Throne of Magical Arcana
chapter-677

Enshrouded in the azure light, Mason and Fred flew out of the hotel and rushed at the edge of the town where the elvish guards were stationed.

Sudden, dark red fire erupted from the ground into the sky, as ferociously as if from a volcano, and blocked Mason and Fred.

“Mattwe, what are you doing?” Mason stopped his flight in time and did not run into the fire and smoke. He glared at the tall, slender man who stopped them. It was Mattwe, ‘Anger of Earth’, a level-seven radiant knight.

Mattwe’s hair was short and the color of seaweed. He raised his head and looked at Mason and Fred, before he said unhurriedly, “Have you forgotten that flight is prohibited in the town?”

The ban was not realized by magic circles but ensured by a few ‘townkeepers’ who were strong radiant knights. After the initial disorder and blood when Town of the Anonymous was established, a few radiant knights who often came to the place forged an alliance and set up an order for the town to restrain each other and maintain the peace of the town.

Mattwe, on the other hand, was one of the ‘townkeepers’.

“What’s the point of forbidding flying under such circumstances?” As radiant knights themselves, Fred and Mason were not scared of Mattwe, but they were worried that they might raise the elves’ attack. “We are only hoping to receive the investigation of the elves. Are you going to stop us?”

Mason and Fred were vaguely wary of Mattwe, because the weirdness they sensed was exactly from him and his partners.

Mattwe and his fellows did not do anything strange, except that they often expressed their desperation, pain and anxiety after the first assault of demons. They believed that it was impossible for the elves to defend the abyssal gap, because the Will of Abyss might arrive directly as the gap was gradually expanded. Therefore, staying in Town of the Anonymous meant waiting for death. There was absolutely no hope to escape at all.

Such anxiety, desperation, frustration and agony quickly spread throughout the people under the influence. Since such feelings were normal reactions, Mason and Fred did not suspect anything. They simply did not want to get in touch with Mattwe and his partners, because the more they met those people, the more gloomy and painful it would be.

“We have to receive the inquiry of elves and sorcerers, too, but we are in no rush, and we do not violate the order of the town.” Mattwe’s green eyes were as steady as before. “Mason, Fred, you should be very clear that times of anxiety and impatience like right now call for order. Only by keeping a reliable and strict order can we ensure that the situation will not escalate and that we will be safe. Therefore, I will not spare you just because you are radiant knights. Please follow me to the Townkeepers’ House for punishment.”

Mason had to admit that Mattwe did have a point, but the strange depression haunted him and prevented him from moving. Fred did not take any action, either.

Mattwe raised his right hand. “Mason, Fred, are you trying to resist seven radiant knights, high-rank elves and legendary experts?”

The adventures on the street slowed down and became prudent, sensing the danger that might burst out at any point.

……

On the east side of Nature’s Residence was a forest so dense that it was almost sunless.

“Ms. Martha lives inside. She is a representative of Nature’s Abhorrence. Try not to infuriate her. In case she says anything inappropriate, I’ll apologize on behalf of her first.” Iristine, wearing a green dress of tree leaves, spoke to Jurisian, Felipe, Heidi and Annick.

Because several directions required further investigation, the sorcerers were divided into different groups. Heidi, believing that Sprint’s lecture on Annick yesterday showed barely any effect, had rearranged the team and decided to work on it in person. She planned to lead Annick to get to know a few more elf friends. Yesterday, she already became good friends with Nodanielle and made acquaintances with many other elves.

Since Martha was the strongest of all the elves to be investigated, Jurisian and Felipe, who hadn’t really seen eye to eye with each other, had to act together.

Jurisian smiled courteously. “It’s alright. Everyone has their own beliefs. It’s not a big deal as long as we are not really harmed.”

Even the princess of elves had apologized in advance. What else could he have said?

Felipe nodded his head with his hands in his pocket, but his eyes surpassed the woods and looked somewhere far away. The communication with elves and the investigation on Nature’s Residence yesterday were obviously fruitful.

Since two members of the Affair Committee were ahead of them, Heidi inevitably got absent-minded. She said to Annick in the telepathic bond, “When the investigation is over, I’ll bring you to the elves’ ‘Ball of Nature’.”

“B… Ball? I… I can’t dance.” Annick was so shocked that he stuttered.

Heidi gazed at him. “Who’s born to dance? Well, maybe elves are… But I’m not asking you to date an elf. It will help you keep a good mood by getting to know more friends and things. I do not want my good friend to suffer severe psychological diseases because of arcana and magic studies.”

