Two weeks later, the mortal ship neared the coast after a long voyage, finally approaching its destination—the city-state of Thebes.
Over these two weeks, the mortal nobles who had just boarded the ship had gone from being full of excitement to utterly exhausted by the end.
Meanwhile, Locke noticed that while he occasionally consumed small amounts of the mortals' black bread, Captain Andy seemed to have modified his digestive system—he hadn't eaten a single meal or slept once in the entire two weeks.
As for Albert, he had brought a large stash of delicacies in his Astral Ring, secretly indulging in them before disposing of the leftovers back into the ring, believing this would leave no trace.
When the mortal ship was about to dock, Sophia and Gabriel came directly to their cramped cabin.
Sophia spoke softly, "You've all worked hard these past weeks. Since we couldn't risk exposing our identities, we had to rely on mortal means to reach our destination, which wasted quite a bit of time."
"Please be aware—since a week ago, we've entered the territory of the Blood Curse Court. Soon, we'll be stepping onto their heartland: the Blood Crow Wasteland. It's a cursed highland region."
"Prepare yourselves in advance. The power of curses will constantly invade our bodies, corrupting our magic."
She continued, "But that's not the worst of it. The real trouble is the Blood Curse Court's Curse Inspector system, much like our Wizard Lords."
"Every region, every city-state, has its own Curse Inspectors, with senior inspectors patrolling different zones. Our goal isn't to kill them—it's to avoid detection entirely."
Sophia added, "So we'll need to take extra precautions."
"Beyond that, as you all know, the Blood Curse Court's heartland is filled with magical traps, sources of curses, cursed artifacts, and monsters created from failed experiments that blend in among mortals."
"Therefore, extreme caution is required during infiltration."
"Killing those monsters is simple, but it could easily expose us."
"Additionally, there's one more critical issue. The Blood Curse Court recently acquired five large-scale defense systems from their fellow dark wizard organization, the Corpse Court—the Wall of Unbelievers."
A look of confusion crossed Locke's face.
Clearly, among the present Wizards, he was the only one unfamiliar with the Wall of Unbelievers.
Sophia explained, "The Wall of Unbelievers is a comprehensive defense system developed by the Corpse Court, combining the Protection School and Spiritualism School disciplines. It was created with the full resources of their wizard organization, capable of everything from repelling large-scale invasions to strategic Spell bombardment and detecting intruders."
"The most troublesome aspect of the Wall of Unbelievers is its ability to detect the Magic Pressure reactions of Formal Wizards across a vast range."
"Even the most well-hidden Formal Wizard will be detected by the Wall of Unbelievers defense system the moment they let their guard down. Similarly, only Locke is relatively safe among us because the Wall of Unbelievers prioritizes detecting Wizards with Mana above 700."
"And Locke, your current Mana is just over 500."
"Albert and Andy, you two are also highly susceptible to detection. Of course, with the Thousand Faces Potion, it'll be slightly harder to detect you."
The witch Gabriel sneered, "After all, a single Wall of Unbelievers costs 100,000 Magic Stones. Five sets amount to 500,000—a sum that made the Blood Curse Court bleed heavily. If not for the Wizard War, they wouldn't have purchased such an expensive large-scale magical defense system from the Corpse Court."
Gabriel added mockingly, "The only catch is that the highest control authority of that system still lies with the Corpse Court, not the Blood Curse Court. So the Blood Curse Court can't upgrade or modify the system on their own, nor can they use it to oppose the Corpse Court."
"Still, the Corpse Court is a Black Wizard stronghold, the primary seller of large-scale magical weapon systems, and arguably the top Black Wizard faction in the Southeast Corner Domain. So those Vampire elders of the Blood Curse Court can grudgingly accept these terms."
Gabriel's expression turned serious. "Back to the main point—the detection range of the Wall of Unbelievers is hard to determine. The moment we set foot on land, we might already be within its scanning range. That's why none of you can use even the slightest bit of magic along the way."
"Including Locke."
Sophia the witch hesitated, as if wanting to say something.
Gabriel continued, "This is just a precaution. What if the Wizards of the Blood Curse Court lower the priority detection threshold from 700 to 500? While it would temporarily increase magical resource consumption, it's not impossible."
"But you can still use Enchanted Items, Potions, Magic Plants, and so on during the journey… as long as you don't cast any Spells using your own power."
