Despite Cole Garrison's repeated dissuasion, Connor insisted on walking at the back of the group, escorting two magic cannons towards the direction of the wall-piercing formation. Now he had to be careful because as long as these magic cannons were loaded, the alarm could not be lifted. Although the magical effect of the cannonballs was only seventh level and none of the generals were afraid of it, Nexus Citadel's walls were old and unrepaired and did not have seventh-level defense, making them unable to withstand a shot from it. If news of Nexus Citadel being destroyed by a magic cannon were to spread, it would be a huge joke and their home would never be safe again. Therefore, in order to ensure that nothing went wrong, Connor wouldn't leave them even half a step until both cannons were retracted in case someone accidentally fired one and caused harm.
Unaware of this situation, Cole Garrison naturally praised his wise brother Connor in his heart.
...
There was no danger on the way. The group crossed through the corridor and soon arrived at the outskirts of Howling Abyss. Before they even entered it, they smelled pungent blood.
Their feet sank into something soft like cotton as they walked like deep snow while waiting for torches to be lit up. When they saw what lay below them after lighting up all around with firelight: Crimson Standard Gang members' bodies lay scattered about haphazardly across every which way looking like twisted grimaces had been etched upon their faces indicating that they had experienced some kind of horrible nightmare before passing on.
Cole Garrison knew that these ruthless killers deserved their fate being dead but seeing so many others just like himself lose their lives made him feel sad for them.
"The Nexus Overlord...truly terrifying! He doesn't care about human life at all. To him we are like ants compared to an elephant; if we get too close he'll kill us off without a second thought, by hand or foot, he doesn't even care enough to dispose of these bodies."
Connor looked up and saw.
The wall's damaged corner where the wall-piercing formation was originally located had now been repaired with the Mystic Flute. It could be activated at any time now, so he stepped forward and pointed to this hidden spot, "Cole, the teleportation array I mentioned is in this secret corner."
Although his voice sounded normal, he felt slightly surprised inside.
Judging from the time, he hadn't delayed for too long on his trip. Even if Mystic Flute's movements were fast, it should have just finished repairing the formation not long ago. So he gave Lilith a signal to go ahead and check out the situation while taking Mystic Flute over to Serence's side.
But now...where were their people?
Cole Garrison took a few steps forward and placed his hand on the formation's eye to feel it. He was pleasantly surprised, "Connor, I just sensed the formation and it's still valid. It must have been completed recently. Once again, you've saved us all. We need to leave now."
"Okay," Connor replied absentmindedly while looking around for people.
Feeling a sense of danger, he turned back to look at the cannon barrel.
Oh my god!
There was a small figure lying on top of it with their head buried inside and their butt swaying gently.
Upon closer inspection, it was Mystic Flute!
There was someone beside her holding onto her slender legs and either trying to push her into the barrel or pull her out.
Wasn't that Lilith?
Luckily, Howling Abyss was very dark and they couldn't be seen clearly. Plus, the exit was close by so everyone's attention was focused there, and no one from Garrison's Guard noticed what was happening here.
Connor lowered his voice and said, "What are you two doing playing around here?!"
Mystic Flute poked her head out of the cannon barrel with shining eyes. "Your Majesty! The formations inside this magic cannon are so interesting!"
"Lower your voice," Connor commanded.
"It's okay; I already set up a soundproof formation on the ground nearby. They won't hear anything we say near the magic cannon." Mystic Flute covered her mouth with both hands to demonstrate its effectiveness to Connor.
"That's not a valid reason for crawling in there," Connor scolded her.
"So as long as I have a valid reason, I can crawl in?" Mystic Flute teased him.
"You better give me one or else I'll make you cry like a cat."
"I want to learn formations from you, coach!" Mystic Flute said earnestly.
"Huh?" Connor was taken aback.
Mystic Flute continued enthusiastically, "Especially the formations in the magic cannon. Without the powerful Energy Charge Formation and Bombardment Formation, a magic cannon is just a combination of crude iron pipes and hand carts. If I can learn these formation structures and have enough materials, I'm confident that I can replicate a magic cannon in Nexus Citadel."
Replicate...a magic cannon?
Connor was initially shocked by the idea, but after a moment's thought, he found it very tempting. The outermost layer of the dungeon is where adventurers have their first experience and impressions are often lasting. If only a few ghosts and ghouls patrolled there, it would look quite shabby. But what if they had twenty-four magic cannons lined up on the castle walls? That's the kind of appearance he wanted! Just seeing their dark muzzles would make people tremble with fear, and anyone who wanted to attack an underground city with such armed forces would have to measure their own strength first.
Connor asked, "How long will it take you to decipher the formation structure?"
Mystic Flute tinkered with something in her hand and held out her hand, saying, "Very quickly. Give me a magic crystal."
Without thinking too much about it, Connor handed a crystal over to Mystic Flute.
She fiddled around for a bit before finally creating a hazy ball of light inside the cannon barrel.
"What are you doing? Why is the inside of the cannon lit up?" Connor asked.
"You need to see the activation state of the magic formation in order to learn how to construct its circuitry," Mystic Flute explained.
"Activation? Isn't that—" Before Connor could finish his sentence, there was a loud boom as the magic cannon fired. A white beam of light shot out.
"Oh no. It misfired! Everyone retreat!" Cole Garrison urgently shouted.
They were so close to victory with the teleportation formation just about to activate, but they still couldn't avoid Murphy's Law - anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Cole wasn't worried about someone getting hurt from the misfire; rather he was more concerned about if this shell alerted Nexus Overlord. The whole team would be lost if that happened.
"Connor, take everyone and go ahead! I'll stay behind!" Cole shouted.
But before he could finish, Connor had already dragged Lilith and charged out. No. They were heading in the opposite direction of the exit. What were they doing? Where were they going?
But Connor didn't explain himself; he was fast as a gust of wind or a thunderbolt, racing towards the light created by the misfire. Everything happened in an instant.
The path the caravan had taken was originally a long and dark corridor, but now it was completely illuminated by the light of the magic cannonball. Connor chased after the light, even getting ahead of it.
"Oh no! This is a space mage's once-in-a-lifetime teleportation!" Cole widened his eyes and cried out in shock.
He suddenly realized what Connor was trying to do!