Like most classic Edwardian designs, the cathedral has a soaring façade that begins with stained-glass twin columns on two towers. Its adjacent buildings, which later appeared, were built along a rectangular walkway with an elegant arched corridor that extended to the length of the rear quadrangle. Together, these architectural systems form an abstract cross-section that connects the cathedral, the Old Testament, and the new student and faculty dormitories. Between the high walls of Rossbay and the shadows of the impressive columns, there is a cloister.

To get its pious serenity, you'll have to venture through the hotel's side porch before entering the courtyard, an elegant garden dotted with chubby cherubs playing in the center.

Henry Kielroy, the owner of the Sydney Tower, quietly walks through the entrance and enters the sacred space.

He was never a religious man. The horrors of the Brisbane Line and the Coral Sea convinced him of this, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel the pious peace that resonated in these places of worship.

He walked along the arcade, but did not venture into the center where the garden was located, he was content to be at this moment, where an old scarecrow had enough peace.

The tranquility gave his weather-beaten body a sense of tranquility. He no longer felt so tired from the weight he carried on his trembling back, and he had a little understanding of why some mages could endure the monotony of being a monk scholar.

As he walked down the hallway, he noticed a half-open door that let in a warm glow.

Although his personality does not resemble that of a sticky mouth, Henry finds it strangely intrigued. Maybe it's the atmosphere of this place. Perhaps, it was a triumph for his apprentices, and Henry Kilroy had been so uplifted for years.

He paced around quietly so as not to disturb the person who was praying. In front of him was a luminous body, a small one, converted from a storeroom.

Inside, he saw the petite figure of a nun, outwardly a young nun, kneeling in front of the altar of the Sacred Heart.

A sense of déjà vu arises, as subtle as Gosom.

In this scene, there is a sense of familiarity - a room lit by dozens of low candles, surrounding an intimate space with haunting shadows flashing inside. The altar itself is nothing out of the ordinary, with a few candlesticks sprinkled with wax, a container quietly smoking incense, and next to it is a statue of the blessed Virgin Mary. There is also a feeling of nostalgia, a strong heartache.

Henry knocked softly on the double door, and he winced as the hinges groaned.

"You're here," a strange, familiar voice said to him. It was the nun who did it. "I've been waiting for a long time. ”

"Do I know you?" asked Henry, his voice trembling with involuntary doubt.

"Has it been that long?" replied at the same time melodious as it was sultry. "I'm sad to hear that you've forgotten your dearest person in just thirty years. ”

The nun stood slowly, her petite body strewn with loose habits. It hid the woman's figure well, but Henry could recognize her silhouette everywhere, under anything. He knew the corpse inside out.

Without saying a word, Henry watched as the spectacle unveiled in front of him. Of course, this can't happen. After all, he had seen the woman die. Mark hates her more than anything else, and he has confirmed that she has left no trace.

There is no return from nothingness. Mark conclusively confirms this.

But then again, the new wizard also said he was wrong. Mark tells him that Elizabeth does not respond to the summons of the deceased.

The nun turned her face slowly, and Henry's breathing quickened.

The first thing that came to mind was the blue eyes, the blue sky and the sea, pale blue, like jewels set in sapphires, blue enough to make him ache. Then, that unforgettable face, small buttoned nose, delicate British features, elegant cheekbones, well-defined chin, her curved chin. Her red lips, like a little cinnabar, bright as blood, were as bright as ruby against the pearly complexion.

"Impossible, what should I do?" said Henry, opening his mouth, stunned.

"Hello, Henry. Do you miss me?" asked the nun triumphantly, her lips opening as she spoke. It all took him by surprise. "Don't recognize your beloved anymore?"

"Elizabeth..."

Elizabeth touched her habit. To Henry's surprise, it did not fall off at all, as if cotton was just a strand and not a piece of cloth. She was now in a white chiffon tulip dress, radiant, and just as he remembered her, he kissed her goodbye on the last morning of her venture into the Hungarian town.

