From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 641 The Smile of a Leprosy Patient

The road to the City of Favor is never always smooth, but the Holy Army's next challenge came sooner than anyone expected.

What stood in the way of the Crusaders was a canyon that resembled an open wound.

The uneven rock surface on the cliff is full of pits and craters, like the festering skin of a leper. Combined with the winding canyon, it's as if the ground beneath our feet is a smiling leper.

From a distance, the leprosy patient's mouth and nose emitted a yellowish-green toxic mist, which was terrifying.

The Crusaders stopped on a sheltered, high slope to rest and await orders from their commander and military advisors.

“We should send out scouts,” suggested Annevia, a secret agent of the Divine Eagle Guard, at the military meeting. “That canyon ahead looks ominous… like a gaping maw spewing poison gas. My scouts are more than capable of handling this task.”

“There’s no need for human intervention.” Ivy took out a crystal ball and placed it on the table. “Magic can solve many problems.”

Ivy tapped the crystal ball gently, and a pale purple light immediately radiated from the crystal's interior.

After a brief period of preparation, this spiritual energy, refracted by the crystal ball, displayed an ever-enlarging image.

This is a special variant of the fourth-ring psychic spell, a telepathic spell, developed by Ivy herself.

In order to project the images that enter the spellcaster's mind through psionic transmission into the real world, Ivy made a special localization modification.

This spell is inspired by Palantir, a gem crafted by Fëanor, an elf of the Noldor race in the world of Arda.

This gemstone, which resembles a giant crystal ball, has many wonderful uses, the most well-known of which is the origin of its other name, "the object of distant vision."

When a holder with a steadfast will comes into contact with it, the power of the Palantir will send the holder's gaze to distant places or to other Palantir holders.

Saruman, the leader of the White Order, placed one on the tower of Isengard in his territory and used it continuously to search for the One Ring along the Anduin River. Unfortunately, the long-lost Palantir also possessed one in the possession of the Dark Lord Sauron. It was precisely the Palantir's ability to communicate with each other that led Saruman to be bewitched by Sauron, causing him to become increasingly insane and arrogant.

Ivy had heard of this magical crystal before and was very interested in the magic that allowed one to see into the distance through the crystal itself.

Since his journey to Lonely Mountain, he has been trying to recreate this magic, and even once drew on the spell model of the Arcane Eye and the magical theory of astral projection.

However, this long-term research finally bore fruit after he fully unleashed his wizarding psychic talents.

His original intention was to, like Sauron, place a crystal atop his own Dawnstar City Star Fortress that was imbued with this type of magic, thereby constructing a 24/7 psionic radar system. However, Ivy hadn't yet figured out how to set up the alarm levels, so only the prototype of this spell was completed.

However, using this prototype for intelligence gathering on military campaigns and reconnaissance of terrain details can indeed be quite effective.

As the pale purple psionic color faded, the true nature of the desolate, ravaged world was revealed on the screen.

"This is truly...unheard of..." Knight Commander Ilinica was the first to rush to the crystal ball, shouting excitedly, "This thing can be used to broadcast my opera live! Good heavens! I've always been troubled by the fact that even the largest opera house in Celias can't hold all my fans! With this, I can have the audience gather in the square and enjoy my opera from a great distance! Wait...why isn't there any sound?"

As we all know, in opera, the songs precede the performance, making the vocals crucial for conveying emotions. If these vocals couldn't be used to communicate emotions, then Ivy's magical gadgets would be of no help to Ilinica's artistic career.

“Synchronous sound transmission can use a different system; there’s no need to integrate it into the same spell. There should be many similar spells; I don’t need to develop them myself,” Ivy explained, while urging the knight commander to move aside and move aside from the image he was projecting with magic. “We can talk about that later; let’s see what’s in the canyon first.”

The officers in the temporary command post quickly came forward to carefully examine the contents of the image.

As the camera zoomed in, the barren landscape, resembling the smile of a leper, became increasingly clear, and everyone saw the truth behind the yellow-green poisonous fog billowing from the canyon.

It was a yellowish-green poisonous insect that looked very much like a magnified locust, but a hundred times more ferocious. Acid dripped continuously from the insect's mouth onto the ground, and once the exposed rock surfaces in the canyon came into contact with this acid, a large cloud of corrosive mist would immediately rise, and a small pit would appear on the rock.

The reason for the canyon's ugliness has been found: it was these hungry insects who sculpted the terrain, resembling the smile of a leper, with their saliva.

“It’s a gluttonous worm.” All the officers from Kanaburi recognized the worm as one of the most famous methods of the Locust King Descari: the terrifying abyssal locust that devours everything.

“Those insects’ saliva can corrode armor, and then their teeth can gnaw through metal like it’s tofu, devouring our soldiers without leaving a trace!” said Ashius, commander of the Dawnblade Knights. “This doesn’t make sense! I’ve never heard of them appearing so far from the center of the World’s Sorrow!” “Yes, that’s because we didn’t get to see Descarri leading a horde of demons into Kanaburi, so it’s hard to believe.” Count Dalan shrugged. After attending the opening ceremony of the city’s founding day celebration, he rushed back to his villa to play Impact, and now he felt quite regretful.

“We should find a way to go around it,” the battle priest at the field hospital said worriedly. “Our target is Juanze City; forcing our way through will only result in heavy losses.”

“No, we have no other choice.” The orc paladin, Erabes, clad in his golden armor as always, shook his head. “Thanks to Lord Doom’s magic, the swarm hasn’t detected us at this distance… so retreat is an option. But that doesn’t mean they’ll never find us. If we fight these insects in open terrain, we’ll be wiped out. Besides, we’re only a river away from the border of Montivere. If we don’t eliminate them here, innocent civilians will suffer once these beasts enter Montivere.”

