Chapter 135: Playing with Fire

All residents in the vicinity of the crimson barrier surrounding the Stevenson Academy of Magic had already been evacuated, and most of the easily dismantled buildings around the translucent barrier had been dismantled.

Scholars recruited from various guilds were working alongside the technical Nightblade Teams Five and Six to study the sudden crimson barrier that had enveloped the entire academy.

A technician pressed a metal spike with intricate magitech engravings against the surface of the barrier. With a small hammer embedded with a magic crystal, he lightly tapped the back of the spike.

As the hammer struck the spike, the magic crystal flashed, channeling mana through the hammer and into the spike. The engravings on the spike lit up, driven by an invisible force that pushed it into the crimson barrier.

The tip of the spike collided with the barrier, producing a series of crisp crackling sounds. It slowly pressed into the barrier, struggling to penetrate it but not entirely unable to do so.

After about ten seconds, the spike had penetrated roughly three centimeters into the barrier. The light from the engraving flickered a few times before dimming, as the invisible force driving the spike forward dissipated.

The breach in the crimson barrier quickly sealed itself shut as the spike was squeezed out.

"A rigid barrier between Level 4 and Level 5 in strength. It can be forcibly breached, but has self-repair capabilities. Pure destructive force must reach Level 6 or sustained Level 5 damage. How long will it take to requisition equipment with sufficient destructive power?" the technician quickly asked a nearby logistics officer from the Nightblades.

"Level 5 sustained damage or Level 6 destruction will require direct approval from a team leader or the royal family. Mr. Hugin Smokes is either unavailable or not connected to the magitech network. Requesting approval from the royal family will take about half an hour.

"What's the main composition of the barrier? How much void energy is present? Can we use a reality anchor to target and destroy key nodes?"

"The void energy content is minimal. The barrier is largely composed of pure mana. We're currently trying to trace the source of this mana, which seems to originate from within the academy. If we can successfully cut off its source, we'll only need standard Level 5 destructive magitech equipment. That's what we're preparing for."

The logistics officer answered the technician's questions while unloading equipment from the carriages that had followed Nightblade Teams Five and Six. The equipment looked like a drill mounted on a frame, but the alchemical fuel inside, once ignited, would release a directed explosion through the magitech circuits embedded within. Even a grand knight wouldn't survive a direct hit.

"Can we contact the academy's professors?"

"We can't, All magitech communication devices are blocked. There seems to be something in the barrier's rigid outer shell that blocks all mana. No communication devices can penetrate it."

"This is troublesome. It's clearly a targeted attack on Stevenson Academy of Magic. An insider has to have been responsible..."

"What's the level of destruction caused by a reality anchor's detonation?"

"The peak of Level 6, almost Level 7—you're not thinking of doing what the special ops team did during the Hellgate incident, are you? Do you know how much those things cost, how much time it takes to produce one? We haven't had any leave for months after almost a hundred were detonated all at once!"

"Do you think Stevenson Academy of Magic is more important than a few reality anchors?"

"Fine, you're right... But we don't have the authority to deploy them."

"I know the logistics department left a backdoor. Get me a few. I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

"Alright... Ugh, fine..."

The technician's relentless arguments overwhelmed the logistics officer, who reluctantly agreed to the reckless request.

However, as they prepared for the next step, new insights from other technicians completely scrapped their plan to violently dismantle the barrier, which had strong defensive and self-repair capabilities.

"It's a quicksand barrier—we can't take it down with brute force. It's more troublesome than we thought. If we forcibly break this barrier from the outside, the barrier will collapse inward and annihilate everything within. Abandon the idea of brute force. We're already working on cracking the magitech circuits."

This new insight meant that the barrier was not just an obstacle separating the academy from the outside world, but also a significant deterrent. Any attempt to violently breach it would obliterate Stevenson Academy of Magic.

"Without a doubt, this is another overt scheme against us," the technician said. He stood before the crimson barrier, his eyes reflecting its magitech circuits' red glow.

"Speed up the cracking process. We'll do what we can." He shook his head, refusing to give in to despair.

The situation was complicated. Cracking a barrier they had no reference for, without any knowledge of what traps lay within or its composition, was an extremely challenging task. Fortunately, the Nightblades' technical teams had gathered here, representing the majority of the relevant expertise in the capital. Given enough time...

But that was why this barrier had been set up in the first place, wasn't it? To provide whoever had done so with enough uninterrupted time to carry out a complicated plan...

As the technicians raced against time to crack the barrier, Wang Yu, Sieg, and Edward, who had been in the mountains outside the city, rushed toward the academy. They arrived after a few dozen minutes.

"Hugin hasn't responded to communications or issued further orders for a long time. This is a significant anomaly—I have to check on his condition. You two head to Stevenson Academy of Magic and see what you can do. And Wang Yu, don't act impulsively."

Sieg's gaze lingered on Wang Yu, his meaning clear. Among those sealed inside the academy was Avia.

He didn't know if Wang Yu would act rashly as a result. Based on his understanding of Wang Yu's calm personality, it seemed unlikely, but he still felt the need to remind him.

Wang Yu nodded firmly.

Sieg patted Wang Yu's shoulder and then quickly entered the Gap through a nearby node, heading to where Hugin had last been seen.

Wang Yu and Edward sprinted to the crimson barrier, where the Nightblade technicians were working on cracking it.

