"Hum——!"
Under Margery's control, the Unrestricted Spell that flashed from her raised hand rippled out like an expanding wave, moving extremely fast. It pierced through the space, directly through the walls, and in a brief split second, expanded across the entire Misaki City.
The next second, a wave, perceptible only to Fang Li and Shana, swept across the entire Misaki City.
Previously, when Margery used a wide-area search Unrestricted Spell to locate Lamies, Fang Li and Shana had felt this wave before.
Now, it seemed Margery was using a similar Unrestricted Spell to scan the entire Misaki City.
However, this time, it wasn't to find Lamies but to locate the Unrestricted Spell engraved within the city.
Shana stood quietly on the side, observing the scene.
Fang Li, on the other hand, stared at the Crystal Altar beneath Margery's foot.
Fang Li could see it clearly.
On the large courtyard-style miniature landscape, a wave was rapidly traversing the entire Misaki City, expanding like ripples on the water's surface.
This was the all-encompassing scan of the Unrestricted Spell activated by Margery.
Margery was indeed a skilled Unrestricted Spell Master.
Under her control, every corner of Misaki City escaped no fate of being surveyed, thoroughly examined by invisible fluctuations imperceptible to the naked eye.
Under these circumstances, countless figures began to manifest on the Crystal Altar.
All of them were residents of Misaki City.
"No need to manifest the flow of people; just reveal the reactions of Power of Existence."
Margery changed the way she infused the Power of Existence into the Crystal Altar. The light on the Crystal Altar trembled suddenly, and the scenery within also underwent a change.
Numerous streams of people began to disappear.
In their place, however, were wisps of flame resembling will-o'-the-wisps.
Seeing this, Shana immediately grasped the situation.
"Are these all Torches?"
Yes.
All of them were Torches.
These were numerous Torches set up by Friagne for the activation of the City Devourer's secret spell. They were now burning in every corner of Misaki City.
"There are actually so many Torches..." Alastor's voice sounded somewhat unhappy as he said, "How many people did that 'Hunter' swallow?"
The currently active Torches were already quite numerous. If one added the naturally extinguished Torches and those Fang Li had eliminated earlier, the number of Torches in Misaki City was truly astonishing.
Consumed by Friagne, causing the disappearance of existence itself, these people accounted for nearly ten percent of the population of Misaki City.
One could imagine how many innocent lives had perished at the hands of Friagne.
Of course, the three present individuals weren't ones to express sorrow over this situation.
The Flame Haze's goal was to maintain the balance of the world. The life and death of humans were not things that needed attention, merely objects to be protected incidentally.
Therefore, Shana and Margery would not express much emotion regarding this fact.
As for Fang Li, that goes without saying.
Regardless of whether their existence was consumed or not, as long as the result was death, even if it meant the entire population of a city or the entire human race worldwide, including Fang Li himself, he wouldn't harbor any emotions.
In such a situation, the entire group patiently awaited Margery's search results.
This wait lasted a full half-hour.
After half an hour, there was suddenly movement on the Crystal Altar.
"Clang..."
In a location scanned by Margery's Unrestricted Spell, a faint glow slowly blossomed.
"Look over there!" Shana immediately pointed in that direction.
Without Shana's reminder, Fang Li had already shifted his gaze.
In an instant, Fang Li was stunned.
"No way?" This slight murmur escaped Fang Li's lips and reached the ears of Shana and Margery.
"What happened?" Margery inquired somewhat uncertainly.
"No way?" Shana was equally taken aback.
All three of them saw it.
In the residential area of Misaki City, in front of an apartment, under the influence of the widespread search of Margery's Unrestricted Spell, a circle filled with text, resembling both a totem and data, quietly materialized.
It was an Unrestricted Spell.
Undoubtedly, it was the Unrestricted Spell set by Lamies for the "Bal Masqué" commission.
However, Fang Li and Shana were stunned not because they discovered the connection to this Unrestricted Spell but because of the location of this Unrestricted Spell.
The apartment where this Unrestricted Spell was located was none other than the one Fang Li resided in, and Shana was also staying there.
In other words, Lamies set the Unrestricted Spell right in front of the apartment where Fang Li and Shana lived.
"... So that's how it is," Alastor said with a wry smile. "Upon careful consideration, it's not surprising at all. Since it's an Unrestricted Spell targeting Fang Li, it naturally needs to be set within the effective range that can influence Fang Li."
Fang Li's daily residence was naturally the place that could ensure the Unrestricted Spell captured Fang Li's location, the effective range for affecting Fang Li.
"But if someone were to set an Unrestricted Spell in the place we live, it would be impossible for us not to notice," Shana understood and added, "That's why Lamies had to make a move to help."
If Lamies, skilled at hiding aura and lodging existence within Torches without consuming any Power of Existence, manifested in this world in such a way that Fang Li and Shana wouldn't notice unless they directly entered their line of sight, he would indeed go unnoticed.
Moreover, being the finest Unrestricted Spell Master in the Crimson World, if he merely set an Unrestricted Spell without activating it, it would be challenging to detect.
"In other words, this is a trap?" Margery seemed to understand as well, with a charming frown, she said frankly, "Going through all this trouble to set up a trap to deal with a human, what's the point?"
Evidently, Margery was still unaware of the Midnight Lost Child incident related to Fang Li.
Fang Li fell into contemplation, seemingly lost in thought.
After a while, Fang Li came to a conclusion.
"Regardless, let's go back to the apartment and take a look at that Unrestricted Spell."
Saying this, Fang Li turned around and looked at Margery, saying, "You can come with us to take a look. Perhaps you can discern the effects of that Unrestricted Spell."
Upon hearing this, Margery immediately refused.
"I already said it before; I'll only help you find the Unrestricted Spell. I won't do anything else. Don't think about assigning me tasks again!"
Leaving behind these words, Margery turned on her heel and left decisively.
Left with only Fang Li and Shana, they looked at each other and then both seemed helpless.
Fang Li spoke directly.
"Let's go back and check."
Shana nodded directly.
...