Henry swallowed her thick black hair hanging over her head and shoulders, outlining her lovely heart-shaped face.

"How can you....?"

"Are you still alive?"

"Still so young......"

Elizabeth giggled, her laughter clanging like a nightingale's trill.

"Do you remember the vineyard, Henry?

"Vineyard...... Yes, it's beautiful," Henry choked up, his voice trembling.

"It was our private paradise. ”

"Heaven ... Yes. ”

Do you remember? What do you remember?"

What did he remember? Henry tried to think, but his mind seemed to be suffocated by wool. All thoughts of Gwen, Sofina, Erin, and Rossby are gone, replaced by distant bedrooms.

Elizabeth fell asleep, lying in a pile of soft pillows and white sheets. Her complexion was bloodless, and her flawless skin was accentuated by aristocratic green tendons. She fell asleep nonchalantly, a wayward sheet covering her body, her petite ** forming the slightest bulge. Henry enjoyed the moment because his whole world lay in one bed.

Henry smiled. Lizzie was right, it was the happiest day of his life. What was his life like now? endlessly dealing with the petty politics of the towers, training an apprentice who might one day usurp him—against the ungrateful who disobeyed his orders and wielded the wisdom of a gavel. What a ridiculous idea to create another Void Mage to prove to the world that he was right?

He was thinking not of the past, but of the days after the Hungarian war. He could feel it now, he could feel it! He smelled her fragrance on the collar.

Elizabeth - in a white chiffon tulip dress that was twisted to her knees. He was ecstatic, and his heart was filled with happiness.

Elizabeth lay uninvited on their bed, stretching out, the white sheets sliding down. The windows of the bay were ajar, and the casual wind opened the curtains as if in a joking. He blushed as his wife smiled and moved to close the curtains, she laughed insolently behind him, and she pulled him back to bed.

The next moment, Elizabeth greedily stabbed a journalist and Frodney. Henry smiled as his wife's little red mouth was full of bits and pieces of dessert. Lizzi closed his eyes and savored the taste. She looks like an angel.

One vision after another struck Henry. He reveled in nostalgia, in illusory happiness.

Henry was finally happy. He was glad that he was able to get out of the current crisis. Gladly, he barely noticed that something dark slipped out of the quasi-elemental plane of the void and fell wet onto the floor. As a whole, the lamprey of this animal opens or closes its mouth, revealing barbed teeth and an inquisitive pink tongue.

The lamprey thing coiled around Henry's body, clinging everywhere. His arms and legs, neck, torso.

The hostess nodded, and they began to feed.

"Gwen, do you know where Master has gone?" Alexia shouted, her voice filled with anger and panic.

"Sofina said to see him in the cloister at the back of the cathedral," Gwen knew nothing about the chaos. Drade was fine one moment, screaming and shriveled the next.

"Stay here! I'll take a look!"

Before Gwen could say another word, Alessia recited the spell of flying and flew into the air, drawing a bee line for the courtyard.

"Be careful!" Gwen shouted to her sister on the plane.

She turned her attention to Sofina, her childlike figure even now visibly weakened, her bark-like skin hardening with age, the small leaves that remained rapidly falling from the vines that made up her hair. Gwen knelt beside the marmot, her hands in the woods, wondering if she would be able to transfer the life force of the scales she loved so much.

More than a dozen possibilities flashed through her mind.

She doesn't know much about the dryad, but she doesn't do nothing.

"Elvia, I need positive channels now!Jody, so are you, please!Are there any other doctors?!please!we need your help!"

Elvia did not question Gwen's orders. She immediately got down on one knee and began to pump Sofina with energy. Jody looked at Julia, who nodded, and began to channel a large amount of positive mana into Drade.

Soon, the doctors knew something was wrong.

"Ahh "Gwen! Something grabbed me! It exhausted us! I can't let go of the catheter!"

"Julia!" Jody screamed, "I can't let go!"

Both Gwen and Julia cursed, reaching out to hug their friends, using their bodies to pull them out of the stiff Sofina and in the opposite direction.

