Soon enough, the group found the crumbling castle halfway up the mountain by chance. Everything went very smoothly, but Jared and Caroline were not as relaxed as the rest of the group, but rather had a strange look on their faces. Look at little Tawana and Kylie, their faces are also a little odd. Apparently, they too were reminiscing about that time.
Throughout this time, Jared had been keeping an eye on Stephen, but he hadn't acted any differently after that. Obviously, Jared's actions had to have gotten the better of him. After all, the smartest thing to do is to minimize your mistakes when facing an opponent who can detect your movements anywhere, anytime. And after that, Steven behaved like a true guardian, taking care of the girl beside him. But after a thorough inspection of the castle's surroundings, Serenity had her own concerns.
"This castle is already quite dilapidated, although it's not impossible to use it as a temporary base, but due to the size of the ruins and the fact that we can't thoroughly explore it right now, in case the enemy uses this place to launch a counterattack against us, it wouldn't be very good instead." Saying that, Serenity paused for a moment, she took a good look at Kylie, and then shifted her gaze to Tawana.
"Tawana Kanarot, how's your 'balanced sound method'?"
"Hey? My, like, ...."
"Yes, or no?"
"... should ..."
"Please speak with certainty ..."
"No problem!"
"So it is."
Kelly looked at Serenity with interest, as if she had understood something.
"Two trainee praetorians, a wizard and a magic envoy, albeit sketchy ... Would you like to use choral magic?"
(What's chorus magic? Ms. Kelly?)
Caroline asked curiously .
"Choral magic is a type of large-scale magic in which each person is responsible for a different part of the chant, and the power is ultimately fused into a single large-scale magic. This kind of magic is more powerful than normal chanting magic, and because each person is responsible for a different part of the chorus, the power transfer is also very balanced. As for the effect, ..." Kylie gave Caroline and Jared a smug look instead of going on.
"You'll see, after all, we wizards, don't just hide behind you for protection."
Apparently, Serenity did want to do something with this magic. After consulting with the other apprentice acolyte, she quickly decided on the order of positions. The three of them stood in three corners, and Tawana stood in the center of the three, her power being the weakest, as she could be used as a buffer for the power of the three of them. It was a very important position, and if she didn't do it right, it would be like a dissonance in an ensemble that would eventually lead to destruction.
But Serenity apparently wasn't worried about it, or hadn't even considered it.
She's the type that once she decides, she'll go all the way.
Of course, before the action, Serenity still did not forget to ask Jared for instructions, so by the sudden infusion of a brain of useless noise, Jared seems to have no other good solution than to raise his hands and surrender and let her go on her own. But at the same time, Jared could also see that Serenity, unlike magicians like Kelly and Tawana, seemed to have gotten used to working in groups a long time ago, and was quite comfortable dealing with this kind of scene. This caused Jared to have some interest in the Tower of Hiran, or rather Serenity as a person. After all, it wasn't often that a magician with such a strong personality was so strange. Not only did she seem to be very good at working in a group, but she was also wearing a knight's light armor and a longsword - in Jared's opinion, her swordsmanship wasn't up to the standard of excellence, but it was not too bad to be praised as good.
Jared takes two steps back, looking at the foursome in the arena in front of him.
Being caught in the middle of three people who were obviously higher in rank and strength than himself was definitely not a good feeling, but there was no other way out now, so Jared could only pretend not to see Tawana's disturbing plea for help.
Then the chanting began.
Serenity's chants were solemn, as if she were praying to a god. The next chants of the young girl were smooth and gentle, light and soft. Kylie's chant was a completely different kind of intensity, as if it were a burning flame. Tawana, who was in charge of linking the three of them, tried her best to keep her chants in step, which was not particularly easy to do in such a situation.
The air has changed.
Jared noticed that the steady air began to flow slowly, and vague objects began to emerge from it, taking shape. Hovering around the four of them, the earth began to tremble slightly and the air began to roar. This caused Jared and Caroline to take a few steps back, and for some reason, the strong feeling of discomfort came back to the two of them, just like when they stepped into the magic formation, as if the whole world was rejecting their proximity.
And almost simultaneously, the castle began to change.
The original ruins of the fortress, scattered around the ruins and stones suddenly began to rotate and float, and then as if it had life back to the brick wall, everything seems to be a fast-forward movie, Jared looked at the castle in front of him with surprise once again become tall and majestic. It was recreating the splendor of the past, and at this moment, the ensemble chanting of the four magicians had reached the most critical juncture. Their original style, sound level are different chanting in an instant into one, as if into the same ocean streams, and then, Jared noticed that Kelly's neck pendant began to accompany the sound of her song suddenly strong and weak flashes of distinctive red light. Obviously, that was the equipment that Kylie had said could be used to enhance the effects of magic.
