The trip of Houdini and Lassman's diplomatic corps wasn't technically an "official visit."
Because of the royal family's reputation, Houdini did not announce that it was a friendly visit from the Lachman Kingdom to the Efta Territory, Elsen City. Instead, he asked Merinsera to write a letter in advance and visit Elsen City under the guise of a friend's visit. This method was very tactful. Not only did it protect Charles II's pride, but it also achieved its own goal. However, Houdini probably didn't expect that the city lord of Elsen City was very busy. Most of the messages were handled by Camilla. However, the letter that Merinsera had sent was in her personal name. It was addressed to Roddy, and Camilla definitely wouldn't open it as if it was public property.
So, until now, Roddy and the whole of Elsen City did not know that the delegation was approaching. So when Houdini's convoy entered the "magic experiment area" from the southwest, neither side realized their situation.
After the first magic sentry post was removed, Merinsera, who was sitting in the carriage behind, also got up to take a look. But after thinking for a while, she sat back down. After all, the convoy was still more than 30 kilometers away from Elsen City. There was a dense forest between them and they could not even see the shadow of the city wall. There was nothing to worry about from any angle. Perhaps, as Houdini had judged, the sentry post was only used to scare the beasts.
With this thought in mind, the convoy continued to move forward. But unexpectedly, as they gradually entered the forest area, the sharp whistles of "magic alarms" began to ring more frequently.
Houdini did not have to deal with these things himself. The other Magicians in the convoy would naturally do it for him. At first, they would use their own methods to quickly cut off the sound of the magic sentry post. Later on, they would directly destroy the magic slates erected on the side of the road.
Houdini's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Based on the facts in front of him, he had already confirmed that the level of the Magicians who made these magic formations in Elsen City was really low. Yes, it could only be described as "low". Even the lowest magic academy in the Lachman Kingdom would not accept a Magician with such a poor ability to draw magic formations!
If this is the level of Elsen City's magic formation, then it is really disappointing …
At this moment, Houdini was clearly a little disappointed. He had come with the mentality of learning and admiration, but now it seemed that the mages here could not even compare to the mages in the royal family. The occasional ear-piercing whistle seemed to be mocking some of the vague expectations in his heart. The levitation technique had always been the most difficult problem for Lachman magic to overcome. If he could solve this problem, then all the humiliation he had suffered would be swept away, and those who had made him suffer would all be trampled under his feet …
But from the looks of it now, he had been thinking too much.
Houdini, who was feeling a little dispirited, sighed. He then realized that the carriage had suddenly stopped.
"Lord Houdini, there's a village up ahead."
Houdini was not surprised by the news. After all, it was normal for there to be villages outside the city, so he waved his hand and said, "Go through, don't alarm them."
"But … My Lord, something doesn't seem right here."
"What do you mean?"
Houdini was still immersed in his disappointment, so his words were not very polite. "I've already told you everything. How could there be anything wrong with the village? Could it be that magical beasts would jump out and attack us? "
"No, no, no, my Lord, we found … found that this is not an ordinary village —"
The mage lowered his head and explained while passing a wooden sign to Houdini from outside the carriage. Houdini's eyes narrowed, and he reached out to take the sign. There was a line of hastily written words on it: "Elsen City Magic Experiment Area".
Below it was a line of huge red words: "Do not approach!"
This thing was obviously a work done in haste. There was white wood on the wooden sign that had just been cut not long ago. The ink on it was very clear, and even a little wet. Houdini sniffed it and could even smell the unique stench of cheap ink.
Many questions popped up in his mind, and he immediately realized that things were not as simple as he thought. He put down the wooden sign and got out of the carriage. He looked ahead for a few seconds and noticed that something was wrong here. The village in front of him was too quiet, and there was no sign of people!
Merlinsala also got out of the carriage and looked at the quiet village in front of her. She said, "There's something wrong with this village. These buildings have just been built, and there are no signs of them being used."
She had excellent eyesight, so after a few glances, she raised her hand and pointed to the entrance of the village a few hundred meters away. "There's a cone-shaped magic circle there. If I'm not wrong, it's arranged to record the force of impact … I don't think any village would put this at the entrance of their village, right?"
Apart from the ordinary guards, there were five mages in the entourage. They looked at each other and obviously felt that something was wrong. So they all looked at Houdini, waiting for the result. Houdini did not waste any time. He immediately chanted a spell and waved his hand to throw out three golden shells. However, after the spell was successfully cast, Houdini's face immediately darkened.
That was because the three shells actually shattered on the spot with a cracking sound!
In a prophecy spell, this kind of sign meant that the caster was currently in danger.
