Chapter Twenty-Four: The Mage's Tower
"Are we safe?" Corral asked Rhaegar as he looked at the woods that loomed in the distance, demarcating the Kengar Wasteland, "We're going to Visennat soon, and those monsters won't chase after us, right?"
Although the knight's precept made him reluctant to believe Rhaeggar's inference, this sentence fully reflected Corral's current feelings, and it was clear that the knight had acquiesced to the fact that the monsters were sent by some powerful person in the Empire.
Rhaegar exhaled softly, stopped suddenly, and at the same time reached out and slapped Kolar on the back who rushed beside him, and the knight's speed suddenly doubled from the original base, and the unprepared Corar swept by like the wind, and even he himself was startled by such speed.
"Go forward," Rhaegar said behind him, "I'll go find you." He was relieved to see that Corral had followed his advice and continued to rush forward with all his might.
"Come out," Turning his face, Rhaeggar's gaze fell on a boulder not far away, "it's just the two of us here, and I think you've been waiting for this moment." ”
The shadow cast by the boulder on the ground suddenly began to wriggle, and with this wriggling, a small black-clad mage broke away from the shadow and appeared in front of Rhaeggar.
"Eighth-Order Mage Kranoen," the old mage said calmly with more wrinkles on his face than the texture on a walnut shell, "and also a beast exorcist. ”
This self-introduction fully explains why he can command so many magical beasts, as a profession similar to mages but different, only those who have magical powers and can communicate with animals can become a beast exorcist, and unlike the killer of the Hand of Death that Rhaegar once encountered, who can drive the eagle, the former commands the object from ordinary animals to relatively low intelligence Monsters and a few Monsters with high intelligence, and the number is far more than the latter.
"Rhaegar, an eighth-order mage. As is customary for the mages before a formal duel, the geist also introduced himself to the other party, "I lose, you can deal with Kohler as you like, but if I win, you must tell the mastermind behind the scenes." ”
"Deal. Along with Kranoen's words, a series of meteor-like fireballs arrived, and this move also announced the official start of the battle between the two mages.
Unlike what people imagine, the battles between **** divisions are far less exciting and gorgeous than ordinary mages. After entering this realm, in addition to the growth of magic, people's understanding of magic has made a qualitative leap compared to before, they no longer blindly pursue the power of magic, and the most effective and labor-saving method to achieve the goal has become their highest goal. In such a situation, the contest between the **** masters is often based on some relatively low-level but extremely fast spells as the main means, only when they really understand the reality of the opponent and grasp the fighter will issue the most fatal blow, compared with those ordinary mages who often last for hours, their victory or defeat is often revealed in a relatively short period of time.
The battle, which seemed somewhat tedious to outsiders, lasted less than two minutes, and when Krannt finally used his decisive spell, Rhaegar also found a flaw in his opponent, and the rain of light and the boundless sea of fire rushed towards each other almost simultaneously, and then slammed into each other in between.
The surging energy and dazzling light burst out in an instant with the collision of the two ninth-order spells, and in an instant, the area of hundreds of square meters was enveloped in a terrifying energy storm and an invisible-looking bright light, and even the magic Rhaegar had to quickly retreat to avoid the violent storm.
When the storm and the glare finally died down, on the opposite side of Rhaegar was no longer the figure of Krant. This is a strategy that mages, especially **** divisions, often use when they encounter evenly matched opponents, for these people who are indifferent to material conditions and are bent on pursuing higher knowledge and power, it is not wise to waste their lives in meaningless, especially in battles that are not sure of victory, unless it is related to vital interests or there is an irresolvable hatred, no one will insist on fighting in the case of possible defeat.
For such an opponent with a large number of demonic beasts to help and his own extremely high strength, Rhaegar will not be entangled, although there are still many killers, the spirit is not willing to expose too much strength because of things that have nothing to do with him, so this duel ended tacitly on both sides.
Or they saw Rhaeggar's strength and didn't want to let their monsters make senseless sacrifices until they entered Visennat, and Rhaegar and Corral did not encounter any interceptions.
The journey after that could be described as smooth sailing, after confirming Kohler's identity, both Wisenath and the officials of the following cities showed great enthusiasm, and they sent their most elite troops to escort the prince, and by the time Rhaegar and Kolar arrived at the City of Miracles with the unconscious Kohler, their ranks had swelled to several hundred.