Gabriel explained, "We've conducted numerous tests and confirmed that the Wall of Unbelievers can only detect the magical fluctuations produced when casting Spells with one's own power. Even if you use Bloodline Passive Spells enabled by the Thousand Faces Potion, it won't trigger the Wall's detection mechanism."
"Additionally, to further prevent accidents, you'll need to wear these."
Gabriel produced three multicolored gold rings. "These are Astrology Rings, sub-devices connected to our academy's Nibelungen Astrology System."
"Wearing them will grant you the protection of the Nibelungen Astrology System. This should help counter the detection accuracy of the five Walls of Unbelievers in the Blood Curse Court's possession."
Locke, Albert, and Andy each took one of the seemingly ordinary rings. Only the inner side bore a brief inscription—[All decisions you borrow from time will be settled when the hourglass reverses.]
Yet the words flickered for just a moment before vanishing without a trace.
The witch Gabriel gave Locke a firm look. "Locke, put this on, and you'll temporarily gain access to a proprietary astrology system our academy developed with an investment of at least 300,000 Magic Stones. This represents the pinnacle of magical achievement in the astrological subfield of our Divination School."
Gabriel curled her lips slightly. "Currently, the person managing this system is my student. Though they're stationed far behind the front lines for this operation, they'll provide us full support through the Nibelungen Astrology System."
The moment Locke slipped the ring onto his left middle finger, numerous illusory visions appeared before his eyes. Looking up, he seemed to see the ceiling of a dark room covered with countless special devices emitting faint points of light—each representing a celestial star.
The stellar patterns formed on the ceiling kept shifting continuously.
Meanwhile, floating seats suspended mid-air held First-Class Wizard Apprentices and even some studying Second-Class Wizard Apprentices, all waving and gesturing toward him. There were over twenty of them—clearly every astrology-focused apprentice from Lilith's Cottage.
What caught Locke's attention was Madam Morgana's presence within this system. Though not directly operating it, she was evidently one of the operation's chief planners.
Madam Morgana's voice simultaneously reached all five people in the mundane ship cabin. "Sophia, Gabriel, Albert, Andy—with you four taking action, eliminating a Formal Wizard Black Wizard should be trivial."
"Locke, you can learn much from them. These four are all my students."
A warning tone entered Madam Morgana's voice. "Gabriel, we have an unexpected development. Someone is using prophecy-type Spells to scan toward your location."
"How interesting. It seems some performance metrics for the Wall of Unbelievers were falsified. Its actual scanning capability likely exceeds the documented data by over twofold."
Gabriel and Sophia exchanged glances. Fortunately, they'd already given Locke and the other two the subsidiary rings of the Nibelungen Astrology System.
Of course, this wasn't mere luck—Gabriel had orchestrated the timing. She possessed a passive First Circle Spell as part of her Permanent Defense Field: [Arcane Prophecy].
This allowed her to always sense approaching danger beforehand. The trade-off was that her Permanent Defense Field lacked direct defensive properties, making her considerably more vulnerable than typical First Circle Wizards.
Madam Morgana's warning voice sounded beside them. "The Wall of Unbelievers' scan is coming, and there's a Black Wizard patrol ship ahead on the sea. Don't reveal any weaknesses."
"Sigh, the academy did invest considerable resources into this astrology system, but the final product is... mediocre at best."
"Then again, this Magic category was never our academy's specialty."
Among those present, the high-ranking prophetess Gabriel clearly didn't look pleased. After all, it was her proud achievement that Madam Morgana had bluntly dismissed as merely average, which naturally upset her.
Gabriel could only tell her students operating the system: "Consider this your research project. Do it well, and you'll have countless high-quality papers to publish. Haven't you always complained that I don't secure enough resources for you?"
"Astrology lacks practical combat applications and receives unfairly low evaluations in comprehensive assessments, leading to unreasonable resource allocation," Gabriel said coldly. "Now is your chance to prove yourselves by publishing articles on the wartime applications of astrology."
"Let those amateurs witness the superiority of the Nibelungen Astrology System."
The First Class Wizard Apprentices within the Nibelungen Astrology System—Gabriel's students—immediately pledged to diligently operate the system to assist both Gabriel and Sophia.
Then, silence fell over the cabin.
Locke distinctly sensed something sweeping overhead. A shiver ran down his spine as he felt something ominous was about to erupt around him.
