Alexia's delayed explosion fireball enveloped the teleportation chamber of the middle tower, and her group appeared on the platform for a split second. The damage was almost instantaneous, the sealed chamber simply lit up, there was a flash of mercury mana, and the whole world burned to the ground.

The next time Ferris and her group appeared on the platform, the pungent smell of burnt meat and piping hot fat came to their faces.

No one expected that at the moment of their search, they would witness the cold-blooded murder of a dozen members of the gray faction. Ferris had no doubt that she knew at least one mage, either a partner or an alumnus. What if any of them wanted to talk to her? What if they were inadvertently involved in the conspiracy? She felt guilty, but also glad she couldn't recognize them as charred. Several girls began to cry when one of the crisp corpses twitched, an involuntary fight caused by primitive nerves, but still related to muscle contractions.

Ferris turned to the criminal, challenging the cold, deep eyes of the Scarlet Witch with unspeakable rage. Alexia de Botton looked as if she had done something inconsequential.

"Go to Grote," Alexia announced that we needed to get Master Kielroy in as soon as possible. ”

Ferris looked at Henry to see if the old wizard had anything to say to his bloodthirsty retinue. To her consternation, the owner of the attacking dog inhaled and exhaled weakly, and on the back of the Maori, he completely ignored the world.

Gwen and her companions similarly avoided their gaze as they passed by about 12 victims. Only now did blood begin to seep out of the mouths of their charred, lifeless bodies.

Ferris suppressed her anger and chose to close her lips. Having lost her divination, she doesn't know what to expect after teleporting to the tower. The confrontation seems to be a reasonable outcome, most likely against Walken's followers. What she didn't expect was that she immediately participated in the mass murder of Walken's retinue. What would her allies think of them now, and how could she confront him and expect him to become rational after this?

"Nothing has happened between Lord Kilroy and that Grote," Gwen's nun told Ferris, her eyes glazed over, single-minded determination, frantically flashing hints of fanatical extreme violence.

The platform began to rise.

"Alesia ... "Margus de Burton," Ferris uses as much diplomacy as he can, and I beg you not to take the lives of so many people. If we want to fight the merfolk and repair the towers, we need to protect the lives of every mage as much as possible. ”

Alicia shook her head.

"With all due respect, judge, they tried to ambush us. Is it them or us - I run faster, that's everything. ”

Felicia stared at Alexia herself. The two women shot in the direction of the zenith and said nothing.

However, as they began to approach the entrance to the grotto, it became clear that the last room of the tower was guarded.

"Stop!" shouted before the platform reached its destination. "Do it yourselves! Hands up, or we'll be out of the platform!"

The gray iris of Ferris's plea meets that of Alexia.

"I could have left you there, but I gave you the benefit of doubt. "Please, give me mine," Ferris pleaded with Alexia. There are enough deaths today. ”

Alec Greer stood in his vantage point, and he dared to catch his breath when he saw the mages on the platform raise their hands in obedience. Among them were Alessia de Botton, the Void's Margrin Gwen Song, and Judge Ferris and a lethargy-looking Judge Kilroy.

When the float had completed its last few meters and was docked on a distant platform, Grote heard a click, and Gray breathed a sigh of relief.

When the guerrillas fire an information spell through the tower's system, the two groups of mages look at each other warily.

"Sir, I have Judges Ferris, Alesia, and Gwenzon at the entrance to the grotto in Kilroy. It looks like Kilroy is with them too, but he doesn't look like there's anything he can do. ”

"Great, when I went to gather those people, I dragged them down. "I'll be there soon," Walken replied.

"Lord Ferris, Major de Botton, ladies and gentlemen," the mage said to each of them in turn, adding at the end a respectful word: "Master Kilroy." ”

"Mags Greer, for the benefit of all involved, please get out of our path," Ferris recited in a commanding tone It was an emergency. ”

Gray seemed indifferent to the judge's order.

"I'm afraid I can't, ma'am. Also, I regret to inform you that I must detain Lord Kilroy, Major de Botton, and Gwen Song. ”

"What charge?" Ferris asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Accusations of harboring a murderer and a traitor who trafficked in the mage's relatives, as well as harboring invalid mages who had different interests in the tower and the city. ”

To Gray's surprise, Ferris ignored his warnings and insisted on subduing him.

"Magus, I suggest you leave yourself immediately, or else. In Guerre's eyes, Gail was both annoyed and embarrassed by his challenge to her authority.

"I can't do this," Gray flatly refused, wrapping his hands in the form of a shielding spell for the indestructible earth!

An invisible shield glittered in front of the gate to Grote, shielding the guerrillas and his mages.

Maggs, the confessor, blushed crimson as he watched Ferris. She must have thought that her authority was sufficient, but the guerrillas did not want to follow her orders and not listen to the revelations he saw.

All the mages who remained in the tower were loyal to Walken. Without her assistants and supporters in the tower, there was nothing the non-combat soothsayer could do.

Gail watched as the group wriggled behind the barrier of magical negation. Soon, his superiors will come, and it will be the end of these Void Mages.

The group watched the partisans and his masses smug and whispered to each other, and seemed extremely satisfied with their "success".

"See?" Alexia triumphantly turned to Ferris without bleeding. Nothing beats the grandeur of a good one. ”

"We'll see," Alexia replied ominously.

The group walked past the guards, who triumphantly looked at the paralyzed, hesitant hallucinations and headed for the gate. Even when they passed by those charismatic mages, they didn't seem to notice them. Unlike low-level magic, high-level illusions are incredibly immersive when used in the right environment.

