Chapter 49: Imaginary Number Magic

The sun slowly sank into the great mountains, while the stars and the moon rose high in the sky.

South of Sol City, before Pandeng Castle,

Moor Bone Forest.

Masses of white wax tree roots pierced the bones and grew, their gnarls resembling anguished human faces, and within this eerie white wax forest, a steady, confident chant suddenly rang out.

"Deconstruct—"

"Material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, final cause."

"Using 'Treatise on Heaven' as the cornerstone, 'Pre-Analysis Chapter' as the structure, and 'Dialectic Chapter' as interference."

"Commanding earth, water, fire, wind to transform, receiving the truth's phase balance."

"Manifesting a syllogistic barrier, adhering to the ascension of the Law of Causality."

Three human silhouettes stood in the center of Moor Bone Forest; two half‑armored Knights stood beside a magician wearing a deep‑blue scholar's robe embroidered with star charts, holding a bone staff, while the magician with a head of gray hair braided in a Greek style watched the latter continuously draw intricate magical symbols on the ground and repeatedly pour various magical components from his waist pouch.

"Magic: Imaginary Number Maze."

As the final chant fell, the ground's sigil emitted a shimmering white light.

The leading magician, just over thirty, nodded with satisfaction and exhaled lightly,

"With this, we only need to establish three more nodes to complete the Great Barrier."

He turned his head toward the two Knights guarding the side and cooperating with him, and asked the final, most crucial question:

"Then, both of you, I need to confirm whether the information given by Captain Hector is accurate?"

"In the cavalry unit we are about to hunt, is there truly at least one master‑level professional and nearly a hundred basic components?"

"Setting up the barrier will consume materials worth 253 gold pounds; if it's just an ordinary hundred‑person cavalry, this trip will have been in vain."

The two Knights exchanged a glance and chuckled,

"Fisherman Pergos, you shouldn't think that way; Sir Hector has no reason to deceive us, and anyone who can escape his command is only strong, never weak."

"You should consider, what if it's a half‑hero, or even a true hero?"

Pergos, dubbed 'Fisherman' by the two Knights, scoffed and glanced at them with a disdainful, rustic stare, saying lightly:

"Once the barrier is fully erected, with what I learned at Lu Ke'ang Magic Academy, even a true hero would only become a stepping stone for me toward the truth here."

The Knight shook his head and laughed, "You really dare to say that—"

"However, we must speed up the barrier's construction; according to Sir Hector, that unit will arrive here the day after tomorrow. After all, it's a hundred‑person cavalry corps, and without a barrier we'll struggle to stop them, let alone hunt the professionals hidden among them."

Pergos nodded, thought briefly, and estimated:

"By tomorrow afternoon at the latest, the four barriers can be completed, fully sealing the four directions of Moor Bone Forest."

"This time's reward will be divided among the three of you"

However, before Pergos could state the division plan,

a Knight suddenly furrowed his brow and raised his hand,

"Wait—"

Pergos frowned, assuming the Knight wanted to bargain, and impatiently said, "You want forty percent? Don't forget, I funded all the barrier's materials."

"Shh!"

"Footsteps!"

The Knight lifted his index finger to Pergos's mouth, frowned and glanced at him, his ears twitching as he continued listening to the strange sound from the bone forest, then slowly turned his head to the right, his brow tightly furrowed.

"Urgent, very fast!"

The other Knight's gaze shifted, and he immediately raised his hand to grip the long spear at his back, cautiously looking toward the squad's right side.

Swish!

A black shadow leapt out from behind the white wax thicket, sprinting to the other side.

Influenced by the two Knights' reaction, Pergos's expression hardened as he focused his gaze, only to discover that the sudden black shadow was a black hyena the size of a calf.

"Black dog?"

"Ailiot, you're being overly cautious."

"Perfect, this dog is worth 20 gold pounds, so..."

However, Pergos's words did not relax the two Knights; they continued to watch the right side.

