Eluard returned to the Heavenly Magic Academy and was met with a gloomy atmosphere.
He wondered what happened and saw Lucan heading to the training yard alone. Emi went the other way to the public library.
As for Olivia, she was kneeling on the floor in dismay. She was tightly clutching her robe and gritting her teeth.
Eluard hid his presence and used the Eye of Fidelity.
After getting a glimpse of the events that happened, Eluard narrowed his eyes. He was furious and guilty.
Furious in the sense that the demonic creatures tried to kill his students. Guilty in the sense that he unknowingly put them in such a dangerous situation.
He should have anticipated the risks after setting up the meeting place in that remote village near where the Frozen Glades was.
'Was it a coincidence? Or did the demonic creatures notice our arrival?'
The possibility of the latter was high.
Deploying a magic array formation that utilized the concept of space was a difficult feat to achieve in a short time. That was unless either the demonic creature anticipated them beforehand or the magic array formation was stored in some medium before it was used.
Nevertheless, Eluard accepted one fact and that he had greatly underestimated the capabilities of the demonic creatures.
They weren't out to play. They were in for blood and their lives.
The demonic creature didn't hesitate and waste their time in trying to dispose of Lucan and Olivia. This gave Eluard another insight into what to teach the students next.
It was on how to cope with situations when they encountered the demonic creatures.
Arriving into this thought brought him the existence of the Tower of Ascension.
Since High King Garron would take days to arrive on the main battlefield, perhaps he could use the spare time to train his students using that tower instead?
Eluard was unsure of the decision.
The challenge inside the Tower of Ascension could be more daunting than he expected. There was a possibility of it becoming counter-productive, putting his students in a bad shape just as they are about to conduct their operation.
Not only that, there was disharmony between his students.
They weren't in the mood to be challenged. What they needed was to rest for a while and cool things down.
Amidst his thoughts, Olivia stood up and was about to return to her dormitory when Eluard stepped in.
Olivia stopped in place and greeted him.
"A-academy master, we-welcome back."
He could hear the fear in her voice.
'Does she think I will punish her?', he straightened his posture and simply nodded at her.
Olivia readied herself to be berated again by the academy master. However, when she raised her head, she found no one else but herself in the main hall.
Eluard went back to his office and put the matter into the hands of his students. He won't interfere unless something very serious happens.
The only ones who could fix the rift between their relationships were themselves.
He could provide them with some pieces of advice but he worried that their interpretations would turn out to be different than what they meant.
Eluard sighed. Thinking about it was stressful.
He closed his eyes and recollected how Veron aided his students against the demonic creature.
'I have to thank that Veron should our paths cross again. And Haera… I wonder how is she now?'
Eluard suddenly stood up and teleported out of the academy, landing on cold deep snow in the northern glacial continent.
His long robe fluttered under the intense breeze atop a mountain edge.
'Damn it, I almost forgot. I have to check out the situation inside the Siegfried Household. And maybe…'
The system wasn't the chatterbox that would direct him on the actions he needed to do.
'I need to create a character who could scout for me. I hate going around without a concrete plan or something.'
His schedule was very tight and although he could establish plans now and then, a one-man army wasn't an ideal thing.
The filled soul stones sold in the shop were expensive. Moreover, with how things have drastically progressed to the worst in recent days, he didn't have the time to earn crystals and buy what he needed.
Eluard eyed the large settlement in the distance. Based on the system's map, he was now near Arsolo Stronghold, the capital of Norva Assili.
Eluard generated a gust of wind below his feet and propelled high into the skies. He glided downwards, overseeing the events down below through the map.
When he neared his target destination, several gray dots popped up.
'That is a lot of undead down there. Just how did the Siegfried Household manage to spread the undead essence without suspicion?'
An alert prompt made Eluard stop moving.
[ Warning: A magic array formation has been set up nearby. ]
[ Effects are unknown but based on the magical structure, it is likely to be exhibiting the behavior comparable to illusionary magic array formations. ]
'An illusionary magic array formation? And on a scale this large?'
His surprise came from the fact that his Eye of Fidelity was unable to detect the presence of this magic array formation.
No one other than the demonic creatures could have done this.
Norva Assili did not have mages or wizards. Even if they did, the recruitment fee was extravagant for their treasury to handle.
