Chapter 602: Hong Shi's Lament

ParrasFloatingCity.

Duke Hong Shi stood alone, expressionless, watching the wizards clear the tower ruins, while the people around dared not approach him.

Teacher.

Montalin appeared before him and respectfully called out.

Duke Hong Shi turned his head, gave him a glance, and asked calmly, "Has the personnel casualty report been compiled?"

"Yes."

Montalin, his face full of grief, reported, "This attack caused 396 deaths, including 38 passengers and mechanical artisans on two magic airships, 45 residents blown up throughout the city, and the remaining 313…"

He paused, cautiously watching the teacher's expression, and when the teacher showed no change, continued, "The vast majority of those 313 were teachers and students of the Magic Academy, including four legendary wizards, who failed to escape in time when the tower exploded and collapsed."

Duke Hong Shi's heart throbbed violently.

ParrasFloatingCity dominated the entire northern prairie, its actual fiefdom more than ten times larger than those of other dukes, virtually monopolizing the Empire's northern and northwestern trade routes, possessing vast mineral resources, and brazenly extorting taxes from the prairie's alien peoples, making its finances robust and richer than Naiser.

Relying on wealth unimaginable to ordinary people, ParrasFloatingCity recruited students en masse, investing resources without regard to cost, and cultivated a large number of wizards.

After more than two hundred years of accumulation, the number of Parras wizards exceeded one thousand, second only to Naiser, ranking second among all floating cities.

Weizelan had no more than five hundred wizards before the undead calamity.

That is also the capital that allows Parras to dare challenge Weizelan.

Now, a single attack killed over three hundred wizards, reducing the number by nearly a third, rendering years of investment and effort wasted, and the loss can no longer be described as merely severe.

Duke Hong Shi felt his heart bleeding inside.

The loss at the North Tower consisted mainly of wizards.

The South Tower was his magical laboratory and storehouse, housing wealth worth over fifty million Gold Shields, including countless alchemical materials, demon souls, magical elixirs, and precious magical items; even if some could be salvaged, the loss remains unbearable.

Many things cannot be bought even with money; their value is incalculable.

Parras's overall strength has regressed by at least fifty years.

In the coming years, repairing the Iola Core's control array will require an investment of several million Gold Shields; with Parras grounded and the Iola Core unusable, the floating city's magical defenses will fail, and it is unknown how many enemies will covertly spy.

Having suffered such a severe blow, Parras's personal prestige was also affected, especially at the crucial moment of just being promoted to one of the Empire's three great powers, as if struck hard across the face, losing all dignity.

Duke Hong Shi grew increasingly angry as he thought.

Just half a month ago, everything was proceeding smoothly; according to the plan, he would lead Parras and Naiser, the two floating cities, become the leader of the Naiser faction, and command the Empire.

However, events took a sudden turn for the worse.

Not only did Naiser's floating city fail to succeed, but his own Parras also suffered.

Who was it, after all?

Duke Hong Shi instantly pictured a handsome young man's face, his anger surging, even his Willpower struggling to suppress it, and he whispered in a low voice, "Ryan Augustus!"

Since first hearing the name, Duke Hong Shi felt uneasy, because Lei En had broken his youngest legendary wizard's record, yet he hadn't paid much attention.

Later he kept hearing people speak of him.

Various heroic deeds, unprecedented cultivation speed; people always compared Lei En to him, and as a great Holy Soul wizard, the greatest prodigy in history, he found himself inferior, becoming a stepping stone for a mere youngster.

The more often he was used as a comparison, the worse his impression of Lei En became, even though he had never met him.

Then came the opening ceremony of the wizard exchange tournament.

Lei En once again stole the spotlight; Duke Hong Shi did not see Lei En's battle with the Naiser elder in person, but from the recorded footage he instantly judged that Lei En, like himself, possessed Willpower.

This made Duke Hong Shi feel threatened; without even seeing him, he already harbored hostility.

When he finally met him face‑to‑face, in that minor plane, Lei En destroyed the grand plan he had prepared for years, threatened him before a gathering of Holy Soul wizards, uttered insults, and inflicted a setback he had never experienced in his life.

That day, he swore that he would not cease until Lei En was dead.

And he would not let Lei En die easily.

However, when Duke Hong Shi returned to Parras, he did not act immediately; he had more important matters, and settling his grudge against Lei En was placed later.

Lei En was extremely detested; Duke Hong Shi had never hated anyone so much, yet he had to admit that Lei En's talent and strength were formidable, subtly surpassing his own, and backed by Weizelan and Anxiwodasi, even though he himself was a thirty‑three‑level Holy Soul wizard, he had to be wary.

What made him most wary was that Lei En was protected by the God of Magic, making him impossible to strike easily.

Thus Duke Hong Shi chose to bide his time.

As long as that matter succeeds, even if Lei En ascends to Holy Soul wizard, even if Lei En is Anxiwodasi's student, even if Lei En enjoys the God of Magic's favor, killing Lei En will be a trivial matter for him, as easy as killing an ant.

However, the entire plan was thrown into disarray.