When the chanting of the four of them stopped at the same time, a majestic and splendid castle once again appeared in front of everyone.
(It's marvelous.)
Even Caroline's eyes widened in amazement as she gazed at the impossible miracle.
"Well, chanting magic isn't just for fighting enemies, is it?"
Marion was obviously quite pleased with herself, but of course, she had the right to be pleased now. Tawana looked around in disbelief, as if it were a dream. Serenity and the girl were obviously used to this kind of thing, and both of them just laughed lightly without saying anything.
"Good job."
Jared patted Maria on the shoulder.
"It's our turn next."
"How do you ... ..."
Kylie blushed slightly, but before she could finish her question, Jared had already put away the gentle smile he had just worn, and with a look of indifference, he gazed up at a small hill at the edge of the castle.
"Are you going to let me throw you out after I break your legs? Or are you going to walk out on your own while you're still on all fours."
Silence.
"Is there anyone there?"
Serenity's face also changed slightly, she quickly looked around, and after making sure there was no ambush, she whispered to Jared.
"Come out or die."
Jared didn't question his judgment, and even if the other side was confident in their ability to conceal their whereabouts, as long as the light was still on Jared's side, they wouldn't be able to compete with him on the matter of hiding.
Silence.
Then, from behind the hill, five adventurer-like men came out. The man in the lead wore glasses and had a gentle demeanor.
"I'm really sorry. We didn't mean to snoop. But we didn't realize ..."
The man said, pausing for a moment to gaze at Jared with a surprised look, as if he had been about to say something, but had decided to keep his mouth shut.
"Who are you people and why are you trespassing into the territory of San Marino Empire."
Serenity stepped forward and asked coldly with her hand on the hilt of her sword. For magicians, being spied on in the dark is one of the most disgusting things, not to mention, the other party is obviously not their own companions. The fact that they didn't start fighting right away was already a great favor to the other party. Or rather, because the leadership of this team is in the hands of Jared, Serenity does not have the right to overstep this right to give orders, so she reluctantly suppressed her anger. Kylie and Tawana, who had already realized that something was wrong, had already returned to Caroline's side and were watching the men solemnly and nervously.
"Please don't get excited, let me introduce myself."
The man made a graceful bow .
"My name is Heine Figa. I think you, all of you, should have an image of my name."
"The Vice President of the Federation's Magical Research Society is also the Second Prince, right?"
Regarding political matters, there was no one who knew better than Kylie, so as soon as she heard the other party give her name, she immediately understood the identity of the other party. This caused Prince Heine to raise his head in slight surprise, and nodded with satisfaction after carefully sizing up Kylie." Really worthy of being the daughter of the Imperial Minister of Magical Affairs, Miss Kylie, in fact ..."
"It's better to save the relationship-climbing crap when you can."
Jared interrupted Prince Heine's parenthetical ramblings with a voice.
"All you have to do is tell me why you're in the backyard of another country's territory like a thief. Based on your answer, I'll decide whether to send you up or down."
No one understands what Jared means by going up and going down, except for Caroline - going up is a stabbing that sends you to that world, a painless death. And going down is Jared's unique method of torture, where the person he tortures loses the courage to commit suicide, or even escape the fear of what's in front of them, until they have a nervous breakdown.
Although he didn't understand the meaning of the words, there was no one who couldn't hear the provocation in those words. Soon, all the people behind the prince were ready to attack Jared and the others, but Prince Heine just coughed and turned to Jared again. Prince Heine, however, only coughed before turning to Jared again." I'm sorry, I didn't realize who you were? Moreover, I hope you can maintain a minimum of respect for a royal family."
"I have no respect for a thief who runs into a house through a window."
Jared shrugged his shoulders, completely oblivious to the murderous glare in the eyes of the men behind the prince.
"Besides, I have absolutely no interest in giving my name to a dead body."
Then he quickly ended the conversation.
Apparently there's nothing left to talk about.
The air quickly became tense, and an aura of depression spread as Caroline strolled forward, seemingly unintentionally closing the umbrella in her hand and resting it on the ground. Prince Heine's face changed at Jared's words, and he scrutinized the man in front of him, trying to find something. But in the end he gave up, and at the same time put his hands behind his waist and glanced ahead, seemingly unintentionally.
"In that case, ..."
"Please wait!"
Just then, a voice suddenly interjected.