From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 643 Searching for Cultural Relics
Dealing with a colossal demonic insect from the abyss wasn't as difficult as one might imagine.

Especially when Ivy gave up using magic and instead picked up the Beast Bite Sword to cosplay as the two-handed Might Guy.

Ilinica's soprano voice and her wielding of a large cleaver easily distracted the gluttonous insect queen, forcing it to focus its attention on the singer a few steps away, and even abandoning its frontal defense.

Ivy can then launch a whirlwind attack, unleashing a series of lightning-fast slashes.

The elemental damage from Arcane Power blasted colorful wounds onto the Abyss Demon's body, while the Sword Saint's mastery of a single weapon made every attack from Ivy highly effective.

Breaking through the abyss demon's spell resistance with magic is very troublesome, but Ivy can use various spells to enhance her own condition.

With the blessing of various beneficial buffs, the Gluttonous Insect Queen was finely chopped into minced meat in a very short time.

Before the swarm of gluttonous insects, which constantly emitted an annoying buzzing sound around the canyon, could even reach the battlefield, their mother, who had been calling for them to join the fight, had already lost her life.

These mindless, ferocious swarms of insects, like ships lost in a storm, wandered aimlessly through the valley. Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they all scattered in different directions.

"Oh my god! I can't breathe... Give me some fresh air, get me out of this disgusting bubble!" Paladin Sheila poked the bubble covering her head with her iron gauntlet and gagged.

Ivy crouched down in front of the Gluttonous Insect Queen's corpse and examined it carefully. Without turning her head, she deactivated her Bubble Head Curse: "I remember warning you that the Bubble Head Curse is a closed space. If your breath has an odor, it will quickly pollute the air inside the bubble."

"Ugh—" Sheila covered her mouth and nose with her hand, trying her best to find a place where she could feel the breeze, "It must be my stomach acid coming back up..."

Lann, a hybrid from the underworld, squatted down next to Ivy, watching him use magic to rummage through the corpse of the Gluttonous Insect Queen.

"Are you looking for something edible?" The hybrid swallowed slightly. "In my experience, all kinds of insects have delicious parts. Generally speaking, flying insects have particularly strong pectoral and back muscles, so these parts become especially chewy after being grilled."

Lann's remarks elicited a series of disgruntled gasps from his companions.

"No, I'm just looking for something of research value." During the previous battle, Ivy deliberately avoided the Gluttonous Insect Queen's enormous abdomen, reasoning that, based on general experience, the insect's reproductive glands were hidden in these parts.

The mage's hand pulled a larva that was not yet fully mature from the corpse of the Gluttonous Insect Queen. It had been busy using its sharp mandibles to obtain some nutrients from its mother.

“Ugh—” Irina took two steps back. “What use do you have for these slimy bugs? Who would want to collect this stuff?”

“Serve as a specimen.” Ivy pointed, and the gluttonous larva, which had been held in mid-air by the mage’s hand, was transformed into a harmless little wooden ornament.

Ivy breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the demons' resistance to magic was not something they were born with. At least, demons like the Gluttonous Larva, which had just been born, could not resist Ivy's shapeshifting spell.

Then Ivy pulled out more unhatched eggs from the Gluttonous Insect Queen's fat abdomen, and even tore the sticky reproductive glands off the corpse.

Ivy believes that the gluttonous insect is an excellent research subject, possessing extremely high research value, just like ants and bees.

In one of the grand strategy games that Ivy played, there existed a type of alien life with extremely high potential.

They rely on pheromones and bioelectric currents to link their consciousness together, forming a hive mentality that guides the direction of civilization.

This unifying will is considered extremely efficient, and its prototype is the tiny insects that live widely on Earth—bees and ants.

If the same thought structure is imitated and written into the underlying logic of intelligent machines, then it is possible to create a mechanical life form with a honeycomb mind.

These mechanical life forms and the swarms of insects with hive-like thinking were known as the three great catastrophes in that grand strategy game. They were comparable to the civilizations controlled by the players and usually appeared as the end-game crisis of a game. Their strength should not be underestimated.

Ivy hadn't considered replicating similar biological populations in the magical world, but it was still possible to include it in his research portfolio as a topic. He didn't need it now, but he might need it in the future.

"So, this is why the gluttonous insects appeared on our only path?" Ilinica examined the magic circle on the ground. It looked like it was drawn with blood, but the blood around the edge of the magic circle had blurred due to the slime, and many runes had lost their original shape.

It was for this reason that the portal that Ivy had previously sensed, exuding an abyssal aura, disappeared.

Even near the World's Lament, opening a permanent portal to the abyss is no easy feat.

“Judging from the traces of blood, the gluttonous worms began to reproduce within a day.” Ivy had already completed the collection of materials from the gluttonous worms. “This means that the person who created all of this is in our army, sharing our tents, campfires, and supplies brought from Kanaburi.”

"There are more and more signs of traitors appearing, isn't there?" Irina had completely given up on trying to keep her boots and armor from getting sticky. In the previous battle, everyone looked like they had been fished out of a green snot, except for Ivy, who used magic to avoid it.

Fortunately, Ivy's hair-soaking spell kept their hair neat; otherwise, some of them might be considering cutting off their heads to clean it now.

"But why haven't our main forces been attacked yet?" Komilia asked worriedly. "Could it be that the demons emerging from the World's Tragedy will come at us one after another, like monsters in adventure novels? That would be truly..."

"Perhaps the Gluttonous Insects perished too quickly, at least beyond the demons' expectations." Ivy looked up at the sky and did not see the warning smoke spell she had taught the little elephant.