Today's attack stalled the plan for at least five years, and he himself was gravely wounded; until the floating city rises again, he lacks the strength to retaliate.

This is truly too coincidental.

Having just become enemies with Lei En, Parras was severely damaged, its vital energy greatly depleted.

Duke Hong Shi couldn't help but suspect that Lei En might be behind all this.

Montalin's heart leapt at hearing the name, exclaiming in shock, "Teacher, was it the Earl of Glamorgan who attacked Parras?"

He had never met the wizard now most prominent in the Empire, but had heard various deeds. Previously, after the teacher returned to Parras, he had ordered him to send people to investigate the opponent and instructed that a spy be placed on Earl of Glamorgan to monitor his every move.

The teacher did not explain the reason, but it was clear that Lei En was treated as an enemy.

Duke Hong Shi gave no reply.

He pondered for a long time, recalling the enemies he had just discovered on the airship, their masterful command of teleportation spells, and the black wizard who launched a suicide attack in the floating city's control chamber, and finally shook his head.

Ryan Augustus did not possess such capability.

Not only is Lei En merely a legendary wizard, even his backing Weizelan could not achieve this; such a powerful and mad act must be linked to a deity.

"It shouldn't be him."

Duke Hong Shi was not entirely certain.

He opened a teleport gate into the floating city's control chamber, and Montalin hurriedly followed.

The vast control chamber resembled a bright hall; the rune arrays on the floor and walls were dim, having been more than seventy percent destroyed in the recent explosion, while the hovering Iola Core in the center rotated slowly, still radiating endless light like the sun, yet it had ceased outputting energy.

The Iola Core had not extinguished; it was merely temporarily halted.

Duke Hong Shi raised his hand and lightly tapped.

He released an Eight-Ring Spell, "Light-Shadow Rewind."

Montalin also knows this spell and has used it many times. A few years ago, a magical airship of Paras was hijacked and destroyed, causing huge losses; he went to investigate personally.

At the crash site of the airship, Montalin investigated for a long time.

That hijacking clearly occurred in the sky; before the crash the airship had flown far, with altitude and distance hard to gauge, beyond the range of Light-Shadow Rewind. He only saw a beastman called "Buluokesjia" looting the wreckage, but could not find any battle on the airship.

After that, the murderous beastman vanished.

The Dragon Throat Clan also has no clue about this beastman; it seems no beastman named "Buluokesjia" has ever existed.

It remains an unsolved case in Paras to this day.

Fortunately, the teacher has been focusing on magical experiments these years, only asking a few questions, and did not blame himself for poor investigation.

Montalin withdrew his mind.

Light-Shadow Rewind took effect, and the control room filled with an illusion, like time flowing backward, replaying events toward the past and displaying what had happened.

Soon, the illusion showed Duke Hong Shi's figure; he used "Distort Reality" to suppress the explosion, making Montalin's heart race, and only then realized what had just occurred—Paras almost crashed, causing him to break into a cold sweat for the teacher.

The illusion continued to rewind further, replaying the scene before the explosion.

A black wizard wearing a skull mask appeared.

"Dark Sun Holy Emblem!" Montalin shouted in surprise. "So it was the deceiver's follower Qian!"

"Not necessarily," Duke Hong Shi said lightly.

The black wizard in the Light-Shadow reached out and pressed a black metal box for over a dozen seconds, seemingly triggering an energy explosion inside the box.

"What is that?"

Montalin widened his eyes and examined the pitch‑black box.

With his knowledge, he had never seen such a thing; it was neither magic nor a scroll, its operating principle hidden inside the box, invisible. The only certainty was its power, scarier than the Nine-Ring Extreme Flame Explosion Spell, and it was what toppled two towers.

Duke Hong Shi also did not recognize it.

Clearly, the black wizard intentionally used the black box as a shell to conceal the magical item inside, not wanting anyone to know its origin.

Rewinding further, the two saw the black wizard consecutively cast Greater Disintegrate five times, breaking the magical shield of the Iola Core.

From the casting process, the opponent's Arcane mastery was extremely high; the Eight-Ring Greater Disintegrate took only three seconds per cast, each hitting a weak point in the protective array, allowing five casts to expose the Iola Core.

Montalin also knows Greater Disintegrate, but considers himself inferior to this black wizard.

For him, it would take at least dozens of years of study.

"Who is this person?" Montalin asked, bewildered. A wizard who can master Greater Disintegrate to such a degree must be at least a Legendary Peak, not obscure.

But the opponent seemed to care nothing for his own life, detonating himself.

Montalin whispered, "Teacher, he must have a way to resurrect."

"Hmm."

Duke Hong Shi nodded; he had thought of it long ago.

Light-Shadow Rewind reached the moment the black wizard appeared; the two towers exploded and collapsed, causing the control room to shake violently and the magical shield to develop a breach.

A portal seized the opportunity to open, and the black wizard stepped out.

The Light-Shadow paused on this scene.

The two saw the black wizard holding a Paras Emblem in his hand, instantly puzzled. The Paras Emblem is soul‑bound; even killing its holder does not grant usage rights, and only Duke Hong Shi himself can grant permission.

