“You’ve been sitting there watching for ages! So what have you figured out by now? All this analyzing—wouldn’t it be better to just do something useful?”
“You idiot! If magic was just a bunch of people making a giant fireball together, why would Magisters still be studying it? It’s not basic arithmetic! Otherwise, why don’t you have your men each take a sword and stab right through this layer of Magic Shield!”
Seeing Angus and Johnny standing on the rooftop hurling insults at each other, the nearby Guard Captain and the Magister apprentice exchanged helpless glances, then shrugged.
Most of the demons had already been cleared out. Although some still charged out from the great gate from time to time, with the ever-tightening encirclement and Maggie leading the Heavy Armored Squad, they barely made a ripple.
The battle seemed to be drawing to a close, which was why Angus now had the chance to climb up to the rooftop to check on Johnny and the Magisters he respectfully called Teacher and their progress.
And now, it had turned into yet another endless quarrel.
No one wanted, nor dared, to separate them. Johnny, as Angus’s old friend and senior, often quarreled with Angus like this—it was an everyday occurrence to those who knew them.
The core of their argument was always the same: how to completely destroy that gate.
At first, Angus was considering how to take it down with minimal damage to the city, but after his attack was deflected by a ripple of magic, he started to get restless.
So, after a few more attempts, Angus began seeking Johnny’s advice, which led to the current scenario.
“That’s enough! All Magisters, come here! Let’s give the esteemed Lord Angus a demonstration!” Old Johnny, coughing furiously in his anger, called for the other Magisters to stop what they were doing and gather together: “Show me your most powerful spells and blast this gate! Blast it!”
“Teacher, don’t get upset!” One Magister, seeing Johnny’s words were just out of anger, quickly tried to dissuade him, while the others nodded along.
Old Johnny glared: “Blast! Blast it for me!”
The Magisters, unable to argue with this stubborn old man who blew his beard and glared at any mention of magic, reluctantly gathered their Magic Power. Spears of stone and fireballs rained from above, but all they left were a few ripples on the stone gate.
“Not strong enough! Keep blasting!” Old Johnny stomped a few times, huffing in frustration.
A Magister wiped sweat from his brow: “Enough, Master, enough, don’t waste any more Magic Power.”
Old Johnny’s face turned crimson: “Not enough! You’re just holding back, aren’t you, Lord Angus?”
Things had come to this, and even Angus realized he’d been a bit too impulsive, so he hurried to shift the topic.
“Johnny, that’s enough. I know you’re all doing your best. I’m just a little anxious. So, what do you think—how can we destroy this gate?”
“If you want to destroy it, you’ll either have to exhaust all its Magic Power, or you must find its true core.” Old Johnny also knew now wasn’t the time to be stubborn. With a cold snort, he got back to the point.
The first option sounded impossible, so Angus asked humbly, “How can we find its core?”
“Not easy to say. The real core is usually inside the magic formation. The stronger the formation, the more complex it is. What we see may only be a part of it. To find it, you first have to understand the flow.” Johnny replied.
“Then, the flow—can’t you see it?”
“If it were ordinary Magic Power, of course I could. But this is different—this is a Blood Ritual, turning blood into Magic Power. If I can’t decipher how it works, not even ten of me could see through it.”
The location that could house the core of the magic formation had to be untouched by any unrest in the city, be able to connect with all the magic formations above, and be both hidden and secure—there weren’t many places that fit.
“If my deduction is correct, the only possible location is somewhere beneath Solus City, and it’s very likely directly below that massive stone gate.”
Cecilia explained this to Rita.
“But how can we be sure that path will lead us there?” Rita asked.
“I can’t guarantee it, because I don’t know magic. This is just the most logical deduction based on the situation—nothing is certain.” Cecilia shook her head, though Rita couldn’t see the motion.
“But maybe, as the saying goes, ‘the onlooker sees clearly.’ Precisely because I don’t know magic, relying on common sense, maybe we can be the first to use elimination and find the right spot DE?”
Rita rolled her eyes: “So if we do find it, we just have to dismantle the core of that magic formation to protect everyone, right?”
“That’s one way to put it. Technically, since we’ve left the city, we’re the best ones for a surprise counterattack. Plus, with just the two of us, it’s safer than sending the whole team underground. At least our actions won’t catch Dorothy’s attention.”
