Years ago, Doug’s Star Moon Alliance had unfinished business, which Monde himself completed, doing so even more ruthlessly—it was truly ironic.
From the perspective of Mongna Ant Land Cottage, the loss of the many sorcerers from the Three Great Families would definitely weaken its overall strength.
Yet it might be much cleaner than before, and perhaps even a good thing.
“Warden Agne, I’ll leave this place in your hands.”
“Rest assured, since Black Prison has taken over, we won’t give up halfway. However, I will need to borrow these two for a while longer to facilitate the pursuit of that extremely vicious criminal.”
“Alright, if there’s a problem, you can find me in District 85 of East Capital. Farewell.”
There was nothing worth lingering over in Thousand Lights City. The pursuit of Monde was a matter for Black Prison, and Ivan wasn’t planning to inquire too much. Shortly thereafter, he bid farewell to Warden Agne and the others.
He then nodded to the Carmel siblings and boarded the Lanque, which flew towards Moon Pincer Peninsula.
Watching the departing airship, Carmel and Heidi felt an extra measure of melancholy and heaviness. The elder had already done enough; it was too much to hope for anything more.
Did they not see how initially the Night Forest Academy and Black Reef Sanctuary were destroyed without a chance for avenging themselves, now almost forgotten by people?
Compared to those two academies, their situation was much more favorable.
On the other hand, the Lanque did not stop upon reaching the Highland Alliance, but continued on to Mongna Ant Land Cottage.
Through contracts between the academy and the sorcerers, the academy’s higher-ups already knew about the Three Great Families’ calamity. Whether intentionally or not, the news leaked out, causing panic among the academy’s people.
The return of the Lanque undoubtedly provided a reassuring pill to the sorcerers.
Ivan informed them of the true situation at the earliest opportunity, and he faintly discovered that most of the other sorcerers were joyous, with none truly saddened.
After all, with three vice deans and plenty of chief stewards and stewards gone, didn’t that leave power and resources up for grabs? It was no different from pies falling from the sky.
On the other hand, it also showed the long-standing dissatisfaction of the academy’s people towards Lidia’s family and the other two families.
In a few days, new vice deans, chief stewards, and stewards were appointed, and the academy’s personnel structure was completely renewed.
Of course, Ivan remained the only elder, and Randall became the only official dean. The Mongna Ant Land Cottage effectively fell into their family’s control.
Ivan didn’t meddle much, just dealt with one matter, agreeing to connect the soon-to-be-established merchants’ guild and create a new source of wealth for the academy.
…
Three days later, the Lanque left the academy and soon arrived at Gangster Rift Valley of the Highland Alliance, descending to a point five meters above the valley floor.
“Boss, Sorcerer Ivan, I—”
“Cut the chatter. Remember to bring the Lanque safely back to Rapid Wood Tower, and pay more attention to the Spiritual Body matter. If I come back and see you haven’t handled anything, just you wait and see.”
Ignoring Locke’s abandoned expression, Ivan disembarked from the Lanque with the swamp ants and the flame scorpions.
This time, he was determined to leave Locke and the rapid wood silkworm clan to hold down East Capital. Locke was reluctant but had no choice and had to return to Chanay Continent with the Lanque.
At the Ancient Tree Ridge Academy, Lai Te and others showed great enthusiasm for Ivan’s arrival.
“Welcome, welcome your arrival, esteemed Lord Marichadon.”
“No need for such formalities. I am merely passing through and not intending to stay here.”
“Passing through is just fine, we’ll guide you right away.”
Seeing his indifferent attitude, Lai Te and the other three deans remained composed, still graciously leading him deeper into the academy, then descending underground, through one stronghold and secret guard post after another, twisting and turning until they arrived at a well-lit camp.
Beyond the camp was a thick barrier.
“Lord Marichadon, on the other side of the barrier is the true passage leading underground. In the past, there used to be magma flowing out from it, but now the magma has long since receded.”
Speaking of magma, Lai Te couldn’t help but glance at the red scorpion creature not far away, he of course knew where this giant scorpion came from.
After all, this was something the Ancient Tree Ridge Academy had been cultivating for nearly twenty years, a pity that it had now entirely become someone else’s, truly unpredictable indeed.
“What are you looking at? Haven’t you had enough during the journey? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, or do you intend to plot something? Careful, or I’ll jab you with my tail.” The flame scorpion finally couldn’t contain its rage, its scorpion tail tensing threateningly.
“No, no.” Hearing this, Lai Te gave a sheepish smile, bitterness swelling in his heart.
“We are just in awe of the great scholar’s extensive knowledge that solved a problem that plagued us for nearly twenty years, as soon as it reached the scholar’s hands. It’s truly admirable,” Adolf added. Continue your journey on My Virtual Library Empire
“Yes, yes.”
The other three deans nodded in quick agreement.
“Hmph! At least that’s respectable,” the flame scorpion said, pulling back its aggressive posture.
“Don’t make a fuss, it’s not like a few looks will cause you to lose a hair,” Ivan said indifferently.
“Oh.” The flame scorpion muttered a response, confused as it was covered in shell, not hair.
“Lord Marichadon, would you like to rest in the camp for a moment? Recently, from the receded magma channels, we found many strange and curious things, but our knowledge is limited and we couldn’t identify many of them,” Adolf suggested, pointing to a rock-earth cottage.
“There’s no need, keep them for your own research.” Ivan showed no interest in his invitation.
“This way, please.” Adolf didn’t insist, truth be told, he really felt they had found some good stuff not long ago.
As soon as he finished speaking, the rock-earth cottage he was pointing at started to rumble loudly, its walls cracking in all directions, and strands of thick black smoke began to seep out, enveloping the light as it passed and swiftly spreading darkness toward the camp.
Adolf’s face went pale in an instant.
The faces of the other people from Ancient Tree Ridge also turned unsightly.
“Be careful, this black smoke is a big problem; it can even obscure the vision within perception.” Realizing this ambush was clearly targeted at him, Ivan waved his hand casually and Adolf with his companions were flung away.
Ivan wasn’t suspecting these people of foul play, but rather, the enemy was coming fiercely and he found them to be an obstacle.
Swamp ant and flame scorpion were very astute, quickly guarding Ivan, one in front and one behind. The swamp ant radiated a faint black glow, which was its Ze King halo.
Under the effect of the faint black glow, the ground and air began to ripple slightly, like satin stirred by the wind.
“Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh-swoosh!”
As darkness enveloped the camp, the hidden assailants finally leaped out to attack, their movements barely perceptible.
Despite his vision being obscured, Ivan’s other senses were sharp, and he could hear clearly that there were four attackers launching their offensive from three directions.
Two in front and one on each side.
He also noticed that the attacks of the four were no trivial matter; each carried a strange and eerie sharpness, which gave him a sense of unease.