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nWhen the circle was completed, so too seemed Nula’s incantation, yet she still clutched a small pinch of silver powder in her palm.

nWhat was the purpose of this remaining silver dust? Howard looked on curiously, pondering.

nMagi are known for their precise control over materials, and Nula should be no exception.

nTaking something out and not using it entirely—what was the reason behind that?

nThen, as a mist of mana rose, Howard watched as Nula calmly pocketed the silver dust… and even rubbed her fingers together over her pouch!

nWeren’t they supposed to have mastery down to the last detail? Howard was momentarily baffled.

n“Is that it? What about the silver dust? Just pocketing it like that?”

n“Of course, I pocket it when it’s used up. This stuff is expensive, you know!”

nNula looked at Howard as if it were the most natural thing in the world, patted her hands together, and when she reopened them, a palm-sized rune emitting white light had formed, quietly floating above her palm, slowly rotating.

n“Step into the circle.” Howard did as instructed, then saw Nula also step in, her body almost pressing against his.

nHoward looked up somewhat awkwardly, “Couldn’t you have drawn the circle a bit larger?”

n“I used to do this alone, who knew you were so bulky!” Nula shot Howard a glance, “Focus! We’re about to leave!”

nAs her last word fell, Nula flipped her hand, mana flowed from her palm, and the complex rune dropped into the center of the silver circle.

nAn incomprehensible syllable was uttered.

nWhite light flared!

nA dizzying sensation hit Howard; his eyes narrowed, and his stance wavered.

nThen came a feeling of weightlessness, a nauseating sensation surged to the back of his head, then as quickly as it arrived, it vanished.

nBefore Howard could even react, the surrounding white light began to dissipate.

nHe and Nula appeared in a strange room.

nA man wearing a clown mask stood in the room, frozen in an odd posture.

n“Feeling dizzy…” Howard steadied himself against the back of a chair, his gaze shifting away from the clown mask.

nHe could tell that, like Amriel before, the clown mask was locked in personal time.

nIt seemed to be Nula’s doing; probably only she could achieve something like this here.

nOr more precisely, something her inscrutably profound teacher, Dorek, could accomplish.

n“I didn’t expect you to get dizzy from teleportation; that’s not a very common symptom.”

nNula appeared unbothered, walking around from behind the desk to stand in front of the clown mask, pointing at him and asking, “This guy, do you recognize him? Should be someone from the Rodel branch guild.”

nGiven Howard’s recent quests, he should have had some contact with people from the Rodel branch guild.

n“No.” Howard shook his head decisively. He had been on quests, true, but he had only been in this place for two days.

nThe people from the Rodel branch guild he had interacted with were limited to the receptionist at the guild’s hall and Duduro, who wanted to buy the wolfrat.

nGiven the clown mask’s build, it clearly wasn’t a woman, so could it be Duduro? It seemed highly unlikely he’d run into him.

n“Is that so.” Nula nodded, then with a flick of her wrist, a gleaming silver dagger sprang from her sleeve, resting against the clown mask’s neck, “Killing him would let us know.”

n“Where exactly are we?” Howard didn’t pay much attention to Nula’s action but instead focused on the room itself.

nUndoubtedly, Nula wasn’t the type to kill the innocent recklessly.

nIf she were, she wouldn’t have gone to investigate the cause of the monster tide behind Howard’s back.

nWait a second, something didn’t add up.

nHow could Nula have come up with results in such a short time?

nThe people of Rodel city aren’t just for show; if there were any anomalies, they should be the first to react!

nHow did it fall to an outsider to discover them?

nUnless, they were intentionally covering up these matters.

nOr perhaps, Nula had been prepared from the start, with this as her initial target.

n“Nula, why did you bring me to Rodel in the first place? Why didn’t we go directly to Sorona?”

n“I believe I’ve answered this question already,” Nula glanced at Howard, feeling a bit uneasy.

n“We need to replenish some supplies here. It’s nearly half a month’s journey from here to Sorona, and I certainly don’t want to be camping in the wilderness, gnawing on dry rations every day.”

n“Is it just that simple?” Howard persisted, looking into Nula’s eyes.

n“Just that simple.” Nula met his gaze without evasion.

nThis indeed was her purpose, and her actions were motivated more by the Intelligence Division’s assignment.

nHad it not been for their mission, she would have left right after resupplying.