Huitu brought Henry to the front. Gwen pressed her master's hand against the double door, as she had seen him many times before. For a moment they held their breath, but the ironwood door opened without incident.

In the forest, a lot has changed. As Sofina was badly drained by the hollow elements, Grote Island is now swampy, damp and dark, more like a decaying rainforest than a verdant garden.

Alicia led the others into the sanctuary, and Waitu led Henry. As soon as they passed the fence gate, the old wizard suddenly realized.

"Go to the heart ventricles ... Gwen should know ......"

When Ferris and her group tried to enter the gate, Alicia dropped a hand to block their passage.

"We're going to keep the fort here," Alexia stubbornly said, with pocket-sized pockets that could only hold so many people. ”

Ferris considered the cost of challenging Alicia's innocuous statement and found the outlook poor. If their roles were reversed, she would also ban Alicia from her oracle room. The judge was well aware that Grote Island was the center of Henry's domain. If she wants to continue to be their allies and benefit from the success of the operation, then she cannot challenge this particular threshold of their fragile alliances.

"Okay, we're going to keep them here. ”

The Ferris wheel could hold the magnificent castle in place for a quarter of an hour, after which they would likely have to deal with the wrath of Walken.

"How long will it take to recover Kilroy?" Ferris asked, her lips feeling thirsty. She couldn't help but feel as if she had drawn herself into a corner. Seeing the Alexian hawk's gaze staring at the guerrillas and his mages, she thought of an uncomfortable choice. What would she do if this turned violent?With her hallucinatory abilities and Alexia's devastating potential, they might systematically silence every living soul in the tower.

"How long did you propose? an hour? longer?"

"Just take your time. "Alessia looked Ferris sternly in the eye and began to regain her health, as I said, it was to do or die. ”

Under Gwen's command, Huitu and the others entered the center of the Kilroy Sanctuary until they reached a large banyan tree. The thick woven roots form a hidden space hollowed out by lifting timber. Above, the roots of the thick braids hang down like a big beard.

With the help of Wetu, Gwen lifted the owner's ragdoll corpse and placed him in Sofina's heart in the groin.

At first, it seemed that nothing was happening. The players were thrilled.

"Gwen, what do you think ......" Yue was the first to speak.

"No," Gwen replied solemnly, be patient, I could feel something. ”

There was a familiar feeling that seemed to surround them with mana, embedded in the fleshy walls of the banyan tree. Gwen thought of Sofina, of her master, and of something that evoked a sense of identity. The answer she found made her laugh. Gwen took the gift she had received from Almuji from her storage ring and placed it on Henry's body.

The scales warmed up in her hands and began to glow, painting the bottom of the lake iridescent.

Unsurprisingly, Deborah left the conference room, eliciting a frustrated snort from a fastidious Mr. Yue.

The next few minutes were painful, but thankfully, Henry's face eventually turned from Lily to peach, indicating that the old judge's vitality was slowly recovering.

When Henry's breathing returned to a regular rhythm, everyone exhaled en masse, finally inhaling fresh breaths.

"Well, we did. Gwen brushed a lock of fluffy hair from her master's face.

"Thank you Master Alesia and Master Ferris," Yue injected a hint of nervous joy into the conversation, and I was surprised that she had survived. ”

"I hope he recovers soon," Elvia added, her face back in color as there was a light at the end of this dark dungeon.

"What about Deborah?" Gwen asked, puzzled that one member of their team was so distant at such a critical moment.

"She's out there," Elvia, who saw Deborah leave, replied you know, her "allergies" and the scales

"I don't care much about her these days, but man, she's such a weirdo in these things," Yue wanted to tease their xenophobic friend, but Deborah's recent performance forced her to grit her teeth. The Shire girls excelled in their matches against the merfolk, working hard and skilfully defending the two summoners in the Grand Duel.

Just as Gwen was overwhelmed by the continued alienation of her friends, Deborah ducked into the arch of her heart.

"Guys, we're in trouble. Her brown eyes were full of apprehension, and there were a lot of them out there. ”

Gwen turned to look at Henry, feeling her master's breathing easier. She could sense from Almuji's gift that Sofina's Tree of Life was being revived.

The most important thing now is to stall for time until Henry recovers. If her master can regain a small portion of their power, they can regain control of the tower and resolve their intricate crisis.

Gwen touched Henry's crumpled hand. Her host gave her a lot. Now is the time to repay him.

"It's not an easy task," she began, but the stirring rhetoric wasn't necessary.

"We've got your back. ”

"Let's get started!"

"It's going to be painful! But I hope it doesn't get to that point. ”

As they huddled together, Gwen felt her heart fill with joy.

She's ready.

When they returned to the entrance to the grotto, Ferris was arguing violently with a white-haired mage who was wearing a magical robe and a spinning gem.

"Eric, this is crazy! Stand back now! I can't believe you set fire to the whole city for your little game!

"I'm crazy?!You're the one who was persecuted by the Supreme Council!Kilroy is a plague;he hid Sobel for decades, you can't deny that!His wife is a murderer, the cause of the Noosatou massacre!Who do you think will trade her mage in exchange!She's involved in this invasion, remember my words!"

"Possibly! You can't forgive for not letting the towers come to the aid of the city! You cut off communications, you made sure that hundreds of mages, tens of thousands of wildlings who might have survived are now dead! Eric, we're not militants! You've gone too far. ”

"You don't know what I've seen, Irene. Kielroy's hands were as bloody as they came! You see, he and Sobel were accomplices. How can I let this tower fall into the hands of the enemy?"