Chapter 182: The Black Moon Conspiracy
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Link managed to take a break from his hectic schedule for two hours under Herrera’s invitation. He then returned to the Mage Tower to do some casual reading and even slept early at eight o’ clock. It was a relaxing day.
Link originally thought he could have a good rest all the way till the next morning. However, his heart palpitated at an insane rate in the middle of his sleep. He screamed and sat up immediately in shock.
He then touched the back of his pajamas and found it to be soaked in cold sweat. He could also still feel the effects of the frantic palpitation he experienced. It did not reduce in intensity despite the fact that he had awakened.
Magicians possessed strong souls and would never feel flustered for no reason at all, even more so for powerful Magicians like Link. This sudden outburst of panic must definitely be some kind of premonition. Link’s soul had been strengthened by the God of Light and had reached the level of a sacred spirit. Herrera had personally validated the fact. His intuition to danger was thus unusually strong.
He immediately donned his blue magic robe and opened the curtains to take a look outside. It was completely dark, and nothing could be seen. Link spun and looked at the clock before realizing it was ten minutes to midnight.
At that moment, as Link was starting to get sober, the feeling of panic had begun to subside. If an ordinary Magician were to encounter such a situation, they would probably doubt their own judgment and miss the best chance to escape.
However, Link was different. He was sure that something dangerous was approaching. Seeing no suspicious movements through his window, Link rushed out of his room after taking his wand and Prophet’s White Stone. He then checked his Mana Points.
Only half full at 1500 points? That is not enough! Link wanted to replenish his Mana Points using a mid-level Mana Recovery Potion. However, he put the potion back into his dimensional pendant after some thought.
His Mana Recovery Speed was 200 points per hour. He also had 220 spare Omni Points which would allow him to instantly refill his Mana Points if needed. The potion should only be used if he was left with no choice.
Link headed for the highest floor of the Mage Tower without hesitation. He ran all the way to the top and reached Herrera’s doorstep half a minute later. He then raised his wand and tapped the runes on the door frantically.
The runes started sounding in succession, accurately reflecting the panic in Link’s heart.
“Who is there!” Herrera’s voice was transmitted through the magic runes.
“Mentor, it’s me!” Link shouted.
Ten seconds later, the door opened. Herrera appeared only wearing a nightgown with her hair disheveled, holding her crystal staff defensively. Link noticed that her forehead was also drenched in perspiration, her eyes shining with fear.
“Mentor, you had a nightmare as well?” Link asked. Sudden palpitations and nightmares were premonitions that Magicians would get in the face of impending danger.
Herrera nodded. “I dreamed that the academy was in flames. A few people were laughing wildly, but there were bodies everywhere! It was too terrible!” Herrera’s voice trembled as she spoke. It was clear that the dream was emotionally traumatizing.
Powerful Magicians seldom dreamed. However, once they did, their sightings would often come true, especially those with a strong connection to their life.
Link immediately said, “Mentor, I am afraid this is the Black Moon Conspiracy. We have to take precautions!”
Herrera was startled for a moment but quickly recollected herself. She used a hairband to tie her disheveled hair into a ponytail and tapped her staff lightly on her shoulders. Similar to the time when she gave chase to Bale, her nightgown was immediately replaced by a blue battle magic robe.
Link could not help but catch a glimpse of Herrera’s body once more. Fortunately, he had experience with this spell and immediately shifted his gaze.
Herrera took ten seconds to change before speaking, “Let’s go to the rooftop and see what’s going on.”
“Alright.”
The size of Herrera’s Mage Tower was not huge. However, it was still decent in terms of height. Standing 60 feet tall, one would be able to get a bird’s eye view of the entire academy, apart from the Heaven’s Thorn and the Spiral Mage Tower.
The two of them quickly reached the rooftop. For some reason, the darkness was especially suffocating, and despite being extremely dark, the moon and the stars were not visible. It seemed as though the sky was shrouded in a thick layer of clouds, though closer inspection would suggest that the air did not contain the oppressive feeling usually present during a cloudy night.
It was indeed very strange.
Standing on the rooftop, the two of them cast their views across the entire academy.
“The Eye of the Civet!” A pale, yellow light appeared at the tip of Link’s staff, and two wisps floated into their bodies. Their eyes were then immediately shrouded in a faint amber glow.
The Eye of the Civet
Level-2 spell
Effect: Gives the user cat-like night vision and allows them to see through the oppressive darkness
This Level-2 spell was something that Link learned in his spare time. With his strong magic foundation, he could learn a low-level spell simply in a few attempts. It was not something that would take up a lot of time and effort.
Under the effect of the spell, their field of vision immediately became clear. The academy was displayed as a clear, black and white world.
