Chapter 2497: A Fatal Blow

The appearance of Yinfuyalisi did not change the Elf assassin's determination to fully Ascend, though before vanishing, the assassin could not help but cast a glance toward Yinfuyalisi, seemingly full of lingering attachment, yet still resolute.

At the same time, Xia Duo continued to alter the spatial composition of the area near the Arcane Plaza through the Floating City; not only was he protecting himself, but he also brought the suddenly appearing Yinfuyalisi under this protection.

But the next moment, the final strike, bought by the Elf assassin's self-sacrifice, fully formed. The temporarily constructed Mythallar instantly contracted into a mass within an imperceptible time limit, condensed into a tangible entity, and shot straight toward Xia Duo, piercing through space.

At this moment, whether it was spatial extension, spatial blocking, or the endless Protection lowered by the Floating City, all appeared dim and lusterless before this tangible light of certain death.

Before Xia Duo could react, that light passed through his body, taking with it all of Xia Duo's vitality; only the Time Protection Barrier, delayed by a split second, still held to its final duty—

Solidifying the time and space around Xia Duo's body, turning him into a pitch-black statue with an eerie glow on its surface.

The next moment, a large amount of spatial Mist dissipated from the statue's outline, and then it vanished entirely.

Such a turn of events exceeded everyone's expectations, not just the Yierlan Ambassador who was still protected by the Wide-Area Prohibition, but also Badijiaer and others who were stabilizing the Mythallar outside the Arcane Plaza, and even Yinaole who had rushed over upon hearing the news.

"How is this possible? What exactly was that light?"

"How is it possible? Wasn't he just suppressing that Elf assassin a moment ago?"

"Something is wrong!"

"Xia Duo!"

……

The people on the Surface had various thoughts; at this moment, almost everyone thought of one thing and subconsciously looked up, seeing that Xia Duo's Floating City remained in a normal hovering state.

Yet the more normal it appeared, the heavier the hearts of those below became. Just as everyone was considering how to handle the aftermath, a discordant voice suddenly rang out:

"Let me go! Lord Badijiaer, is this the attitude of Netheril toward diplomatic envoys?"

Badijiaer looked back to see the Wide-Area Prohibition, which had originally appeared around Yinfuyalisi perhaps for protection, shrinking its spatial range bit by bit.

Not only that, but from the speed of Yinfuyalisi's words and movements, it was clear that the time where the envoy was located was also solidifying bit by bit. Before Badijiaer could form a thought, Yinfuyalisi had already turned into a proud yet terrified statue.

Just like the way Xia Duo's pitch-black statue had vanished earlier, Yinfuyalisi's solidified body also quickly disappeared.

Badijiaer had the heart to intervene, but thinking of how Xia Duo's life or death was unknown because of the Elf assassin, and that the assassin had repeatedly claimed to represent the will of Taiweimansa, he ultimately did not take action, even though his intervention might not have had any effect anyway.

"What should we do now?" Huo En frowned, already contemplating the subsequent impact of this incident. If handled poorly, let alone within Netheril, even the entire Northland could fall into turmoil.

"Regardless, let us first stabilize the Seville Mythallar."

As the spokesperson for the Seven Towers, Badijiaer made a decision at this moment, though he did not act himself, instead calling for Lander and other Seven Towers Controllers, while he himself approached Yinaole, who was also frowning in deep thought.

After hesitating for a moment, Badijiaer asked pointedly:

"Master Yinaole, do you think this matter could be—"

"I understand what you mean, and my answer is that I do not know. Xia Duo once told me he did not want Yierlan to interfere in Netheril's internal affairs, but from what I know of him, he should not resort to such extreme measures."

"But just now—"

Badijiaer wanted to continue, but Yinaole stopped him, "You want to say that Xia Duo clearly had the chance to leave, or to kill that assassin directly?"

"Then why couldn't it be that Xia Duo overestimated himself? Achieving such success at a young age, if I were him, I would also develop a sense of pride, but these are not the issues."

【A novel app that has been running stably for many years, comparable to the old version of the book-chasing artifact, a source-changing app used by old bookworms,】

"That assassin clearly claimed to represent the will of Taiweimansa just now; this was witnessed by everyone and cannot be ignored because of Xia Duo's tactical error. I believe the most important thing you should do now is to go and question the Yierlan Ambassador as to why they did this."

"Oh, I almost forgot, that Ambassador Yinfuyalisi has already been taken away by Xia Duo's Floating City, but there should still be other Consultants, secretaries, and attendants in the Yierlan embassy. Are you sure you don't want to ask them first?"

"Then what about Yinfuyalisi—" Badijiaer, seeing that Yinaole intended to end the conversation, asked hurriedly.

"I will go up and take a look, but you should not hold too much hope. If you were subjected to such an attack, what would you think? Not to mention a young man like Xia Duo. Think about what he did in the South; capturing only one Yierlan ambassador now is already considered very restrained."

Though he said this, Yinaole still harbored a trace of suspicion in his heart, suspecting that this was all Xia Duo's own orchestration, but he would not sabotage his student at a time like this.

"Enough said, I will go up and take a look first. You should go and sound out the Yierlan side as soon as possible. If it is confirmed that Yierlan did this, think about how to handle the aftermath!"

"Sigh—"

Badijiaer let out a long sigh and flew toward the Yierlan embassy. Halfway there, he noticed that the Seville Mythallar was gradually stabilizing under the control of the Seven Towers members.

It was a pity that it was stably continuing to collapse, rather than stably ceasing its collapse. Seeing this, Badijiaer sighed again in his heart, "It seems that building this kind of Mythallar carries great hidden dangers!"

He then thought of what Huo En had told him earlier: Xia Duo wanted to trade his Floating City, including the Mythallar, with the Seven Towers. One of the conditions was that the Seven Towers must return the peaks of the Strait Mountains that were seized during the construction of Xin Saiwendun.

At the time, he had refused this trade almost without hesitation. Aside from the main factor that Xin Saiwendun involved the prestige of the Seven Towers, the belief that Xia Duo's Mythallar was not necessarily very sophisticated was also a very important reason.

But looking at it now, being able to perform outstandingly during the Sluwen war and being able to destroy a main city of Zhamu Dasi in the South without being held accountable, it was clearly not just a matter of having a Mobile War Spell Platform as a trump card.

……

On the other side, watching Badijiaer move further away, Yinaole looked back at the dilapidated scene of the Seville Mythallar and flew rapidly toward the Floating City Chang'an, which was hovering above Seville, filled with doubts.

Unlike the expected guard, Yinaole passed through the spatial barrier with almost no resistance and arrived at the Hengchun Square in the Public Zone of Chang'an City.

And at a glance, he saw the pitch-black statue standing quietly in the center of the square, surrounded by people. This scene—how should he put it? Yinaole felt it was somewhat incongruous, and felt it was a bit too deliberate.