Chapter 135: Internal Implosion Barrier, Playing with Fire and Getting Burned?

The residents surrounding the outer crimson barrier of Stevenson Magic Academy had been evacuated, and most of the easily dismantled structures near the translucent wall of the scarlet field had already been razed.

Scholars recruited from various guilds were working alongside technical teams from the fifth and sixth squads of the Night’s Blade, studying the sudden, academy-wide scarlet barrier.

A technician pressed a metal spike, etched with intricate magic-circuit patterns, against the surface of the barrier. With a small metal hammer inlaid with magic crystals, he tapped the end of the spike.

As the hammer struck, the crystal flared, channeling mana through the hammerhead into the spike. The energy caused the engravings to pulse rapidly, driving the spike into the scarlet wall with an invisible force.

The tip of the spike collided with the barrier, emitting a series of sharp, grating sounds. It forced its way in, slow and arduous, yet not entirely impenetrable.

Ten seconds later, the spike had sunk about three centimeters deep. The light from its engravings flickered and died, and the invisible force driving it vanished.

The gap in the scarlet barrier sealed instantly, squeezing the spike back out.

"Rigid barrier, intensity between level four and five. It can be breached by brute force, but it possesses self-repair capabilities. Pure destructive force would need to reach level six or sustained level five. How long to requisition equipment with sufficient power?" the technician asked the logistics member of the Night’s Blade standing nearby.

"Level five sustained or level six magic equipment requires direct authorization from the captain level or the Royal Court. Mr. Shuguin Smoke seems to be out of communication range or off the grid. Applying to the Royal Court will take about half an hour."

"What is the barrier's primary composition? Void energy content? Can we use reality-stabilizing spears to disrupt the nodes?"

"Void content is negligible; it is composed primarily of pure mana. We are currently trying to trace the source of this mana—it seems to originate from within the academy. If we can cut it off, standard level-five destructive equipment will suffice; we have that ready."

The logistics member answered while unloading a device from the wagon that accompanied the Night’s Blade squads. It looked like a drill with a frame, but once the alchemical fuel inside was ignited, the directional blast released through the magic circuits would be enough to kill even a Great Knight.

"Can you contact the inside of the academy?"

"No. All magic communication is blocked. Inside the rigid barrier, something is suppressing all mana; no communication equipment can penetrate."

"Troublesome. This is clearly a targeted attack on Stevenson. To layout such a trap without any warning... it must have been an inside job."

"What is the destructive rating of a reality-stabilizing spear's impact and explosion?"

"Peak level six, approaching level seven... You don't mean to detonate them like the captains did during the Hell Gate incident, do you? Do you have any idea how expensive these are, or how long it takes logistics to craft one? After we burned through nearly a hundred last time, we haven't had a single day off in months."

"Do you think Stevenson Academy is more important, or a few spears?"

"Fine. You're right... but we don't have the clearance to authorize their deployment."

"I know your department keeps a backdoor. Get me a few, and I'll take the responsibility."

"Alright... fine..."

The technician’s relentless pressure forced the logistics member to yield.

However, just as they prepared to proceed, a new conclusion from the other technicians completely vetoed their plan to force a breach.

"This is an internal-annihilation barrier, far more treacherous than we imagined. If we shatter it from the outside, the barrier will collapse inward, dragging its own power and the force used to break it into a localized annihilation. Forget brute force; we are already working on cracking the magic circuits."

This new finding meant the barrier was no longer just a wall; it was a massive deterrent. Any attempt to break it would trigger an implosion that would blow the entire academy to pieces.

"Without a doubt, this is another calculated trap," the technician said, standing before the scarlet wall, his eyes reflecting the complex, glowing red circuits.

"Accelerate the decryption. Do what we can." He shook his head, not out of despair, but resolve.

The situation was dire. Deciphering an unprecedented barrier, with no reference points and unknown traps, was a nightmare. Fortunately, the Night’s Blade technical team was among the best in the capital. Given time...

No, the creator of this barrier likely needed exactly that time.

While the technicians raced against the clock, Wang Yu and his companions, who had been in the mountains outside the city, arrived ten minutes later.

"Shuguin hasn't responded to communications or issued orders for a long time. This is a major anomaly. I must go check on him. You two head to the academy and see what you can do. And Wang Yu—especially you—don't be impulsive."

Zieg looked pointedly at Wang Yu. The meaning was clear: Avia was trapped inside.

He didn't know if Wang Yu would act rashly. While he knew Wang Yu to be calm, he felt it necessary to warn him.

"Understood." Wang Yu nodded.

Zieg patted his shoulder and vanished into a rift node, heading toward Shuguin’s last known location.

Wang Yu and Edward accelerated, arriving at the site where the Night’s Blade technicians were working.

As members of the Special Operations Group, they were well-recognized. A technician immediately briefed them on the status.