The girls left the Delaiard, their bodies falling, their limbs trembling and their legs crossed.

"Something was draining her energy," Jody stammered, exhausted.

"It's true. "Elvia's complexion is a washed sheet, but when you vent with my anger and rage, you feel evil. ”

Gwen stared in the direction of the cathedral. She had to find Henry. Sofina is not completely withered yet, which means that her master is still alive. She just needs to stop anything that exhausts her master, and then, Sofina. What the hell was Alexia doing? Has she found Master?

She looked at Judge Ferris, who still seemed paralyzed by it all. The judge seems to be trapped in a constant hallucination, and her mind is not fully immersed in the present moment. She was now staring out to sea, looking at the parapet.

Gwen followed her gaze, feeling a knot in her intestines taut.

She was also suddenly overcome by a sense of foreboding of an ominous surge.

"Sir," she began.

Bang-smack!

The sound of distant explosions drowned out her appeal.

There was a glimmer of light on the horizon, like a bolt of lightning illuminating the distant sky with a silver outline.

Then, there was an explosion in Sydney Harbour, which created a white wave.

Boom boom

One after the other, another explosion sounded, a dozen in all.

The group of schoolgirls gathered stared at the horizon, unable to comprehend what was going on in their calm world. The High Mages knew it, especially those who had survived the Coral Sea conflict. They had met once before, and hopefully never again.

The fence collapsed.

At this moment, Sidney became a person who was waiting to die.

Gunther Schultz stopped speaking midway while reprimanding the tower's new assistants. The mages in front of him looked at their mentor suspiciously, wondering why their stern mentor had stopped. They are all elite, graduating from top universities, from high-level mages who are proficient in their crafts to young mages who have entered their sphere of influence. By becoming a member of the tower, they gain the resources and knowledge of the tower, as well as the potential to apprentice under a mage.

"Wow-"

A sudden shudder shook the antechamber, and several attendants slid across the floor of the atrium.

Gunther furrowed his thick eyebrows, his instincts telling him that a catastrophe had just happened.

Ding, Ding, Ding

Then, a dozen message spells struck him at once, exploding with colorful glyphs that only he could see. He chose one from his assistants, and he was a clever and humorous soothsayer who showed great promise.

"Sir!" Ensign Carey's sweet voice heard the message in a panic, completely losing her usual grace and control. "We just received an urgent message from Station 41 Watson Bay! Just now, an engineer reported an attack by an unknown partisan who had vandalized the shielding stone. ”

"How's the situation there?" asked Gunther in a measured voice full of suppressed emotion.

Destroying a shielded station is a capital offense. What kind of "people" would destroy the vital infrastructure that protects the city? Sydney is not the Ivory Coast or the Silk Road. Australia is also not at war with its neighbors.

"It's a mess, sir! The explosion caused a chain reaction with Watson's north head wall! We registered a dozen radio stations all down!"

and your military district. I need all the operational data available within 30 minutes. Sound the coast alarm for the entire East Coast. All Battlemages of level 3 and above are to report to the Battle Station. Immediately start evacuating the affected areas, tell the council to start transferring their names to the sanctuary, and find me the summoned mage, I need more information. ”

"Yes, sir!"

Gunther ordered another glyph to be activated, and it came from the Oracle station of the intelligence services.

"Sir! I'm getting a thud from all over the Tasman! The merfolk are launching a massive attack! I'm counting a dozen Kraken - and even a Leviathan!"

Gunther cursed under his breath, wondering how his world had turned into all of a sudden.

The attendants in front of him all received their messages and showed obvious panic. For at least 20 years, the shield barrier has not completely collapsed, but the story remains.

Mr. Ding!"

It was Carey, his assistant.

"I found the mage in charge of Station 41, he asked to talk to you, can I help him get through?"

"Go for it. ”

A third voice joined the conversation.

"This is Gunther Schultz, Paladin. Who am I talking to?"

The voice came smoothly and measuredly, not at all as panicked as Gunther had expected.

"So you're Gunther Schultz, right?"

