Several days later, in the Arkaim Basin.
On a mountain cliff, Azir, wearing a hood, pointed to a city in the distance that looked like a small mountain, saying, "That is the Holy City of Arkaim. It's about ten kilometers from here. Strong magic has been cast over this land, rendering all flying devices useless. You must walk the rest of the way."
Murphy looked at the towering city on the plain from afar, feeling somewhat emotional. After being in this world for so long, he finally saw a city with a magical aura.
"Why do people choose to hollow out the mountains to build a city when there's so much land around?" a wizard beside Murphy asked.
To keep up appearances, Murphy was accompanied by two Aurors from the British Ministry of Magic, assigned by Rassim to follow Murphy on his "secret official business."
After all, proposing marriage to the Empress of Suvia was essentially an international affair. According to Azir, other suitors also had one or two officials from their respective countries' magical departments with them.
Therefore, they could be considered a small diplomatic delegation.
"This city gathers almost all of Suvia's wizards. To defend its safety, numerous protective magics were set by great wizards at its inception. The most powerful of these is the Holy Peter's Wall surrounding the city."
"It's a spherical barrier, as solid as rock and indestructible. To maximize its effectiveness, people chose to live within the wall, naturally shaping the city into its current form."
"Let's part ways here; I need to go back to the city to make some preparations," Azir said before leaving.
After Azir left, Murphy summoned an off-road vehicle from his trunk and arrived at the foot of the huge city after twenty minutes.
Compared to the magnificent city walls and the equally impressive barrier, the gate of Arkaim seemed much smaller.
It was about ten meters wide. The high-raised city gate and the ancient stone road made Murphy feel as if he had returned to Hogwarts.
This city was undoubtedly very old.
They stopped the car to undergo the entry check. In front of them was a lavish carriage convoy. Murphy heard them speaking what seemed to be French. A young man with a white wig got down from the carriage and talked to the two soldiers at the gate. After showing something resembling an invitation, they were allowed in, seemingly without much fuss.
When it was Murphy's turn, he showed the invitation from the letter the Queen had given him. The soldiers glanced at it and one of them, in broken English, asked, "Are you from England?"
"Correct."
The soldier returned the invitation, "Please register at the customs office to the side."
Murphy frowned, "Why didn't the group before us need to do that?"
"They have a large group; they will register at the main customs hall."
"Alright, where's the customs office?"
The soldier pointed them in a direction, "Go right, keep going."
However, after taking the right path, they found themselves on a narrow road flanked by seemingly abandoned, dilapidated houses.
"Something's not quite right," one of the Aurors said.
Just as Murphy was about to send out a raven to scout, several spells shot out from one of the nearby houses.
Murphy reacted quickly, blocking them with an armor spell, but spells also came from another house simultaneously. One of the Aurors, caught off guard, was hit and fell to the ground, his condition unknown.
Seeing the other Auror in danger, Murphy quickly raised his wand, turning the ground's stone slabs into a wall behind him, blocking the incoming attack.
He then waved his wand again, and another stone slab floated up, spinning rapidly, its corners elongating and thinning, shining like metal blades.
The next moment, it flew out like a propeller, smashing into a house and then bursting out the other side. Two of its blade-like corners were broken, but under Murphy's magical enhancement, it spun even faster, crashing into another house behind him.
"Not good, this is going to collapse!" someone yelled in Russian.
Both houses, their supports damaged by Murphy's "propeller," began to wobble.
Suddenly, several wizards appeared in front of Murphy. There were six of them, two young, wearing luxurious purple robes with gold trim, and the rest older and more experienced.
Murphy didn't wait for their illusions to dissipate before attacking. He swiped at one's eyes with his wand, then grabbed another wizard by the throat and crushed it.
One of the attackers tried to cast a spell at Murphy, who instantly moved behind him, striking the back of his neck with a punch, and then appeared in front of another, stabbing him in the eye with his wand.
Within seconds, the two young wizards, barely recovering from their dizziness, found their companions either writhing on the ground or unconscious.
Frozen in terror, they didn't have time to flee before Murphy appeared in front of them, grabbing each by the neck and lifting them.
"Who are you?"
"Judging by your attire, let me guess, Frederick?"
The young wizards struggled, not understanding Murphy's question. The next moment, Murphy used Legilimency.
George Frederick and Alexander Frederick.
The second and third sons of Ivan Frederick.
"Well, well, I haven't even started trouble with your father, and here you are, delivering yourselves to me?"
His mission was to eliminate Ivan, but Sofia probably wouldn't mind a few extra casualties.
As Murphy was about to kill them and erase the evidence, the Auror behind him yelled, "Nizar, you're alive!"
He had just used a spell to stabilize his companion, realizing that the initial spell was non-lethal, perhaps a stunning spell.
Murphy looked at the fallen wizards again. The one hit in the back of the neck was unconscious; the one with slashed eyes was likely blinded; the one with a crushed throat was near death; surprisingly, the one stabbed in the eye was still alive.
After a moment's thought, he pinned the two young wizards to the ground and used the Imperius Curse, his voice commanding and irresistible: "Now, tell me, why did you attack me?"
His public identity was that of a foreign suitor, a British envoy.
Even though his identity and motives might be different from other suitors and could raise suspicion, the Queen had been discreet in her desire to kill Ivan. It seemed unlikely that the Fredericks could be sure he was there to assassinate Ivan.
So why would his sons target him?
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