Seraphina, who had her legs together and slightly curled up, let out a comfortable moan, she murmured and rubbed Ansel’s palm, and at the same time, with a red face, she showed Ravenna a very proud victorious smile:

“Ansel is right… uh! You, hehe… you better stay in your mouse hole and move around with puppets every day.”

“Old woman!”

Crunch!

The glasses that had just been handed to Ravenna were crushed on the spot.

“Ansel of Hydral…”

Ravenna slowly rose to her feet, her gaze fixed on Ansel, her immense rage almost materializing into tangible flames, threatening to incinerate both Ansel and her own icy mountain of fury.

“You…”

The woman’s mouth slightly opened, her lips moved, but it seemed as if her anger had left her at a loss for words.

“You are… such a disappointment!”

She left these words behind and exited the lounge, her dispersed low pressure making even the currently ecstatic Seraphina feel uncomfortable.

Once the lounge door closed, Seraphina twisted on Ansel’s lap, grumbling, “Ansel, Ansel, what’s with that woman? She’s so strange! And was her fit of rage earlier real? It didn’t seem like it to me.”

Ansel gently stroked Seraphina’s hair, unable to suppress a chuckle, “It was real, and it wasn’t. She indeed wanted the people of the Etheric Academy to think that she sought me out of anger. But in reality, her anger at that time was not fake. It’s just that after what I said just now, she wouldn’t admit that she was really angry.”

The young Hydral tilted his head slightly, sighing nostalgically in a low voice:

“She… is quite a troublesome lady.”

Ravenna Ziegler.

A genius who disregards everything, with herself as the absolute center.

A seeker of the value whose madness rivals that of monsters.

A neurotic idealist favored by fate… just like Seraphina.

*

The Tower of Babel, a massive research institute located in the southern region of the capital.

Although named “Tower”, the architecture of the Tower of Babel is not a traditional sorcerer’s tower, but a complex of large, square buildings.

With the aim of expanding the field of ether studies and enhancing their practical application, the Tower of Babel has become a massive academic organization and research institution, second only to the Etheric Academy in the empire, in just eight years. With the support of the powerful Princess Evora, its momentum is growing more and more vigorous.

In many areas, other than a few foundational fields where the Ether Institute has established its reputation and authority, it has been beaten back by the Tower of Babel.

Moreover, because the Tower of Babel is more secular, not only conducting theoretical research but also producing a large amount of practical output, even the Alchemy Association has reached numerous collaborations with it, which has led many nobles to show goodwill towards it in the face of interests.

By the way, Ansel’s father, Flamelle, holds the title of honorary professor at the Tower of Babel. However, the uncrowned king of the alchemy field, the great sage Flamelle, who is truly capable of touching eternity, also holds titles in the Etheric Academy and many other academic organizations.

In a corner of this massive research institute, at a depth of four hundred meters underground, there is a spacious space that even most of the high-ranking members of the Tower of Babel are unaware of.

“Sssss…”

With the sound of gas escaping, the pitch-black hatch slowly lifted. A hand, covered in viscous fluid, clung to the edge, gradually propping up the body within the capsule.

“Hydral…”

A hoarse and angry voice echoed in the gloomy underground space.

“Just three years, a mere three years, have you fallen into the hell of the vulgar?”

Ravenna rose from the capsule, light green fluid dripping from her blue-gray bangs, falling directly into the pool of solution in the capsule.

“…No.”

She murmured softly, stepping out of the capsule. Her usually dead and cold purple eyes showed no confusion or hesitation. In this moment, she was certain of one thing —

“You, with such talent and ambition, would never indulge in a world as stagnant as a dead pond.”

“What exactly turned you into this, was it… that foolish beast?”

Ravenna’s tone became icy and stern, but as she thought of this, a sudden inspiration flashed through her mind.

“…It’s possible.”

Her emotions gradually calmed down, whispering, “It’s possible that you deliberately set a trap that I can’t calmly deal with.”

The genius sorceress exhaled slowly, snapped her fingers, and the solution on her body automatically flowed back into the capsule, leaving her body dry and clean.

“Rather…” Ravenna mused to herself, “This possibility is greater.”

Her mood stabilized considerably. She casually picked up the gray glasses next to the capsule, put them on her nose, and pushed them lightly.

“So, I can’t be fooled easily.”

Ravenna did not feel complacent for successfully seeing through Ansel’s intentions, but became even more cold and indifferent, extremely vigilant.

“Three years, enough for his danger to multiply… During this time, let’s replace number thirty-five with number seventeen.”

She flicked her blue-gray long hair that reached the hips, casually tightened it, and created a thin rope out of thin air with her fingertips, automatically tying up her hair.

There was a slight movement in the darkness, followed by footsteps gradually rising and then gradually moving away.

Ravenna sat down on the soft chair next to the capsule in this completely dark environment, picked up the cup on the table filled with an unknown liquid, and drank a mouthful without expression.

The next moment, six light screens opened in front of her, each displaying extremely complex drawings and… data.

“First.”

This Miss Ziegler, whose style is at odds with other sorcerers, slid her hand on the light screen and murmured to herself, “First, establish the model of that beast… inheriting the power of two pact heads, an unprecedented fellow, huh?”

“I want to see, you—”

The next moment, Ravenna’s expression froze on her face.

Because 400 meters above, in the Tower of Babel Research Institute, her active puppet… received an incredible message.

Not long after she left, the people from the Etheric Academy visited Ansel.

Although she didn’t know what they talked about, the Etheric Academy… sent a message. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

The message came so suddenly and quickly, as if it was specifically delivered for someone.

The empire’s genius, Ansel of Hydral, will visit the Etheric Academy in three days.

“…”

The cup in Ravenna’s hand trembled slightly.

Etheric Academy. The two words Ravenna hated most in her life.

If there was a way to completely destroy the Etheric Academy, Ravenna would act without hesitation. For her, besides academic research, the only thing she thinks about every day is how to destroy the Etheric Academy.

And now, not only has that Ansel of Hydral rejected her cooperation request, but he has also stood on the side of… the Etheric Academy that wants to kill her, destroy her?

He not only denied her abilities, but also recognized the value of those corrupt and degenerate people?

The raging anger almost instantly destroyed all of Ravenna’s original arrangements, because this matter has touched her bottom line.

“…”

Several rays of light flashed in the lenses of the gray glasses.

The future Eye of Truth, the one who ascends to heaven, the source of the mechanist sorcerer, the founder of the new Ether era, Ravenna Zeigler murmured expressionlessly.

“Etheric Academy, be prepared, and you… Hydral.”

“If you want to destroy your talent, in this hell of mediocrity.”

“Then I will uproot this hell!”

*