Being a close friend to Rachel, she did know a lot about psychology.

Annick meant to say that he was very happy just studying arcana and magic, and that solving a problem was much more satisfying than dancing and making new friends, but he was a person who appreciated friendship, too. Seeing that Heidi, Layria, Sprint and Katrina had been worried about his shyness, he more or less decided to change a bit. After all, he would be devoted to arcana and magic again, and so would Heidi and the rest of them.

Like a deer, Iristine traveled in the forest agilely. Very soon, they saw a green, undecorated house under her lead. On the empty ground below the house, a dozen elves were receiving dance lessons.

Martha was a famous musician and dancer among elves.

Before the dozen elves stood a Night Elf whose hair was tied and whose dark green skin gave a weird sense of beauty. She had such a mature vibe that she felt like a fruit that had come to the sweetest season.

“Bend backwards more… What’s this pain compared to the pain when forests are cut by human beings and when green is reduced to deserts?” Martha was rather rigorous in her teaching and did not hesitate to show her attitude as a follower of Nature’s Abhorrence.

“This dance is called Dance of Revenge. Every movement has a special meaning and expresses the anger of nature. You can never dance the dance well without understanding the feeling. For example, in this movement, you need to recall the extinct animals. They are completely gone from this world just because of the greed of human beings, because their fur, flesh, meat and bones are useful…”

“Because of their selfishness, human beings blatantly hurt nature, and one day, nature will burst out her fury and cleanse all sins…”

Hearing Martha’s tutelage, Jurisian frowned and thought to himself. “Such a narration and such a dance are truly similar to the Special Summoning Ritual. It will work out as long as they are convinced that ‘revenge of nature’ does exist… But why were the elves of Nature’s Balance more corrupted? Why is Martha still teaching Dance of Revenge knowing that the Congress has helped with the investigation? Does she think that we can never find that it’s her, or was it not done by her at all?”

Iristine stepped forward and said, “Ms. Martha, excuse us. A few guests would like to ask you some questions.”

Martha had long noticed the approaching strangers but turned a blind eye to them. It was not until Iristine opened her mouth that she finally bowed with an awful face. “Your Highness, I do not want human beings whose minds are filthy to trespass on my place, and I don’t know what questions I can possibly answer.”

“Madam, we only wish to know where you learnt Dance of Revenge.” Not infuriated at all, Jurisian asked calmly.

Martha scorned. “I was inspired by human beings’ damage on nature and reorganized the fete movements that I found in the ancient classics. It’s my own creation. Are you satisfied with my answer?”

“What ancient classics?” Felipe asked the core of the question.

Martha sneered. “Are sorcerers supposed to be knowledgeable? You can’t tell? It’s from ‘Moon Rite of Werewolves’, ‘Book of Rituals’…”

She said a series of titles. Obviously, her previous statement was not a lie.

Answering another few questions, Martha asked them to leave. “My patience has run out. I do not want to answer any other questions. If you want to blame the accident on me, be my guest.”

After that, she went back to the tree house and continued her lesson on Dance of Revenge.

Returning in silence, Iristine said again, “I apologize to you on behalf of Ms. Martha…”

“Wait a moment.” Felipe interrupted her. “I would like to search Martha’s tree house and the area nearby.”

“Why?” Asked Iristine in surprise.

Felipe said coldly, “Are we supposed to believe whatever she says?”

Jurisian nodded with a smile. With such a guy in the team, he was saved from the trouble of saying things he would rather not say.

Iristine struggled hesitatingly. It was an important issue to search the house of a ‘Staff Bearer’.

……

The bloody dust pervaded the air, blocking the sunlight from the sky. The environment that had been cleansed by ‘Eternal Blaze’ previously was full of curses and poisons again.

Lucien’s spiritual power spread out. Seizing the power of the projection of his demiplane, he blurred the environment around, making it impossible for the curses and poisons to leak in. Wearing her silver armor, Natasha looked no different from before, but the curses and poisons somehow collapsed and disintegrated when they approached her without any exception.

“Have you found anything?” Malfurion asked Lucien, who was standing next to a mirror with complicated stripes. He was casting ‘Mirror of Fate’ to decide the origin of the ‘integration of spaces’.

Lucien put the crystal ball in his left hand at the center of the Mirror of Fate. The picture immediately became clear. The crystal ball also glowed, and the stars in it were connected into a straight line.

“It’s in that direction.” Lucien said to Natasha and Malfurion. “Did the accident really originate from here?”