Soon, under the Knights' stern gazes,

the white wax tree trunks quivered slightly,

and a rumbling cascade of horse hooves suddenly erupted from outside the dense forest!

"Looks like there's no time for you to prepare the trump card that can kill the hero, Pergos, activate the barrier—"

"Prepare a night raid!"

After confirming the enemy's numbers and strength using his reconnaissance expertise, Ailiot's mouth twitched into a slight smile, and his gaze grew increasingly cold.

"As you wish, the enemy consists of one master‑level, one ordinary magician, and ninety‑nine riff‑raff that isn't even a senior professional."

"And we, however, are the 'Headhunters' formed by three masters!"

Another slightly plump Knight, upon hearing the intel, relaxed his cautious expression and let out a strange laugh,

"Heh heh heh~!"

"Never has there been such a wonderful opening!"

#

Elsewhere,

outside Moor Bone Forest,

A group that was more like cooks than Knights, a cavalry corps laden with countless pots, pans, and supplies, arrived here with swift steps.

Leading this cavalry corps were Su Ya, Mei Li, Lu Kan, and Dagonite.

"That one just now was the black hound?"

"It actually ran faster than a warhorse!"

At this moment, Su Ya stared at the spot where the dark silhouette vanished, feeling eager to try.

Since he devoured a breakfast of black hound meat rich in magic and ultra‑high calories this morning, his condition now feels like he's taken a c‑drug, his whole body brimming with vigor, as if he could immediately pull someone into a fight.

He turned his head and looked at Lu Kan beside him, who wore a smiling expression.

"Lu Kan, what should we do next? Should I go in and duel it alone?"

The black hound's speed exceeds that of ordinary warhorses, its muscular strength rivals that of lion and tiger, its bite force comparable to a crocodile, yet despite being a monster, it remains within the range humans can comprehend.

At this moment, Su Ya, who couldn't help glancing at his own stats, also needed a sufficiently challenging battle to adapt to his body's changes.

【True name: Su Ya】

【Attributes: Muscular Strength: E, Agility: F, Endurance: F‑, Magic: F, Noble Phantasm: C.】

【Primary vocation: Awaiting appointment.】

Although he hasn't formally crossed the threshold into a profession to become a senior professional with a vocation, he hasn't generated 'Qi' either, nor does he have the vocation's empowerment or the master‑level specialties.

Yet at this point his body's base stats already far exceed the entry requirements for a senior swordsman, and even his muscular strength has irrationally surpassed human limits, reaching master‑level standards.

Combined with his Noble Phantasm, four vocations, and the power of magical engravings,

Su Ya himself cannot fathom how strong he truly is now!

At that moment,

Lu Kan nodded,

"Exactly, just go straight in. The black hound will proactively attack anyone weaker than itself, and your current level won't make it feel threatened. That's far more convenient than us trying to capture it. However, the cavalry must stay behind."

"This battle can only be handled by the few of us professionals; the cavalry must maintain their current numbers so they can continuously supply anti‑detection magic against the Eye of Surveillance."

Su Ya nodded, flipped off his horse, and was about to step into the forest.

And at that moment,

Mei Li, who had been silent since approaching Mol Bone Forest, suddenly turned her head toward a winding, strange mark on a nearby white wax tree, furrowed her brows, and said:

"Wait, don't you all feel something's off?"

Su Ya, Lu Kan, and Dagonite stared at each other; not being magicians and lacking magical sight, they didn't know what Mei Li had seen.

"What's wrong?"

Mei Li dismounted, grabbed a handful of ground sand and soil and pinched it,

the sand that should have crumbled instead inexplicably turned into a puddle of yellow‑brown mud, gurgling as it slipped from her hand, pattering onto the ground.

Seeing this, Mei Li exclaimed in surprise,

"Is this… imaginary number magic?"

When she realized what the phenomenon unexpectedly indicated, Mei Li's expression changed dramatically, she turned to the others and shouted,

"Bad, we've been spotted!"

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(End of chapter)