The Revelation Square that was crowded in the morning was totally empty. The entire academy was also extremely silent. After circling her gaze around the academy, Herrera shook her head, “I see nothing special. What about you?”
Link similarly saw nothing out of the ordinary. However, the rooftop of every other Mage Tower was similarly bustling with activity. People could be seen staring down from the rooftops, and faint magic rays were also present.
“Look, it’s the other mentors; they have also felt the danger!” Link exclaimed.
The East Cove Higher Magic Academy was not a low-level Magic Academy like Flemmings. It was filled with powerful Magicians who naturally had a stronger premonition for danger. However, as they could not figure out the exact source of threat, everyone had gone to the rooftop to observe.
At that moment, a giant light ball appeared above the Heaven’s Thorn. This light ball was like the sun, slowly rising to the point of 600 feet above the ground. This light ball illuminated the entire East Cove Higher Magic Academy.
“Mentor released a giant illumination spell. He had also sensed the danger.” Herrera seemed to have calmed down slightly. With the help of a Leve-7 Magician, the academy should be safe.
Link nodded. It seemed that his warnings were being taken seriously. After the academy went into red alert, their crisis reaction speed had increased exponentially. This was excellent.
In the game, one of the main reasons the academy suffered such a tragic defeat was due to inadequate preparation. When they realized that Magician Bale was dabbling into dark magic, the council immediately went to confront him which caused him to go berserk. Bale then accidentally smashed the seal that contained Tarviss, giving the academy no time to react.
This time, the academy had made ample preparations. There should not be any problems.
In response to the giant illumination spell cast by Anthony, all the other Magicians stopped concealing their magic presence. In an instant, powerful magic fluctuations covered the entire school, much like candle lights in the night.
Herrera also released her full power, causing the air around the rooftop to become distorted. Link estimated that her Maximum Mana would be around 2800 Mana Points. Standing in the midst of this distortion, Link felt as though he was trapped in a heatwave, the constant splitting of images making him dizzy.
This scene was much more intimidating than the one where Bale’s chief disciple Darris tried to exert pressure on him in the corridor. This carried on for about three seconds. After the signal was released, Herrera once again concealed her power, and the air around the rooftop became normal again.
However, the moment the air ripples disappeared, Link felt something was amiss.
Link immediately turned to look at the suspicious area. At the edges where the giant light ball could barely reach, there was supposed to be a white tower. However, other than a ball of darkness, there was nothing.
Link originally thought he was mistaken. After checking it for a few times, he then gasped in horror. The white tower had disappeared
“Where is the white tower?” Link pointed to the general direction while asking Herrera.
“What white tower? Oh you mean the Tower of Azula…hey…where is the white tower?” Herrera exclaimed, clearly shocked by the disappearance as well.
The white tower was not a conspicuous building, especially in the night. However, as much as it wasn’t eye-catching, it could not have disappeared into thin air. The Tower of Azula had imprisoned countless demons and powerful creatures. If anything happened, it would be a total disaster!
When Link and Herrera were still in shock, a ferocious roar could be heard coming from the direction where the Tower of Azula once stood. A huge sonic wave traveled towards the direction of the academy.
“I am finally free!”
Link then saw a 12-foot-tall Giant Cyan Tiger leaping out of the shadows. This tiger was surrounded by translucent cyan flames and ran at breakneck speed. It charged straight towards the academy the moment it was released.
“Little guys, I am here for your brains!” The tiger laughed hysterically, leaving air ripples behind him as he charged at a pace faster than sound. It was an extremely intimidating momentum.
Herrera paled upon seeing this creature. She said in a trembling voice, “It is a Wind Tiger, a Level-6 Magical Creature…”
The tiger itself was not the reason she had such a horrified expression. It was because the appearance of this tiger could only mean one thing —the Tower of Azula was already destroyed.
Sure enough, after the appearance of the Wind Tiger, many shadows emerged, each one of them having a strength equivalent to that of a Level-6 professional. There was a total of 20 shadows that appeared, five of which even had the magic presence of a Level-7 professional.
This was a terrifying sight.
Link felt terrified as well. However, he said optimistically, “Although there are a lot of powerful people, we have our Mage Towers. They will not be able to breakthrough our defenses!”
The moment he said those words, a huge explosion happened on Bryant’s Revelation Square. A huge crater appeared as rubble flew in all directions. An almost suffocating presence could be felt from the crater. This presence was so concentrated it almost felt like a solid object. It was filled with bloodthirst, chaos, and rage. As the presence swept through the Mage Towers, it caused great emotional damage to all Magicians. Even Dean Anthony was unable to escape the wrath of this presence, his giant illumination spell instantly extinguished by this overwhelming force.
Herrera looked as though she was going to faint, muttering, “Tarviss, Level-8 in strength…he has escaped.”