Before, Rita thought Cecilia wanted to abandon everyone and run away.
Although Cecilia was a royal princess, and had no obligation to face danger with everyone, after seeing Cecilia’s leadership a few times, Rita didn’t think she was that kind of person.
It turned out she was overthinking it. Even if Cecilia wasn’t fighting with the others, she was still trying to solve the problem in her own way.
As the echoing footsteps lingered, Rita suddenly asked a new question: “Lady Cecilia, why are you doing this?”
“A princess wants to protect her people. Is that strange?” Cecilia replied.
“But shouldn’t a royal princess also look after her own safety? Isn’t this too dangerous?”
Cecilia was silent for a long time, but Rita could sense her breathing becoming heavier through the bumps and jolts, as if she were taking deep breaths—or maybe sighing.
After a long silence, Cecilia finally let out a few words that made Rita certain there was a story behind them.
“You’re right.”
Vmmm—
The giant shield in the hands of the Heavy Armored soldier slammed into the stone gate again. But just a few centimeters away from the stone surface, another ripple shimmered, absorbing all the impact from the shield.
This wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. Angus’s order was to weaken the gate’s Magic Power as much as possible while wiping out the remaining demons.
Maybe it was just a pleasant illusion, but quite a few people genuinely felt that the ripples seemed a bit dimmer, that the continuous assault was having some effect.
But how many more attacks it would take, or how much longer Johnny needed to fully decipher the magic formation, remained unknown.
Angus had to pursue both methods at once, hoping at least one would work.
“Wait, is this gate… turning a little red?” Suddenly, a soldier spoke up.
Angus frowned, then looked up. The stone gate was as imposing as ever, but now, for some reason, it shimmered with a faint, eerie grayish-red hue—so faint it was almost imperceptible.
“There—right there!” Someone immediately spotted the anomaly, pointing at the pile of corpses on the ground.
“What? Isn’t that just a normal…”
The soldier who was about to argue fell silent.
Corpses of many races lay scattered all around—beastmen, goblins, lizardfolk, kobolds… and soldiers from Solus City.
Blood had nearly stained the ground entirely red; now, they all stood atop a field of dark red rubble.
But that red, as if alive, was silently flowing beneath their feet.
Blood always flows, but if that was all, no one would be so alarmed. The strange part was that all the dark red rivulets were converging at the same spot, which was anything but normal.
All the blood seemed drawn by an invisible force, running along the base of the stone gate, finally seeping into the patterns mostly hidden by corpses, then silently sinking deeper, vanishing in an instant like water soaking into earth.
Not every soldier knew what this enormous magic formation was for. Seeing all that blood being absorbed together, they could only feel something roiling in their throats and chests.
Now, they finally understood why the giant gate shimmered with a faint red.
Having realized this, looking at the massive rune-covered structure and its red Protective Magic, the soldiers’ hearts grew even more troubled.
What, exactly, were they fighting against?
Vmmm—
The giant shield struck the stone gate again, sending ripples shimmering, but for some reason, they now had a new illusion.
Was this protective glow becoming even denser than before?
“I just feel… a bit uncomfortable,” Rita muttered.
Cecilia, lying on Rita’s back, asked softly, “Tired, Rita?”
After carrying her for so long—at least an hour by now—Rita was bound to feel tired.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just… it feels like there’s something unsettling up ahead. Not that far, but still… just uncomfortable.” Rita’s explanation wasn’t very helpful: “Anyway, it’s nothing.”
It surely wouldn’t be easy to find the so-called core, but at least this path had no collapses so far; Rita’s progress was smooth.
She had already begun to smell that same blend of decay from her previous days of catching rats—a stench seeping through the damp air underground.
Those corpses, those magic formations—they had to be close.
And, of course, her beloved little rats were nearby too. After escaping the fire, she’d sent them back into the tunnels for later use.
Cecilia couldn’t know this, but to save more people, Rita had to use every power at her disposal. The little rats would come in handy again.
Having already controlled them once, and with them now in standby, she should have no trouble connecting to them. After all, she’d sent orders all the way from the lord’s manor to Dorothy’s place—doing it now shouldn’t be difficult.
But when Rita tried once more to make contact, she couldn’t sense any signal from them at all.
Not just the little rats—a large area ahead was completely blank.
Rita was still walking steadily, but she felt as though the ground beneath her feet had been completely cut off from the rest of the world.