867 The City in the Sky

“Why them?”

The person who raised the question was Veronica, a blond gorgeous beauty. The sorcerers who were adept at body modifications were often on two extremities. Some of them did not care about their images at all, and they transformed them in the most powerful way.

For example, they could replace their left eye with “Stub of the Eye Demon”, their right eye with the eye of the Servant of Death, and their beard with the tentacles of the Mind Stealer. As a result, their looks could be most horrifying, making them the synonym of “creepy” for the ordinary people. In the meantime, they were also the image of all sorcerers in the Saint Truth’s propaganda. Of course, in the current phase, those sorcerers had to change their appearances before they went out, or they would be moving targets for the night watchers.

The other sorcerers, on the other hand, paid great attention to their looks during their self-modification, so their faces would be more and more delicate and pretty. Veronica was such an eighth-circle sorcerer who was good at bloodline integration and physical modification. For example, her pointy ears added cuteness to her glamor. It was exactly a feature of the elves’ bloodline.

President Arnold chuckled. “The meeting to be held in Allyn is mainly to facilitate communication and eliminate misunderstandings…”

It was obviously the “formalities” that he spoke to the other magic a.s.sociations. Then, he suddenly changed the topic and said, “Therefore, as the host, we have to refrain ourselves in the meeting. Otherwise, they will be too wary of us to come, and the cooperation will be sabotaged.

“Of the three representatives, I am the president and the main convener. I have to host the meeting. It’s basic courtesy. Douglas is our archmage who recently joined. His presence will let other people sense the attraction and the real capabilities of the Union. Fernando is our most distinguished young sorcerer and the most hopeful candidate to become an archmage. He will show the other groups the bright prospects of the Union…”

Unlike the usual, Fernando did not throw out mockery. The other groups would be awed by the simple, refrained demonstration of strength. The president had completely justified himself. He truly deserved to be the president!

League and Veronica both accepted the explanation. Without any argument, they asked about the details of “Red Eye”, “Supreme Soul”, and the other groups. Although they knew a lot of things about such groups from before, Arnold, who had just visited their leaders, certainly knew better.

Arnold seized the opportunity to introduce those organizations to Douglas. “The greatest feature of the people of the a.s.so Empire is their red eyes, as can be seen on Fernando. Of course, the redness of his pupils is rare even in the a.s.so Empire. ‘Red Eye’ is an organization set up by some surviving sorcerers of the a.s.so Empire, who hope that they can restore their country…

“‘Supreme Soul’ is an organization of necromancers. It is said that it has something to do with ‘Scythe of Death’…

“‘Shadow Singers’ is a secret organization that Osseris, the Master of Shadows, prepared for his return. However, it has been too badly struck by the Heart of Time and is not even as strong as us…

“‘Tower of Destroyers is mostly made of sorcerers of the school of elements. It’s one of the few major branches of the Will of Elements left after it was destroyed by the Sword of Truth and the clerics a hundred years ago…”

Douglas was no stranger to the Will of Elements. After the Master of Shadows was heavily wounded and went missing, the legendary sorcerers in Holm were divided and fought on their own. Some of them founded their own organizations. The Will of Elements was a legendary group that was very active in the period. In its heyday, it could be compared to the “Cabin of Palmeira” which had a long history. However, it was still destroyed in the end. Most of the sorcerers were killed, and the valuable files and items were carved up by the Hoffenberg family and the Saint Truth.

Arnold explained the history, members, and leaders of the four magic organizations in detail. In the end, he sighed and said, “I hope that the cooperation will go well. As long as we kill Alfonsol and intimidate the Blue Demon, I will be able to establish a partners.h.i.+p with the few Excellencies.”

He looked at Douglas solemnly. “The Blue Demon is quite right that we are not strong enough to join a battle of ‘giants’. However, this side of the strait is not entirely devoid of legends!”

He did not mention the possibility that the Church would burst into a fury after Alfonsol was killed and that Sharp would work harder to strike the magic organizations instead of softening his att.i.tude, a possibility that he, League, Ramon, and Veronica knew very well. However, in such a situation, they could only take risks. If they waited until they were confident, there would be no chance for them to take risks!

“Mr. President, how many legends are on this side of the strait?” As a native of Antiffler, Douglas did not know the situation in Holm very well.

Arnold smiled. “Other than those who went to Aalto to join the defense, there are only three legendary sorcerers on this side of the strait. Of course, the legends all have strange ways to preserve their lives. Perhaps some of them were not really killed by the Saint Truth but have only been hiding somewhere.