After listening, Wang Yu pondered for a few seconds, then walked to the barrier and placed his hand on it. Ripple energy flowed through his body. To his ripples, this barrier—if not a living entity—was no different from a stone wall.

The ripples passed through the meter-thick wall. Wang Yu tried to use Void energy to reinforce his ripples to probe deeper, but to his surprise, he found no Void energy inside to draw upon.

It felt familiar... the Void energy here had been marked by some entity. His access was severely restricted, and combined with his poor Void affinity, he could draw nothing.

Even stranger, within the limit of his reach, there was absolutely no mana inside the barrier.

This was bizarre. Mana was ubiquitous, more common even than Void energy. Yet, inside this barrier, he sensed nothing. With the precision of his ripples, if he couldn't sense it, it simply wasn't there. How was this achieved?

"Do you have any anti-magic fields? There is a mana-void space inside this barrier. How is that possible?" Wang Yu frowned, asking the technician.

The technician paused, his expression turning strange.

"No. Even with Void suppression, you can only reduce mana concentration. Mana is a fundamental component of the world; it’s nearly impossible to clear it entirely. Unless... it’s an Artifact."

The technician fell into a brief, thoughtful silence.

"Thank you for the information, Mr. Wang Yu. That explains why communication is impossible. But this raises the difficulty of the breach significantly. We will need more time."

With the knowledge of the mana-void space, the technicians had answers, but the task had become even more complicated.

"...An Artifact. As long as we live in the capital, is the war with Sevintan inevitable? What a load of shit."

Wang Yu cursed silently, anger burning within him. Since arriving in the capital, Sevintan had caused nothing but trouble, and now they had dragged Avia into it. He felt a surge of irritability.

He placed his hand on the barrier again. Void energy began to boil in his mental space. This was a high-intensity mana barrier; his Breaker Hammer wouldn't be much use.

But if he channeled enough Void energy—much like how Avia borrowed the Lady of Night’s power to invoke the Eternal Night—he could surely tear a hole large enough for one person to enter...

The Professor told him not to be impulsive, but Wang Yu could not let Avia face the unknown alone. Enter, find the scholars, and break the barrier from within—that was his plan. Most importantly, he had to protect Avia.

He decided to act. He began to gather Void energy. It was rude, but he would have to trouble the Lady of Night once more. As the energy surged, his ripples extended further, and he caught the presence of something familiar beneath the soil nearby.

A Tarot card, buried abruptly in the dirt. His ripples captured its existence.

He walked over and dug it out. Wiping away the soil, he revealed the face of the card: The Star, upright.

"Charles, what have you done?" Wang Yu looked at the card, sensing the direction it pointed—the same card he and Edward had used for directional teleportation. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

...

Back inside the academy, the grounds were deathly silent. Beneath the blood-red sky, there was not a sign of life.

Only two "people" walked through the outdoor grounds.

Weber Lanchie walked with a gloomy face, accompanied by Vanessa—or rather, the entity inhabiting the body of the orphan girl who had lost her parents in that disaster.

"Why so gloomy? Your wish is about to be realized, isn't it?" The expressionless "Vanessa" tilted her head toward the silent Weber.

"..." Weber remained silent, merely glancing at her with bloodshot eyes.

"Are you regretting it? Regretting that you are about to destroy the very academy that gave you your platform and status?" "Vanessa" continued her incessant questioning. Her tone lacked mockery, yet it was profoundly repulsive.

"I have no regrets." Weber’s voice was hoarse, his face twisted as if he were trying to convince himself.

"If you had no regrets, you wouldn't have tried to save your granddaughter and that apprentice. You know exactly what Stevenson Academy is about to face, yet you tried to protect those two. It shows you lack the courage to lose everything for 'resurrection,' Weber Lanchie."

"...Do what you promised." Weber shuddered, silent for a long time, unable to refute her, finally forcing the words out.

"See? You didn't even confirm I would fulfill my promise, yet you did it anyway. How contradictory you are. But that’s normal; humans are such interesting things. I should thank the fellow named 'Shuguin' who destroyed my first vessel. I’ve learned so much about humans since occupying this girl, Vanessa. Interesting, and complex."

"..." Weber said nothing more, just kept walking.

"Do you know, after inhabiting this girl's memories, the most frequent prayers I have heard were not in temples or cathedrals, but within the hospitals of the capital; for when all the knowledge we possess tells us that nothing more can be done, one can only beg for the miracles of those gods. That is why I understand your thoughts so clearly. Sometimes, I even wonder whether we, these so-called 'gods,' ought to place our own faith in a deity that stands above us?"

A strange, uncanny smile flickered across the vacant expression of "Vanessa."

Beside her, Weber Lanchi began to tremble slightly; his once-numb heart was stirred into turbulence once more. He did not know exactly what the Sevantans had unleashed, but the display from the creature whose true identity he knew all too well chilled him to the bone, leaving him with a grim certainty: "Sevantan, are you not truly playing with fire and courting your own destruction?"