“Therefore we should find their weaknesses and strike them down in one blow.” Although Regil, the deputy enforcer of the Claw Knights, was short, no one dared to openly ignore his voice. The harsh training of the Hell Knights had already spread throughout the entire Crusader camp in just a few days.

"Fortunately, the Gluttonous Insects aren't any unusual demons. Descares has been wreaking havoc within the World's Sorrow for so long, we already know these demons quite well." Regil looked at Ivy and coldly offered his advice, "The Gluttonous Insects' stomachs are like bottomless pits, never satisfied. Therefore, when there isn't enough food in the area, they will quickly start killing and devouring each other. These insects don't possess true intelligence. There can only be one reason why such a large swarm of Gluttonous Insects can gather. There is a queen insect inside, constantly producing Gluttonous Insects to protect her. As long as we can kill her, most of the swarm will scatter, making it much easier to deal with the remaining insects."

"With so many insects blocking the queen's way, how can we possibly launch this surprise attack?" Annie asked the crucial question.

Earl Dylan, Queen Godfrey's cousin, offered a rather cruel suggestion: "Flies will charge toward the first, juiciest food that appears in their sight, and these insects are probably no different. We only need to send a small team as juicy bait to lure the swarm out of the canyon and clear the path to the queen. The rest will be much simpler, won't it?"

The Prophet of the Gods revealed a bright smile, but it was hard not to suspect his motives: was it for the future of the Crusade, or did he simply want to enjoy the death of the decoy squad?

In extremely tense situations, people often say things they don't mean. Perhaps Dylan asked this dark question simply to see the expressions on the officers' faces inside the tent.

The noble Paladin Iomede would not allow others to take on her responsibilities, so Erabes stepped forward and offered to lead the decoy force.

“Let me go!” The usually silent historian Nura suddenly stepped forward from the crowd. “In this situation, intelligence and knowledge of the enemy are more effective than swords and armor. I can prove myself!”

Hell Knight Regil stepped forward: "My men will fight to the last moment, even if the swarm bites through our armor and tears flesh from our bones. We are far stronger than the Crusaders, and this advantage does not allow us to hide in the back."

Two other teammates of the knight commander also volunteered: Sheryl's priest Sohir and Lann, a hybrid from the underground Crusaders. They were both willing to carry out this suicide mission.

“The healer might be able to lead a few people alive through the swarm of gluttonous insects,” Sohir insisted. “The others are just committing suicide. At least I still have a chance to come back.”

“No.” Ivy made her decision. “We have another healer candidate. Earl Dylan, you will lead this team.”

"What!" Count Delan's expression was priceless; if he could look in a mirror, he'd probably be rolling on the floor laughing. "I don't remember saying I was going to my death!"

Not only him, but the expressions of everyone else in the tent were also quite interesting. Count Delan Arendt was Queen Godfrey's cousin, and with the Queen having no other children and the Arendt family wiped out, this frivolous count was the sole legitimate heir to the Kingdom of Montevie.

However, people believed that Queen Godfrey was favored by her successor and would not die so early. After all, she had already ruled the country for a hundred years, so another hundred years wouldn't be a big deal.

“This isn’t suicide,” Ivy shook her head. “It’s just a decoy mission. Besides, I’ve heard that abyssal creatures have a stronger craving for the flesh and blood of the divine offspring. You might be able to lure all the insects out of the valley.”

"Wait...you're saying this is suicide?" Count Dylan suddenly calmed down. "Could it be that the wise Golden Dragon Advisor has already devised a perfect way to deal with these insects?"

“There’s no perfect solution,” Ivy shook her head again. “However, I can manage to keep you alive while drawing the insects away. Magic can do far more than you can imagine. I’ll prepare some Cloud Burning Scrolls for you to deal with these ubiquitous insects. There are also trigger-based teleportation spells that can save your lives. I never make unnecessary sacrifices, nor do I ask my men to do them.”

"So... this is an opportunity to study the Taotie worms without endangering our lives?" Nie Niu, the fox-headed scientist who always talked nonsense and called himself a scientist, suddenly appeared in the tent. "My God! I think the world must know which situation is much more dangerous—whether it's the Taotie worms' mandibles biting you or your skin being corroded by their acid! I want to participate in this operation! Don't forget to heal me while I'm doing my experiments, my shining sidekick (Dailan, who has divine blood and looks radiant)."

Despite being Illinika's teammate and having shared mythical power with her, Fox-Head Nie Niu still refers to her as a follower, and she still doesn't remember Illinika's name.

Unfortunately, Illinika seems to be obsessed with having her name included in the "Encyclopedia of Grallion" (a book that the fox head is currently compiling), so she always takes the fox head with her wherever she goes.

“My God…” the hybrid Lann exclaimed, “I’m really curious how she’s managed to survive until now.”

“Nie Niu is a mage skilled in using scrolls. Perhaps we can have her judge when to use your magic scrolls.” Irina knew that Ivy had never fought alongside her teammates, so she quickly explained the fox-headed man’s combat style. “I will personally lead the assault team to raid the Queen, but without Nie Niu, the team will be missing a true mage. Perhaps Ivy could join us?”

“Of course I will join you.” Ivy nodded. “It is no coincidence that the Gluttonous Queen appeared on the Crusader’s route. I must go deeper into the area to find more clues. While I am away on a mission, Irabes, you will be in charge of the camp’s defense. Regil, you will assist her and make sure to fill any gaps. I think you haven’t forgotten that battle in the cave.”

The deputy enforcer's eyes, which had lost most of their color, blinked, and he accepted the order in a resounding voice, then left the tent.

(End of this chapter)