"How was that done?" both were baffled.

Duke Hong Shi frowned, realizing he had sensed nothing about the emblem's anomaly.

If the emblem's soul‑binding were broken, it would mean a massive flaw in Fu Kong Cheng's magical shield; killing any Paras wizard and seizing the emblem would allow infiltration of Fu Kong Cheng.

He looked carefully at the opposite side of that portal.

It should be some location inside Paras City, seeming to be a storage room.

By matching the portal's frequency, moments later Duke Hong Shi located the spot, teleported directly there, and again cast "Light-Shadow Rewind" in that storage room.

This time the rewind lasted longer.

He accelerated the illusion's reverse playback until the black wizard's figure appeared. The black wizard held the Paras Emblem in one hand and continuously cast, opening one half‑meter‑high anydoor after another, leading to various parts of Paras.

Each anydoor opened for only half a second; the black wizard tossed a Qierdalin Gem inside, then quickly closed it.

These precious gems can store spells.

Duke Hong Shi and Montalin instantly recognized that the Qierdalin Gems the black wizard threw each contained a Six-Ring Flame Explosion Spell, detonating upon release.

It was these gems that caused chaos in Paras City, distracting the wizards.

Montalin's face darkened upon seeing this.

He had been misled, thinking each explosion point in Paras City had an enemy executing it, and had ordered troops to hunt them down.

Duke Hong Shi was indifferent to that.

What concerned him was that the black wizard could freely open anydoors inside Fu Kong Cheng, far exceeding the Paras Emblem's limit, which was the biggest issue.

Could the Paras Emblem truly have been broken?

Light-Shadow Rewind suddenly halted, the illusion in the storage room vanished, and nothing could be seen.

"Arcane Disruption."

Duke Hong Shi said gravely.

It is a Seven-Ring Spell that can block many Arcane effects, including Light-Shadow Rewind, preventing anyone from seeing what happened then.

Obviously, important clues were hidden during the disrupted period.

As for why the black wizard later did not use Arcane Disruption, it was likely because the situation was urgent, needing to destroy the Iola Core instantly, leaving no time for an extra Seven-Ring Spell; or perhaps the black wizard was confident he had already concealed the clues and did not care about being seen.

Soon after, Montalin received a report from below to locate the holder of that Paras Emblem.

It was a Paras psychics.

He was in Urge City, fell victim to an advanced sleep spell and had his badge stolen; the black wizard did not kill him, and he remained unconscious until a subordinate Red Flame Sword Guard woke him, and he knew nothing of what had happened, unable to produce any clue.

Montalin rushed to the upstairs of that alchemy material shop, used light‑shadow rewind to watch the process, the other party was invisible the whole time, and got nothing.

Hong Shi, the Duke, after hearing Montalin's report, told him to stand down, and stood silently in the Fu Kong Cheng control room.

He recalled the Wizards on the airship.

Everyone wore black robes, donned skull masks, their bodies tightly wrapped so that not a single inch of skin was exposed; beneath the robes they stuffed a lot of fabric to alter their shape, clearly to guard their Willpower.

This huge and meticulous plan was unlikely to be a spur‑of‑the‑moment idea; it had been prepared for a long time.

He doesn't have many enemies; his greatest enemy at present is Ryan Augustus, who has motive and sufficient strength to do it, but the feud between them has lasted only a little over half a month, so his suspicion is low, and it's almost impossible that he did it.

The possibility that a follower of the Deceiver is responsible is also low.

Those black wizards wore skull masks, and their conduct matched the Deceiver's mad doctrine, likely a deliberate frame‑up to mislead them into seeking revenge against the black wizard of "Dark Sun".

If it were someone else, they would probably believe it.

But Hong Shi, the Duke, firmly refused to believe it, dismissing the follower of the Deceiver as the mastermind.

"It's not Ryan Augustus, nor a follower of the Evil God; then who could it be?" Hong Shi, the Duke, pondered for a long time without a conclusion.

The only clue left is that black metal box, and the pure yet ferocious energy; he had never seen anything like it.

Hong Shi, the Duke, has had eidetic memory since childhood; the Willpower further enhances his recall, and over centuries his mind has amassed a massive repository of knowledge, like a treasure vault.

Yet, after long, arduous contemplation, he still could not recall any relevant information.

The black wizard concealed it so well that not even a single rune was exposed; he himself likely never encountered such knowledge, so he could not draw a conclusion.

Hong Shi, the Duke, shook his head and temporarily gave up the investigation.

The most pressing matter now is to heal his own soul wound, repair the Iola Core's control formation, restore energy output, and get Fu Kong Cheng to take flight again.

At the same time, raise vigilance to guard against further attacks that may target Paras.

Seeking retribution against the enemy must be set aside for now.

Staying up all night harms the body; I'm drowsy all day. I'll go to sleep right away, update early tomorrow, and try to make up the five chapters owed this month.

You classmates who say you'll charge interest, feel your conscience—doesn't it hurt?

(End of chapter)