"Yes, who am I talking to?"

Joabiye, general engineer. I have a request, Mr. Schultz. ”

Moyle Song-Gunther felt some distant memories echo in his mind. Why is the name so familiar? Where did he hear it before?

"I'll do my best, Mr. Song, but first, you have to let me know what's going on there, where are these attackers, or can I say, terrorists?"

"Terrorist, huh? I think it's about the same. The shield stone is broken, and I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it. As for the bad guys, they're dead. ”

Gunther felt that Moyle's song was using his wit, and that the man was a traitor trying to give them false information? Soon the shield barrier collapsed, and the station was gone, so what was the point of exposing yourself?

"What do you mean, Mr. Song, you need to be more specific, can you tell me what happened?"

"Of course, but you have to accede to my request first. The man must trust Gunther to say yes.

"Well, what do you want?"

"I need you to find the location of my two children, Percy Song and Gwen Song. ”

Carey chimed in.

"Mr. Song, stop messing around! You can't expect Lord Gunther to find your child in such a crisis! For God's sake, we merfolk are trying to break through the continent!"

"Ensign Carey. "Shut up. "Gunther said you mean... Gwen Song?"

She used to live in Forrestville and now attends Blackwater Bay High School. If you can get your soothsayer to give me a spot, I will be more than happy to provide you with the truth about everything that is happening here. ”

"How dare you—"

"Flag—

Carey immediately stopped talking.

"Go and see my orders. In a few minutes, I need an agent representative. Also, check Percy Song's location, he is already registered in Gwen Song's file, and he should have the school tracker with him. ”

"Yes, sir!"

Gunther turned his attention to Gwen's former father. Previously, because he believed that Gwen had cut off all contact with her old man.

"Gwen Song is currently in Rossby," Gunther told the man that she and Henry Kilroy were being tested there. As for your son, tell me first, because our soothsayers need some time. ”

"Okay," the voice sounded relieved.

"I assure you that Gwen and Judge are absolutely safe together. Now, please tell me about the events that led to the collapse of the shield barrier. ”

"The attacker is a mid-level mage and is well-trained. I suspect they're someone's private army, and it feels like those houses serve as reserve militia. They have an insider or have the right sign to enter the gate, who knows, but they are not challenged. They cast fiery spells that kill every mage they come across until they reach the main chamber. Now, they must have some kind of magic device, as they managed to break through the Wodin Glyph in about 10 minutes. I think that's what caused this reaction, because the resonant energy of the whole chrysanthemum chain has just been fed back from the line. ”

"Where are they now?"

"They're dead," he said in a flat voice.

"What to do?" asked Gunther.

"Mass suicide," Moyle vaguely suggested, the point is, they had an insider, someone gave them the code of symbols to shield the stones, and now we're all in trouble. I'm going to my kids because I have nothing else to do here, a toast to the city, and you should call from Melbourne to the tower. So, what about my son?"

"Kelly?"

They found the boy's match. He is—

The spell is gone. It was still ringing, and then it was gone.

"Kelly, Mr. Song?"

Gunther spelled again with a spell spell spell. Nothing. His eyebrows furrowed. What the hell can destroy a message spell?

From the point of view of his attendants, their telephones were similarly cut off.

The paladin of Sydney felt a chill form deep in his guts, and he had never felt uneasy since the clashing in the Coral Sea.

"Entering quarantine mode. ”

A female voice, synthesized in tone, echoes through the tower's communication system.

"What?!"

"Isolation?"

"Against what?"

"Lord Gunther?"

"What happened?"

"What's going on?" Gunther let himself go.

It was one surprise after another. Even Gunther felt the urgency to express his growing frustration and anger. Quarantine mode is only possible if a magical creature or a foreign mage breaches the tower. Even if the merfolk are on a behemoth, it takes two to three hours for them to get very close to enter the city.

Gunther issued a command to the tower's autonomous mental system, asking it to explain the reason for the isolation pattern.