As Rhaegar predicted, as politicians, no matter what kind of suspicion or even hatred they have in private, they will always try to pretend to be a saint when they are in front of the public. Although His Majesty the Emperor was considered to be the biggest suspect in conniving at the wreaking havoc of the monster and injuring Kohler, when he learned that his youngest brother had come to the capital and was cursed and in urgent need of treatment, he made arrangements at the first time, and almost at the same time as Rhaegar and the others arrived, a team of court mages and royal forest soldiers, as well as two mages from the **** division tower, met them.
"I'm Lorien from the **** Master Tower," a tall thin man with a seventh-order mage badge pinned to his chest said to Rhaegar "His Majesty the Emperor and Master Hocker have informed us of everything, from now on, the Prince will be escorted by us to the **** Master Tower for treatment, and your mission is complete." ”
"But you can't leave. Another mage of the same rank said, contrary to his companion, he was so big that even a giant bear would bow down, "Although the current situation basically excludes the suspicion that you are the murderer of the prince, until this is confirmed, you still have to stay here." We are preparing a ritual and once you pass this test, you can go anywhere you want. ”
"But until then, your actions will be somewhat restricted," Lorian said, and it could be seen that there was quite a tacit understanding between him and his companion, "We have prepared a place for you in the **** division tower, and you will stay there until the test is completed." ”
"I need to warn you beforehand," even Rhaegar sighed at the almost seamless cooperation between the two mages, and if it weren't for the difference in accents, he would almost think it was the same person speaking: "You are a powerful **** master, but if you think that you can have no scruples in the **** master tower because of this, then you will make a huge mistake - there, even a tenth-order mage is not much stronger than an ant." ”
Rhaegar knew very well that the other party was not lying and intimidating, just judging by the two people in front of him, they were just seventh-order mages, but he believed that the cooperation of these two people was enough to deal with opponents who were one level higher than him, and there was no doubt that they could only be regarded as a small role in the **** master tower.
"That's one of the purposes of my visit," Rhaegar said calmly, seemingly unaffected by the rudeness and contempt of the other party's words, "As a mage, I'm not afraid of anyone, but I can't tolerate myself taking responsibility for others, and if you can prove my innocence, I'm willing to cooperate." ”
The guards sent by officials from all over the country quickly completed the handover, and a few minutes later, accompanied by Lorian and his companions, Rhaegar and the others set foot on the road to the **** division tower.
It was the first time Rhaegar had observed the tower at such a close distance, and at this distance, the majestic structure was undoubtedly even more impressive, as with all mage towers, it had no portals, and no one could enter it through normal means except for the mages and those they allowed them to enter.
The palace mages and the Imperial Forest Army stopped a few hundred meters away from the **** division tower, and the area ahead from here was classified as a forbidden area, and anyone who rashly intruded would be pursued by the empire and the **** division tower.
Lorion walked in front of the crowd and whispered a few vague incantations into the air, and a watery ripple then rose in front of him, and he did not step forward again until the ripple was completely gone.
"Hurry up," he said to Rhaegar and the others behind him who were allowed to enter the **** division tower, "This portal won't last long. ”
As a man with no knowledge of magic, Corral walked almost in doubt towards the invisible portal designated by Lorrain, and this suspicion reached its climax when he found himself struggling to move forward as if he were stuck in a quagmire.
Fortunately, his mentality did not last long, and after a few seconds, he successfully passed through the first line of defense arranged on the periphery of the **** division tower and came to the inside of the barrier - in the eyes of outsiders, this knight and the others just took a step forward, and then disappeared into thin air.
"Follow me," Rollyne, who had been waiting for a long time, turned around and walked forward first, "Don't take a wrong step, or we'll have to bother to put your body back together." ”
The mage did not move in a straight line, he took Rhaegar and the others to walk around the **** on the flat ground outside the **** master tower seemingly aimlessly, and it took at least five times as long to complete this road that only took a few minutes, and then finally reached the bottom of the mage tower.
"Let's go inside. Lorion said to the tower, and a white light shot down from the wall above him, enveloping everyone inside, and the next moment, they came to a certain hall inside the mage tower.
"Please come with me, and the others will take care of your companions. An eighth-order mage who had been waiting there for a long time said to Rhaegar before turning around and walking out of the hall first.
To Rhaeggar's surprise, the **** Shita didn't seem to deliberately imprison him, in fact, after he was brought to his current residence, he almost thought he was in the wrong place.