The two members of the special ops team were well-known among the Nightblades. Upon seeing them, the technicians immediately briefed them on the current situation and the challenges they were facing.

Wang Yu thought for a few seconds before walking up to the barrier. He placed his hand on it, and his ripples passed through. To his ripples, the barrier was no different from a brick wall—it wasn't a living entity.

The ripples penetrated about a meter into the barrier. Wang Yu attempted to enhance his ripples with void energy to gather more information, but he was surprised to find that he couldn't draw on any void energy from inside.

It was a familiar feeling—the void energy had been marked by some entity, severely limiting his ability to manipulate it. Combined with his poor affinity for the void, he simply couldn't supply his ripples with any void energy.

In addition, strangely enough, he couldn't detect any mana within his ripples' range.

This was exceedingly strange. Mana was near-omnipresent. The only difference from location to location was in concentration and elemental composition. In some sense, mana was even more ubiquitous than void energy.

Inside this barrier, however, he couldn't sense even a trace of mana. His ripples were precise enough that he was confident that this was no false positive. How could this be?

"Do you have any anti-magic fields or similar arrays set up? There's a mana-free space inside this barrier. What's going on?" Wang Yu frowned.

The technician blinked in surprise.

"That's not possible. Even the void can only reduce the concentration of mana to some extent. Mana is a core component of the world, so it's nearly impossible to eliminate it—unless a curio were responsible..."

The technician paused for a moment, considering the implications of this discovery.

"Thank you for this information, Mr. Wang Yu. That explains why our mana-based communications are failing as well—but it also means this barrier will be even harder to crack than we expected. We'll need more time."

The nearby technicians pursed their lips. If the interior really were a mana-free zone, the cracking process would become even more complicated than before.

"A curio? Damn it, as long as we live in the capital, it's impossible to avoid being dragged into the war against Selwyn, huh? Damn it!"

Wang Yu muttered a couple of curses, unrestrained anger burning brightly within him. Ever since his arrival in the capital, Selwyn had caused no end of trouble. Now, even Avia had been dragged into the mess. It was starting to make him furious.

Once again, he placed his hand against the barrier. In his mindscape, void energy began to surge. This barrier was simply a high-intensity mana shield—so even his Wallbreaker's Hammer technique wouldn't help.

However, if he gathered a sufficient amount of void energy, he might be able to force open a gap just big enough for himself—just like how Avia had used the Lady of the Night's power to manifest the Firmament of Eternal Night.

The Professor had warned him not to be reckless, but there was no way Wang Yu was going to leave Avia facing the unknown alone. His plan was to get in, find a way to work with the scholars inside, and help break the barrier from within. Above all, he needed to protect Avia.

Instantly acting on his resolve, he began channeling void energy. It was a little rude, but he would have to trouble the Lady of the Night once again. As his void energy spread out, his ripples extended as well. They reached further and captured details in the environment nearby.

Something familiar surfaced just beneath the ground not far from him—a Tarot card.

It was buried in the dirt, completely out of place. His ripples locked onto it immediately. Walking forward, Wang Yu dug the card out from the ground. He brushed off the dirt, revealing the card: an upright Star.

"Charles... what the hell have you been up to?" Staring at the Tarot card, a teleportation anchor he and Edward were familiar with, Wang Yu couldn't help but smirk.

The interior of the academy was eerily silent, as if all life had vanished beneath the crimson barrier replacing the sky.

Within the desolate academy grounds, only two "people" still walked outside the buildings.

Weber Lanchester had a grim expression on his face as he walked alongside Vanessa—or rather, the being occupying Vanessa's body, a girl who had been orphaned in the recent calamity against Erphine.

"Why the long face? Your wish is about to come true." "Vanessa" tilted her emotionless face at Weber, who remained silent.

Weber Lanchester did not respond. He merely cast a bloodshot glance at "Vanessa."

"Do you regret it?" she said. Her tone was devoid of mockery but somehow managed to suffuse him with unbearable, gnawing irritation. "Are you feeling remorse because you're about to personally destroy your beloved academy, the place that made you who you are today?"

"I don't regret it," Weber rasped, his voice hoarse. His face twisted. He seemed determined to deceive himself.

"If that were true, you wouldn't have tried to save your granddaughter and that apprentice of yours. You know exactly what's about to happen to Stevenson Academy, yet you still attempted to protect those two. That means you lack the courage to truly give up everything for your so-called 'resurrection,' Weber Lanchester."

"...Just fulfill your promise," Weber muttered after a long silence, his body trembling slightly.

"You see?" "Vanessa" said, her tone unwavering. "You didn't even confirm that I would keep my end of the bargain before going through with it. You're a deeply conflicted man, but that's only natural—humans are such fascinating creatures.

Weber didn't reply. He just kept walking.

"Vanessa" continued, her wooden expression twisting into something eerie, "You know, after diving into this girl's memories, I realized something. Most prayers aren't heard in temples or cathedrals... but in the hospitals of the capital. Because when all knowledge tells us that nothing can be done, the only thing left to do is pray for a miracle."

"I understand you, Weber. I know what you're thinking. Sometimes, I even wonder to myself if we 'deities' should also believe in a god ourselves..." A strange, unsettling smile crept onto her face.

Weber Lanchester trembled. His numbed heart skipped a beat. He had no idea what kind of horrors Selwyn had created, but the thing beside him, whatever it was, made him shudder. He was certain of one thing: Selwyn was playing with fire, and it had no idea of the ramifications that awaited it...