God, your order was canceled. Prepare to be evicted from the tower in 60 seconds. ”

"Damn!" Gunther could no longer remain calm in the face of more and more absurdity. "Does anyone have an effective information device?"

The attendants shook their heads.

How did his privileges be revoked? he was a paladin in the towers, he was a guardian, and only his master server could revoke access. The only way in which command can be usurped is

No way!he told himself. That's impossible!

There's a reason why his master is the immortal Henry!

He tried to send a message to his teacher, but the Divi building collapsed completely.

He tried to text Alicia. Nothing.

He tried to send a message to Gwen, and again, there was no indication that his message spell had appeared.

Someone activated one of the tower's most powerful mechanics - a scythe jammer that removes the effects of divination - and by this measure, all communication spells.

In the event of an interference, parts of Sydney's communications infrastructure will be disrupted. The problem is that a strong defense should not affect an ally like Gunther, who has the right inscription to undo its effect.

The jamming of his message meant only one thing.

This means that Gunther is no longer an "ally" of the tower.

The tower's artificial fluorescent lamps suddenly went out. A red haze hung around the mage, projected from malevolently glowing mana cores that were now a dull, hostile red.

"Non-accomplices of the tower will be evicted in 3 minutes..."

Gunther swears.

"Everyone, get covered, everything you have!"

“2...”

"Do it now! If you don't want to live, don't ask me!"

“1...”

"Use the flight! The feathers have fallen!"

There was a flash of silver mana.

Gunther and a few hundred others found themselves outside the tower, in mid-air, and then fell.

A pile of scattered feathers and the words "Fight!" echoed in the air.

After a brief scream, Gunther noticed that at least a dozen young mages, guards, and clerks had fallen from the sky, leaving bloody residues on the cityscape below, but it was too late.

The tower loomed in front of them, floating in mid-air, half a kilometer above the ground.

The tower is a floating fortress. That's why it's considered so invulnerable, so insurmountable. In its grandeur, his master's abode was a savage fortress, like three bisected rectangles stacked on a floating island platform.

Gonther and the other mages were forcibly ejected from it, pushed away from the central structure by the repulsion field.

"Lord Gunther!" someone called.

"What should we do?"

"What the hell just happened?"

"There's a mermaid on my head?"

"What about the shielding wall?"

", I can't believe Timothy is dead!"

"Sir, we need orders!"

The descending mages all shouted to Gunther, but what could one person do without an information spell?They all believed that the absolutely correct Lord Schultz had the answer, but Gunther knew that he was just as confused and surprised as they were. Whatever the rumors say, he is not a god.

He looked at the people who were flying around him. Suddenly, he had an epiphany.

These mages - they all come from the Middle Way and the militant faction!Where are the Graces?

Erin Ferris was the first to regain consciousness. Immediately, she began to order the Rossby girls to take refuge in the cathedral. This ancient building was once a fortress and a place of refuge. Theoretically, no matter what happens, it should be much better than them staying outdoors. If needed, Erin can also teleport them to a safe place, such as the tower itself, which is not invaded.

"Get out of Drade, go in!" Ferris commanded Gwen and the girls, but the Blackwater refused to follow the mage's orders, choosing instead to stay with Sofina. When she ordered them again, it became clear that Gwen had not left the battlefield, and the soothsayer instead arranged for an evacuation.

"! my message spell doesn't work!" someone muttered next to them, sir, and all telecommunications were cut off!

Ferris tested her magic.

"You're right, only eye contact still works. Someone activated the jammer. ”

She looked up to the sky, but couldn't see any part of the tower. Where are they infiltrated by foreign mages? She had to get back to the tower as soon as possible, but she didn't want to leave the children here. They are her life's work! The future of Ross Bay, the future of Oceania! She has a responsibility to their parents, who have entrusted her with their lives.

"Forget it! Get the kids to safety! Go through the catacombs! Go to the teleportation room. A group of four!"

Immediately, the assembled magistrates and mages mobilized and organized the young men into neat ranks and marched towards the cathedral and its thick magical walls of shelter.