'System, will I be detected if I enter it?'
He did not want to stumble upon a similar situation just like what happened to Lucan and Olivia.
The demonic creatures might set off something destructive the moment they notice a disturbance of mana flow in the magic array formation.
His magical deterrence could work but he was worried that it might lead to results that he'll regret later.
[ You can set a barrier around you which will imitate the flow of mana that the magic array formation follows. ]
Eluard immediately rejected the thought. He wasn't well-versed in advanced magic array formation topics such as formation retraction. It was a fast-paced method of analyzing magic array formations without triggering an alarm.
Even with his Eye of Fidelity as an alternative, his control of mana wasn't as accurate nor precise where he could replicate the system's suggestion.
'Let's not carelessly tread in now.', Eluard backed off and returned to where he was earlier, 'They must have a reason for deploying this illusionary magic array formation.'
Illusionary magic array formations worked in a way that distorts the reality of the affected individuals.
The wizard who deploys such formations has control over which ones are affected and which are not. The disparity of reality depends on a wizard's mental strength, spare mana capacity, and the original terrain where the formation was set up.
Establishing an illusionary formation on a volcanic location that transports the individual to a glacier environment would require a higher level of skill and mana than when used in colder environments.
'If I'm not wrong, they must be using the formation to hide the effects of the undead essence of the afflicted individuals.', Eluard snorted at how resourceful the demonic creatures were.
The pre-mind retraction stages of an undead showed obvious signs of transformation. The high-level warriors will undoubtedly notice a strange sensation about the people around them, provided how grandiose the proliferation attempt of the demonic creatures was.
However, the illusionary magic array formation could have prevented this from happening.
Worse, because Norva Assili lacked mages or wizards to detect the presence of such magical array formations, the rest were unaware of the demonic creatures' subversive actions.
The demonic creatures may have set up additional countermeasures to prevent high-level warriors from detecting it.
'This is bad.', Eluard furrowed his eyebrows.
It was brought to his attention that the demonic creatures may have planted several undead beings in the army of High King Garron.
Yes, they may look the same on the outside but who knew whether they were already under the control of the demonic creatures or not?
'They don't care about the Siegfried Clan's rivalry against High King Garron.'
'No, the power struggle is most likely a ruse. To introduce the undead essence in this area, they used Erik Siegfried's returning squad as patient zero before transmitting the undead essence around.'
'The clans and other warriors are conspiring with the Siegfried Clan not because of their newfound power, but because the demonic creatures took control of their minds using the undead essence.'
'High King Garron is unaware of this, especially since the illusionary formation has done such a good job of concealing it. He believed the Siegfried Clan was becoming increasingly powerful, which led to his decision to march into the battlefield when, instead, he could have purged the undead essence using his power as a radiant knight.'
Eluard caressed his chin, deep in thoughts.
'As for the remaining warriors and civilians, the only way for it to rapidly spread is through food or water consumption. The taverns and other public establishments serve a lot of people every day.'
'With the illusionary formation, it covered the effects of the poisoned food or beverage.'
'When the people consume them…'
How alarming.
If Eluard had been unaware of such information, he might have assumed that once they defeated the Siegfried Clan, everything would be over.
'High King Garron's significance is dependent on preventing the Siegfried Clan from seizing power. If Olivia's father dies, no one can stop the Siegfried Clan, or rather, the corrupted Siegfried Clan, from ruling over the entire Norva Assili.'
At that point, the demonic creatures will have an easier time in the northern glacial continent.
They can then use the Siegfried Clan for other purposes such as initiating aggression over nearby empires or raiding small villages in the volcanic grassy plains.
Also, Olivia might rebel after her father's death.
'Thankfully, I was able to request help from Arahon. Otherwise…'
Just as his eyes darted around the cold mountain, he noticed a frail and slim figure standing upright from the distance.
He was wearing a set of white robes with long white hair and an equally-long white beard that fluttered alongside his clothes.
The old man let out a chuckle, stretching his oval face while staring at Arsolo Stronghold.
"My, my… This could be an auspicious day for me…", he muttered to himself. His eyes displayed an elated emotion as if he found prey to prowl upon.
Meanwhile, Eluard was shocked after finding out the identity of this old man.
'Isn't he… Elder Flock?!'
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