n“Alright, I believe you.” Howard withdrew his skepticism, discerning no falter in Nula’s eyes, then turned his gaze towards the clown mask, “Are you going to kill him?”

n“Yes, this man is the enemy’s leader. If we don’t deal with him, it’ll be troublesome.”

n“But it seems he holds a significant position in Rodel.

nThere might be complications.” Howard hesitated.

n“Complications?” Nula’s expression twisted oddly, somewhere between a cold laugh and a sneer.

n“If there are any, they’ll be the adventurer guild’s problems, not ours.”

nWith that, a flash of the knife.

nA life was taken in silence.

nThe blood splattered in midair was frozen in time, as Nula placed a hand over the clown mask’s head, emitting a faint glow.

nShe was searching through the clown mask’s soul.

nThis method is commonly used by magi; rather than wasting time and effort on interrogation without guarantee of obtaining the correct answers, it’s more direct to extract and search the opponent’s soul.

nA soul cannot lie; without reaching a significant level of strength, a soul is just a bewildered spirit, lacking its own consciousness and wisdom.

nSuch pure entities do not err when questioned.

nMoments later, Nula withdrew her hand, stepped back, and released the clown mask from its lock.

nBlood spattered as the clown mask silently fell to the ground, his throat nearly severed.

nNula bent down to remove the mask from the corpse’s face.

nDuduro.

nHoward tapped his forehead; such a low probability event had actually occurred.

n“What exactly is our enemy?”

nFor the first time, Howard asked this question.

nUntil now, he had simply been following Nula’s lead, acting according to her instructions.

n“A cult, the Eternal Flame, a group of fanatics fond of living sacrifices. It seems Rodel has been chosen as their next target. Before Rodel, over a thousand people have died at their hands.”

nNula glanced at Howard and added, “You needn’t have any reservations; every person in this cult deserves their fate!”

nCult, a term neither distant nor familiar.

nHoward nodded, “What do we do next?”

n“We infiltrate their stronghold, locate the hidden site of the ritual, and destroy it.” Nula searched the clown mask’s body but found nothing of note.

n“The Eternal Flame’s ritual has attracted those wild spellbeasts. Destroy it, and the beast horde will naturally disperse, ending Rodel’s crisis.”

nA simple logic, crude but effective.

n“Alright, are we leaving now?” Howard noticed Nula searching for something on the floor.

n“Yes, but I think you’re not going to like this.”

nNula lifted the carpet, revealing on the wooden floor a perfect circle of grey-black elf runes, just large enough for one person to stand in.

n“Teleportation again?” Howard’s eyebrow twitched, “How come you’re so proficient?”

n“Because I’ve done my research beforehand?” Nula replied with a smile, her expression becoming serious again.

n“I’ll go first, and you follow half a minute later. The matrix can be activated directly with mana, do not do anything extra, otherwise, I can’t be sure what might happen.”

nSpells are an extremely precise system; any interference could lead to unpredictable outcomes.

nAlthough teleportation spells are relatively stable and less dangerous, any disturbance could alter the destination.

nA deviation of a couple of meters, and Howard could end up spending the rest of his life with a wall.

nHoward carefully noted Nula’s instructions, waving his hand, “Don’t worry, I know my limits.”

nNula took a deep breath and channeled mana directly into the matrix to activate it.

nShe didn’t know what the situation at the other end of the matrix was like, whether the disappearance of the clown mask had caused any changes.

nWas the stronghold still as she left it?

nThese unknown risks made Nula uneasy.

nBut it was too late to turn back now.

nWith a flicker of white light, Nula vanished into the brightness.

nWatching Nula’s figure gradually fade, Howard’s gaze remained calm.

n“Alright, are we setting off now?” Howard noticed Nula looking for something on the floor.

n“Yes, but I think you might not be too pleased.”

nNula lifted the carpet to reveal a perfect circle of grey-black Elvish runes on the wooden floor, just large enough to accommodate one person.

n“Teleportation again?” A twitch appeared at the corner of Howard’s eye.

n“How come you’re so adept at this?”

n“Because I did my homework?” Nula replied with a smile, her demeanor becoming more serious.

n“I’ll go first, you follow half a minute later. The matrix can be activated directly with mana, don’t do anything extra, or I can’t guarantee what might happen.”

nThis content is taken from 𝘪𝘦.𝘤𝑜

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