It was a spell that combined the effects of various magical arts, derived from the fireworks magic that all first-year students at Hogwarts learn. It could propel one to a great height in the air in a very short time, bursting into a huge sound and burst of light to attract the attention of reinforcements. If released in a confined space, the excessively loud noise could even cause deafness.

"So, are we going back now, or...?" The demonic thief Volgiev asked, flicking the slime off his hands. He always acted as if he was afraid of Ivy, trying to avoid being in the same space as him unless the Commander was also standing there. "Actually, I think we can search the valley. Maybe we can find something we need. We saw that broken oxcart at the edge of the cliff, right?"

"Staying here to search for supplies when the camp could be attacked at any moment? Are you serious?" Sheila was the first to object.

“Hey! Think about it, this is the only way to the City of Favor! Remember those artifacts that the cultists took from Kanaburi? If we’re lucky, we might actually find one or two!” As a socialite active on the streets, the demonic Volgiev never misses an opportunity to make money.

He also clearly remembered what the curator, Telton, had said when he accompanied Illinika on the raid on the Holy Crusades' museum of antiquities, the Ischod Tower.

A very important relic was stolen by cultists: the wand that once belonged to the martyr, Master Zecharias.

Master Zecharius was a renowned spellcaster in the Holy Army and a tragic figure in the Second Holy War. To cover the retreating troops from the city of Favor, he single-handedly built a church on the cliff opposite the city to block the demons, buying the retreating troops a great deal of time.

Queen Godfrey even canonized him personally, bestowing upon him the noble title of "The Martyr." There's even a cemetery in Cannaburi named after him. And the name "Zecharius" became a popular choice for naming newborns in Montevideo.

However, that was many years ago. Now, those newborns have all grown up, and some even have gray hair.

Among these elderly Zecarius and Zecarya, there might be one or two who are successful and wealthy nobles.

So it makes perfect sense that they would spend a huge sum of money to buy a relic from the Crusades a hundred years ago, right?
To be honest, Volgiev had been plotting this ever since he learned that Zecarius's wand was missing.

Moreover, according to his plan, forging a batch of fake wands and selling them steadily is the right thing to do. Now that he is a glorious Crusader, only Crusader artifacts sold by a legitimate Crusader are guaranteed in quality, right? And which Crusader is more qualified to handle these artifacts than him, a demon who is always by the Knight Commander's side and sharing the power of myth with her?

However, to counterfeit goods, one must first obtain genuine goods. Otherwise, with only a title, such a scam would not be able to open the wallets of the upper-class nobles of Montivre.

"You must have found a clue, right?" Irina asked, but she used an affirmative tone.

"Nothing can escape the Commander's discerning eye," the demonic thief strolled to a crack covered in slime and asked, "Look what this is?"

“This godforsaken place is full of cracks, what’s so special about that?” Sheila rolled her eyes.

“Then take a look at this!” Volgiev pulled a section of wooden ladder out of a crack in the ground.

“Well, it seems someone did hide something underground.” Ilyica turned to look at Ivy. “What do you say, military advisor?”

"Whirlwind Sweep." Ivy waved her staff, instantly clearing the slime off the commander and her companions. "You can go now, I need to go back. I previously set up a trigger-based teleportation spell on each of you. If you hear a loud rumbling outside, trigger it, understand?"

"That sounds like a good way to escape. How long will it last? When did you do it?" Volgiev asked, his eyes shining.

“You were with me before, so I was able to determine when the teleportation spell would trigger, which is why I didn’t tell you.” Ivy began to cast an invisibility spell on himself. He planned to quietly return to the camp and use illusion magic to create a false impression of an attack, to see who would jump out and what demons would launch an attack.

Ivy's figure gradually became transparent and then disappeared completely, leaving only her voice still coming from an open space: "It can exist until the magic is triggered or dispelled, but since the location is limited to our former military camp, if you trigger it after today, you will find yourself in a wilderness with nothing in any direction."

"Are you interested in turning this magic into scrolls? Trust me! There will definitely be a huge market, and our business will be fantastic!" The demon thief seemed to have spotted another way to make money, and shouted in the direction where Ivy's figure had disappeared.

However, no one answered his question.

“The military advisors have gone back. Let’s go down and look for the so-called Crusader artifacts.” Ilinica led the way, climbing down the ladder into the crack.

"Commander, you have to help me! If we can convince the military advisors to manufacture this scroll, the lives of the Crusaders will be saved!" The thief nimbly darted to the ladder and grabbed the second spot.

Ivy, who had already taken to the air, naturally heard what the demon thief said. However, he had developed this spell to make money, so how could he possibly cooperate with him? A return scroll, anyone who has played RPG games knows that.

However, since teleportation spells that can ignore distance are 7th-level spells, even teleportation spells with reduced distances are still 5th-level spells, which is not something that everyone can afford.

To truly create a return scroll with such immediate response, Ivy would need to research versions with lower ring levels and more restrictions.

At least for now, this teleportation spell, which relies on triggering, cannot be considered a satisfactory product.

While invisible, Ivy banished these thoughts from her mind and focused intently on preparing the illusion magic to come.

He wanted to use illusions to create the illusion of a swarm of gluttonous insects attacking the Crusader camp, to see if he could lure out the enemies hiding in the shadows, or the spies within the Crusader.

Ivy's earlier show of weakness at the ferry crossing had not yielded the results she desired. Both the demons of the World's Sorrow and the traitors within the Crusader Army seemed extremely wary. If this rebellion were to erupt outside the City of Favor, achieving the first objective of this holy war would not be an easy task.

(End of this chapter)