"Isolate." Wide Vision targeted the area around the building with his spell. This was a high-level spell, capable of isolating everything inside the target area from the outside.
"Illusion." Without any delay, Wide Vision cast another high-level spell. Because of his previous isolation spell, the entire Council of Elders' building disappeared, leaving only darkness in its place. But with the illusion, the previous scene appeared again. Looking from afar, one couldn't detect any difference.
"Time to go in," Mage Wide Vision thought.
The five elders inside weren't necessarily the strongest mages in the village; they were elected because they were good politicians with convincing mouths who managed to get the majority of mages to vote for them. The Council of Elders can reject candidates for mayor and city council, but nobody has the authority to reject candidates for the Council of Elders itself. Any mage who is willing can run and win as long as over half of the mages who vote support them.
Wide Vision passed through the illusion and disappeared.
...
"We should at least let our own families leave!" said one of the elders, a bald old man. From the beginning, he was the only elder who strongly advocated for them to leave the city temporarily and stay in the Human Civilization until the danger ended. Unfortunately for him, nobody agreed. Seeing he couldn't save everyone, he had been busy persuading his colleagues to at least let their own families leave and survive.
"You are the weak link, Elder Eagle Claw. How can we abandon the city that our ancestors left for us? We would either die here with it or kill the demons and protect it. I am ashamed that someone like you managed to become one of us," said an old woman with long white hair, looking at Elder Eagle Claw with disdain.
"All of us have families. Why should our families survive while ordinary people die? We will remain and defend the city. Our families should be on the front lines," said another elder, also an old woman with short white hair.
Being demon-born is luck; it has nothing to do with gender. Therefore, even in backward, patriarchal societies, women are as likely as men to become mages.
The existence of so many powerful women is one of the reasons it is actually very rare for women as a whole to be too mistreated. In all, among remote cities, it cannot be said for certain whether being born a boy is 'better' or being born a girl. Boys have a far higher mortality rate, while girls have far less freedom. Of course, this is a generalization. There are cities with distinct cultures that allow their girls more freedom than their boys.
"Eagle Claw, I understand you. I really do, but this is the only option. Look at me. My 20th grandchild has just been born. We were celebrating just a few days ago, but now, he may die in just a few days. You know how I am; my heart is on fire. Yet, I cannot bring myself to allow my family to leave while everyone else is defending the city. I even forced my daughter to take up weapons and go to the wall to defend it after feeding her son. We should be harder on our families. We are the leaders of the city!" said a nearly bald old man with a little white hair at the back of his head.
After all, the elders were mages who protected the village for years. They fought demons, witnessed their friends' deaths, and sacrificed their youth. Even though they hold power by misusing it to disqualify anyone who isn't loyal to them, most of the elders are actually not bad people. They are fiercely loyal to the village, even willing to let their families die for it.
Eagle Claw saw all of this and could only give up. He doesn't have the ability to change the outcome, and he is tired of being looked at with contempt by his colleagues. So, he decided to put the matter aside and solely focus on finding a way to actually win the upcoming battle.
But at this time...
"Mass Bind!" someone cast a spell.
"What?" The old woman with long white hair screamed and wanted to cast a spell, but...
"Mass Suppression!" The invader was faster.
"How? To be able to suppress the magic power of five of us combined, who is your excellency?" The old woman with short hair tried casting a spell but failed and asked in horror. Two of the five elders are capable of casting high-level spells; they are not novices to be suppressed like this.
"It's me, Wide Vision!" He came out and showed himself. He had no plan of hiding. His mass suppression spell was cast using a magic treasure. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to hold this many people all at once. He is strong, but not that strong. Fortunately, the magic item is powerful and can keep them restrained for a long time.
They were sent to a station inside a city that might one day turn hostile. Of course, they had brought a few trump cards.
"It's you! What are you doing? Release us now; otherwise, we will throw you and your station out of the..." The woman with long white hair was talking but was interrupted by Wide Vision.