"Damn it …" Houdini did not doubt the result of the spell. At this moment, he showed his decisiveness as a Magister. "Everyone, go back! Leave this place immediately! "
"Buzz —"
Just as they were talking, everyone heard a subtle vibration coming from afar. They raised their heads and found that the Floating-Space Tower floating in the air in the distance had suddenly emerged with a dense blue runic pattern.
"This is …"
Houdini's eyes narrowed. He tried to make a judgment from the shape and changes of the runes, but because it was too far away, he could not identify it. At this moment, he did not have the time to cast the "Eagle Eye Spell". He could only continue to order his men to retreat. However, Merinsera, who was standing at the side, looked up and suddenly pointed. "There's something over there!"
Needless to say, everyone saw a faint arc in the sky, as if something had suddenly bounced up from the Floating-Space Tower, and then landed across a distance of tens of kilometers.
"Bang!"
This trace of light approached at lightning speed and landed directly one kilometer away from the convoy. The dull sound of the impact could be heard from afar, followed by a cloud of rising black smoke.
Houdini and Merinsera were not fools, nor were the other Mages. When they thought of the sign that said "Magic Experiment Area" and saw the scene in front of them, they quickly realized why the area they were in now had a "Do Not Approach" warning …
Before they could think further, the sound of the second impact was heard. This time, everyone could see a large amount of soil suddenly rising from the empty space only three hundred meters away from the carriages. Then, it began to spray black smoke.
"That's it?"
Houdini looked at the falling soil and relaxed a little. The attack range was long enough, but if the so-called "magic experiment" was only this powerful, then it was a little disappointing.
Not to mention himself, even the young Mages who came with him could easily deal with it.
Could it be that the black smoke was poisonous?
Thinking of this possibility, Houdini was still worried, so he cast a large-scale "Air Cleansing Barrier". However, his anxiety had also eased a lot.
"This guy, what is he trying to do …"
Merinsera did not know Roddy like the others. She knew that this guy always seemed to be able to create miracles that ordinary people could not understand. So in her heart, she always thought that staying here was not a good idea. Just as she was thinking about how to deal with it, the third impact sounded in the center of the village in front of them. As the black smoke rose, she vaguely saw a figure standing on the floating space tower in the distance.
"Master Castellan, calibration completed!"
"Oh, then load it with live ammunition and fire."
Roddy did not expect that someone would break into the experimental area at this time. He was also not in the mood to see if there was anyone near the village. After confirming the location of the "calibration bullet", he directly chanted the activation spell.
In an instant, the sixteen nodes of the magic circle in Elsen City suddenly lit up. Beams of light then lit up and accurately projected below the floating space tower.
Energy gathered, changed, condensed, and released.
"Bang!"
The "shell" that was ejected was even brighter than the previous ones, and a very beautiful white ripple appeared in the air. That was the phenomenon of "element retention" that the Mages talked about. Usually, it would only occur when an extremely powerful body of energy streaked across the space.
"Element … element retention?!"
Houdini, who was turning the caravan around, saw this scene, and his mind went blank for a moment. In this Magician's memory, "element retention" had only ever appeared in forbidden-level spells, but now … it seemed that this thing was flying toward him?
He suddenly realized that Lassman seemed to have enjoyed peace for too long, and he actually underestimated the "Seek Fortune and Avoid Misfortune" spell because of his lax mind!
"This bastard!"
Merinsera cursed under her breath, but she was already mentally prepared and reacted immediately. Instead of casting a protective barrier, she cast three "Ground Pit" spells in a row, and the ground below the caravan sank more than a meter deep!
"Yes! Ground Pit! Quick! "
Houdini was not a battle-type Mage, so his first reaction was to cast a protective barrier. But after seeing Merinsera's action, he realized that this was the correct way to deal with the situation. So he shouted and immediately cast an "Enhanced Ground Pit" spell. While the other Mages were casting the spell, the sky in front of the caravan had already exploded!
"Crash!"
The flying shell "Number 53" suddenly exploded less than a hundred meters above the ground, and countless fragments bombarded the village below at an even faster speed …
By splitting the fragments, the 20-centimeter-diameter shell directly expanded its destructive area to a radius of about a hundred meters. These inconspicuous fragments actually contained the energy of at least thirty standardized Magic Crystal pieces in Elsen City, so when they released their energy in a chain explosion, the village was directly destroyed.
The sound of the explosion was continuous, and the whole ground seemed to shake violently with the explosion. The shockwave, the wooden pieces, the soil, the stones, and the surrounding trees swept over the caravan along with the heat wave, and almost in the blink of an eye, they were buried …
Ten minutes later, when the group of Mages crawled out of the ground like mud monkeys, they had no other thoughts in their minds.
"Alive, ahem, it's so good to be alive …"
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