"Have you all forgotten your true identities? Before we became wizards, we were noble scions of the Secathian Empire!" Will shouted, his voice echoing with desperation.
The others exchanged uneasy glances, falling into a heavy silence. They too understood the pain of falling from grace, from paradise into the abyss.
Breaking the quiet, Lynn spoke with a calm yet firm tone. "You should know, Will, that the Church will not alter our fate simply because of our noble blood…"
As a monotheistic institution, what is the Church's most sacred doctrine? The answer is clear: Divine Creation.
According to legend, the Lord *Aira* crafted the world and breathed life into it, transforming a barren, desolate land into a thriving one. Because of this, all must submit to the Church's dominion. And those who seek to unravel the mysteries of the world and wield its power—wizards—naturally become the Church's mortal enemies.
After all, they threaten the very foundation of divine rule!
"This time is different!" Will insisted, his eyes wild as he gazed at the others. "Jonny, Lynn, Buck—the Church's primary target isn't us. If we sincerely repent, Archbishop Ancilk and Duke Nordland will surely pardon our sins!"
"You're delusional, Will!" Jonny sighed, her voice tinged with sorrow. "The moment we chose the path of wizardry, we sealed our fate."
Once a person becomes a wizard, magic forever flows through their veins—a mark of disgrace and demonic influence in the eyes of the Secathian Empire. Should the Earl of Isk learn of his son's transformation into a wizard, his first instinct would be to sever all ties, casting Will out of the family…
In other words, their past lives were lost to them forever…
"I am not delusional. I know exactly what I'm doing," Will retorted with a cold laugh, his eyes briefly flickering to the silent Pigeon. With a swift motion, he retrieved several magic stones from the hidden pocket of his robe and, without warning, hurled them at Jonny and the others.
"Jonny… watch out!" Pigeon screamed, her voice shrill with terror. In her heightened state of awareness, she could see the concealed runes etched onto each magic stone.
Even as Pigeon's warning echoed through the room, the stones exploded in mid-air, sending sharp fragments raining down like a deadly swarm…
The gray-haired witch's expression remained calm. She lifted her right hand, her fingers dancing as if playing an invisible instrument. The runes on her gloves flared to life, igniting a small flame at her fingertips that swiftly expanded, enveloping everything in its fiery embrace.
This was no mere spell—it was an advanced form of *Flame Touch*!
But Will had anticipated this. He dodged the scorching flames with a desperate roll and prepared to leap out of the open window.
Yet Lynn was faster. A diamond-shaped ice blade shot forth, piercing Will's ankle. His leap was cut short, and he crashed to the ground, the icy chill spreading through his leg, paralyzing it.
Will slumped against the wall, terror-stricken, about to speak when a thin *Magic Missile* flew straight into his eye, exploding within his skull.
Scarlet blood and brain matter splattered across the wooden floor. Lynn immediately turned, glaring at Pigeon in disbelief.
"What are you doing, Pigeon?" Jonny's voice trembled with shock.
She had deliberately held back her flames, intending to capture Will alive and extract information.
"There wasn't time—I had to kill him!" Pigeon clutched her head, screaming in fear. "Outside… there are at least a hundred soldiers. We're surrounded!"
Jonny rushed to the window, casting a fireball that illuminated the dark night. In the light of the explosion, Lynn could see armored soldiers, armed with crossbows, silently advancing through the forest toward their hideout.
Leading them was a man in a white robe trimmed with gold, his staff in hand. Even from hundreds of meters away, his eyes locked with Lynn's in the fiery glow.
"It's Archbishop Ancilk of Nordland! We're doomed!" Barton recognized him instantly, despair overwhelming him.
He had never imagined that the Archbishop himself would lead the hunt for a few wizard apprentices.
Lynn glanced at the dimmed alchemical array on the ground. They had managed to stop the spell, but that meant…
All eyes turned to Pigeon.
"It wasn't me… I didn't do it!" The young girl, barely fourteen, shook her head frantically, her face pale with fear.
The chaos and looming threat of the Church's forces sent Jonny's already strained nerves to the breaking point. She bit her lip, forcing herself to remain calm. Taking a deep breath, she spoke in a firm voice.
"Listen, it's not over yet. There's a wide drainage channel in the manor's basement that leads directly to the river outside. We can escape through there!"
As she spoke, Jonny turned to Lynn with pleading eyes, silently asking him to keep an eye on Pigeon. She no longer knew whom to trust…
...
A moment earlier, in the forest outside Urtown, over a hundred soldiers moved stealthily under the cover of trees.
Reverend Aaron, accompanying them, gazed at the distant castle and asked, puzzled, "Archbishop Ancilk, according to our plan, weren't we supposed to wait until these wizard apprentices reached the harbor town before striking?"
They had mobilized considerable forces to monitor all of Urtown, intending to use these apprentices as bait to uncover all the heretics within Nordland. Now, by attacking prematurely, they were risking everything they had set up.
"Aaron, a skilled hunter not only knows how to set a trap but also when to spring it," Ancilk responded in a low voice. "A strong cage may hold a clumsy bird, but if a griffin gets caught, it will tear the cage apart and slaughter the hunter…"
"Remember, excessive greed will cost you everything."
The essence of the *Caged Bird* plan was their absolute control. No matter how these wizard apprentices struggled, they couldn't escape the net that had been cast.
But Blaney's death had unsettled Ancilk. Among Coru's students was an apprentice who had ascended to full wizard status, which had thrown his carefully laid plans into disarray.
Ancilk, having dealt with these devil-worshippers many times, knew well how dangerous a full wizard could be. Their powers were unpredictable, and a single mistake could lead to a gruesome end.
During the great battle in Nordland, if Coru hadn't stayed behind to cover his student's escape, capturing him would have been nearly impossible.