it. Who could it be?” Eliard whispered.

Link already had a candidate—Bryant. However, he couldn’t be completely sure, so he didn’t speak.

“The method is quite powerful,” Evelina said. “I can’t detect the signal at all.”

“Judging by its make, I think it’s from the Abyss.” Elovan stared at the ring in the fuzzy mouse’s front paw.

At that time, Celine’s voice sounded in Link’s mind. “Bryant moved. He’s coming towards the Mage Tower!”

Alerted, Link replied, “Don’t hesitate. Shoot!”

By now, the entire Scorched Ridge was still in high alert, and Bryant was walking towards the Mage Tower which was out of ordinary. Even if he wasn’t responsible, his actions now were going to get him killed!

Simultaneously, Link started directly controlling the Mage Tower’s Divine Punishment protocol. He set the target, adjusted the Mana, and gathered power in one smooth action, activating the Level-19 Divine Punishment laser.

Boom! A soft sound came from the balcony. Celine had fired at Bryant. Link saw fire streak past the corner of his eye.

Almost at the same time, the Divine Punishment laser appeared too. Whoosh! An almost invisible beam of light shot out from the tower towards Bryant.

If Bryant wasn’t prepared, he would definitely be dead. Even if he’d escaped from this, he would die under Celine and the Mage Tower’s later attacks. But in that moment, Link suddenly felt something strange, along with an indescribable feeling of danger.

His focus sharpened to an unprecedented level; his thoughts whirred. In his eyes, time slowed down and almost stopped.

At the same time, Link felt the world change oddly. The light outside the window and room dimmed and dimmed.

What’s going on? Dark magic is swallowing light… No, it’s not dark magic. It’s time magic. Even the speed of light is slowing, freezing. Less light is reaching my eyes, so the world is darkening!

Spatial magic could restrain practically all existences in the world, but other than singularities, it couldn’t affect light. So even though Link used spatial magic to seal Katyusha, she didn’t turn into a shadow. One could still see her clearly because light could still travel freely within the frozen space.

But not even light could escape from the effects of time on this realm. When someone froze time, everything there would look dark.

Light was dimming quickly, but Link’s thoughts were still burning brightly. So that divine rune freezes time. What a great method!

As that thought flashed past, he focused on his neck. There, a pocket watch-like thing hung from a Mithril chain. A runestone was hidden inside the watch. It was the Order Compass that he had made to defend against time attacks.

Realm Essence followed his thoughts and entered the Order Compass. That instant, Link’s entire body, and soul shook. Then a gold thread appeared from his chest.

The thread organized itself, instantly forming the apparition of a gold pocket watch. There was a clock with one hand. The needle measured milliseconds. Each circle was one millisecond.

Before, the hand had spun extremely quickly. Now, Link saw it tick by bit by bit. It was so slow but was still getting slower.

Time is freezing! Link’s heart shook. The world in his eyes was already very dark. In this darkness, he saw Eliard, Evelina, Elovan, and Milose.

These four were all Legendary or close to it. Faced with this kind of change, all of them had reacted. Shock was written in their faces, and their eyes were all trained on Link.

Under their gazes, Link’s thoughts focused on the millisecond hand on the Order Compass. It was still slowing down. Link had to speed it up.

He forced Realm Essence onto it. Move!

Click. The hand quickened only a tiny bit, but Link had used all his might. One-fifth of his Realm Essence had been burned.

It wasn’t enough. The divine rune’s power was too strong. His power wasn’t enough alone.

He gazed at the four Magicians. They were looking at him too. For people at their level, they could completely figure out each other’s thoughts by applying their gazes to the current situation.

The four Magicians couldn’t move, but power extended from their bodies. They snaked to the needle on the Order Compass and applied force to move it.

Link did the same.

At this moment, the five strongest Magicians in Ferde put their powers together.

Click, click, click. The needle moved much faster. The ticks were like cracking ice in everyone’s ears.

The five continued to use their power. Click, click, click. Time had stopped slowing and was regaining speed, recovering back to normal. The room brightened again.

This didn’t mean that the Order Compass was more powerful than the divine rune. Instead, it was that the five Legendary Magicians working together surpassed the level of the small divine rune.

If one’s power wasn’t enough, they would fail. This was the basic law.

No matter how many tricks one had, if they didn’t have enough power, it would be useless. They still wouldn’t be able to change the world.

The divine power inside the rune still wasn’t enough. Paired with the repulsion that Firuman had against divine objects, Link’s group won this battle.

What had been frozen went back to normal. What followed was the chilling alarm ringing throughout the Mage Tower.

“Alert! Alert! Invader discovered! Invader discovered!”

Bryant was inside the Mage Tower!