n

n

nWallace and his group endured the whole troubling night and as soon as the daybreak came, they immediately moved out using their fastest movement skills.

nIt was their plan to avoid battling the nearby monsters. They no longer have plans to probe the chimeras or gauge their strength against them. They already learned enough so they just have to hurry and rescue the headmaster.

nThey crossed the gorge as quickly as possible with the help of several Haste magic spells and concealing spells. Their formation was still the same, having Yumi at the back of their group as she has the strongest stealth spell imbued on her cloak.

n

"A river...

"

nWallace said after he sensed the river up ahead. Some of them already heard the noise coming from the running water and the man just confirmed their thoughts.

nThe existence of the river here means that it could also sustain the life of mana beasts or chimeras. They have to be careful.

n

"We're not too far from the gorge, expect some beasts around.

"

n

"Yumi, I can sense that the Headmaster's location is not too far from here...

"

n

"Really?

"

n

"Mhmm... We can surely reach that place before the night approaches... as long as we continue our pace.

"

n

"Very well. Wallace, use your Soul Art again and find the best route for us.

" Yumi said to the young man in front.

n

"Urgh... That's not how it was used. I'm also using it ever since... Anyway, I don't see any notable beasts or chimeras in front. They're still behind us...

"

n

"Behind us?!

"

n

"Yes... A group of chimeras has been following us for a while now. But its fine, they won't cause too much trouble.

"

n

"If you say so... Clint, can you check for any beasts below us?

" The man specialized with earth-based magic spells so he has better sensitivity as long as he's opponent is on the ground.

n

"All clear...

"

n

"Alright, let's head to that river...

"

nUnexpectedly, the river they found was clear and the vicinity was beautiful. As they have seen weird beasts and ugly chimeras around, they forgot the fact that this land can possess natural beauty.

n

"The water is clean...

" Wallace said to everyone.

n An electromagnetic pulse has been detected.

n

"Everyone, strengthen your mana shell.

"

nThe young man immediately instructed after he heard Avalon reporting. Avalon's current form was constructed using advanced technology so it won't be easily ruined by an EMP.

n

"What's wrong?

" Yumi asked but she also followed the young man's advice.

n

"Something's not right...

" He answered gravely as he tries to look for the source of that pulse.

n

"Yeah... That's definitely not right...

" Elaine blankly said so they quickly glanced at her only to see that she was gazing towards the sky.

nSoon, they saw a floating island high up in the clouds and was slowly traversing their region.

nThey stared at it for a moment as they couldn't find proper words to describe their feelings.

n

"What was that?

" Wallace muttered softly and Avalon probably thought that it was being asked.

n The description of Mana Calamity, the

"The Illusion of Venarian Town

" matches the current sighting.

n

"Oh... That makes sense... A Mana Calamity, huh...

"

n

"Let's ignore that for now.

" Yumi decided as they had to prioritize their objective.

nAnyway, it doesn't seem to be aiming at them and it was most likely a coincidence that it was also present around here. Who knows whether there is a bunch of this floating island in this continent.

nLuckily, the floating island doesn't seem to be harmful at the moment so they immediately continued their journey.

nThey traveled non-stop and met a lot of obstacles. There are places without mana, chimeras that don't know any fear and continuously attack them even after being at disadvantage, parasites living above the trees, poisonous insects, mutated mana beasts, and many others had been causing them a lot of troubles but in the end, they managed to arrive at the place where Elaine was detecting the Headmaster's life force...

n

"A tower, huh...

"

nThey have seen this tower about four kilometers away and seeing it closely made the amazed by the constructing technology used to build this.

n

"It doesn't seem to be recently built...

"

nHannah muttered as she looked at the tall tower made of black stones and it doesn't seem to have windows at all. No, maybe there is but they just couldn't see them in their position.

nAnyway, this structure was unlike the previous ruined buildings they found before. It was constructed with different technology that surpassed even their current generation's.

n

"Yes... This should have been present long before the first northern's expedition.

"

nYumi said after observing the tall tower. It doesn't seem to be simple and as a matter of fact, it seems to be even more dangerous than the mage tower she has seen before.

n

"Elaine... Can you tell in which direction?

"

n

"Now that you asked... I can sense his lifeforce further down this tower...

"

n

"Below? Not up there?

"

n

"Correct...

"

n

"Fine, then let's enter... Look, there are traces of people entering here...

"

nYumi noticed some footprints that seem to be just recent.

nWallace had already noticed this and he already had a guess about their identities.

n

"We just need to head down, right? I'll lead the way. Stay close...

"

nThe young man reliably remarked. The burden of taking the lead inside this unknown tower wasn't small.

n

"Something was blocking my senses going deeper but I had a good vision of the first few floors below...

"

n

"How about those beasts?

"

n

"There are tons of them, don't worry. This might even be a breeding ground...

"

nWallace answered but deep inside, he was also a bit curious as he was expecting that the beasts around here should've lessened by quite a lot considering that there was the first group of people who arrived here.

n Warning!

n An incoming projectile is fast approaching. It is recommended to immediately vacate the location.

nAvalon warned him but the projectile doesn't seem to be coming from the tower. He checked behind them and realized that a blue light was indeed coming at them.

n'Crap! Is it the previous Celestial?!'

n

"Hurry! Enter the tower!

"

nWallace lost a bit of his cool as he quickly runs towards the entrance.

nHe saw that there was a familiar text written above the entrance but he ignored it for now as he'll ask Avalon later to translate it for him.

nIn the meantime, everyone had also seen the blue light so they no longer asked Wallace and just followed.

nThe entrance doesn't have doors but there was a thick form of energy that was blocking their way.

nAfter they saw Wallace passing through without any troubles, they sighed in relief as they stepped inside.

nBoom!

nA sudden loud crash was heard as the blue light must have collided to the barrier protecting the entrance of this tower.

n

"That blue light...

"

n

"Is it from the Celestial?

"

n

"Ha... That light might even be the Celestial himself...

"

n

"Anyway, why can't it enter here?

" Hannah curiously asked.

n

"Who knows? It is better for that entity to stay outside... Let's just hope that he's no longer outside once we planned to leave here.

"

nAfter hearing this from Clint, Hannah was stunned for a moment before shaking her head.

n'Let's solve the rescuing problem for now before we think of getting out of here.'

n