"Out of what? Your city is going to be destroyed in a few days, so there won't be anything left to throw us out of. I am not your enemy; I am your friend, desperately begging you to wake up and see the situation as it is. If you stay, you will cause the death of every human in this place. If you leave with us and come to human civilization, you may be able to return here and rebuild the city once the demons leave. If you respect your ancestors, you have to leave; you have to survive!" said Wide Vision, trying to persuade them without too much force.
"Never! If we leave now, we could never return. Hard Summer City dies, like many other cities that joined you. If the city dies, we should die along with it!" said the nearly bald old man with a little hair at the back of his head.
"Who gives you the right to decide for everyone? You can stay, but at least give young people a choice to survive!" said Master Wide Vision, again trying to persuade.
"Everyone born here has a duty to protect it, be it young or old," said the old woman with short white hair.
"You old people are really... dumb! Here is my warning: order the mayor to release all conscripted; otherwise, you won't have to worry about the demons. Our human civilization will arrest you all as war criminals and will forcibly take everyone away. Your call; either let those who want to come with us or we will take everyone and destroy the city," Mage Wide Vision decided to play hardball.
"Hahaha! You monsters! I always knew we shouldn't trust you! I knew it from the moment they allowed you in," said a very old man with an extremely wrinkled face. He was 99 years old, the oldest mage in the village, with less than a year left to live.
"Look at the shoes you wear, the food you eat, the house you live in. Which of them is not either made by materials we give you or directly given to you? We helped you all we could, even though you never trusted us. Now, I am trying to save you. Why do you see me as the bad guy here? Clearly, you five old farts are the bad guys; you are pushing your village toward destruction. I am the good guy trying to save it. Anyone with any sense knows it!" said Wide Vision.
"Shut up, you bastard! We would never agree!" said the old woman with long white hair.
"Such trouble!" Master Wide Vision sighed. The old people in this room were way too stubborn.
"I agree!" said Elder Eagle Claw.
"You traitor!" shouted the 99-year-old man.
"Bastard!" shouted the old woman with short white hair.
"I'll kill you after this!" screamed the old woman with long white hair.
The three elders all cursed while the bald old man with a little hair on the back of his head remained silent.
"Good, at least one elder agreed!" Master Wide Vision patted himself on the back.
"But one is not enough; I need three. Can you persuade two others?" asked Wide Vision. He must have a majority vote with the Council of Elders, which means three votes.
"No way! They hate me, as you see!" said Elder Eagle Claw.
"Is that so... that means we should move to the next phase. Talking didn't work, so it's time to torture!" Master Wide Vision smiled and tapped his space ring.
One must never judge people by their appearance. Mage Wide Vision has a small stature, with a relatively small face, big eyes, and glasses. He is quite old and has a goatee. He looks like a scholarly old man. But in fact, he served for a long time in the interrogation department of the 40th Army. He was famous back then, even having the skill to torture demons until they cried. Facing a few elders, it was the easiest thing in the world to 'persuade' them.
"Wait, what are you doing? Do you think we would change our minds with torture? We are ready to die! How can torture work on us?" shouted the 99-year-old man.
"The only trick is that I must torture you in a way that leaves no scars. I like it! It would be too easy if I did it the old-fashioned way! Hmm, let's first try the worms; they don't leave any external scars and won't do too much damage."
"At most, they may eat a little of your eyes from the inside, which won't blind you, so don't worry!" Master Wide Vision happily took out weird, very long, twisting worms. He came to the side of the 99-year-old man and said, "Say aahhh."
...
One hour later.
"Are you ready?" asked Mage Wide Vision.
"Yes, Master!" The five old people all bowed with trembling bodies; they didn't dare look at the monster in front of them directly. What they had gone through was not from this world; they would rather die a thousand times than experience that again.
"Remember, drink two cups of blood a day. Otherwise, the cuties in your brain may decide to take a few bites. They can read thoughts too, so if you try to kill yourself, use any spells, or say anything about what happened today, they will detect it in advance and paralyze you. Then I would come and do another round," Mage Wide Vision said in a light tone.
"Never, I would never do that!" said Eagle Claw, who, despite agreeing with Wide Vision, was tortured nevertheless.
"Good! Then move now; summon the mayor!" Mage Wide Vision said and snapped his fingers, dispelling the illusion that covered the building.