"What is this?"
Locke didn't use Mana, but his innate ability to read the Moduo Language allowed him to see floating crystal skulls in the air—skulls that no one else seemed to notice.
However, the First Ring Witch, Albert, and Andy clearly sensed something entering the space.
Locke's mind raced. "Are these invisible skulls, spiritual manifestations, or projections? Hmm... they feel more like projections combined with a Spiritualism School's spiritual manifestation Spell. The true forms of these crystal skulls probably aren't here; they're just patrolling."
"Not good—I can't let them see me watching." Locke immediately pretended to look at Albert, pulling a die from his pocket as if to challenge him to a game.
Albert blinked, then his eyes lit up with genuine interest. "Dice? What are we betting? How about the goods we have on board? I want those female elf slaves you have."
Albert licked his lips, looking lecherous.
For a moment, Locke couldn't tell if this was Albert's true nature.
But their act was convincing. The crystal skulls hovered above them briefly, as if assessing the situation, before turning and phasing through the wall to inspect other cabins.
Fifteen minutes later, one skull suddenly reappeared in the room—only to find Locke and Albert at a table, gambling wildly, their bets escalating as they grew more reckless.
Andy and Sophia were trying to talk them out of it, while Gabriel appeared furious with Albert.
Only then did the skull dissipate, and the lingering unease in everyone's hearts finally faded.
The five of them paused for a moment, but Witch Gabriel signaled with her eyes for them to continue without stopping and to avoid saying anything unnecessary.
Even though the Wall of Unbelievers had already left this area, there was still a Dark Wizard Ship outside. They couldn't be certain whether the dark wizards had spells that could pick up their whispered conversations.
And if they used magic to shield their voices, the opposing Curse Inspectors would detect it through special means.
Of course, unless purchased externally, the detection methods of the Blood Curse Court were generally mediocre.
Organizations like these Dark Wizard groups usually excelled only in their specialized fields of magic—after all, with their low moral standards, they could freely conduct human experiments, which did have its advantages.
But in other areas, they were truly just average.
Deep within a cursed academy in the Blood Crow Wasteland, the heartland of the Blood Curse Court, a group of Dark Wizards gathered in a sealed stone chamber. Countless crystal agate skulls hovered around them, suspended above their heads and beside them, forming an invisible barrier.
The Dark Wizards conversed among themselves.
"Earlier, we detected a magic pressure signal in that area that resembled a Formal Wizard, but when we used the Eye of the Unbeliever to investigate, we found no suspicious individuals."
"Did you try using divination magic to probe further?"
"Yes. We connected to the root of the Wall of Unbelievers and extracted countless fragments of information from the ocean of millions of unbelieving souls in the past, obtaining prophetic resources. But the divination spells revealed nothing unusual. Hmph, the divination magic of those Corpse Court fools is nothing special—they're not even professionals."
"Should we raise the surveillance level for that area? Or just murder all outsiders there?"
"Wait—no, this is bad. We've fallen for a diversion tactic. A Formal Wizard from Lilith's Cottage has launched an attack from another direction. He deployed a high-level Magic Plant—a Whale Demon Flower—in a city to our southwest! Wherever that thing appears, it causes ecological disaster! It must be paired with the accompanying spell, [Ecological Destruction]!"
"What?! That's where one of our major projects is located! Immediately notify the senior Cursers nearby to intercept!"
——
Meanwhile, aboard the civilian ship where Locke and the others were, the Dark Wizard Ship that had been ahead of them had initially intended to intercept the smuggler vessels.
After all, regardless of whether these ships were suspicious or not, since they'd been spotted, they might as well seize them.
But now, the Dark Wizard Ship suddenly changed course, raising its sails and heading in a different direction.
On the deck, numerous Dark Wizard apprentices rushed about in a frenzy. "A disposable high-level Magic Plant—the Whale Demon Flower—has landed in our territory! We need to hurry back and reinforce the area!"
"Gods, not that terrifying thing again. Wherever it lands, it drains all valuable resources and nutrients from the land in a short time before exploding, scattering countless seeds. Those seeds sprout into all kinds of flowers, completely disrupting the magical ecosystem and sucking dry the magical tides!"
"Those hypocritical White Wizards! We only killed their people, yet they want to completely reduce our territory to ruins!"
(End of Chapter)