“There are two legends in Cabin of Palmeira, namely the Witch of Iceland and the Lord of Frigidity. Between them, the Lord of Frigidity is stronger, so he went to reinforce Aalto, and the Witch of Iceland, who is younger, is left to defend the organization…

“‘Scythe of Death’ has a terrible ‘Liege of Death’. He’s a seasoned legend of the a.s.so Empire, but he is not close to the legends of Aalto, so he did not reinforce them…

“The legends of ‘Hysterical Dance’ had mostly perished, but decades ago, a remarkable ninth-circle sorcerer among them made an advancement successfully. His legendary cla.s.s is ‘Eye of Curse’, and his name is Atlant Forman. He’s very young…”

Douglas listened carefully and repeated the things that he should pay special attention to in a low voice, “Witch of Iceland… Liege of Death… Eye of Curse…”

“That’s basically everything. Douglas, Fernando, prepare yourselves. We’ll go to Allyn tomorrow.” Arnold nodded his head.

…

The sky seemed to have been burnt up by a fire, and the earth was red but dim. Arnold, Douglas, and Fernando had transformed into fat rats that were common on this plain, running among plants and rocks.

This was a plain northwest of Rentato. It was surrounded by mountains, with a lot of villages scattered on it. It did not look like a place where the stealthy sorcerers would hide at all.

“When the City in the Sky collapsed, it caused a huge hole at the foot of the mountain and an earthquake that buried itself. Therefore, it’s actually below the ground at the edge of the plain.” Arnold introduced the location of Allyn to Douglas.

Douglas, who was currently a chubby gray-haired mouse, said through the telepathic bond, “It must’ve been badly ruined, hasn’t it?”

“Yes. The central alchemical lives are all gone. There is no intact building in it right now…” Fernando spoke instead of Arnold. He was now a red-eyed delicate mouse.

The three rats went deep into the ground along with the real mouse nests. Surpa.s.sing many obstacles, they reached the underground channel that the Union of Sorcerers established earlier.

Thereafter, they turned back into human beings and walked down the road that was made of giant stones. There were no commonly-seen murals and patterns on the wall but only uneven rocks.

As he walked, Douglas came to a sudden stop and looked ahead in fascination. He saw something magnificent that was squeezed by mud and rocks.

It was very enormous and made up an upside-down mountain, with a pointy bottom and a flat top. Many symbols were embedded in it in the most astounding way.

However, the magic towers above its surface had all collapsed. Even the best preserved ones had only three to four floors left. Also, deep cracks could be found on the main body, almost penetrating through it.

“Is this the City in the Sky…” His eyes full of pa.s.sion, Douglas remarked in mixed feelings.

Arnold allowed him to watch for a while and said, “I’ll talk to the leaders of the other magic organizations first and try to reach a common understanding before the meeting. You can go around and make acquaintance with the sorcerers of other groups.”

At this moment, the members of the other magic organizations had come, which kept the sorcerers of the Union and their families who lived in this base rather busy. Of course, the sorcerers in the senior rank and above were all hiding around and entered the place with simulated images in case it was the Union’s trap. It was already their habit to be cautious.

“Alright.” Douglas nodded his head and flew to the City in the Sky that had fallen to the bottom of the ground with Fernando.

After he landed on it, Douglas realized that the sorcerers of the Union had already established and repaired some of the uncomplicated buildings. Also, since plenty of sorcerers from other organizations had come, a market had spontaneously formed at the central square, where everybody exchanged their magic models, knowledge, materials, resources, potions, and recipes.

“h.e.l.lo, gentlemen, would you like the modified Malzman that I invented recently? It can stimulate the soul effectively and increase the speed of the spiritual power’s recovery.” Because Douglas and Fernando were standing at the edge of the market, a plain-looking young sorcerer stood up and promoted his alchemical product with a smile.

Malzman was a legendary sorcerer who invented a potion that could help with the growth of spiritual power.

Hearing that, Douglas turned around curiously and stared at the bubbling blue drug. “How much can it increase?”

“It varies between 1% and 5% for different people. I’d tried hundreds of different ratios before I finally came up with this improved recipe by accident,” the young sorcerer said proudly.

Nodding his head, Douglas asked cautiously, “Then why is your modification able to improve the effect? What’s the mechanism behind it?”

The young sorcerer’s expression immediately darkened. “Only real customers are welcome here!”